Stealing Candy From Children, Splash-Proof Urinals and Buried Panties, Oh My! Here Are the Winners of the 2026 Ig Nobel Prizes

Thieves Broke Into a French Museum and Made Off With Renoir Paintings Worth More Than $2.5 Million

These Adorable, Critically Endangered Pygmy Raccoons in Cozumel Are Teaching One Another to Turn Trash Into Toy Balls

Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III Announces Retirement as Head of the Smithsonian After 38 Years of Service to the Institution

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Scientists May Have Finally Detected a Hint of Dark Matter, the Mysterious, Invisible Stuff That Holds the Universe Together

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Routine Yard Work Reveals a Trove of Viking Silver—the Largest Treasure of Its Kind Ever Discovered in Denmark

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How Did the Nation Get Its Name? Other Suggestions Included the United Colonies, Columbia and the United States of Alleghania

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A New York City Exhibition Celebrates Snoopy’s Enduring Influence on Art and Fashion

Kermit the Frog Was Just Trying to Put on a Variety Show. Fifty Years Later, the Muppets Are Some of the Biggest Stars in Television History

After an Eight-Year Journey, Two Spacecraft Have Begun Their Arrival to Mercury, the Inner Solar System's Most Mysterious Planet

GLP-1 Weight-Loss Drugs Can Slow Aging and Extend Life Span, Mouse Study Suggests

Why Does Rain Eat Through Protective Coatings on Metal Structures? Researchers Propose a New Idea: Electrically Charged Droplets

Researchers Have Figured Out How to Spot Fake Ancient Pottery Using the Earth's Magnetic Field

Part of Your Personality Is Encoded in Your Genes. Huge Analysis Links Characteristics to More Than 1,200 Common Genetic Variants

Scientists Recreated the Long-Lost Chirps of Jurassic Insects. Listen to the Simulated Soundscape of 165 Million Years Ago

A Lake in Canada Got a Mysterious New Island. Then, It Disappeared—and Now It's Back

A Mysterious Decagon Unexpectedly Appeared Around Saturn's South Pole. The Ten-Sided Shape Seems to Be a Wave in the Atmosphere

Historic Trove of Monets, Renoirs and Other Impressionist Masterpieces Expected to Fetch Up to $50 Million on Auction Block This Fall

A Signature Hawaiian Textile With a Rich History Is Making a Splash in the Fashion World

Leaf-Peeping Season Is Almost Here. These Interactive Maps Can Help You Figure Out When Fall Foliage Will Peak in Your Area

To Defeat the Royal Navy During the American Revolution, a Rebel Inventor Designed a Secret Weapon: a Bomb-Carrying Submarine

To Capture the Beauty and Wonder of Flight, These Celebrated Artists Created Spectacular Visions of Astronauts, Aviators, Rocket Launches and the Moon

Readers Respond to the Summer 2026 Issue

These 20 Breathtaking Bird Images From the Audubon Photography Awards Capture the Wonder of the Winged World

Blue Crabs Have Taken Over the Adriatic Sea. To Fight Them Off, Italian Researchers Just Released Thousands of Baby Octopuses

Archaeologists Discover a 4,000-Year-Old Tomb With a False Door at Egypt's Ancient Saqqara Necropolis

World War II Sugar Rationing Data Hints That Limiting Intake of the Sweet Stuff Early in Life Lowers the Risk of Dementia and Cancer

Corals Reveal El Niño Events Have Become Stronger in Recent Decades, Probably Because Humans Have Been Heating Up the Planet

Spain’s White-Headed Ducks Have a Signature Color Right in the Name. And That Isn’t Even Their Most Remarkable Hue

Reptiles Make a Surprising Amount of Noise. Here's What Those Sounds Might Mean, From Pops to Hoots to Bellows

Before Vegas Became Vegas, Hot Springs Was America's Sin City. Now the Arkansas Spa Town Embraces Its Colorful and Seedy History

Allergic to Dogs? These Gene-Edited Beagles Could Pave the Way to Your Dream Canine Companion That Won't Trigger Sniffles

This 91-Year-Old Man Fell 71 Times While Hiking the Appalachian Trail. He Just Became the Oldest Person to Complete the 2,190-Mile Trek

A Frank Lloyd Wright House in L.A. Is in Danger of 'Demolition by Neglect,' Say Advocates

Mars' Southern Half Is Weirdly Warm Underground. The 'Thermal Anomaly' Might Explain Why the Planet's Hemispheres Look So Different

This Ancient Insect Had 24 Legs—and Could Help Explain How the Ancestors of Modern-Day Bugs Took Over the Land

Female Treefrogs Experience 'Choice Overload' Amid Too Many Mating Calls From Males

The Best Way to Explore Zagreb Might Just Be On Your Plate

What Triggered the Devastating Floods in Nepal and Tibet, and Are We Due for More in the Future? Here's What Scientists Know So Far

See the Digitally Reconstructed Face of an Ancient Man Who Witnessed England’s Greatest Upheaval

A New Museum in Norway Is Bringing Visitors Into the World of Whales—From Life-Size Orcas to Immersive Underwater Exhibits

Thieves Steal 3,000-Year-Old Treasure in a 'Super-Professional' Museum Heist That Took Only Four Minutes

'Odyssey' Translator Emily Wilson Is Starting Over After Calling Christopher Nolan's Blockbuster Film 'Abysmal'

Would You Eat a Cookie Made From Upcycled Plastic? Scientists Propose a New Way to Deal With Waste and Provide Food in Extreme Environments

Archaeologists in Denmark Discover Rare Fragments of 1,300-Year-Old Clothing Preserved Inside a Viking Age Grave

Meet the Newly Discovered Fuzzy Fish Species Named After Mr. Snuffleupagus From 'Sesame Street'

For Many Americans, Covid Is Still a Chronic, Disabling Disease. These Scientists Are Working Tirelessly to Bring Them Relief

‘Rocky’ Is the Story of an Underdog, Created by an Underdog, That Has Spawned Box-Office Champions for Half a Century

NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope Launches to Find Exoplanets and Unravel Mysteries of Dark Matter and Dark Energy

Forests Didn't Fare Well During an Ancient Global Warming Event, Offering a 'Cautionary' Tale About Today's Climate Change