More than 95 percent of the world’s bergamot oil production is concentrated in Southern Italy’s Calabria region. But harsh conditions driven by climate change threaten that supply.

Earth’s Smells Are Disappearing Because of Climate Change, and It’s a Vast Cultural Loss

A triple threat of pollution, extinction and warming temperatures is altering the way the planet smells. Scientists are only beginning to understand the stakes for humans

Serena Jampel

The Mercer Botanic Gardens in Houston, Texas, has its own Shakespeare garden.

Travel

Shakespeare Gardens Around the World Honor the Playwright—and Hold Their Own Storied History

April 8, 2026 11:36 a.m.

Smart News

This Fossil Held the World Record for the Earliest Known Octopus. Turns Out, It’s Not an Octopus After All

April 8, 2026 5:07 p.m.

Archaeologists Didn’t Expect to Find Anything at This Site in England. Then, They Stumbled Upon a Roman Villa and a Bronze Artifact Dubbed ‘Norfolk Nessie’

April 8, 2026 1:47 p.m.

Freshwater Fish Migrations Are Disappearing Across the Planet, Finds UN Report

April 8, 2026 1:38 p.m.

Can Frida Kahlo Leave Mexico? Plans to Relocate a Trove of Paintings by the Famous Artist Spark a Heated Debate

April 8, 2026 12:11 p.m.

See the 2,000-Year-Old Ancient Roman Cargo From an Accidental Shipwreck Discovered at the Bottom of a Lake in Switzerland

April 8, 2026 10:31 a.m.

More Smart News

Latest Features

Travel

Shakespeare Gardens Around the World Honor the Playwright—and Hold Their Own Storied History

April 8, 2026 11:36 a.m.

Science

Earth’s Smells Are Disappearing Because of Climate Change, and It’s a Vast Cultural Loss

April 8, 2026 8:57 a.m.

The singer, actor and television host Dinah Shore touts big savings on the cover of the Sperry & Hutchinson Company’s 1963 Ideabook.

History

Customer Loyalty Was Once Measured in Green Stamps. And the More You Shopped, the Bigger the Rewards

April/May 2026

Roo Satay, a dish at Attica, in Melbourne, featuring a skewer of grilled red kangaroo and rice studded with native fruits and wattleseeds, which were traditionally ground into flour for bread.

Arts & Culture

How Australian Chefs and Farmers Are Rediscovering the Ingredients That Have Been There All Along

April/May 2026

Getting caught in the rain can be fatal for bees since they breathe through tiny openings in their exoskeleton.

At the Smithsonian

See the Amazing Images That Showcase the Short, Brilliant Lives of Honeybees Throughout the Seasons

April 7, 2026

Arts & Culture

‘The Queen of the Ghetto’ Gave New York’s Immigrant Community a Voice. A Century Later, It’s Re-emerging

April/May 2026

Uncovering the past. Understanding the present. Informing the future.

Give a Gift Renew

March 2026

OPENER - The Ennedi Natural and Cultural Reserve, in eastern Chad, encompasses 19,300 square miles of a vast sandstone plateau.

Science Shifting Sands

Petroglyphs on sandstone at a national park in Chad bear witness to wildlife that once roamed the area before the continent’s water largely receded 6,000 years ago. Could it return?

OPENER - Xin Ying, principal dancer with Martha Graham Dance Company, wears a costume from the 1948 ballet Diversion of Angels. Graham designed the dress, inspired by a splash of color in a Wassily Kandinsky painting.

Arts & Culture Modern Moves

Her choreography told stories in new ways and her collaborations with costume and stage designers changed the aesthetic of the art. Now, her dance company marks its first century

History Voice of Deception

As “Vicky With Three Kisses,” she strategically sweet-talked and sang to German troops over the airwaves of Europe. But Agnes Bernauer didn’t mean anything she was saying

Most Popular

At the Smithsonian

The Gunboat ‘Philadelphia’ Lasted One Day in Battle. It’s Still Telling Us About the Revolution 250 Years Later.

History

In a New Documentary, One of Britain’s Most Famous Historians Reframes the American Revolution as a ‘Messy Divorce’

History

To Finance Their Lifestyle, a Young French Couple Went to Cambodia to Steal Antiquities. They Did Almost Everything Wrong

Science

The La Brea Tar Pits Have Been Sucking in Visitors for Millennia. Paleontologists Are Still Finding Out What Lies Within the Ooze

Smart News

A Truck Driver Spent 20 Years Making This Astonishing Scale Model of Every Single Building in New York City

Special Report

Rooted in the American West: Food, History and Culture

This series will trace how the American West's identity has been shaped by its people, landscapes and legacies

View Full Report

Meet the Daredevils Chasing Down Speed Records at the Bonneville Salt Flats

Bonneville is one of the flattest natural runways on the planet, a surface so smooth and open that racers have been coming here for generations to see how far they can push the machines they build.

