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Latest Features

Tetiaroa is a haven for wildlife, including sea turtles, crabs, seabirds, sharks, coral and fish.

SCIENCE

Marlon Brando Wanted to Build a ‘University of the Sea.’ These Scientists Are Bringing the Late Actor’s Vision to Life

“In postwar America, fast food was seen as a ladder to the middle class,” says journalist and author Adam Chandler. “If you were part of a familiar chain, banks were willing to lend you money, and people would come to your establishment right away because you were a proven entity.”

HISTORY

The Roots of U.S. Work Culture—and Why the American Dream Is So Difficult to Achieve Today

A brown bear launches into a river in Katmai National Park to try and catch one of the many sockeye salmon spawning in large numbers.

TRAVEL

Explore the History and Natural Wonders of Alaska

Matanuska Glacier north of Anchorage is one of the best spots for a more intense experience in the Alaskan wilderness.

TRAVEL

Seven Ways to Explore Alaska's Endangered Glacial World

A baby pygmy marmoset, under the care of an older member of its cooperative family group, perches on a bough in a gallery forest on the banks of the Aguarico River in eastern Ecuador.

SCIENCE

They're Adorable. And Endangered. Meet the World's Smallest Monkey: the Pygmy Marmoset

Captain John Voss, left, aboard the Tilikum in Samoa. “So diminutive,” one Australian reporter wrote of the boat, “one wondered and admired the pluck, perseverance and skill displayed in bringing her across the 9,200 miles of trackless ocean.”   

HISTORY

The Death-Defying Attempt to Circumnavigate the World in a Canoe

Charles M. Schulz, creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip, at his studio drawing table with a picture of his character Charlie Brown and some awards behind him in 1978

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Why the ‘Peanuts’ Characters Still Thrive 25 Years After the Last Original Comic Strip Was Published

Harriet Bell Hayden 

HISTORY

The Remarkable Life of One of Boston's Most Fervent and Daring Abolitionists

Current Issue

Smithsonian magazine December 2024 issue cover

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1.

Smart News

Rare and Giant Steller's Sea Eagle Spotted Thousands of Miles From Home in Eastern Canada Park

The bird, thought to be the only one of its kind in the Western Hemisphere, is presumed to be Stella, an out-of-place raptor spotted at sites across North America in recent years

2.

Science

They're Adorable. And Endangered. Meet the World's Smallest Monkey: the Pygmy Marmoset

The cute creatures are chatty, family oriented—and facing a shrinking habitat in the remote forests of Ecuador

3.

Smart News

Immerse Yourself in the Polka-Dotted World of Yayoi Kusama at a Massive New Retrospective

An exhibition in Melbourne features around 200 of the 95-year-old Japanese artist's works, as well as artifacts that help tell the story of her life

4.

Smart News

Conservators Are Uncovering Elaborate Angel Murals Hidden Behind Seven Layers of White Paint at a Colonial-Era Church

The colorful wall paintings adorn Boston's Old North Church, which played a crucial role during Paul Revere's famed 1775 midnight ride

5.

Smart News

Archaeologists Unearth Early Medieval Sword Engraved With Mysterious Runes in a Cemetery in England

Dating to the fifth and sixth centuries C.E., the burials held a trove of grave goods—but the team was particularly impressed by the sword, which was covered in intricate decorations

Smithsonian Voices
Smithsonian American Women's History Museum

New Coin Celebrates the Living Legacy of Ida B. Wells

Smithsonian American Women's History Museum

How Activism and International Women’s Year Fueled U.S. Efforts for Equality

National Portrait Gallery

National Portrait Gallery Honors Former President James Earl Carter Jr.

National Museum of Natural History

Top Discoveries at the National Museum of Natural History in 2024

National Museum of American History

Jimmy Carter Transformed More Than the Presidency

Office of the Secretary of the Smithsonian

At the Smithsonian's National Design Museum, a Home Is What You Make of It

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Our Sustainable Future

A hub dedicated to the latest on how global change affects life on Earth today and on what solutions scientists, including those at the Smithsonian, are researching to build a more sustainable planet

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Featured Stories

In Miami, the Nation’s First Chief Heat Officer Charts a Course for Surviving on a Warming Planet

Inside the Effort to Save Earth's Biocrusts

Can the Noise in Sports Arenas Be Turned Into Electricity?

