Get the latest from Smithsonian magazine in your inbox every weekday.

Latest Features

This fossil palm leaf (Sabalites sp.) found in Alaska can be seen in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Sixty million years ago, dense, wet forests covered North America, and many plants, including palms, grew in places such as Alaska where temperatures are too frigid for them today. A new study published in Science gives scientists a picture of when the Earth was warm and when it was cool over the past 485 million years.

SCIENCE

In a Landmark Study, Scientists Discover Just How Much Earth's Temperature Has Changed Over Nearly 500 Million Years

Blossom Time, Willard Metcalf, oil on canvas, 1910

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

How Century-Old Paintings Reveal the Indigenous Roots and Natural History of New England Landscapes

A lead canister carrying the fuel rods from the U.S. Army’s Camp Century nuclear reactor in Greenland, during decommissioning in 1960s.

SCIENCE

The Odd Arctic Military Projects Spawned by the Cold War

An 1860 photo of New-York Tribune editor Horace Greeley, who challenged President Ulysses S. Grant in the 1872 election

HISTORY

This Defeated Presidential Candidate, Once the 'Best-Known Man in America,' Died in a Sanatorium Less Than a Month After Losing the Election

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz eloped in 1940. Eleven years later, “I Love Lucy” premiered on CBS, and they would become one of the most iconic couples for decades to follow.

TRAVEL

Desi Arnaz Is Getting a Much-Deserved Historical Marker in Miami Beach

Fossil teeth are quite abundant in Southwest Florida.

TRAVEL

Four Places to Find Fossilized Shark Teeth in the United States

None

ARTS & CULTURE

The Madcap History of Mad Magazine Will Unleash Your Inner Class Clown

Sarah Emma Edmonds is often credited as one of the handful of hidden female fighters who participated in the Battle of Antietam. But her account doesn’t match up with the historical record.

HISTORY

This Female Civil War Soldier Participated in the Bloodiest Battle in American History and Spied on the South—or Did She?

Current Issue

Smithsonian magazine September/October 2024 issue cover

Most Popular

1.

Smart News

An 11-Year-Old Boy Rescued a Mysterious Artwork From the Dump. It Turned Out to Be a 500-Year-Old Renaissance Print

Experts have confirmed that the image of "Knight, Death and the Devil" is a real master engraving by the renowned German artist Albrecht Dürer

2.

Smart News

Archaeologists Say They've Solved the Mystery of a Lead Coffin Discovered Beneath Notre-Dame

New research suggests the sarcophagus' occupant, previously known only as "the horseman," is Joachim du Bellay, a French Renaissance poet who died in 1560

3.

Smart News

Georgia O'Keeffe's Breathtaking New York City Paintings Are Finally Getting the Attention They Deserve

The artist's cityscapes, once dismissed as too masculine, would later influence the floral artworks that became central to her iconic style

4.

Travel

Four Places to Find Fossilized Shark Teeth in the United States

Sharks have been losing teeth for 400 million years. Here’s a guide to uncovering some of these plentiful fossils across the country

5.

Travel

Desi Arnaz Is Getting a Much-Deserved Historical Marker in Miami Beach

The Cuban-American actor and producer has stars on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, but this new honor pays tribute to his start as a musician in South Florida

Smithsonian Voices
Smithsonian Books

How the Constitution Was Drafted With Hope and Compromise

National Museum of Natural History

Fetching Fossils and Unwrapping Mannequins: Here’s What Happens When a Museum Exhibition Closes

Smithsonian Education

Creativity and Co-Creation Bring Local Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Histories to the Classroom

National Museum of American History

Smithsonian Artifacts Reveal the Historical Significance of Presidential Debates

National Museum of Natural History

Across the Smithsonian, Researchers are Working Together to Save Virginia’s Birds

National Museum of Natural History

Searching for Earth's Oldest Rocks: Follow a Smithsonian Expedition to the Remote Northwest Territories

See All

Special Report
None

Our Sustainable Future

A hub dedicated to the latest on how global change affects life on Earth today and on what solutions scientists, including those at the Smithsonian, are researching to build a more sustainable planet

View Full Report

Featured Stories

In Miami, the Nation’s First Chief Heat Officer Charts a Course for Surviving on a Warming Planet

Inside the Effort to Save Earth's Biocrusts

Can the Noise in Sports Arenas Be Turned Into Electricity?

  image   image

Smithsonian Videos

Preview thumbnail for video 'The Ultimate Skywatching Guide for Every Season

The Ultimate Skywatching Guide for Every Season

Play
Preview thumbnail for video 'The Best Small Towns to Celebrate Winter

The Best Small Towns to Celebrate Winter

Preview thumbnail for video 'The Best Small Towns to Celebrate Fall

The Best Small Towns to Celebrate Fall

Photo of the day

A woman is arranging bamboo into pile of bamboo, the photo was taken in a traditional village in Bac Ninh province, Vietnam. Bamboo Worker

History

Sarah Emma Edmonds is often credited as one of the handful of hidden female fighters who participated in the Battle of Antietam. But her account doesn’t match up with the historical record.

