Meilan Solly

Meilan Solly

 

Meilan Solly is Smithsonian magazine's senior associate digital editor, history.

Fifth-grader Eric and fourth-grader Isa spent a year working to bring their idea to life

Massachusetts Elementary Students Led Campaign to Install ‘3-D’ Crosswalk in Front of School

The optical illusion uses shaded block of paint to make crossing stripes appear to float in the air

St. Anthony's Shrine photographed the day after multiple deadly explosions targeted churches and hotels across Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan Government Pledges to Rebuild 175-Year-Old Church Damaged in Deadly Easter Bombings

St. Anthony’s Shrine has long served as a symbol of unity and religious tolerance

Ocean-Dwelling Species Are Disappearing Twice as Quickly as Land Animals

Researchers point toward marine creatures' inability to adapt to changing water temperatures, lack of adequate shelter

Yum?

This 1,500-Year-Old Chunk of Fossilized Human Poop Contains Remains of a Whole Rattlesnake

Researchers believe an ancient hunter-gatherer consumed the reptile whole as part of a ceremonial or ritualistic event

Helvetica Now marks the typeface's first redesign since 1982's Helvetica Neue

The Helvetica Typeface Has Been Redesigned for the Digital Age

Helvetica Now is the first update to the sans serif typeface in 36 years

A 19th-century illustration of 'Sleeping Beauty' by artist Gustave Doré

Barcelona School Commission Evaluates 600 Children's Books for Sexist Content

One-third of the books were removed for promoting gender stereotypes at a critical point in childhood development

An artist's rendering of the extinct hypercarnivore

This Toothy Carnivore Was Bigger Than a Polar Bear

Some 22 million years ago, the apex predator ruled the forests of Africa and dined on the ancestors of hippopotamuses and elephants

Flowers are laid on a bridge in front of the Notre-Dame-de Paris Cathedral in Paris.

Five Things We’ve Learned in the Aftermath of the Notre-Dame Fire

Here's how France is rebuilding in the wake of the disaster

Lead author Tal Dvir says, "Maybe, in ten years, there will be organ printers in the finest hospitals around the world, and these procedures will be conducted routinely"

Scientists Used Human Tissue to 3-D Print a Tiny Heart

The technique could eventually be adapted to create full-sized organs personalized to each patient

Over the past month, scientists have made more than 20 unsuccessful attempts to extract viable cells from the foal's tissue

Scientists Extracted Liquid Blood From 42,000-Year-Old Foal Found in Siberian Permafrost

The team hopes to grow viable cells out of the foal’s tissue, paving the way for further experimentation aimed at cloning the extinct horse

The team's findings support the theory that agriculture emerged in multiple places simultaneously

Ancient Urine Reveals Timeline of Turkey’s Agricultural Revolution

Researchers studied urine salt deposits to map out the history of animal domestication at Turkey's Aşıklı Höyük settlement

Palestinians gather to perform the Friday prayer at the Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound in Jerusalem

A Small Fire Broke Out at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque as Flames Ravaged Notre-Dame

The blaze left the Islamic holy site largely untouched, damaging a single mobile guard booth

A Neolithic woman was buried with her arms bound behind her head and her amputated feet placed on either side of her body

U.K. Construction Finds Neolithic Skeletons That May Have Been Victims of Human Sacrifice

Archaeologists have recovered 26 sets of human remains, as well as artifacts including pottery and a decorative comb

Avebury stands some 25 miles north of Stonehenge and is large enough to fit two Stonehenge-sized circles.

Stone Circles at Avebury May Have Surrounded House for Neolithic ‘One Percent’

Researchers theorize that the monument, near Stonehenge, was erected to commemorate the site of later generations' ancestral home

Young Thug wore a dress by designer Alessandro Trincone on the cover of his 2016 mixtape

Boston Museum Launches First Large-Scale Exhibition on Non-Binary Fashion

The show features a tuxedo worn by Marlene Dietrich, a suit worn by David Bowie and contemporary designs by Rei Kawakubo

The amethyst-studded hatpin may have been owned by Edward IV or a high-ranking member of his court

Unearthed: Gold Hatpin Potentially Owned by Edward IV

Sweeping through a field with a metal detector, a woman uncovered the find, which features one of the Yorkist king’s heraldic badges, a “sun in splendor”

The planned museum is set to be built in Poissy, home of Le Corbusier's famed Villa Savoye

The Controversy Over the Planned Le Corbusier Museum

Scholars, architects have accused France’s culture ministry of “complicity in an attempt to rehabilitate” Le Corbusier's legacy

Experts believe the Neolithic dog is the first canine to undergo forensic facial reconstruction

Thanks to Facial Reconstruction, You Can Now Look Into the Eyes of a Neolithic Dog

The collie-sized canine was buried in a cavernous tomb on Scotland’s Orkney Islands around 2,500 B.C.

All of the Denisovan specimens found to date originated from a cave in Siberia

The Hominins We’ve Been Calling Denisovans Are More Diverse Than Previously Thought

Researchers have identified three distinct Denisovan lineages, including one that could constitute an entirely separate species

The 13 bones and teeth were found in a cave on the island of Luzon

A New Human Ancestor Species Was Discovered in the Philippines

'Homo luzonensis' boasted an eclectic mix of features comparable different species of hominins

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