Articles

Yellowstone's Grand Prismatic Spring is the largest hot spring in the park. But what gives it its vivid rainbow colors?

The Science Behind Yellowstone's Rainbow Hot Spring

The Grand Prismatic Spring might seem photoshopped, but there's very real science beneath its vibrant colors

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: The Danube

The Hollywood Bombshell Who Invented an Indispensable War Technology

In 1942, Hedy Lamarr received a patent for frequency hopping, but was told to devote her efforts elsewhere

Foraging red knots in Mauritania

When the Arctic Gets Warmer, It Also Affects a Tropical Ecosystem Thousands of Miles Away

As spring arrives earlier in far northern Russia, red knots get smaller—and have trouble in their African winter homes

A model for how suburbs could one day be designed. The white objects on the left are delivery drones.

Suburbia Gets No Respect, But It Could Become a Very Different Place

For starters, driverless cars would mean a lot less pavement

Freedmen's Hospital Nurses, 1930

Do You Recognize Anyone in These Historical Photos? The Smithsonian Wants to Know

The American History Museum calls on the public to select images and identify subjects in photos pulled from the museum’s archives

A club from Massachusetts in the shape of a fish, probably Atlantic sturgeon, dates to about 1750. The area was previously thought to have only one language at the time of European contact, but new research reveals there were five Native American languages were spoken in the Connecticut Valley of central Massachusetts.

Five Lost Languages Rediscovered in Massachusetts

Smithsonian linguist Ives Goddard finds that the Native Americans of central Massachusetts spoke five languages instead of one

Cascade, Centennial and Goldings hops are three varietals planted in Persephone’s demonstration hop yard.

Canada

From Farm to Bottle: Sip Brews Among the Hop Bines at This Vancouver-Area Beer Farm

Persephone Brewing Company brings beer and farming to the Sunshine Coast

This brittle star, Sigsbeia oloughlini, was found the coast of Esperance, Western Australia.

Journey to the Center of Earth

Meet the Diverse and Bizarre “Stars” of the Deep Sea

As human activities encroach on remote oceans, scientists work to map the denizens of the deep

A 2.7-billion-year-old micrometeorite extracted from limestone found in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Journey to the Center of Earth

Ancient Spacedust Reveals Surprising Twist in Evolution of Earth’s Early Atmosphere

Mini fossil meteorites are providing new insights about how our ancient atmosphere evolved into its current state

The Black Sea's fish stocks have been plummeting as of late and may be beyond repair.

The Black Sea Is Dying, and War Might Push it Over the Edge

Surrounded by six countries, all with their own agendas, the massive body of water is at risk of becoming another casualty of regional strife

The spectral bat (Vampyrum spectrum), the world’s largest carnivorous bat, feeds on small birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals—including other bats.

The World’s Carnivorous Bats Are Emerging From the Dark

Meat-eating evolved multiple times among these mysterious species, yet all of the winged carnivores share similar physiological fixes

Why You Should Know This Prolific Princess of Paleontology

Mary Anning was a 19th-century working-class woman from Dorset with no formal education. She became one of the most celebrated fossil collectors in history

Among century-old oaks and poplars are the ruins of a Dominican convent where Margaret took the vows of a nun. She refused to marry a neighboring king, instead devoting herself to God.

The Appalling and Beguiling History of Budapest's Margaret Island

A Hungarian-born writer recalls a princess' defiance of her father, Nazi atrocities, and the island's role as sanctuary

A furled chameleon tail obviously takes its shape from the rolling of a tube, but its pattern is distinct from that created by rolling an even tube, such as that of a garden hose. The gentle taper of the tail produces a logarithmic spiral—one that gets smaller, yet the small parts look like the large parts.

Art Meets Science

The Science Behind Nature's Patterns

A new book explores the physical and chemical reasons behind incredible visual structures in the living and non-living world

Oceanic whitetip, Cat Island, March 2014 (Instagram: michaelmuller7)

This Photographer Shoots Sharks to Save Them

When he’s not creating movie posters, Michael Muller swims among the oceanic predators, capturing stunning images

The long, trailing skirts of the Victorian period eventually fell out of favor when they were thought to harbor tuberculosis microbes.

How Tuberculosis Shaped Victorian Fashion

The deadly disease—and later efforts to control it—influenced trends for decades

Rudolf Hess, at right, was a Nazi leader when he flew to Scotland in May of 1941.

Will We Ever Know Why Nazi Leader Rudolf Hess Flew to Scotland in the Middle of World War II?

The remarkable tale of insanity, espionage, and conspiracies remains unanswered after 75 years

Europe

Traveling to the Danube? Here's What You Should Read, Watch and Download

Know before you go

Baby panda

Cute Baby Animals You Have to See This Spring

Check out what's new at the zoo

Is Europe Returning to Pre Cold War Divisions?

Author Robert D. Kaplan notes the beginnings of a complex map, caused by Russian revisionism, the refugee crisis and a structural economic crisis in the EU

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