Articles

Hanna Karlsson Thorén shows the difference between a young and mature oyster.

Sailing Sweden's Icy Seas in Search of One of the World's Best Oysters

A Nordic oyster safari serves up fresh bivalves that are hard to find outside of Sweden

The process involves speeding up the fermentation of wood sugars. The resulting alcohol is then converted into jet fuel.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Could Wood Scraps Fuel Planes?

Alaska Airlines powered a cross-country commercial flight using a new biofuel derived from wood waste

Polar Bear Mom Protects Her Cubs From a Hungry Male

As they embark on their long summer migration, a polar bear mother and her cubs need frequent breaks, putting the cubs at risk

Why Porsche Is Revisiting the Hybrid Car It Also Invented

Though Porsche isn't naturally associate with hybrid cars, it actually invented them in 1900

Sonny Assu Uses Graffiti to Reassert Native Culture

The 41-year-old artist mashes decades-old depictions of indigenous peoples with modern-day style

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Where Did Harriet Tubman Escape to and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

A still from Jurassic Park.

You Could Soon Roam With Dinosaurs at a Realistic (Animatronic) Jurassic Park

Experience the awe of dinosaurs in this planned outdoor exhibition

The genetically modified Oncomouse has played a big role in the study and treatment of cancer.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The First Patented Animal Is Still Leading the Way on Cancer Research

Oncomouse was a genetically engineered animal designed to help scientists learn more about tumors

Conforming to masculine norms can leave men isolated and unable to cope with the stresses of life.

New Research

Sexism Sucks for Everybody, Science Confirms

Adhering to masculine norms can be toxic for men, not to mention everybody else

Martha, a farmworker in California, says a group of white locals often harass her, yelling that immigrants take U.S. jobs. “Why don’t they work in the fields?” she asked.

A Photographic Chronicle of America's Working Poor

<i>Smithsonian</i> journeyed from Maine to California to update a landmark study of American life

How (Almost) Everyone Failed to Prepare for Pearl Harbor

The high-stakes gamble and false assumptions that detonated Pearl Harbor 80 years ago

Getting to the Bottom of How Apes Think

Great apes show an ability to discern what others are thinking that we once only attributed to humans

Two captive Przewalski’s horses at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute's center in Fort Royal, Virginia

Future of Conservation

How Conservationists Use GPS to Track the Wildest Horses in the World

These horses' wildness makes them unique. It also makes them uniquely difficult for researchers to monitor and track

Theropods, the dinosaurs Gates studied, hail from the Triassic period.

A Surprising New Theory of How Dinosaurs Got So Huge

Those species with adorned skulls increased in body size faster than those without

The record for lights at a home, lawn included, is 601,736 bulbs.

Untangling the History of Christmas Lights

This bright idea was ahead of its time

Caedmon’s lofty slogan was “A third dimension for the printed page.”

The Christmas Tale Spoken Record That Launched the Audiobook

Narrated by Dylan Thomas, the album would go on to sell 400,000 copies

Today, the Marsh Collection is treasured for its inherent cultural value as well as its connection to the debates that framed the Smithsonian.

American Culture’s Unlikely Debt to a British Scientist

A fortuitous influx of cash launched the Smithsonian Institution and its earliest art collection

Before the recent reintroductions of P-horses, the last confirmed sighting in the wild was in 1969.

The Remarkable Comeback of Przewalski's Horse

Once nearly extinct, the population of these wild horses has rebounded on the dusty steppes of Mongolia

Acelity scientists evaluate a new prototype at the company's Regenerative Medicine Laboratory in Bridgewater, New Jersey.

How Artificial Muscles Could Transform the Lives of Some Military Veterans

From pig muscle, scientists are developing an organic material that may help heal volumetric muscle loss

A brittle letter addressed to Orrin W. Shephard of Croton, Newagyo Co., Michigan from his son Nelson.

Mystery Solved: A Michigan Woman Says She Mailed Civil War Letters to the Post Office

Smithsonian curator Nancy Pope learns how and why these letters showed up in the mail 153 years later

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