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Photo of the day

Two giraffes positioned perfectly to create the illusion of a two-headed creature. Double Vision

History

Between July 1776 and June 1826, Jefferson recorded weather conditions in 19,000 observations across nearly 100 locations.

Discover Why Thomas Jefferson Meticulously Monitored the Weather Wherever He Went

The third president knew that the whims of nature shaped Americans' daily lives as farmers and enslavers

Illustration from a 16th-century Falnama, or Persian Book of Omens

How People of the Past Predicted the Future, From Spider Divination to Bibliomancy

Fascinating finds unveiled in 2024 ranged from a jade Maya funerary mask to a Roman dodecahedron.

Seventy-Seven Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2024, From a Mysterious 'Anomaly' Near the Great Pyramid of Giza to a Missing Portrait of Henry VIII

Science

A view of the soft-bottomed Los Angeles River below the 400-foot-long Taylor Yard Bridge in Elysian Valley. The newest Taylor Yard parcel, currently fenced off as it undergoes toxic remediation, can be seen on the far right.

How the Arrival of an Endangered Bird Indicates What’s Possible for the L.A. River

Could the waterway that the city was built around make a comeback?

By examining the fossils of ancient creatures, scientists are able to see the origins of features that make mammals different from other animals.

How to Make a Mammal in Nine Evolutionary Steps

A photo of Neptune, taken by the Voyager 2 probe, with the colors rebalanced to represent its truest appearance

The Six Most Amazing Discoveries We’ve Made About Neptune

Innovation

Air Ring 48 attaches to the base of a construction helmet, providing crucial airflow to the sweatiest areas of the head and neck.

Could This New Wearable Device Reduce Heat Stress in Construction Workers?

Architecture students at the University of Hong Kong invented a cooling apparatus that attaches to a construction helmet

The products range from programmable rovers to books that introduce the terminology of robotics and circuitry to childen.

Engineers Choose the Ten Best STEM Toys to Gift in 2024

The plant-based egg substitutes available today are less than perfect. Food scientists are working hard to improve them — and, maybe, make them better tasting and more nutritious than the real thing.

Scientists Are Trying to Crack the Recipe for the Perfect Plant-Based Eggs

Travel

Matanuska Glacier north of Anchorage is one of the best spots for a more intense experience in the Alaskan wilderness.

Seven Ways to Explore Alaska's Endangered Glacial World

With the state’s glaciers retreating at alarming rates, there is no time like now to trek, climb, paddle and fly to see them

Loaded with leather and sheepskins, Salvatore Gungui tightens his headscarf. Although only men dress as Mamuthones, the scarf adds a feminine element.

See the Mysterious Winter Parade That Brings Tourists to the Remote Island of Sardinia

The weeklong exhibition showcases items submitted by members of the public.

The Museum of Bad Gifts Is a Celebration of Outlandish Objects, From Ceramic Clowns to Cat Nail Clippings

Arts & Culture

The theme of this year's creepy doll contest at the History Center of Olmsted County is "Circus After Dark."

The Creepy Doll Contest Is Back—and It's Time to Cast Your Vote for the Most Terrifying Toy

Step right up and see the spooky circus dolls—from creepy clowns to frightening fortune-tellers—in a Minnesota museum's vintage toy collection

Mask, Jackson Pollock, 1941

Before He Created His Vibrant Drip Paintings, Jackson Pollock Took Inspiration From Pablo Picasso

The Ofaerufoss waterfall is part of the Nyrdri-Ofaera River, meaning the “impassable northern river.” The river flows into Eldgja, or the “Canyon of Fire.”  

Go Chasing Waterfalls With These 15 Awe-Inspiring Images

At the Smithsonian

A northern saw-whet owl in Canada

Meet the Tiny, Adorable Owls That Have Mastered the Art of Hiding

One of the smallest owls in North America, the northern saw-whet lives among us and is rarely seen—but one volunteer science project aims to find them and uncover their secrets year after year

Charles M. Schulz, creator of the "Peanuts" comic strip, at his studio drawing table with a picture of his character Charlie Brown and some awards behind him in 1978

Why the ‘Peanuts’ Characters Still Thrive 25 Years After the Last Original Comic Strip Was Published

Did colonial Americans wear wristwatches? 

Did Colonial Americans Wear Wristwatches? And More Questions From Our Readers