Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Trending Today

None

Singapore’s “National Night” Encourages Citizens to Make Babies

Singapore’s “unbelievably low birthrates” have inspired “National Night,” a campaign to encourage Singaporean couples to “let their patriotism explode” on August 9.

None

Landing Curiosity on Mars was Way Harder and Way Less Expensive than the Olympics

Landing a car-sized rover on a distant planet using a sky crane is really hard, and really awesome.

Artist rendering of Curiosity cruising the Martian surface

How to Follow Every Second of the Curiosity Mars Mission

The Curiosity lander sets down in just a few days, and here’s who to follow on Twitter in anticipation

For Soldiers, Sperm Banking Could Be the New Flack Jacket

Soldiers arriving home with missing or mutilated genitals have drown attention to the lack of government support for in vitro fertilization

India’s northwestern boundary with neighboring Pakistan is so brightly lit that the thin orange line tracing its path can be seen from space.

How An Unholy Alliance of Unusual Weather and Scarce Coal Nuked India’s Power Grid

Power grids supplying both the northern and eastern parts of India went down, throwing 620 million people, or 8.9% of the world population into darkness

A poster for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad hangs in Damascus.

If Syria Uses Chemical Weapons, Here’s How They’ll Work

Amidst the turmoil of an ongoing civil war, Syrian President al-Assad has been threatening to use chemical weapons if faced with international intervention

World’s First Test Tube Baby Turns 34 Today

On this day 34 years ago, Louise Brown, the first “test tube baby,” was welcomed into the world

Today's Google Doodle celebrates Amelia Earhart's birthday.

Amelia Earhart, Fashionista

A few highlights of coverage celebrating Amelia Earhart’s 115th birthday

Today’s the Shared Anniversary of Ruin Porn Poster Children Detroit, Machu Picchu

July 24th marks double jackpot for the intrepid explorers of years past as well for as fans of the latest photographic trend, “ruin porn.”

3 Ways Emergency Preparedness Is Like Wedding Planning

Last week, the CDC released its Wedding Day Survival Plan, a document which reads like a natural disaster preparedness checklist

$2 Million in Ivory Seized From Manhattan Jewelers

Two New York City jewelers, caught with $2 million worth of illegal ivory, plead guilty to charges of commercializing wildlife

An American flag waving in Andover, Maine. This was the first video ever transmitted by commercial satellite.

Fifty Years Ago, Lyndon Johnson Answered the First Satellite Phone Call

Telstar 1, which launched 50 years ago today, was the world’s first commercial satellite, and a testament to government-industry cooperation

More than 18,000 acres burned in Waldo Canyon.

Here’s What $110 Million in Fire Damage Looks Like

The Waldo Canyon fire in Colorado was the most destructive in the state’s history

Karl Marx

Marxism Is Cool Again

None

North Carolina Rep Pushes Wrong Button and Approves Fracking in the State

Fracking can go ahead in North Carolina, all because one tired legislator pushed the wrong button

Page 126 of 128