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Latest Features

A variety of plants and animals go through periods where they are dormant or in the dark.

SCIENCE

Move Over, Cicadas: These Living Things ‘Go Dark’ For a Long Time, Too

The law eventually caught up to the man of many names: Daniel Jackson Oliver Wendell Holmes Morgan.

HISTORY

The Fabulous Fabulist Lawyer Who Wasn’t, but Still Managed to Get a Man Off Death Row

The Ghost of a Fisherman, Tsukioka Kogyo, woodblock print, 1899

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Why Images of Ghosts Have Endured in Japan for Centuries

Built in 1917-1919, the St. Charles Air Line Bridge is one of the oldest in Chicago and has been designated a city landmark. It’s still in use for freight and cargo trains, and it lifts for boats and ships passing underneath.

TRAVEL

Marvel at These Bold, Beautiful Bridges

A multi-vortex tornado touches down on the town of Patricia, Texas.

SCIENCE

Ten Amazing Facts About Tornadoes, Explained

The cutter Douglas Munro and crew searching for illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing activity—including high seas drift-net fishing

SCIENCE

How A.I. Is Revolutionizing Marine Conservation

Charged with the 1974 theft of 19 masterpieces, Rose Dugdale entered a plea of “proudly and incorruptibly guilty.”

HISTORY

The English Heiress Who Masterminded a Multimillion-Dollar Art Heist and Built Bombs for the IRA

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TRAVEL

Tweak the Recipe of This Australian Biscuit, and You Can Get a Hefty Fine or Even Jail Time

Current Issue

Smithsonian magazine April/May 2024 issue cover

Most Popular

1.

At the Smithsonian

Why Images of Ghosts Have Endured in Japan for Centuries

A new exhibition at the National Museum of Asian Art displays haunting, colorful woodblock prints

2.

History

What Really Happened to Michael Rockefeller

A journey to the heart of New Guinea’s Asmat tribal homeland sheds new light on the mystery of the heir’s disappearance there in 1961

3.

Science

Ten Amazing Facts About Tornadoes, Explained

To prepare you for the movie “Twisters,” we’ve compiled some jaw-dropping details about the powerful phenomenon

4.

Smart News

A Rare Nova Explosion Will Soon Bring a 'New Star' to the Night Sky—How to Catch a Glimpse

In an event that occurs only once every 80 years, a distant remnant of a star will grow much brighter, briefly becoming visible to Earth

5.

Smart News

The 'World's Largest Wildlife Crossing' Will Help Animals Walk Safely Over Eight Lanes of California Traffic

The 210-foot-long bridge across a busy freeway in Los Angeles County is expected to be finished in 2025

Smithsonian Voices
National Portrait Gallery

National Portrait Gallery Announces Michael S. Hollander as New Board Chair

Smithsonian Associates

An Evening With Author Erik Larson and More Programs in May

Smithsonian Books

Where Is Everybody in Our Universe?

National Museum of Natural History

A Glowing Review: Meet the Museum Scientist Who Studies the Evolution of Bioluminescence in Corals

National Air and Space Museum

Reflections from a Vietnam War POW

National Museum of Natural History

Meet the Smithsonian Fellow Alumni Helping to Save the Planet

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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Ten Fun Facts About Jellyfish

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The Ultimate Skywatching Guide for Every Season

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The Best Small Towns to Celebrate Winter

Photo of the day

A baby elephant not yet aware of the dangers lurking in its world playfully carries a branch around. While the baby might not be aware the family is. And the matriarch stands close by and keeps a watchful eye out. Protection of a Family

History

The law eventually caught up to the man of many names: Daniel Jackson Oliver Wendell Holmes Morgan.

The Fabulous Fabulist Lawyer Who Wasn’t, but Still Managed to Get a Man Off Death Row

Take in the remarkable tale of the fake attorney best known as L.A. Harris, whose scams put him in trouble with the law in jurisdictions nationwide

Charged with the 1974 theft of 19 masterpieces, Rose Dugdale entered a plea of “proudly and incorruptibly guilty.”

The English Heiress Who Masterminded a Multimillion-Dollar Art Heist and Built Bombs for the IRA

Researchers Johan Rönnby and Rolf Warming examine the stern of the ship that sunk over 500 years ago off the coast of Sweden.

Weapon Chest With Tools for Making Ammunition Found in 500-Year-Old Shipwreck in Sweden

Science

A multi-vortex tornado touches down on the town of Patricia, Texas.

Ten Amazing Facts About Tornadoes, Explained

To prepare you for the movie “Twisters,” we’ve compiled some jaw-dropping details about the powerful phenomenon

The earthquake on March 27, 1964, dropped Anchorage’s Fourth Avenue and some cars on it roughly 20 feet below normal.

How the Great Alaska Earthquake Shook Up Science

Visitors left notes, photos and mementos at the base of an oak tree Flaco the Eurasian eagle-owl had favored after escaping from the Central Park Zoo. A memorial for Flaco was held there on March 3.

What Flaco the Owl’s Death Teaches Us About Making Cities Safer for Birds

Innovation

The Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station. Geothermal power has long been popular in volcanic countries like Iceland, where hot water bubbles from the ground.

Is Geothermal Power Heating Up as an Energy Source?

Long confined to regions with volcanic activity, the method of harnessing energy from the Earth promises to become much more versatile thanks to new technologies

"Change Your Game / Cambia tu juego" looks at scores of innovations that improve performance, ensure safety and more accurately score games.

From the JogBra to Gatorade to Breakaway Basketball Rims, Sports Are a Field for Invention

Antonia, one of the new black-footed ferret clones. The first black-footed ferret clone was born in 2020. The two new ferrets are the second and third successful clones.

Scientists Clone Two Black-Footed Ferrets From Frozen Tissues in Conservation Effort

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

Visitors to the Red Flat in Sofia, Bulgaria, immerse themselves in the lives of an average 1980s-era Bulgarian family.

How Museums in Central and Eastern Europe Tell the Complicated Story of Life Behind the Iron Curtain

Grassroots exhibitions popping up in Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Poland provide a window into ordinary lives during the communist era

Lofoten Islands, Norway

Northern Europe and the British Isles

Farmer Robert Tomlinson harvests forced rhubarb by candlelight on his farm in Pudsey, near Leeds in northern England, in January 2022. 

The English Farmers Who Harvest Rhubarb by Candlelight

At the Smithsonian

The Ghost of a Fisherman, Tsukioka Kogyo, woodblock print, 1899

Why Images of Ghosts Have Endured in Japan for Centuries

A new exhibition at the National Museum of Asian Art displays haunting, colorful woodblock prints

The bamboo octocoral Isidella sp. displaying bioluminescence in the Bahamas in 2009.

Glowing Sea Creatures Have Been Lighting Up the Oceans for More Than Half a Billion Years

Piles of coal sit in front of a power plant in Utah. Such coal-fired power plants emit greenhouse gases that drive climate change.

What Myths About the Anthropocene Get Wrong