Like Astrophage, the solar-radiation-eating microbes in Andy Weir’s novel Project Hail Mary, some sea slugs can derive energy from sunlight.

These Sea Slugs Can ‘Eat’ Sunlight—but They’re No Astrophage. Here’s How the ‘Project Hail Mary’ Antagonist Has a Real-Life Analogue in Earth’s Oceans

By snatching chloroplasts from algae, animals called sacoglossans produce their own energy through photosynthesis

Niamh Ordner

David Gilmour's famed guitar was also auctioned in 2019, when it sold for just under $4 million.

Smart News

This Iconic Pink Floyd Instrument Just Became the Most Expensive Guitar Ever Sold at Auction

March 18, 2026 6:00 a.m.

Smart News

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Vision for the Martin House Included Everything Inside It. See How Experts Recovered Furniture, Artworks and Decorative Glass

March 18, 2026 1:51 p.m.

Some Antibiotic Drugs Can Alter Your Gut Microbiome for Up to Eight Years, New Research Suggests

March 18, 2026 12:13 p.m.

Bull Sharks Are Large, Aggressive Predators—but They Also Know How to Make ‘Friends,’ New Research Suggests

March 18, 2026 10:00 a.m.

This Iconic Pink Floyd Instrument Just Became the Most Expensive Guitar Ever Sold at Auction

March 18, 2026 6:00 a.m.

These Mesmerizing Cave Paintings Were Discovered in 1901. Now, Archaeologists Finally Know When Some of Them Were Created

March 17, 2026 3:35 p.m.

More Smart News

Latest Features

Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama

Travel

Traveling Along the U.S. Civil Rights Trail

March 18, 2026 8:00 a.m.

An equestrian portrait of General Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, father of the novelist Alexandre Dumas

History

The Real Count of Monte Cristo Was Alexandre Dumas’ Father, a Trailblazing Black General

March 17, 2026

Arts & Culture

View 60 Captivating Finalists From the 23rd Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest. Then, Vote for Your Favorite!

March 16, 2026

A view of Mei Lanfang performing in 1930

Arts & Culture

Mei Lanfang Was Famous for His Masterful Performances as Female Leads. In the 1930s, He Introduced American Audiences to the World of Chinese Opera

March 13, 2026

A set of children’s building blocks (Anker-Steinbaukasten) that belonged to Albert Einstein

At the Smithsonian

Albert Einstein Played With These Building Blocks as a Child. Here’s How They Helped Shape His Magnificent Mind

March 13, 2026

The fire-loving fungus Geopyxis, seen here in 2022, after California’s Caldor Fire, has distinctive brown cups with white rims.

Science

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

March 13, 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

Smart News

Historians Say They’ve Discovered a Long-Lost Page From the Archimedes Palimpsest, a Treasure Trove of Rare Ancient Mathematical Treatises

Smart News

A Czech Man Used This Stone in His Barn’s Foundations. It Turned Out to Be a Rare Bronze Age Spearhead Mold

Smart News

Haunting Casts Preserving Pompeii Victims’ Final Moments 2,000 Years Ago Go on Display in a Solemn New Exhibition

History

The Real Count of Monte Cristo Was Alexandre Dumas’ Father, a Trailblazing Black General

Smart News

Typos Have Plagued Us for Centuries. Just Ask the Publishers Who Printed the Seventh Commandment as ‘Thou Shalt Commit Adultery’ in 1631

Special Report

Coastal Cities of Europe

Explore the history, culture and natural wonders of the continent's most celebrated ports

View Full Report

Featured Stories

Travel

Can Venice’s Iconic Crab Dish Survive Climate Change?

Crabs not yet at the molting stage are thrown back into the Venice lagoon.

History

Go Behind the Scenes at an Iconic Irish Library as Staff Move 700,000 Historical Treasures Into Storage

A bust of Plato in the Long Room at Trinity College Dublin

Travel

See Greece in All Its Gorgeous Glory

Brightly colored homes line the caldera in Santorini, a contrast to much of the blue-and-white motif.

Made Possible Through the Support of

Photo of the Day

Kayaking at Many Glacier in Glacier National Park

By Daniel Greene

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

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

The Tragedy of the Alps’ Disappearing Glaciers for Those That Live, Visit and Ski There

February 12, 2026 | 28 minutes

A Stunning Escape From Slavery Told on Tattered Pages

January 29, 2026 | 29 minutes

History

The Real Count of Monte Cristo Was Alexandre Dumas’ Father, a Trailblazing Black General

Ahead of the March 22 premiere of a new TV adaptation, learn about the life of Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the French Army officer who inspired the beloved novel

March 17, 2026