Made Possible Through the Support of

Photo of the Day

A cheetah stares intensely at another cheetah being released nearby on a misty morning in Mount Camdeboo Reserve, South Africa.

Predator

By Wiktoria West

Get the Photo of the Day directly to your inbox daily. Sign up for our daily newsletter.

Sign Up

Podcast

Smithsonian Podcast: There’s More to That

Smithsonian magazine covers history, science and culture in the way only it can — through a lens on the world that is insightful and grounded in richly reported stories. In There’s More to That, meet the magazine’s journalists and hear how they discover the forces behind the biggest issues of our time.

Listen In

Latest Episodes

A Photographer’s Glimpse Into the Dwindling World of the Cascade Red Fox

April 9, 2026 | 32 minutes

The Real Story Behind Abigail Adams’ ‘Remember the Ladies’ Letter

March 26, 2026 | 31 minutes

Venomous Snakes Represent a Serious Public Health Problem. Scientists Are Biting Back With a Groundbreaking Antidote

March 12, 2026 | 28 minutes

How to Fit 250 Years of American History and Culture Into One Map

February 26, 2026 | 30 minutes

History

An illustration of British General John Burgoyne addressing a group of his Native allies

Native Nations Fought in the American Revolution to Protect Their Ancestral Lands. After the War, Settlers Seized Their Territory Anyway

The conflict divided the six tribes of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, most of whom decided to join the British. The former allies clashed at the Battle of Oriskany in New York in 1777

April 3, 2026

What Did Ancient Pompeians Burn as Offerings to Their Gods? New Research Reveals the Surprising Answer

April 1, 2026

‘The King and I’ Spotlights an English Governess Who Modernized Siamese Society. The Real Anna Leonowens Exaggerated Her Influence and Lied About Her Origins

March 27, 2026

More History

Science

Earth’s Smells Are Disappearing Because of Climate Change, and It’s a Vast Cultural Loss

A triple threat of pollution, extinction and warming temperatures is altering the way the planet smells. Scientists are only beginning to understand the stakes for humans

April 8, 2026 8:57 a.m.

Purple Martins Rely on Human ‘Landlords’ to Provide Nest Boxes Each Spring. Can That Dynamic Last?

April 3, 2026

The La Brea Tar Pits Have Been Sucking in Visitors for Millennia. Paleontologists Are Still Finding Out What Lies Within the Ooze

April/May 2026

More Science

Innovation

Microplastics pose a growing global concern as they infiltrate not just the environment but also humans and animals.

This High School Student Invented a Filter That Eliminates 96 Percent of Microplastics From Drinking Water

Virginia teenager Mia Heller’s filtration system harnesses the power of ferrofluid, a magnetic oil that binds to microplastics in flowing water

March 20, 2026

As the Planet Warms, a Humble Sea Bean Is Proving to Be a Promising Superfood

March 10, 2026

These Charcoal-Eating Fungi Flourish After Fires. Uncovering Their Genetic Secrets Could Help Rebuild Burned Ecosystems

March 13, 2026

More Innovation

Travel

A History of Momo, the Dumpling That Defines Nepali Cuisine

Though its exact origins are unknown, the staple is widely traced back to trade with Tibet

March 24, 2026

Traveling Along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

March 18, 2026

View Australia’s Wonderful Wildlife, Including Kangaroos, Koalas and Crocs, With These 15 Photographs

March 20, 2026

More Travel

Arts & Culture

A Van Gogh Pikachu Pokémon card, on January 14, 2026, in Los Angeles, California

Nintendo Released Its First ‘Pokémon’ Games 30 Years Ago. Here’s How the Beloved Catchable ‘Pocket Monsters’ Became the World’s Biggest Media Franchise

The phenomenon—with its video games, trading cards, shows, movies and merchandise—has generated billions in revenue

February 27, 2026

The Layered History of Koshary, Egypt’s Most Beloved Street Food

February 26, 2026

A Woman Found a Folder in a Drawer. When She Opened It, She Discovered 35 Forgotten Rembrandt Etchings

February 26, 2026

More Arts & Culture

At the Smithsonian

Gertrude Lawrence as Anna Leonowens and Yul Brynner as Mongkut in the 1951 Broadway production of The King and I. The musical turns 75 on March 29.

‘The King and I’ Spotlights an English Governess Who Modernized Siamese Society. The Real Anna Leonowens Exaggerated Her Influence and Lied About Her Origins

The beloved musical is loosely based on a Eurasian schoolteacher’s accounts of her time at King Mongkut’s court. These memoirs masked her mixed-race status and unfairly portrayed the monarch as a tyrant

March 27, 2026