Articles

The inaugural issue of Gernsback's Amazing Stories magazine. Young readers—in several cases the sci-fi writers of the future—could expect an exciting blend of adventure and technology in every fresh installment.

Fifty Years Later, Remembering Sci-Fi Pioneer Hugo Gernsback

Looking Back on a Man Who Was Always Looking Forward

The airship Italia

Flying to the North Pole in an Airship Was Easy. Returning Wouldn’t Be So Easy

It would take an international icon to toss aside a bitter rivalry to help a crew in need

Humpback whales sounding in Windham Bay, Alaska.

What Humpback Whales Can Teach Us About Compassion

Are these orca-fighting, seal-saving good Samaritans really just in it for themselves?

Why Queen Victoria Was an Early Adopter of Photography

In the 1840s, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert set up elaborate white winter interiors and decorated trees to celebrate Christmas at Windsor Castle

New genealogical scholarship reveals more of the history of an enslaved man, named Chance Bradstreet, who once lived in this house in Ipswich, Massachusetts.

Newly Uncovered Documents Address the Mystery of One Slave’s Life

New details surrounding the identity of the enslaved man who once lived in the storied Ipswich house at the American History Museum

Looking at the east frieze of the Confederate Monument at Arlington National Cemtery in Arlington, Virginia, in the United States

History of Now

The Pernicious Myth of the ‘Loyal Slave’ Lives on in Confederate Memorials

Statues don’t need to venerate military leaders of the Civil War to promulgate false narratives

This Pueblo rock carving in New Mexico might represent a remarkable solar eclipse dating back to 1097.

This New Mexico Petroglyph Might Reveal an Ancient Solar Eclipse

In 1097, a Pueblo artist may have etched a rare celestial event into the rock for all of posterity

Customers shop during at the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Out of the Closet thrift store in Columbus, Ohio.

How Artists and the LGBTQ Community Made Wearing Trash Cool

Before hipsters descended on your local thrift store, repurposing discarded goods was a subversive art form

Monarch caterpillars feeding on milkweed leaves and dropping their feces (taken in the laboratory facility).

How Insect Poop Could Solve All Our Problems

Bugs use their feces for weapons, navigation and gardening. Can we tap into this poop party?

Chinese laborers comprised the largest non-European workforce during World War I, and were tasked with everything from digging trenches to manning factories.

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Surprisingly Important Role China Played in WWI

In turn, the peace talks that ended the war had an enormous impact on China's future

Hat and jersey worn by Ted Williams during his Red Sox reign. The autographed portraits, from left to right, are of Williams, Babe Ruth, and Hank Aaron. Foregrounded is a baseball signed by the members of the "Murderers' Row" 1927 Yankees.

Seen the Hope Diamond? Check Out These Treasures from the Baseball Diamond

Smithsonian acquires priceless emblems of America's national pastime

No ornamental fish antibiotics are regulated by the FDA.

This Is Why Taking Fish Medicine Is Truly a Bad Idea

Those who misuse aquatic antibiotics are playing a dangerous game with their health, doctors and veterinarians say

A new tissue paper (as in, paper made from biological tissue) is so strong it can be folded into origami.

A Lab Accident Leads to Bioactive "Tissue Paper"

A spill of bioactive ink made from ovarian cells led to the creation of paper made from organs and tissues, with various potential medical uses

This Lake Is One of Montana’s Best Kept Secrets

Every summer, writer Boris Fishman returns to Flathead Lake, a pristine spot in northwestern Montana, for rest and reflection

As author Tim Harford writes in his new book, sometimes the most important inventions are not the flashy ones.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

From Lightbulbs to Mutual Funds: Tim Harford on Inventions That Changed the Modern Economy

Paper, the gramophone, double-entry bookkeeping, and barbed wire all make the list

A print from Harper’s showing Quantrill’s raid on Lawrence, Kansas, August 21, 1863

The Wealthy Activist Who Helped Turn “Bleeding Kansas” Free

Newly minted abolitionist Amos Adams Lawrence funneled much of his fortune into a battle he thought America couldn’t afford to lose

A TEMS device mounted on eyeglasses, with the electrical signal recorded.

Blink Once For Yes: You Can ‘Talk’ to This New Computer Interface With Your Eyes

A tiny sensor mounted to eyeglasses can track eye blinks, allowing communication from locked-in patients

A NASA image of Hurricane Sandy moving along the United States' East Coast. Extreme weather events like this are becoming more frequent, but scientists still face challenges when attributing any one storm to climate change.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Does Climate Change Cause Extreme Weather Events?

It's a challenge to attribute any one storm or heat wave to climate change, but scientists are getting closer

Members of Chamorro organizations, including the children from the Hurao Cultural Camp, perform a burial ceremony.

A Brief, 500-Year History of Guam

The Chamorro people of this Pacific island have long been buffeted by the crosswinds of foreign nations

The Cavern Grotto restaurant is located 21 stories underground.

Dine 21 Stories Underground in This 345-Million-Year-Old Cavern

Cavern Grotto, a new restaurant in Arizona, opens inside the largest dry cavern system in the country

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