The Eight Coolest Inventions From the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show
A needle-free injection system, a bug-watching garden camera, a wearable that helps with memory lapses and more were unveiled at the annual Las Vegas trade show
Las Vegas Is Going All In on Its Water Conservation Plan
As the Southwest dries, can a city notorious for excess find a way to survive with less?
Very Rare Yellow-Billed Loon Visits the Las Vegas Strip, Hangs Out in the Bellagio Fountains
The out-of-place bird prompted the hotel to put its famed fountain show on hold before biologists captured and moved the bird—one of the country’s ten rarest—to better habitat
How the Dazzling Las Vegas Strip Rose Up From the Desert
The story behind the glitzy stretch of highway that became the destination for America’s most sublime—and most sordid—aspirations
Smithsonian Photo Contest Galleries
Appreciate Awesome Architecture With These 15 Photos
No passport is needed for this virtual tour of beautiful buildings around the world
The Sphere Is Here. Are We Ready for More High-Tech Architecture?
The new Las Vegas performance venue challenges musicians and visual artists to produce content for its demanding format
Three Dolphins Die at the Mirage in Six Months
The Las Vegas hotel and casino temporarily closed its dolphin exhibit after 11-year-old K2 passed last month
After 50 Years, Michael Heizer’s ‘City’ Opens in Nevada Desert
The American artist has spent most of his life building a megasculpture that earns comparisons to ancient ruins and abandoned highways
Can Casinos Be Art Galleries?
Hoping to grow their audiences, gambling halls are luring new visitors with old masterpieces
Officials Will Release Less Water Into Lake Mead Because of Drought
Water levels in both Lake Mead and Lake Powell have dropped to historic lows as the West experiences the most severe megadrought in 1,200 years
Las Vegas Residents Discover Ice Age Animal Bones While Building a Swimming Pool
The paleontologist studying the bones estimates they are between 6,000 and 14,000 years old
Las Vegas Was Inundated by 46 Million Grasshoppers on a Single Night in 2019
A new study says the horde of insects was drawn to the Vegas Strip by its famously bright lights
Someone Is Gluing Cowboy Hats to Las Vegas’ Pigeons
Experts say the birds look perfectly safe—and ‘cute,’ of course
Swarms of Grasshoppers Invading Las Vegas Are Visible on Radar
Experts say the insects are migrating north in response to unusually heavy rainfall in the region
Why Las Vegas’s Landscape Is So Lush and Green
One of the most important byproducts of the Hoover Dam is an artificial body of water known as Lake Mead
Why the Flamingo Signaled the Birth of Sin City
The Flamingo was the first luxury resort to capture the public’s imagination in Las Vegas