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Science
Gimme Shelter
Best Friends Animal Society has a sprawling campus in the canyons of Utah, but its influence has grown to reach almost every shelter in the country
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How the Disappearance of Flight 19, a Navy Squadron Lost in 1945, Fueled the Legend of the Bermuda Triangle
Eighty years ago, five planes vanished during a training run off the Florida coast. A patrol plane sent to search for the men went missing, too, giving rise to a host of conspiracy theories
Smart News
Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2026 Is a ‘Blank Canvas’ Called Cloud Dancer—or, in Other Words, White
Weeks After a Brazen Heist, the Louvre Increases Ticket Prices for Non-E.U. Visitors by 45 Percent
A New Trial Put Immune System-Boosting Therapies to the Test to Fight HIV, Raising Hopes for Keeping the Virus at Bay
More Than 500,000 Satellites Are Set to Orbit Earth by 2040. They May End Up Photobombing the Images Captured by Space Telescopes
Ancient Literature Suggests India’s Savannas Are Much Older Than Previously Thought
Latest Features
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History
The Lost City of the Silk Road
Researchers are uncovering what they think is the metropolis of Marsmanda, an iron-making city that could rewrite the history of the famed trade route
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History
A Grand New Design
A train wreck that caused the death of more than a dozen commuters near the turn of the 20th century was the impetus behind a monumental project that changed the urban landscape
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Most Popular
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Special Report
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America’s 250th Anniversary
To mark the 250th anniversary of America’s founding on July 4, 1776, Smithsonian magazine is highlighting the people, places and events that shaped the United States’ fight for independence from Great Britain
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Photo of the Day
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Nallihan Colorful Mountains
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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.
Latest Episodes
The ‘Edmund Fitzgerald’ Sank Half a Century Ago. We’re Still Fascinated.
November 6, 2025 | 28 minutes
History
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Fabergé Egg Gifted by Russia’s Last Czar Breaks World Record, Selling for $30.2 Million at Auction
For the third time in its history, the Winter Egg is now the most valuable Fabergé item ever sold
Science
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A Weak Spot in Earth’s Magnetic Field Is Growing, but Scientists Say Not to Worry. Here’s a Look at What Shields Us From Space Weather
Our planet’s magnetosphere has seen dramatic shifts across its history—even total reversals—but this recent wrinkle doesn’t pose a threat to life
Innovation
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Two College Students Are Building a Robot to Replant Burned Forests
Marta Bernardino and Sebastião Mendonça invented Trovador, a four-legged, A.I.-powered robot that can plant trees in hard-to-reach, wildfire-damaged terrain
Travel
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Meet the Daredevils Chasing Down Speed Records at the Bonneville Salt Flats
Race officials, tinkerers and competitors converge in Utah every fall to test both metal and mettle
Arts & Culture
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A Famed Street Photographer Chronicled What Christmas Looks Like Across America Over the Course of Decades
Lee Friedlander’s new book, “Christmas,” collects his work from all over the country on the topic of our sentimental and materialistic connection to the holiday
At the Smithsonian
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See Amazing Images That Reveal the Strange, Otherworldly Beauty Hidden in American Factories
Photographer Christopher Payne provides a peek into the surreal aesthetics of industry in the United States