See the Hilarious Animal Shenanigans Captured in Photos and Videos Shortlisted for the 2026 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

From a sneezing moose to a real-life angry bird, this year's competition received a whopping more than 10,000 entries from 112 countries

Margherita Bassi

A close-up view of a 1798 Gilbert Stuart portrait of Louis-Marie, Viscount de Noailles

History

The Marquis de Lafayette’s Brother-in-Law Participated in Three Revolutionary Wars, Supporting American Independence but Brutally Suppressing an Uprising by Enslaved Africans in Haiti

October 1, 2026

Smart News

Google Wants to Send Data Centers to Space—and Just Launched an Experimental Satellite to Test Whether Its Ambitious Plan Will Work

October 2, 2026

Dozens of Curious Artworks Created With Woven Strands of Human Hair Come to New York’s Morbid Anatomy Library

October 2, 2026

These Wild Lemurs Sing Just Like Opera Stars, Widening Their Mouths as They Hit the High Notes, Study Suggests

October 2, 2026

Scientists Discover Two New Species of Sea Spider in the Pacific Northwest—and They Look Like They Came Straight Out of a Horror Movie

October 2, 2026

An Arson Investigation Is Underway After a Suspected ‘Senseless Act of Vandalism’ Destroys a Newly Installed Benjamin Harrison Statue

October 2, 2026

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Latest Features

Pottery fragments from Etowah in Georgia, where people of the Mississippian culture built large earthen mounds

Science

Ancient Pottery Reveals the Earliest Known Traces of Chocolate East of the Mississippi, Painting a Picture of Connection in the Americas

October 2, 2026

A giant panda peers through the trees and gazes at the photographer at a nature reserve in China’s Qinling mountain range.

Science

These 15 Adorable Photos of Pandas Will Make You Want to Visit the Zoo Immediately

October 2, 2026

History

The Marquis de Lafayette’s Brother-in-Law Participated in Three Revolutionary Wars, Supporting American Independence but Brutally Suppressing an Uprising by Enslaved Africans in Haiti

October 1, 2026

With so many food products now touting added protein, consumers have been left wondering how much is really necessary.

Science

Is More Protein Always Better? Despite the Craze Around the Nutrient, Research-Backed Evidence About Its Benefits Is Complicated

September 30, 2026

All of the sites on the Shikoku Pilgrimage are associated with Kobo Daishi, a Japanese monk who lived during the ninth century and founded Shingon, a major school of Buddhism that focuses on the attainment of enlightenment during a practitioner’s lifetime.

Travel

Japan’s Smallest and Least-Populated Major Island Is a World of Pilgrimages, Delicious Food and Plenty of Forest Bathing

September 29, 2026

The Icebergs, Frederic Edwin Church, oil on canvas, 1861

At the Smithsonian

‘The Icebergs’ Is One of Frederic Edwin Church’s Most Spectacular Paintings. For Decades, No One Knew Where It Was

September 29, 2026

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

Give a Gift Renew

September/October 2026

Travel The Marvelous Museums of Mexico City

The ancient capital has plenty of artwork and fossils, if that’s what you like. Or tour the writing rooms of a Nobel winner, the fortified home of an exiled Russian revolutionary and towers of skulls

OPENER - A giant Atlantic cockle lies open on the beach in Fort Myers, Florida, while a beachcomber searches for shells in the background.

Science Who Dwells in a Shell?

Before they become sandy souvenirs, the baubles in the bubbles of the shoreline serve as a veritable fortress for creatures like clams, mussels and conchs

Innovation Solving the Long Covid Puzzle

Long Covid saps the strength and vitality of patients, who have little recourse to fight it. A team of specialists—including an afflicted researcher working mostly from her bed—is looking for answers

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Smart News

Two Thousand Years Ago, Julius Caesar Conquered the Settlement That Eventually Became Paris. Archaeologists May Have Just Found It

Smart News

Meet the Adorable and Tiny Tilcayo, the First Brand-New Cat Species Identified in More Than a Century

Smart News

Scientists Invent a Digestible, Paper-Based Battery That Can Power Swallowed or Implanted Medical Devices

History

How Lizzie Borden Got Away With Murder

Smart News

Researchers in Turkey Have Unearthed an Ancient Fragment Inscribed With the World’s Oldest Peace Treaty

Special Report

America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

A Smithsonian magazine special issue in celebration of the nation's 250th

View Full Report

Featured Stories

Arts & Culture

Georgia O’Keeffe Ignored Advice to Mimic Great European Masters. Her Goal Instead Was to Be a Great American Painter

O’Keeffe’s New Mexico studio Ghost Ranch. Opposite, a 1918 photo portrait by future husband Alfred Stieglitz.

