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Historian Martha S. Jones (bottom left) turned to ledgers, deeds, census records and government documents to unravel her family's story.

How a Leading Black Historian Uncovered Her Own Family’s Painful Past—and Why Her Ancestors’ Stories Give Her Hope

Martha S. Jones’ new memoir draws on genealogical research and memories shared by relatives

A fragment of the glass found within the skull of a college custodian in the Roman town of Herculaneum.

Vesuvius Turned a Roman Man’s Brain Into Glass. Now, Scientists Reveal How the Extremely Rare Preservation Happened

The remains of a young man, found in his bed in the destroyed town of Herculaneum, included glassy fragments that had mystified archaeologists

Lily Gladstone poses on the red carpet at the Academy Awards in March 2024.

See Lily Gladstone’s Stunning Oscar Gowns Designed by an Indigenous Artist

The two gowns were a collaboration between Gucci and a porcupine quillwork artist. Both are now on display at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches on November 18, 2024. Debris that recently landed in Europe came from a Falcon 9 launch this month.

SpaceX Rocket Stage Burns Up Over Europe and Crashes in Poland, While Blue Origin Debris Washes Ashore in the Bahamas

The SpaceX rocket failed to deorbit properly, and the Blue Origin debris had already landed as planned in the ocean

SATED can cook a perfectly crisp pizza in a low- to no-gravity environment.

Could This Space Oven Allow Astronauts to Finally Cook in Space?

An aerospace engineer has invented an appliance that can whip up quiches, pizzas and more in a zero-gravity environment

Are humans the only species to drive another to extinction?

Are Humans the Only Species to Drive Others to Extinction? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

This adult Rice's whale skull at the National Museum of Natural History is the only specimen of its kind.

Only 50 Rice’s Whales Are Left. Can We Do Enough to Protect Them Before It’s Too Late?

In 2021, researchers identified a new whale species and are now scrambling to save their natural habitat

A Harper's Weekly illustration of Confederate soldiers driving Black Americans south in 1862

Untold Stories of American History

After Confederate Forces Captured Their Children, These Black Mothers Fought to Reunite Their Families

During the Civil War, Confederates targeted free Black people in the North, kidnapping them to sell into slavery. After the conflict ended, two women sought help from high places to track down their lost loved ones

The Tesla Roadster and the mannequin "Starman" on the SpaceX Falcon Heavy upper stage, with Earth in background.

An Amateur Astronomer Seemingly Spotted a New Asteroid. It Turned Out to Be a Tesla in Space

The car, launched in 2018 on a SpaceX rocket’s upper stage, is one of many human-made objects in deep space that could potentially be mistaken for natural celestial bodies

A scanning electron microscope image shows sodium carbonates in a sample from the asteroid Bennu. Each needle is less than one micrometer wide by five to ten micrometers in length—for comparison, a human hair is about 100 micrometers wide.

Scientists Discover Traces of Salt Water and Building Blocks of Life in NASA’s Samples From the Asteroid Bennu

Two new papers describe hints to a brine-filled environment on the 4.5-billion-year-old space rock and the presence of amino acids, offering clues to how early Earth got its ingredients for life

Male giant panda Bao Li plays on a wooden climbing structure. Beginning on January 24, visitors to the National Zoo can finally see Bao Li and Qing Bao in person.

Pandamonium

The National Zoo’s Giant Pandas Are Finally Making Their Public Debut

Bao Li and Qing Bao, both 3 years old, are the latest black-and-white bears to call the nation’s capital home

An illustration of Prototaxites in the early Devonian landscape, roughly 400 million years ago.

Giant, Mysterious Spires Ruled the Earth Long Before Trees Did. What Exactly Are These Odd-Looking Fossils?

For more than 150 years, scientists have debated whether Prototaxites—which stood roughly 24 feet tall and 3 feet wide—were an early lichen or fungus, like a “giant mushroom”

Around the world, a wealth of new museums are also bringing art and culture, science and technology, and education and storytelling to the forefront.

Ten Must-See Museums Opening Around the World in 2025

New institutions dedicated to artificial intelligence, West African art, barbeque and more are expected to welcome visitors this year

Honoree Lonnie G. Bunch III, the 14th Secretary of the Smithsonian speaks on stage during National Archives Foundation Records of Achievement Award Ceremony and Gala 2023 at the National Archives Museum on December 4, 2023, in Washington, D.C. 

The Head of the Smithsonian Talks About America’s 250th, Why Experts Still Matter and What to Expect From the Institution in 2025

In an extensive interview, Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III spoke on the current political climate, the process of returning human remains from the Institution’s collections, the awe-inspiring scope of Smithsonian science and much more

An Olivetti Studio 46 typewriter that belonged to Octavia E. Butler. As the author recalled: "I wrote my first ten books on a manual typewriter."

In Her Inventive and Prescient Stories, Octavia Butler Wrote Herself Into the Science Fiction Canon

On her beloved typewriters, the literary legend mapped out a course for the future of the genre

A young chimpanzee looks on during an outing to an island in the Douala-Edea National Park in Cameroon, on December 15, 2024.

From Chimps Eating Medicinal Plants to Footprints Tracking Our Early Relatives, Here Are the Most Significant Human Evolution Discoveries of 2024

Smithsonian paleoanthropologists explore how the year brought us closer to understanding ancient human relatives and origins

James Earl Carter, Jr. by Robert Clark Templeton, 1980

The Lasting Legacy of Jimmy Carter, Dead at 100

Smithsonian curators remember and honor the 39th president’s uncompromising idealism

Timothée Chalamet as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown, a new James Mangold film

Based on a True Story

The Real Story Behind ‘A Complete Unknown’ and Bob Dylan’s Early Career, From His Arrival in New York City to When He ‘Went Electric’

A new film starring Timothée Chalamet tracks Dylan’s evolution from an acoustic folk singer to a rock ‘n’ roll superstar

Our most-read stories of the year featured photographer Vivian Maier, underwater caves in the Yucatán Peninsula, auroras and more.

Ten Top Smithsonian Stories of 2024, From a Mysterious Underground Chamber to Dazzling Auroras

The magazine’s most-read articles of the year included a close-up look at the adorable yet venomous pygmy slow loris, a profile of a little-known 20th-century street photographer and a majestic journey with divers into Mexico’s underwater caves

Monarch butterflies are well-known and beloved migratory pollinators in North America.

Monarch Butterflies Might Soon Be Listed as Threatened Under the Endangered Species Act

If a new proposal is adopted, the insects would become the most commonly seen species to be the subject of federal protection under this law

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