Meilan Solly

Meilan Solly

 

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

Édouard Manet, "La Négresse (Portrait of Laure)," 1863. Collection Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli, Turin.

Exhibition Re-Examines Modernism’s Black Models

Curator Denise Murrell looks at the unheralded black women featured in some of art history’s masterpieces

Abnormalities identified included misshapen skulls and jaws, bowed femur and arm bones

Did Rampant Inbreeding Contribute to Early Humans’ High Rate of Skeletal Deformities?

Researcher identified 75 skeletal or dental defects in sample of just 66 sets of ancient remains

Llama antibodies are smaller than human ones, making them ideal for latching onto hard-to-reach areas of flu virus strains

Llama Antibodies May Be the Key to Flu Prevention

Researchers have created a llama-inspired mega protein capable of neutralizing 59 different strains of influenza

This is the face of a cold-hearted killer...right?

This Petite Cat Is the World's Deadliest. Mini-Series 'Super Cats' Shows You Why

The African black-footed cat weighs roughly 200 times less than the average lion, but it has a predation success rate of 60 percent

Jane Fortune photographed in 2009.

Legacy of Jane Fortune, Champion of Forgotten Women Artists, Lives on in New Initiative

'A Space of Their Own' aims to build comprehensive digital database of 15th- to 19th-century women artists

The lamprey's jawless yet toothy mouth is ideal for hooking onto victims' flesh

Toothy Medieval Sea Monster Remains Found in London

The lamprey, a jawless fish that uses its teeth to hook onto the flesh of prey, was a favorite delicacy amongst British royals past and present

The labyrinthine network stretches roughly 4.5 miles across the ocean floor

Researchers Unearth Glass Labyrinth Created by Underwater Volcanic Eruption

The unusual formation is situated nearly three miles below the ocean's surface—a distance greater than Mount Rainier's height above sea level

Two high schoolers from Akron, Ohio, stumbled upon the tool while sifting through sediment during a dig at the estate

Students Unearth 6,000-Year-Old Stone Axe at Mount Vernon

The tool, which was likely used for cutting or carving wood rather than as a weapon, was crafted during 4000 B.C.

This vintage print of Sylvia Plath was taken in 1959 at her 9 Willow Street apartment in Boston.

Sylvia Plath’s Last Letters Paint Visceral Portrait of Her Marriage, Final Years

A new volume of her correspondence highlights the poet's whimsical, sensual and intellectual sides

This year marks the 333rd anniversary of J.S. Bach's birth

Are Classical Music Performances Speeding Up?

For Johann Sebastian Bach's 333rd birthday, a team looked at recordings of the composer's work over the last 50 years

Contemporary hot chocolate bears little resemblance to the bitter drink enjoyed by ancient South and Central American civilizations

Cacao Was First Cultivated in South America, Not Mexico and Central America

New study pinpoints birth of chocolate to some 5,300 years ago, or nearly 1,500 years earlier than previously believed

Celebrate the spookiest night of the year by participating in a "game" that lets you guide a real person's actions

This Halloween, a Social Experiment Will Allow Internet Users to Control the Actions of a Real Person

MIT Media Laboratory's BeeMe is the love child of ‘Black Mirror’ and psychologist Stanley Milgram’s notorious experiments on free will and obedience

During the summer, Mount Kilauea bombarded Hawaii's Big Island with lava bombs, volcanic ash and smog

These Are the United States’ 18 Most Dangerous Volcanoes

Hawaii’s Mount Kilauea, Washington’s Mount St. Helens top the list, which forecasts eruptions' potential impact on people, property, infrastructure

Obvious' "Portrait of Edmond Belamy" exceeded expectations at Thursday's sale

Christie's Is First to Sell Art Made by Artificial Intelligence, But What Does That Mean?

Paris-based art collective Obvious’ ‘Portrait of Edmond Belamy’ sold for $432,500, nearly 45 times its initial estimate

Federal police forensic specialists investigate the cause of the fire that tore through Brazil's National Museum in Rio de Janeiro.

Five Things We've Learned Since Brazil’s Devastating National Museum Fire

Luzia, the oldest human fossil in the Americas, was recovered from the rubble

The 28 footprints capture an early reptile-like creature's unusual diagonal gait

The Grand Canyon’s Oldest Footprints Are 310 Million Years Old

Researcher Stephen Rowland says the creature that left the tracks was "doing a funny little side-walking step, line-dance kind of thing"

Eugène Delacroix, "Crouching Woman," 1827

Art Institute of Chicago Now Offers Open Access to 44,313 Images (and Counting)

Now you can view the museum’s masterpieces without taking a flight to Chicago

A crow named Mango successfully assembled three- and four-part compound tools

Crafty New Caledonian Crows Can Assemble Tools

The brainy birds successfully navigated feat previously accomplished by just two other species: humans and chimps

Five of the top 10 contenders were actually by British writers, including Jane Austen, J.K. Rowling and J.R.R. Tolkein

The Results Are In...These Are America’s "Most-Beloved" Novels, Says PBS

More than 4 million people voted, securing top honors for Harper Lee's 'To Kill a Mockingbird' in the Great American Read initiative

Nyack was known for his vocal roars and laid back personality

A Lioness Killed the Father of Her Cubs in Rare Attack at Indianapolis Zoo

Prior to the incident, 12-year-old Zuri had never shown signs of aggression toward 10-year-old Nyack

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