Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Water Transportation

The sewer museum in Paris.

Urban Explorations

Urine for a Treat With a Tour of These Five Sewer Systems

Tunnels, drains and other wastewater structures to explore, from ancient Rome to present-day New York

Screen shot of video "Global ship traffic seen from space - FleetMon Satellite AIS and FleetMon Explorer"

Cool Finds

See Shipping Traffic Move Through Straits Around the World

A visualization shows a week’s worth of vessel movement

A critically endangered European eel.

New Research

Eels Are Victims of Noise Pollution

Critically endangered European eels get distracted by man-made noise, making them more likely to get eaten by a predator

The Costa Concordia, refloated.

Trending Today

The Wrecked Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Is Finally Being Towed Away

The ship’s remains will be broken down for scrap metal

Cool Finds

In Wales, Traveling by Dragon Is Now an Option, According to Google Maps

You can also commute by carriage or Loch Ness monster, depending on your location in the U.K.

Nicaragua stands to lose around one million acres of rainforest and wetlands if the new canal is built.

New Research

Nicaragua Plans to Bisect the Country With a Massive Canal

The canal would cause “tragic devastation” to both the country’s natural heritage and indigenous communities, scientists say

Justin DeShields (left) and Bryan Morales, shown near of the Santo Tomas Valley, are venturing north to south down the Baja California peninsula. The Californians have gone about one-third of the way since early February.

Faces From Afar: Through Wild Desert and Urban Shantytowns, Two Men Walk the Baja Peninsula

Armed with food, water and a surfboard, two young Americans leave the comfort of home to walk and paddle the length of the Baja California peninsula

None

What Makes the Trout in Ecuador Look Like Salmon?

Aiming to catch a few trout for dinner, the author decides to try his luck at one of the region’s many “sport fishing” sites

This sign just north of Tumbes is a clear sign, if the mangroves aren’t, that one is entering the muggy, and in some ways dangerous, tropics.

Ecuador, Land of Malaria, Iguanas, Mangoes and Mountains

The author leaves Peru behind and crosses into Ecuador, where he encounters his first sign of a mosquito

None

What to Eat—or Not—in Peru

The ceviche carts and meat grills are colorful pieces of scenery, but eating a cherimoya or a sweet and starchy lucuma could be the truest taste of Peru

None

Where to Watch the Biggest Waves Break

From Waimea Bay to “Mavericks,” here are some superb sites to watch surfers catch the biggest breakers in the world this winter

It took many, many long sea voyages and much tedious charting to produce the first crude maps of the world. Today, travelers are increasingly abandoning even the best maps in favor of electronic navigation devices.

Have GPS Devices Taken the Fun out of Navigation?

With the rise of the digital age, the fascinating skills of map reading and celestial navigation are becoming lost arts

None

The Meals That Starving Travelers Dream Of

Daydreaming of food is a tradition as old as the saga of man versus wild. What would you wish to eat if you were starving in a tent or a dinghy at sea?

Thailand’s dreamy James Bond Island was featured in the 1974 film The Man with the Golden Gun and first brought fame to what is now a popular tourist destination.

Marking 50 Years of Luxurious Travel With James Bond

Since 1962, the films have introduced the world to all sorts of exotic, jaw-dropping destinations

Oregon travelers Lindsay Gasik and Rob Culclasure, shown here in Penang, Malaysia, are currently in Southeast Asia on a nonstop year-long hunt for fresh durians.

Faces From Afar: Two Oregonians on the Hunt for Exotic Durians

Meet Lindsay Gasik and Rob Culclasure, who are spending a year of their lives in Southeast Asia feasting on the bizarre fruit

None

Six Things to Do and Places to See Before Climate Change Swamps the Party

Get out and view a wild polar bear and visit Tuvalu and other low-lying islands while you have a chance

In Mendocino County’s backwoods redwood country, litterbugs drink both Bud Light as well as the locally brewed, locally loved beers of Anderson Valley Brewing Company.

An Unofficial Guide to the Breweries of California’s North Coast

From the Anderson Valley Brewing Company to the irreverent Lagunitas brewpub, in Petaluma, here are several breweries worth pedaling for

None

The Best Backroad Bike Rides of the California North Coast

Cycling the West Coast is easy, whether you’re riding from Canada to Mexico or Portland to San Francisco

Sunset just south of Humbug Mountain, where Spanish explorer Sebastian Vizcaino laid the first European eyes in 1603.

At a Glance: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the Oregon Coast

The coastal Highway 101 route, through rainforest and redwoods, is as beautiful as it is popular

None

Shark Week Proves We Are Fascinated by Sharks, So Why Do We Kill So Many of Them?

Around the world, these animals command a strange sort of fascination in their human admirers—an urge to see, learn and encounter, but also to kill

Page 10 of 12