Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Discoveries

The historic cemetery where remains of 95 individuals, believed to be African American prisoners forced to work on a plantation, were discovered.

Remains of 95 African-American Forced Laborers Found in Texas

The deceased are believed to have been among thousands of black prisoners who were put to work as part of a post-Civil War “convict-leasing system”

Stanley Kubrick filming Spartacus four years after writing the screenplay for the novella Burning Secret. The screenplay of Stefan Zweig's work was believed to be missing until it was discovered earlier this year.

Professor Discovers ‘Lost’ Stanley Kubrick Screenplay

Kubrick wrote the script for Burning Love in 1956, but the film never made it to the big screen

This gilded mummy mask was recently discovered in a burial chamber in Saqqara, Egypt. Archaeologists called the find a "sensation."

Mummification Workshop and Trove of Burial Relics Found in Egypt

‘We are standing before a goldmine of information,’ one expert said

Researchers sampling the Iceman's stomach contents in 2010

Before He Died, Ötzi the Iceman Ate a Greasy, Fatty Meal

A detailed analysis of the mummy’s stomach contents suggests he knew precisely what to eat to survive in harsh Alpine conditions

An African yellow house bat.

Two New Yellow-Bellied Bats May Have Been Found in Kenya

Genetic analysis of 100 bats revealed two previously unknown lineages

New Research

Scientists Explain The Thrill of Detecting a Neutrino From a Far-Off Galaxy

For the first time, the IceCube observatory has triumphantly tracked a neutrino back to a massive blazar

Rare Landscape Attributed to Lucian Freud Discovered Underneath Another Work

Freud’s friend, the little-known artist Tom Wright appears to have recycled a canvas that was left unfinished by the famed portraitist

Islandiana lewisi, found in a single cave in southern Indiana

Cool Finds

New Spider Species Discovered In Indiana Cave

The translucent sheet-weaving spider shows that scientists haven’t yet found everything in our own backyard

Neolithic Roadway, Possibly a Ritual Site, Discovered in England

Archaeologists also found the skull of an extinct ox that is 2,000 years older than the trackway

Newly Discovered Footage Offers Rare Glimpse of FDR Walking

Stricken with polio at the age of 39, Roosevelt did not like to be photographed as he struggled to walk

Double burial of two plague victims in the Samara region, Russia

Bacteria in Ancient Teeth Push Back Origins of the Bubonic Plague

The deadly disease may have been transmitted to humans at least 800 years earlier than previously believed

Introducing a Hairy-Footed Shrimp Named After Bilbo Baggins

Like its hobbit namesake, Odontonia bagginsi is also quite small

An artist's impression of an adult and juvenile Lyrarapax unguispinus — awww, how adorable!

This Prehistoric Sea Creature Had Fanged, Killer Babies

The discovery of a juvenile Lyrarapax unguispinus fossil reveals that even the tiny terrors had a developed claw-like appendage and sharp teeth

A seismic sensor installed in the ice of East Antarctica to monitor Earth's shivers and rumbles.

Earthquakes Rumble Under East Antarctica Much More Frequently Than Thought

A new study reveals that the region trembled with 27 minor earthquakes in 2009 alone

An obsidian flake tool found at Eastland Port in Gisborne, New Zealand, is one of several artifacts discovered at the site of a 14th century Maori village.

Remains of 14th-Century Village in New Zealand Tells Tales of Māori History

The excavation, which unearthed moa bones and stone tools, helps fill a gap for researchers

Europe’s Oldest Known Tree Discovered in Italy

The Heldreich’s pine is 1,230 years old

Hammerhead Flatworms Have Been Quietly Invading France for Two Decades

And that could spell trouble for the country’s soils

Large-antlered muntjac

Rare Sighting of Small, Critically Endangered Deer Reported in Vietnam

The camera trap images of two large-antlered muntjacs offer a glimmer of hope for the species

Until June 15, "Portrait of a Young Gentlemen" will be on temporary view in the Amstel wing of the Hermitage Amsterdam.

A Dutch Art Dealer Says He Discovered a New Rembrandt

The claim is supported by 15 leading experts

Anne Frank in 1940

Researchers Decipher Two Hidden Pages of Anne Frank’s Diary

They contain her musings on sex education and four ‘dirty’ jokes

Page 16 of 25