Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Navigation

A terrier fitted with GPS remote tracking device and camera

How Do Dogs Find Their Way Home? They Might Sense Earth’s Magnetic Field

Our canine companions aren’t the only animals that may be capable of magnetoreception

Tom Hanks portrays fictional Navy commander Ernest Krause.

Based on a True Story

The True Story Behind the ‘Greyhound’ Movie

Tom Hanks’ new World War II film offers a dramatized account of the Battle of the Atlantic

The wreckage of a mid-19th century ship washed ashore north of Ludington, Michigan, on April 24.

Cool Finds

High Waters in the Great Lakes Reveal Two Centuries-Old Shipwrecks

In the month of April alone, the remnants of two historic vessels washed up on Lake Michigan’s shores

The British Library has digitized ten historical globes from its collection.

Virtual Travel

Explore the World Virtually With These Rare, Centuries-Old Globes

Visitors can get up close and personal with augmented reality versions of historic globes recently digitized by the British Library

Archaeologists Daniel Matsenius and Philip Tonemar recovering the probable remnants of Samson, a ship build in the 16th century

16th-Century Shipwreck Discovered Beneath Stockholm City Center

Just a few centuries ago, much of the Swedish capital was under water, clearing the way for magnificent ships to dock on the shore

Monterrey A stem post

Virtual Travel

Virtual Reality Museum Allows Users to Explore Five Shipwrecked Vessels

The online portal features 3-D models, video footage and mosaic maps of five 19th- and 20th-century shipwrecks

Cool Finds

Mariner’s Astrolabe Recovered From Shipwreck Is the World’s Oldest

The navigational gadget comes from the wreck of the Esmerelda, part of Vasco da Gama’s fleet that sunk off the coast of Oman in 1503

Trending Today

Magnetic North Is Cruising Toward Siberia, Puzzling Scientists

It has drifted so far that scientists made an emergency revision to the World Magnetic Model

Cool Finds

Now That the Smog Has Lifted, Astronomy Returns to London’s Royal Observatory

A new telescope that filters out light pollution and interference will watch the stars from the site constructed in 1675

Leif Erikson pointing toward North America. Did he use a sunstone to navigate the open seas?

New Research

Simulation Suggests Viking Sunstones of Legend Could Have Worked

If they existed, the crystals—used to locate the sun’s position on cloudy days—could have helped Vikings sail to far away places

Musician and actor Nive Nielsen portrays Lady Silence, the most prominent Inuk character in 'The Terror.'

Tales of the Doomed Franklin Expedition Long Ignored the Inuit Side, But “The Terror” Flips the Script

The new AMC television show succeeds in being inclusive of indigenous culture

Travelers walk in the departure hall of Hong Kong International Airport.

The Rise of Indoor Navigation

You may never get lost in a mall again with these new technologies, designed to help you navigate inside places traditional GPS-based mapping apps can’t

The astrolabe is a rare and highly sophisticated navigational tool.

Cool Finds

Rare Mariner’s Astrolabe Found in Shipwreck Near Oman

Contrary to some reports, it may not be the earliest-known marine navigational tool—but it’s still a spectacular find

The British Navy was a big deal in the 1700s.

Jane Squire and the Longitude Wars

The sixteenth-century debate over how to determine longitude had a lot of participants—and one woman

Daniel Kish is an expert in human echolocation and president of World Access for the Blind.

How Does Human Echolocation Work?

Blind since he was very young, Daniel Kish is the world’s foremost proponent of using vocal clicks to navigate

A Scopali's shearwater skims the water's surface.

New Research

Seabirds Use Their Sense of Smell to Navigate Open Water

A new study suggests shearwaters follow their nose home

How GPS Learns to Speak Your Language

A peek into that voice that tells you when and where to turn

From Ptolemy to GPS, the Brief History of Maps

We now have the whole world in our hands, but how did we get here?

Page 2 of 2