Magazine

The Invention of the “Snapshot” Changed the Way We Viewed the World

A century before drones cruised the skies, American camera hounds made photography a personal art

Switching testing scenarios used to take 20 minutes. Rolling waters can now be calmed in just 30 seconds.

The Navy Tests Its Ships in This Indoor Ocean

New technology can precisely recreate eight open-water conditions

In the public imagination, heat waves remain a B-list natural disaster.

Forecasters Will Soon Be Able to Predict Heat Waves Weeks in Advance

In the public imagination, heat waves remain a B-list natural disaster, but in reality, they are deadly

A dense flock of starlings in the sky above Rome.

How Just One Bird Can Urge an Entire Flock to Change Directions

The equations that describe these movements are equivalent to those that govern waves

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A bold conservation vision calls for a return to the South’s once-vast longleaf pine forests.

Can the World Really Set Aside Half of the Planet for Wildlife?

The eminent evolutionary biologist E.O. Wilson has an audacious vision for saving Earth from a cataclysmic extinction event

Tennis player Renée Richards recently donated her tennis racket, along with a trophy, a dress and a number of other items to the Smithsonian.

Pioneering Tennis Player Renée Richards Recalls the Glory Days of Wooden Rackets

After winning the New York State men's title in 1964, Richard Raskind became Renée Richards and a civil rights icon

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The 2014 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Awards

Recognizing ten of the past year's most amazing achievements and the innovators behind them

Why Do Bugs Die on Their Backs and More Questions From Readers

You asked, we answered

Salvatore Scarpitta’s Sal Cragar, 1969.

When A Race Car Becomes a Work of Art

Salvatore Scarpitta’s automative wonder goes on view at the Hirshhorn

Do Animals Have Rhythm?

If they did, who could ask for anything more?

How Scientists Are Using Games to Unlock the Body’s Mysteries

They’re not just for kids anymore

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From the Editor

From the Editor

Natchez, a historic cotton and sugar port on the Mississippi River, has seen its population fall by a third since 1960.

The Soul of the South

Fifty years after the civil rights summer of 1964, renowned travel writer Paul Theroux chronicles the living memory of an overlooked America

Rise of the Sea Urchin

In the icy waters off Norway, one intrepid Scot dives deep to satisfy the latest fjord-to-table craze at Europe’s finest restaurants

The Middle East’s austere terrain lured Lawrence: “The abstraction of the desert landscape,” he wrote in Seven Pillars of Wisdom, “cleansed me.”

World War I: 100 Years Later

The True Story of Lawrence of Arabia

His daring raids in World War I made him a legend. But in the Middle East today, the desert warrior’s legacy is written in sand

The von Trapp family overlooking Portland, Oregon.

The Von Trapps Are Back With a New Musical Sound

The hills are alive again with a new American generation of the singing family made famous by the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical

Imperiled survivors: A herd migrates across Chad, once home to tens of thousands of elephants. After a surge in poaching, only about 1,000 remain.

The Race to Stop Africa’s Elephant Poachers

The recent capture of a notorious poacher has given hope to officials in Chad battling to save the African elephant from extinction

USS Constitution vs. HMS Guerriere by Thomas Birch, circa 1813

The British View the War of 1812 Quite Differently Than Americans Do

The star-spangled war confirmed independence for the United States. But for Great Britain, it was a betrayal

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