Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Cool Finds

The centuries-old painting—now identified as a genuine Botticelli—has finally emerged from storage.

Cool Finds

An Unidentified Botticelli Painting Spent Decades Hidden in Welsh Museum’s Storeroom

The newly attributed masterpiece was previously believed to be a crude copy of the artist’s work

Sweet Narwhal will be adoptable soon, but he is not for sale. He is a very good boy, of course.

Meet the ‘Unicorn Puppy’ With an Extra Tail on His Head

Narwhal’s unique appendage may be the remnant of his parasitic twin

Two cows photographed in 2017 on Cedar Island. Three cows, not pictured, were found later following Hurricane Dorian.

Three Cows Swept Away by Hurricane Dorian Have Been Found Alive

Officials think the brave bovines swam between four and five miles to the Cape Lookout National Seashore

Ocean X recovered 900 bottles of alcohol from a 102-year-old shipwreck.

Cool Finds

Tsar Nicholas II’s Last Shipment of Booze Recovered From the Baltic Sea

Salvagers hope that some of the 900 bottles of cognac and Benedictine are still drinkable

New Research

Birds Sniff Each Other’s Bacteria to Help Choose a Mate

A new study finds the microbiome in a bird’s preen oil determines its scent, which can impact its reproductive success

One of the wrecks discovered off the coast of Vaxholm

Cool Finds

This Wreck May Be the Sister Ship of Sweden’s Ill-Fated ‘Vasa’ Warship

Divers discovered the wreckage of two 17th-century warships off the coast of an island near Stockholm

Researchers debate whether Iron Age Scots hunted the massive fin whales or simply made the most of animals swept ashore.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth Hollowed-Out Whale Vertebra Containing Human Jawbone, Remains of Newborn Lambs

Iron Age Scots made the unusual vessel with the bone of a fin whale, Earth’s second largest whale species

A composite image of Mercury's 2016 transit.

How to Watch Mercury’s Rare Transit Across the Sun

Step one: Protect your eyes

A brain with a normal olfactory bulb on the left and a brain lacking the bulb on the right.

New Research

Some Women Without the Brain’s Olfactory Bulbs Can Still Smell. Scientists Say It Makes No Sense

Left-handed women missing the brain structures were still able to smell as well–or better—than average

For 100 years, the Iron Scow was lodged in the same place in the "powerful upper rapids" above the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, according to Niagara Parks. On Halloween weekend this year, it shifted for the first time.

A Historic Boat, Stuck Above Niagara Falls Since 1918, Finally Breaks Free

But the vessel’s joyride didn’t last long; it is now lodged in a new location some 160 feet downriver

New Research

Sunlight-Tracking Polymer, Inspired by Sunflowers, Could Maximize Solar Power

The SunBOTS bend toward light source and could help solar cells capture more direct sunlight all day long

The markings range from letters to shapes, patterns and symbols.

You Can Now Explore a 3-D Model of Cave Covered in Creepy ‘Witches’ Marks’

Visitors spotted hundreds of etchings designed to ward off evil while exploring a cave in England’s Creswell Crags

New Research

These Beautiful Blue Turkey-Like Birds Have Tiny Brains and Huge Social Networks

A new study finds that vulturine guineafowl live in complex societies previously found in primates, elephants and dolphins

An unknown thief stole the historic rifle in a brazen 1971 heist.

Cool Finds

Revolutionary War Rifle Stolen 50 Years Ago Recovered at Barn Sale

The long rifle, made by master gunsmith Johann Christian Oerter, will go on view at the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia

Researchers suspect the wreck is all that remains of the U.S.S. Johnston, a naval destroyer sunk during the Battle off Samar in October 1944.

Cool Finds

World’s Deepest Shipwreck Is WWII Destroyer Lost in the Philippine Sea

A private mission found the mangled debris of what is likely the U.S.S. Johnston 20,400 feet under the surface

This is a European shore crab in the wild. Crabs like this were used in the study to complete mazes.

Crabs Can Learn to Navigate Mazes, Too

A new study highlights the cognitive abilities of an understudied animal

Contractors found a witch bottle similar to the one pictured here while demolishing a former inn's chimney.

Cool Finds

‘Witch Bottle’ Filled With Teeth, Pins and Mysterious Liquid Discovered in English Chimney

The charms were designed to ward off witches, but new research suggests they had medical uses as well

Not for the faint of heart, these destinations are meant to entice thrill-seeking tourists.

Chinese Province Closes All of Its Glass Bridges Amid Safety Concerns

Heart-stopping glass structures have become a craze in China, but some have been linked to injuries and fatalities

Babies May Understand Counting Before They Fully Understand Numbers

By tempting an adorable pool of subjects with toys, a new study found that infants associate counting with quantities

The painting, expected to sell for upwards of $6 million, will be auctioned October 27

Cool Finds

Lost Renaissance Masterpiece Found Hanging Above Woman’s Hot Plate Sells for $26.8 Million

Experts say the panel painting was created by Florentine artist Cimabue around 1280

Page 73 of 282