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After finding cold seeps on the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean, scientists collected samples of the sediment, which sometimes rested more than 1,000 feet below the surface.

The Race for Hydrogen Fuel Has Taken These Scientists to the Arctic Seafloor. But Can They Unlock Its Secrets Before It’s Too Late?

On challenging expeditions, researchers have collected deep-sea bacteria that naturally produce hydrogen, exploring and documenting an ancient ecosystem that may soon be altered forever

The archaeologists were thrilled when they found the human remains.

Archaeologists Searching for Evidence of a Norse Church in Greenland Have Found ‘the Smoking Gun’ Near Erik the Red’s Settlement

October 20, 2026 7:00 a.m.

Smart News

A Rhode Island Man Grew the First Pumpkin to Surpass 3,000 Pounds. The Gargantuan Gourd Is the Largest Fruit Ever

October 20, 2026 5:20 p.m.

Sick Corals Can Heal With the Help of a ‘Magic Touch’ From Healthy Ones, Offering Hope for Heat-Damaged Marine Ecosystems

October 20, 2026 2:56 p.m.

A Vast New Database Shows How Britain Built a Global Empire by Trading Goods Like Coal, Wine and Wood Closer to Home

October 20, 2026 2:34 p.m.

The World’s Tallest Trees Seem to Struggle to Make Their Own Food During Heat Waves, Leaving Them Vulnerable as the World Warms

October 20, 2026 12:00 p.m.

This Dog Learned to Sniff Out a Slimy Marine Invader Called ‘Sea Vomit’—a Skill That Earned Her the Animal of the Year Award

October 20, 2026 10:00 a.m.

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Latest Features

After finding cold seeps on the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean, scientists collected samples of the sediment, which sometimes rested more than 1,000 feet below the surface.

The Race for Hydrogen Fuel Has Taken These Scientists to the Arctic Seafloor. But Can They Unlock Its Secrets Before It’s Too Late?

October 20, 2026 8:00 a.m.

The Spanish invite-only club Behomm, founded in 2013, is aimed at creatives. Some of the featured homes, like this one in Porto, Portugal, would sit comfortably in the pages of Elle Décor.

How a Bunch of Broke Teachers Created a Hot New Way to Vacation

October 19, 2026

Two sperm whales come to the surface in the waters off Black River district in Mauritius on October 3, 2026

At the Smithsonian

In the New Movie ‘Whalefall,’ a Cetacean Swallows a Diver Whole. The Sperm Whale’s Remarkable Anatomy and Feeding Habits Shape the Survival Thriller

October 16, 2026

Dams block the flow of a river to hold water in a reservoir, which can be used for agriculture, recreation, household needs or industry. The flow of water through a dam can generate hydroelectric power. Aging dams are being dismantled across the country, restoring the natural flow to rivers.

Dam Removals Are Bringing Fish Back Across the Northeastern United States, Striking Down One Tiny Barrier at a Time

October 16, 2026

Physician Joseph Bell (left) inspired Sherlock Holmes (center, as portrayed by actor Basil Rathbone), the detective created by writer Arthur Conan Doyle (right).

Arthur Conan Doyle Based Sherlock Holmes on a Real-Life Scottish Surgeon Who Used Deduction to Diagnose Patients and Investigate Crimes

October 16, 2026

Colorful coral flourish in New Caledonia, a French territory off the east coast of Australia, near a cliff overlooking beautiful, clear waters.

These 15 Photos Showcase the Intensely Brilliant Colors of Coral Reefs and the Creatures That Live Among Them

October 16, 2026

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

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Smithsonian magazine September/October 2026 issue cover

September/October 2026

Anahuacalli Museum-Opener

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

A sample of cerebrospinal fluid

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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At the Smithsonian

In the New Movie ‘Whalefall,’ a Cetacean Swallows a Diver Whole. The Sperm Whale’s Remarkable Anatomy and Feeding Habits Shape the Survival Thriller

A Family of Barn Owls Has Moved Into New York City’s Upper West Side, Perhaps the First to Nest in Manhattan in Modern History

What Really Happened to Michael Rockefeller

Microplastics Have Been Linked With Myriad Human Health Problems. Scientists May Have Finally Figured Out How They Harm the Body

A Community-Led Archaeology Dig on a Tiny Scottish Isle Has Unearthed a Medieval Monastery of ‘International Importance’

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America at 250: The Revolutionary Spark

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

View Full Report

Featured Stories

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.

