Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Trending Today

Tokyo is the world's largest city...for now.

Age of Humans

Five Things to Know About Megacities

Urbanization is happening fast—here’s what to know about the world’s largest cities

OceanOne is designed to work alongside human divers.

Trending Today

A “Merbot” Retrieved Artifacts From Louis XIV’s Sunken Flagship

The humanoid diving robot could help researchers explore fragile wrecks from the surface of the sea

Five tribes fought for 20 years to have Kennewick Man recognized as Native American.

Trending Today

Over 9,000 Years Later, Kennewick Man Will Be Given a Native American Burial

Five Native American nations will join together to bury his remains

The ruins of the ancient city of Palmyra after it was recaptured by the Syrian army in March.

Trending Today

Unesco: Don’t Worry, Palmyra Is Still Authentic

The ancient city may have been destroyed, but it is still a treasured cultural site

Protestors sit outside a local town hall.

Trending Today

Indian Artists Are Protesting a Private Takeover of a Public Art Gallery

Local artists want the Venkatappa Art Gallery to stay public

Builders work on the Chernobyl New Safe Confinement arch in April 2016. Once complete, the massive arch will be slid over the reactor's current concrete sarcophagus.

Trending Today

Thirty Years Later, a Gigantic Arch Is Set to Cover Chernobyl

The New Safe Confinement is one of history’s most ambitious engineering projects—and it comes not a moment too soon

A CMS collision event as seen in the built-in event display on the CERN Open Data Portal.

Trending Today

Explore 300 Terabytes of CERN Data Now Free to Download

CERN’s latest data dump includes raw information from the Large Hadron Collider

Trending Today

Marijuana Advocates Want to Establish a Standard Unit of Highness

What’s the weed equivalent to an alcoholic drink?

Prince designed and used this 1989 custom-made Yellow-cloud electric guitar, built by the Minneapolis firm Knut-Koupee. It features his personal symbol at the top and on the side of the fingerboard.

Trending Today

Beyond Raspberry Berets: What Prince Left Behind

From portraits to guitars, The Artist’s legacy lives on at the Smithsonian

A whiff of formaldehyde makes Damien Hirst's art even more controversial.

Trending Today

Damien Hirst’s Artworks May Leak Formaldehyde Gas

Where does art end and hazard begin?

Melani, a 15-year-old Sumatran tiger, was rescued from the Surabaya Zoo in 2013 after becoming ill due to tainted meat. However, she died the year later. Rama, another Sumatran tiger at the zoo, died this week of heart failure.

Trending Today

How Indonesia’s “Death Zoo” Got Its Grisly Reputation

Will Rama the tiger’s demise prompt action at a zoo known for its filthy, overcrowded conditions?

For the first time in hundreds of years, some seders might include rice and beans.

Trending Today

For the First Time in 800 Years, Rice and Beans Are Kosher for Passover

The Jewish Conservative movement relaxes a 13th-century ban on rice, corn and beans during Passover

Flint River, Flint, Michigan.

Trending Today

Three People Hit With Criminal Charges Over Flint Water Crisis

Two state officials and a city employee are the first to be charged in connection with the Flint water crisis

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake decimated entire cities in northern Ecuador.

Trending Today

Help First Responders in Ecuador Without Leaving Your Desk

Scour satellite imagery of earthquake-stricken areas to help aid agencies decide where to go next

Organizers hope a new mini golf course will start a conversation about how gentrification affects Los Angeles' poorest residents.

Trending Today

Los Angeles’ Skid Row Is Getting a Golf Course

It’s a hole-in-one for performers with a point to make about gentrification

Trending Today

Supreme Court Declines to Hear Copyright Challenge to Google Books

By turning down the case, the Supreme Court made a stand for fair use

"Prague, Czechia" has a ring to it, doesn't it?

Trending Today

The Czech Republic Wants to Change Its Name

Welcome to “Czechia”

The leaders of the March on Washington link arms.

Trending Today

Lawyers Who Made the Birthday Song Public Domain Take Aim at Civil Rights Anthem

A group of filmmakers want to remove the copyright from “We Shall Overcome”

In remote northern Ontario, a First Nation is in crisis.

A Canadian First Nation Community Is in the Grips of a Suicide Crisis

Eleven suicide attempts took place in Attawapiskat First Nation on Saturday alone

Page 56 of 128