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Latest Features

Four lionesses enjoy a drink at a watering hole after a recent rain.

TRAVEL

Get a Taste of South Africa Through These 15 Photos of Stunning Wildlife and Vibrant Communities

A diving bell spider with a captured bug under the water

SCIENCE

These Funky Spiders Are Lurking by the Water

A Spectra Physics Model A supermarket scanner—one of the first ten ever produced. A laser within the unit projects a beam onto a mirror that redirects it through the glass plate on the top.

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

The Supermarket Scanner Changed the Way We Buy Groceries Forever

Left, Rita Moreno, the Puerto Rican actress who played Anita in the 1961 film West Side Story. Right, the Italian opera singer Giulia Grisi in the 1830s.

ARTS & CULTURE

An Absolutely Fabulous Celebration of History’s Greatest Divas

About 75 percent of Americans are expected to travel by car this summer.

TRAVEL

Seven of the Most Beautiful Roads in the United States

Looming large on Philadelphia’s Broad Street, a ten-foot-high statue—a gift to the city from the Pennsylvania Freemasons—shows young Benjamin Franklin at his printing press.

HISTORY

Benjamin Franklin Was the Nation’s First Newsman

Speleologists in metallurgical “cooling suits” emerge from the extreme heat of a lava tube formed by the eruption in 2021 of Mount Fagradalsfjall.

SCIENCE

Journey Into the Fiery Depths of Earth’s Youngest Caves

The city gate of Ariassos, one of several ancient cities connected by the Pisidia Heritage Trail in the Taurus Mountains.

TRAVEL

Hike Through Ancient Roman and Biblical History in Turkey’s Rugged Mountains

Current Issue

Smithsonian magazine April/May 2024 issue cover

Most Popular

1.

Smart News

Earth's Magnetic Field Nearly Collapsed 600 Million Years Ago. Then, Weird and Complex Life Evolved

A new study suggests more solar radiation reached Earth while the magnetic field weakened, leading to a rise in oxygen that drove an explosion of multicellular organisms during the Ediacaran Period

2.

Smart News

Scientists Are Investigating a Puzzling Underground 'Anomaly' Near the Giza Pyramids

Using remote-sensing technologies, researchers have discovered two connected structures in a previously unexplored area

3.

Travel

Seven of the Most Beautiful Roads in the United States

From Alaska to Florida, these serene and exhilarating stretches beg you to take the scenic route

4.

History

Who Was Yasuke, Japan's First Black Samurai?

In the late 16th century, the enigmatic warrior fought alongside a feudal lord dubbed the "Great Unifier"

5.

Smart News

Charles III Unveiled His First Official Portrait as King. Is It Too Red?

Artist Jonathan Yeo's nontraditional approach to royal portraiture has drawn mixed reactions

Smithsonian Voices
National Museum of American History

Forensic Science, History Day, a Latin Music Festival and More: Check Out These June Happenings

National Air and Space Museum

See Hundreds of Hot Air Balloons Soar Above the Ground at the Largest Event of Its Kind

Smithsonian Books

Explore Amazing Contributions Made by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders with Four Smithsonian Stories

National Museum of Natural History

Dusting Dinosaurs and Elephants: How Specialists Keep the Museum’s Largest Treasures Spotless

National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute

Inside the Zoo: How Staff Rallied for an Abandoned Baby Monkey

Smithsonian Education

Brown at 70: The Continued Pursuit Toward Equitable Education

See All

Special Report
Lofoten Islands, Norway

Northern Europe and the British Isles

Explore the region's history, culture and natural wonders

View Full Report

Featured Stories

The English Farmers Who Harvest Rhubarb by Candlelight

Hoyma Is Bringing Music Home in the Faroe Islands

Get an Eyeful of Iceland in These 15 Photos That Capture Its Natural Beauty

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Smithsonian Videos

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Ten Fun Facts About Jellyfish

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

The Ultimate Skywatching Guide for Every Season

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

The Best Small Towns to Celebrate Winter

Photo of the day

Small island nicknamed the Beehive in the British Virgin Islands as I look out through the palm trees and capture the boat, the ocean, the tree, the sky, the all-around beauty of what I was witnessing. The View

History

Alicia Vikander as Catherine Parr in Firebrand, an upcoming film from director Karim Aïnouz

Watch the Trailer for 'Firebrand,' a New Drama About Henry VIII's Sixth Wife, Catherine Parr

Karim Aïnouz’s film features Alicia Vikander and Jude Law as the Tudor queen and king

The London National Gallery will celebrate its 200th birthday on May 10, 2024.

At 200 Years Old, the London National Gallery Is Redefining What It Means to Be a 'National' Museum

The wreck of the Isabella and Newton Providence camp, as shown in Charles Barnard's narrative of his experiences in the Falklands, 1829

Why the Wartime Rescue of the Survivors of a British Shipwreck Ended in Betrayal

Science

A mother Siphonops annulatus with newborn babies.

Inside the Wild Ways Many Creatures Make Milk

Mammals aren’t the only animals that provide nutritious secretions for their young

A male western snowy plover stands guard over his nest. During breeding season, males tend to the chicks while females seek a new mate. 

How Scientists Are Protecting Plovers’ Beachfront Lifestyle

Bruce McCandless floats freely in space with Earth 170 miles beneath him.

The Inside Story of the First Untethered Spacewalk

Innovation

A Spectra Physics Model A supermarket scanner—one of the first ten ever produced. A laser within the unit projects a beam onto a mirror that redirects it through the glass plate on the top.

The Supermarket Scanner Changed the Way We Buy Groceries Forever

Invented 50 years ago, the curious box deciphered an arcane kind of code to offer shoppers a trip into the future

A protein-DNA interaction, modeled by AlphaFold 3.

Google Releases A.I. That Can Predict How the Human Body's Molecules Behave, Boosting Drug Discovery Research

This 2014 acrylic painting by Taralee Guild captures the glistening promise of a 1960s Airstream at Pismo Beach, California.

How the Airstream Hit the Open Road

Arts & Culture

American video artist Brian Fridge created a five-billboard series in Dallas called View Finder that portrayed a solar eclipse.

The Long History of Art Inspired by Solar Eclipses

For centuries, curious artists have been trying to make sense of the celestial event

An oak peacock moth lands on a window behind dancing wedding guests, illuminated in red light. This photograph won the category for butterflies and dragonflies.

See 11 Winning Images From the Close-Up Photographer of the Year Awards

The latest winner of a Japanese literary prize said she used ChatGPT to write parts of her novel.

ChatGPT Helped Write This Award-Winning Japanese Novel

Travel

About 75 percent of Americans are expected to travel by car this summer.

Seven of the Most Beautiful Roads in the United States

From Alaska to Florida, these serene and exhilarating stretches beg you to take the scenic route

Four lionesses enjoy a drink at a watering hole after a recent rain.

Get a Taste of South Africa Through These 15 Photos of Stunning Wildlife and Vibrant Communities

This 2014 acrylic painting by Taralee Guild captures the glistening promise of a 1960s Airstream at Pismo Beach, California.

How the Airstream Hit the Open Road

At the Smithsonian

Where do we get the seeds for seedless fruit?

Where Do We Get Seeds for Seedless Fruit? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

Camp III with Everest rising above the flank of Changtse mountain.

See Photos From the 1924 Mount Everest Expedition That Led to the Vanishing of Two Explorers

Sylvia Beach, Paul-Emile Bécat, oil on canvas, 1923

These American Women Left Their Country and Took Their Talents to Paris