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.

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

Fishing boats line the shoreline in Tanzania on a quiet afternoon, viewed from above as they rest in the shallow coastal waters.

Fishing Boats

By Wiktoria West

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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.

Latest Episodes

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

April 23, 2026 | 34 minutes

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

April 9, 2026 | 32 minutes

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

March 26, 2026 | 31 minutes

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

March 12, 2026 | 28 minutes

History

A coin bearing the likeness of the fourth-century C.E. Western Roman emperor Magnus Maximus, overlaid atop a page from a medieval manuscript of the Mabinogion

Legend Has It That This Roman Emperor Established a Camp in Wales. A Newly Discovered Fort May Offer Proof That It Really Existed

An archaeologist has uncovered an ancient fortification linked to Magnus Maximus, a fourth-century ruler who is immortalized in the medieval “Mabinogion” stories as Macsen Wledig

October 16, 2026

This Soldier Kept a Diary in the Trenches of World War I. A Child Found It at the Dump Decades Later, Pierced by a Bullet and Stained With Blood

October 15, 2026

Arthur Conan Doyle Based Sherlock Holmes on a Real-Life Scottish Surgeon Who Used Deduction to Diagnose Patients and Investigate Crimes

October 16, 2026

Science

After finding cold seeps on the seafloor of the Arctic Ocean, scientists collected samples of the sediment, which sometimes rested more than 1,000 feet below the surface.

The Race for Hydrogen Fuel Has Taken These Scientists to the Arctic Seafloor. But Can They Unlock Its Secrets Before It’s Too Late?

On challenging expeditions, researchers have collected deep-sea bacteria that naturally produce hydrogen, exploring and documenting an ancient ecosystem that may soon be altered forever

October 20, 2026 8:00 a.m.

Dam Removals Are Bringing Fish Back Across the Northeastern United States, Striking Down One Tiny Barrier at a Time

October 16, 2026

Five Discoveries That Changed Our Understanding of T. Rex Forever, From Warm Blood to Lips

October 7, 2026

Innovation

The user, if pregnant, will feel raised bumps on both sides of the flat lollipop—a reaction to hCG, a hormone that the body produces during pregnancy.

This Lollipop Could Help Blind Women Independently Detect Pregnancy

Design student Sneha Rao is developing Tact, an edible pregnancy test that allows people with vision impairment to feel its results on their tongues

October 6, 2026

The Humble History of the Bedpan

September 24, 2026

This Brain Implant Allows People With Paralysis to Speak and Gesture at the Same Time Via a Mind-Controlled Virtual Avatar

October 6, 2026

More Innovation

Travel

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.

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

Each year, more than 100,000 people hike at least part of a 750-mile route on Shikoku that connects 88 Buddhist temples and other sacred sites

September 29, 2026

Seven Places in Europe That Legends Say Were Built by Giants, Devils or Dragons

September 25, 2026

These 15 Wonderful Photographs of Kenya’s World-Class Wildlife Will Have You Booking a Flight to the Savanna

September 25, 2026

Arts & Culture

Jack Nicholson peering through an axed-in door in The Shining.

Stanley Kubrick’s Personal Archive Is Going Up for Auction, Including the Ax From ‘The Shining’ and the Star Child From ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’

The legendary director’s on-set chair, annotated scripts and props give a glimpse into the meticulous moviemaking process behind films like “Full Metal Jacket” and “Eyes Wide Shut”

October 7, 2026

A New Exhibition Reveals How Hot Pink Togas and Floral Perfumes Conveyed Power in the Roman Empire

October 5, 2026

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

October 2, 2026

More Arts & Culture

At the Smithsonian

Two sperm whales come to the surface in the waters off Black River district in Mauritius on October 3, 2026

In the New Movie ‘Whalefall,’ a Cetacean Swallows a Diver Whole. The Sperm Whale’s Remarkable Anatomy and Feeding Habits Shape the Survival Thriller

The film, an adaptation of Daniel Kraus’ 2023 novel, tells the story of a young man with an extremely challenging task: make it out of a whale’s stomach alive

October 16, 2026

Watch Five Adorable Newborn Cheetah Cubs Grow on a Livestream From the Smithsonian’s Conservation Biology Institute

October 9, 2026

At the Bodega, Customers Can Get Pork Rinds, Plantains and Just About Anything They Need. Here’s How These Stores Became a ‘Community Anchor’ of Latino Life

October 15, 2026

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