Articles

Christina Gebhard prepares to measure a condor's wingspan

Behind the Scenes: Skinning Condors in the Name of Science

One intrepid reporter documents the careful science, artistry and gross factor of a very strange party

Little does it know, but getting eaten by a great tit is the least of this grub's worries.

New Research

Meet the Supervillain Worm That Gets By With a Little Help From Its Friends

This deadly nematode and its sidekicks reveal the power of bacterial symbiosis

A "flukeprint" is a patch of calm water on the surface created when a whale flaps its tail as it cruises along just out of sight.

How to Spot a Hidden Whale

Just as a hunter leaves a trail in the snow, a whale forms prints on the water’s surface

Here, wildebeest find themselves trapped by high cliffs while crossing the Mara River in Africa's Serengeti. Every year thousands of wildebeest die while crossing the river due to strong currents or crossing at dangerous sites.

New Research

The Upside of Rotting Carcasses

Large animals dying en masse are crucial to the the Serengeti—and they aren’t the only ones

Why Hospitals Started Displaying Newborn Babies Through Windows

How peering at babies through glass became a feel-good staple of American maternity wards

The First Presidential Wife to Be Called the First Lady

Dolley Madison, the First Lady of president James Madison was a Jackie Kennedy of her time

Opening of Sears Department Store

The Rise and Fall of Sears

How the retail store that taught America how to shop navigated more than a century of economic and cultural change

NamibRand Nature Reserve in Namibia.

Eight of the World's Best Destinations for Stargazing

Where to find the clearest, darkest skies – from Pennsylvania to the Canary Islands

Dream Of Motherhood by Pitseolak Ashoona (Inuit), 1969

Three Generations of Inuit Women Defy Exploitation by Visualizing Resilience and Love

A grandmother, a mother and a daughter, all took up pen and ink to tell their stories

Webster's Waterfall is just one of more than 150 waterfalls located in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Just 50 Miles From Niagara Falls Lies the True Waterfall Capital of the World

Niagara Falls has nothing on Hamilton, a Canadian city with more than 150 waterfalls

The cheetah population almost halved since 1975 with only an estimated 7,100 left in the wild today.

Future of Conservation

How to Help Cheetahs Live Longer in Captivity

The key is in what we feed them, researchers surmise

Jackie Kennedy Was the Undisputed Style Icon of her Era

To Jackie Kennedy, appearance was everything

The preserved whale heart weighs approximately 400 pounds.

Canada

The Painstaking Process of Preserving a 400-Pound Blue Whale Heart

This massive specimen is now on display in Canada’s Royal Ontario Museum

Moonlight's cub was born on June 17.

Meet the Zoo’s Newborn Red Panda Cubs, Who Just Opened Their Eyes

The three cubs were born within days of each other at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

Miklós Horthy at the annexation of south-east Czechoslovakia, Kassa (present-day Košice), 11 November 1938

History of Now

Why It Matters That Hungary's Prime Minister Denounced His Country’s Role in the Holocaust

Is this tonal shift for real -- or will the European nation continue to obfuscate its history?

Illustration made using an 1851 portrait of Mitchell by H. Dassell and a false-color image of supernova remnant Cassiopeia A by NASA.

Women Who Shaped History

When Girls Studied Planets and the Skies Had No Limits

Maria Mitchell, America's first female astronomer, flourished at a time when both sexes “swept the sky”

How the Gains Women Made in WWI Were Quickly Lost

In the early 20th century, 96% of all jobs on the U.S. rail network were male. But by the start of WWI, it fell on women to fill in for them

Over 60,000 Plants Bloom Inside the World’s Largest Orchid Garden

Step inside Singapore's National Orchid Garden, a collection that includes 600 newly created hybrid species

The Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal.

Canada

This Bridge Transforms Data on Weather, Traffic and Twitter Rants into a Beautiful Light Display

The Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal lights up the skyline with the mood of the city

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Where Did the Term “Gerrymander” Come From?

Elbridge Gerry was a powerful voice in the founding of the nation, but today he's best known for the political practice with an amphibious origin

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