This Female Civil War Soldier Participated in the Bloodiest Battle in American History and Spied on the South—or Did She?

Historians say that Sarah Emma Edmonds exaggerated many aspects of her wartime experiences. Still, she bravely served in the Union Army, becoming one of hundreds of women who fought in the conflict in secret

The ring was found on the floor of a Pictish house near Scotland's northern coast.

Volunteer Discovers 1,000-Year-Old Ring on the Last Day of an Excavation in Scotland

A Victorian era depiction of the Battle of Stirling Bridge, which took place on September 11, 1297

How William Wallace of 'Braveheart' Fame Defeated the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge

Science

A young blackpoll warbler with a NanoTag on Borgles Island, Nova Scotia

Tiny Trackers Are Revealing the Secret Lives of Tens of Thousands of Birds

The Motus Wildlife Tracking System has put nearly 50,000 incredibly lightweight radio transmitters on birds, bats and insects. We caught up with an ornithologist to learn more about where these creatures are flying

Intense flooding continued on August 7, after the sudden draining of a glacial lake near the Mendenhall River in Juneau, Alaska.

When a Glacial Dam Burst, an Alaskan Town Was Hit With a Sudden Flood

The vagus nerve sprawls from the brain through the body, innervating our organs and managing life support and emotion.

Everything You Wanted to Know About the Longest Nerve in the Body

Innovation

Divers saw nine species of game fish and soft coral starting to grow on the submerged cars last month.

No Longer Full of Commuters, Atlanta's Old Subway Cars Are Now Filled With Fish

Two Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority railcars were added to an artificial reef off the coast of Georgia to create more wildlife habitat

Kids cool down at an animal-themed splash pad at Zoo Miami. Mist stations also help visitors avoid overheating on sweltering days.

In Miami, the Nation’s First Chief Heat Officer Charts a Course for Surviving on a Warming Planet

Robotic kitchens aren’t on homemakers’ must-have lists yet, but they are starting to gain traction in restaurants.

Robots Are Coming to the Kitchen. What Does This Mean for Everyday Life?

Arts & Culture

A self-portrait taken in New York by Vivian Maier in 1954

Meet Vivian Maier, the Reclusive Nanny Who Secretly Became One of the Best Street Photographers of the 20th Century

The self-taught artist is getting her first museum exhibition in New York City, where she nurtured her nascent interest in photography

The Museum of Perfume, presented by Paris’ Fragonard Perfumery, is dedicated to exploring the methodology and history behind perfume making.

Museums in Paris That Surprise and Delight, From Medical History to Magic to Marie Curie

The weapons are adorned with gold and silver designs and an engraved image of Napoleon.

Napoleon's Elaborately Decorated Pistols Sell for $1.8 Million at Auction

Travel

Fossil teeth are quite abundant in Southwest Florida.

Four Places to Find Fossilized Shark Teeth in the United States

Sharks have been losing teeth for 400 million years. Here’s a guide to uncovering some of these plentiful fossils across the country

The color-coded map shows predictions for each week between September 2 and November 18.

This Map Lets You See When Magnificent Fall Foliage Will Peak in Your Area

The miniature cakes, which fit in the palm of a hand, are most commonly made with a thin pastry layer encasing a dense filling of sweetened red beans, melon purée or mixed nuts.

The Rebellious History of Mooncakes, the Note-Passing Dessert That Liberated China

At the Smithsonian

Bokmakierie's nest and eggs from the collection of the Natural History Museum at Tring

See the Wonders of Bird Engineering in These Photos of Intricate Nests

In a new book, a curator at England's Natural History Museum describes rare and interesting nests and eggs—from the house sparrow to the village weaver—and the lessons they hold for avian conservation

Gambel oak branchlet

This Massive New Guidebook Will Forever Change the Way You Look at Trees

Station VI: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus, Bruce Onobrakpeya, linoleum block print on rice paper, 1969

After Nigerian Independence, One Renowned Artist Made Jesus a West African Savior in His Vibrant Work