Articles

New fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls with writing visible.

Text Found on Supposedly Blank Dead Sea Scroll Fragments

Invisible to the naked eye, researchers revealed lines of ancient script in new photographs

In a normal year, about 40,000 people travel to Kearney between March and April to join popular crane festivals. But on March 13, Rowe Sanctuary shut down due to the spread of COVID-19, canceling its tours and closing all trails.

Covid-19

How COVID-19 Is Disrupting Crucial Conservation Efforts

Researchers behind habitat restoration and wildlife protection groups are struggling to continue work amid the pandemic

Michael Jordan, says Smithsonian sports curator Damion Thomas, "had a singular ability that distinguished him from all the other incredibly talented basketball players that always come to mind."

A Smithsonian Curator Reevaluates the Incredible Legacy of Michael Jordan

Historian Damion Thomas speaks about what made the NBA All-Star 'brilliant'

How can the right kind of farming protect our soils and our climate? Find out in Carbon Cowboys. © 2020, carbon nation.

Smithsonian Voices

Saving Our Planet Starts With the Soil

A new documentary 'carbon cowboys' by Peter Byck brings to light a host of farmers promoting soil health as a great business plan

The Smithsonian Magazine Monthly Crossword: May 2020

Solve the clues based on articles from this month's print edition

Smithsonian researchers studied 67 forest plots in a section of the Blue Ridge Mountains. They found that hemlock woolly adelgid had decimated hemlock populations.

Decades of Tree Data Reveal Forests Under Attack

Smithsonian researchers with ForestGEO found that invasive species are linked to roughly one in four tree deaths in a section of the Blue Ridge Mountains

People who run businesses and other organizations want to know whether the spaces they manage and use are safe on a daily basis.

Covid-19

How Accurate Are Tests to Detect Coronavirus on Surfaces?

Labs and companies are already distributing some, but they vary drastically in price and potential performance

Elle Fanning portrays the eponymous empress in Hulu's "The Great."

Based on a True Story

The True Story of Catherine the Great

Hulu's "The Great" offers an irreverent, ahistorical take on the Russian empress' life. This is the real history behind the period comedy

U.S. Army Air Force technical sergeant Ben Kuroki, completed a total of 58 combat missions and was awarded three Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Air Medal with five oak leaf clusters.

Smithsonian Voices

Here's Why You Should Know About the American Hero Ben Kuroki

The story of the Japanese American World War II veteran, says Smithsonian curator Peter Jakab, is "incredibly relevant" today

A broadsheet campaigned to save the house once owned by John Hancock.

How Historic Preservation Shaped the Early United States

A new book details how the young nation regarded its recent and more ancient pasts

The legendary fight lives in the 1944 painting Dempsey-Willard Fight (above in detail) by James Montgomery Flagg, capturing the sense of a mass of humanity watching a hard-fought contest.

Revisit the Brutal Fight When Jack Dempsey Hammered the Super-Sized Champ to Claim Title

The crowded scene on a sweltering July day in Toledo is the subject of the Portrait Gallery’s latest podcast episode

Sampling wastewater could give scientists a new way to track the spread of the new coronavirus.

Covid-19

How Wastewater Could Help Track the Spread of the New Coronavirus

The virus that causes COVID-19 is unlikely to remain active in sewage, but its genetic material can still help researchers identify at-risk communities

Liana Vitali, citizen science and stewardship coordinator at Jug Bay Wetlands Sanctuary, shares tips for birding without leaving your window on May 22.

Here's How to Stream 11 Free Smithsonian Associates Programs

Expert-led lectures, virtual tours and studio arts classes produced by the world’s largest museum-based educational program

Vendors at the Queens Night Market represent more than 90 countries.

Virtual Travel

Sample the World's Cuisines With This Cookbook From a Popular New York Market

The Queens Night Market’s new guide brings the international flavors of the city's boroughs into your home

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Word Puzzles

Play the Smithsonian Magazine Weekly Word Search: Find the Elements

Given the atomic symbols, find the chemical element in the grid

A new study from scientists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Center analyzed about 35,000 bone and shell fragments from the Maya city of Ceibal.

Bones Tell the Tale of a Maya Settlement

A new study tracks how the ancient civilization used animals for food, ritual purposes and even as curiosities

A vial of remdesivir, an antiviral that has broad-spectrum activity, meaning it works against more than one type of virus. Remdesivir has been authorized for emergency use in the COVID-19 pandemic; it also was used to fight Ebola when there were few treatments available.

Covid-19

Remdesivir Works Against Many Viruses. Why Aren’t There More Drugs Like It?

Antivirals that work against a large number of diverse viruses would help us prepare for new diseases, but creating them is a big biological challenge

"Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" was a funky, lighthearted alternative to the action cartoons that, for years, had dominated Saturday morning lineups.

How Scooby-Doo's Origins Are Related to the RFK Assassination

The senator's death changed Saturday morning cartoons and paved the way for the gang of "meddling kids" to become a TV hit

This week's selections include Enemy of All Mankind, Who Ate the First Oyster? and Daughter of the Boycott.

Books of the Month

A Notorious 17th-Century Pirate, the Many Lives of the Louvre and Other New Books to Read

The seventh installment in our weekly series spotlights titles that may have been lost in the news amid the COVID-19 crisis

The minute-or-so videos offer philosophy, empathy or simply updates on what artists (above: Ragnar Kjartansson and Christine Sun Kim) are up to while quarantined.

Education During Coronavirus

These Video Diaries Document Quarantine Stories From Artists All Around the World

Hirshhorn Museum releases weekly peeks inside the studios of prominent artists, to create a living archive of the global pandemic

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