History

Born in 1810, Margaret Fuller Was Labeled a Child Prodigy. She Later Used Her Intellect to Ask Important Questions About Women’s Role in America

A portrait of Fuller, inspired by her 1845 Woman in the Nineteenth Century, which argued for equality of the sexes. The book’s opening illustration featured mystical symbols of harmonizing opposites, including the Ouroboros, a snake eating its own tail.

History

The American Revolution’s Overlooked Influence? Physics. How ‘Common Sense’ Spelled Out Astronomical Expectations for a New Nation

After Isaac Newton, above, revolutionized celestial mechanics, admirers such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Paine, left, saw in Newton’s natural laws a model for democratic self-government.

Photo of the Day

"When the lens focuses on Xihai(west sea), an exquisite landscape painting unfolds gently before the eyes. Lushan Xihai is a treasure bestowed by nature—a flowing poem between heaven and earth, a silent painting rendered by the universe.

The lake’s surface, clear as a mirror, shimmers under the caress of sunlight, like thousands of scattered diamonds glistening on the water. Over 8,000 islands are dotted across the vast expanse like emeralds inlaid upon the azure canvas or jade pieces scattered under starlight. The Heart-shaped Island resembles a romantic verse written by nature itself; its naturally formed silhouette, adorned with lush trees and blooming flowers, whispers tales of love and tenderness. The ""Lone Tree in the Sea"" stands like a solitary sage between sky and water, weathering wind and rain, watching clouds gather and drift, silently witnessing the passage of time.

Ascending the Xihai Star Glass Tower feels like stepping into the clouds. Beneath transparent glass floors and amidst drifting mist, the panoramic view of countless islands unfolds. And as the sun sets, a grand symphony of light and water begins. The sun, like a gentle painter, brushes soft hues across the lake, while distant mountains embrace the water in a tranquil ink-wash scene. Then, the horizon ignites with brilliant twilight, bursting like magnificent fireworks, setting the entire lake ablaze with ripples that shimmer like a fallen galaxy.

At Xihai, every drop of water carries the rhythm of poetry, every island holds the blank space of a painting, and every glow of sunset is nature’s heartfelt confession—leaving one enchanted, reluctant to depart."

The Scenery of West Sea

By Zhanqi Li

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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.

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Latest Episodes

The Remarkable, Amazing Stories of Route 66 Reflect the Twists and Turns of 100 Years of Americana

April 23, 2026 | 34 minutes

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

History

Mysterious ‘Anomalies’ Have Been Detected Beyond King Tut’s Tomb. Could They Be Secret Passageways Leading to the Long-Lost Remains of Queen Nefertiti?

Geophysical surveys provide new evidence for a theory that the Egyptian pharaoh was interred in the outer rooms of an existing burial complex. Researchers are trying to get approval to investigate for themselves

September 25, 2026

Who Wrote Elizabeth I’s Most Scathing Letters? New Research Suggests the Tudor Queen’s Male Secretaries Revised Her Correspondence to Emphasize Her Temper

September 28, 2026

Hitler Had an Intense, Mysterious Relationship With His Half-Niece. New Research Suggests His Alibi for Her Murder Might Not Hold Up

September 25, 2026

More History

Science

Ancient Pottery Reveals the Earliest Known Traces of Chocolate East of the Mississippi, Painting a Picture of Connection in the Americas

A new archaeological discovery suggests that people in present-day Georgia have feasted with cacao for 1,000 years

October 2, 2026

Is More Protein Always Better? Despite the Craze Around the Nutrient, Research-Backed Evidence About Its Benefits Is Complicated

September 30, 2026

Archaeologists Are Reconstructing the ‘Invisible’ Technologies of the Stone Age, From Rope to Thread and Twine

September 21, 2026

More Science

Innovation

The story of the bedpan is about love and hate, germs and illness, dignity and shame, and, inherently, urine and feces.

The Humble History of the Bedpan

Over the past few centuries, inventors have tweaked the design of the receptacles here and there, but overall, not much has changed about the dependable medical supply

September 24, 2026