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Canada

Technicians at Canada's main polio vaccine supplier at the time, Connaught Laboratories, working on a step of vaccine formulation in 1955.

The Great Canadian Polio Vaccine Heist of 1959

A theft more than 60 years ago shows how sought-after scarce vaccine doses have been in past epidemics

A polar bear, dependent on sea ice for its hunting grounds, pauses near Churchill, Manitoba.

Polar Bears Live on the Edge of the Climate Change Crisis

On Hudson Bay’s frigid shores, scientists track the animals to better understand how the environment is shaping their chances of survival

Many types of mosses live in British Columbia.

Will the Slender-Yoke Moss Be Saved?

In the crush of conservation priorities, scientists grapple with how to help an endangered species with no obvious value

A new book Incredible Archaeology: Inspiring Places From Our Human Past, out this month from Smithsonian Books, explores some of the world's most spectacular ancient wonders.

Twelve Ancient and Enduring Places Around the World

From Smithsonian Books, towering temples, dramatic works of art and early settlements that have stood the test of time

70 percent of drowning deaths in Canada involve lake ice, and these accidents are becoming more common as climate change causes more temperature swings and moderate weather

New Research

Climate Change Causes Weaker, More Dangerous Lake Ice

Global warming causes temperature swings that leave ice weakened for days, with deadly consequences

Archaeologists completing excavations on Fischer-Hallman Road

Cool Finds

Remnants of Woodland Iroquois Village Discovered in Ontario

Excavations have unearthed 35,000 artifacts, including carbonized corn, ceramics and stone tools

Researchers with OCEARCH caught a 17-foot-long great white shark on the morning of October 2.

Researchers Catch and Tag 17-Foot ‘Matriarch of the Sea,’ a 50-Year-Old Great White Shark

The OCEARCH team named the shark Nukumi, the Mi’kmaq people’s word for ‘grandmother’

Researchers unearthed this bison-bone hoe in Manitoba, Canada.

Cool Finds

Centuries-Old Gardening Hoes Made of Bison Bone Found in Canada

The tools provide evidence that the region’s Indigenous population practiced agriculture pre-European contact

Steller sea lions sitting on rocks on the shore of Campbell River in British Columbia, Canada.

Headless Sea Lions Are Washing Up in British Columbia

Biologists and local beachgoers who have encountered the decapitated marine mammals suggest humans may be to blame

An artist's rendering shows the armored dinosaur Borealopelta markmitchelli eating ferns, which new research shows made up the majority of its diet.

New Research

Exquisitely Preserved ‘Mona Lisa’ of Dinosaur Fossils Reveals Prehistoric Creature’s Last Meal

Fossil plant matter found in the gut of the exquisitely preserved herbivore reveals its diet and even the season of its death

Washington State Department of Agriculture entomologist Chris Looney holds a dead invasive Asian giant hornet alongside the smaller, native bald-faced hornet. With the addition of two new sightings recorded in the last month in Washington and British Columbia, there have now been six confirmed sightings of the world's largest hornet in North America.

Two New Asian Giant Hornet Sightings in Pacific Northwest

The sightings, both of individual dead hornets, expand the area currently being patrolled by scientists hoping to track and eradicate the invasive insect

Whalers and their families spent winters on Herschel Island, located north of the Yukon in Canada.

Virtual Travel

Explore 3-D Models of Historic Yukon Structures Threatened by Erosion

“We thought it was a good idea to get a comprehensive record of the site while we could in case the water levels rise,” says one official

“Why did the Royal Canadian Mint make the world's purest and largest gold bullion coin?” the mint’s site asks. “Because we can.”

Berlin Court Sends Three Suspects to Prison for Theft of Giant Gold Coin Worth $4 Million

Prosecutors say two cousins carried out the heist with the help of a childhood friend hired as a security guard at Berlin’s Bode Museum

Photographers gather at the eastern edge of El Capitan in February, eager to capture Yosemite's "firefall."

Nine Rare Natural Phenomena Worth Traveling For

You have to be in the right place at the right time to see these awe-inspiring events

An artist's illustration of Allosaurus jimmadseni, a newly described species of Jurassic carnivore

Newly Described Meat-Eating Dinosaur Dominated During the Jurassic Period

The new species is the oldest Allosaurus described yet and was a top predator of its time

The Pompeiian sorceress' kit contained about 100 different objects.

Cool Finds

Twelve Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2019

The list includes a sorceress’ kit, a forgotten settlement, a Renaissance masterpiece and a 1,700-year-old egg

The forest has grown so vast that the Watson Lake Visitors Center doesn’t keep any sort of inventory of which signs make up the collection.

There’s a Forest Made Out of Signs in Canada

Since 1942, people have planted 91,000 signs from around the world

Presenting Smithsonian magazine's top ten stories of 2019

Our Top Ten Stories of 2019

From a 16-million-year-old tree to Confederate soldiers’ diaries, voracious snakes and England’s warrior king, these were the most-read stories of 2019

The coastline of Quadra Island in British Columbia. Some scientists believe that prehistoric humans spent thousands of years in the region.

The Story of How Humans Came to the Americas Is Constantly Evolving

Surprising new clues point to the arrival taking place thousands of years earlier than previously believed

Scenes from the dig under the Jaques Cartier Bridge

Archaeologists Unearth 19th-Century Kiln That Fired Up Pipes for Montreal’s Smokers

The city was once a prominent center of Canada’s pipe-making industry

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