Mei Lanfang Was Famous for His Masterful Performances as Female Leads. In the 1930s, He Introduced American Audiences to the World of Chinese Opera

North American Bird Losses Are Accelerating. New Research Suggests Fertilizers and Pesticides May Be to Blame

Astronomers Witnessed the Birth of a Magnetar for the First Time. It Explains the Mysterious Flickering of an Ultrabright Supernova

Scientists Discover Microscopic Traces of Leaves, Seeds and Toxic Berries on Pots Used by Stone Age Cooks Thousands of Years Ago

Albert Einstein Played With These Building Blocks as a Child. Here’s How They Helped Shape His Magnificent Mind

Sea Levels Might Be Higher Than We Thought, Putting Millions of People in the Path of Coastal Flooding Sooner Than Expected

These Charcoal-Eating Fungi Flourish After Fires. Uncovering Their Genetic Secrets Could Help Rebuild Burned Ecosystems

A Czech Man Used This Stone in His Barn's Foundations. It Turned Out to Be a Rare Bronze Age Spearhead Mold

The Egyptians Used an Ancient Version of Wite-Out to Correct Their Mistakes on This Papyrus Scroll 3,300 Years Ago

Do These Severed Orca Fins Covered in Tooth Marks Mean Killer Whales Are Cannibals? It's Complicated, Scientists Say

Venomous Snakes Represent a Serious Public Health Problem. Scientists Are Biting Back With a Groundbreaking Antidote

Someone Used This Mysterious Coin as Bus Fare in the 1950s. It Turned Out to Be 2,000-Year-Old Currency Minted by the Phoenicians

A 1,300-Pound Spacecraft Might Be Plummeting Through Our Atmosphere Right Now

This Museum Is Using Pokémon to Teach Visitors About Fossils. Fans Are Waiting for Hours to Snag Tickets

Taking a Daily Multivitamin Might Slow Some Signs of Biological Aging, a New Study Suggests

Bumblebee Queens Breathe Underwater to Survive Drowning, Revealing How They Can Live Submerged for a Week

See a 163-Year-Old Civil War Shipwreck in Stunning Detail With These New High-Resolution Sonar Images

This Ancient Reptile Started Life on All Fours. As It Grew, It Stood Upright and Started Walking on Two Legs Instead

A Native Soldier Allied With the British Killed a Young White Woman in 1777. Propaganda Transformed Her Into a Martyr of the American Revolution

This Massive Mural Made From 100,000 Bottle Caps Is One Artist's Reinterpretation of 'The Mona Lisa'

1mo

How a Tiny Clump of Moss Helped the FBI Solve a Grave-Robbing Case

1mo

This Traveler From India Graffitied His Name on Five Ancient Tombs in Egypt's Valley of the Kings 2,000 Years Ago

1mo

Four Ways to Experience the Authentic Spirit of Wyoming

1mo

See How Scientists Reconstructed the Face of Little Foot, a Human Ancestor Who Lived 3.67 Million Years Ago

1mo

NASA's Asteroid-Smashing DART Mission Changed a Space Rock's Orbit Around the Sun, Marking a First for Humanity

1mo

Would You Jump Into Your Local River? Swimmable Cities May Be Within Reach as Once-Polluted Waterways Are Restored

1mo

Vibrant Wildflowers Are Blanketing Death Valley National Park, Resulting in the Most Breathtaking Bloom in a Decade

1mo

As the Planet Warms, a Humble Sea Bean Is Proving to Be a Promising Superfood

1mo

These Koalas Bounced Back From the Brink of Local Extinction Extremely Fast. Surprisingly, So Did Their Genetic Resilience

1mo

This Rare Silver Medal From the First Modern Olympic Games in 1896 Just Sold at Auction

1mo

These Intricately Decorated Ostrich Eggshells Suggest Our Ancestors May Have Understood Basic Geometry 60,000 Years Ago

1mo

Scientists Thought These Marsupials Went Extinct 6,000 Years Ago. They Just Found the Animals Alive

1mo

Tudor Courtiers Exchanged Portrait Miniatures as Love Tokens. Centuries Later, New Research Is Unlocking the Secrets of These Intimate Artworks

1mo

Smithsonian RSS Feed

Why Are So Many People Claiming They've Discovered Long-Lost Michelangelos?

How Do Cats Always Land on Their Feet? Researchers Examined Feline Spines to Find Out

Mei Lanfang Was Famous for His Masterful Performances as Female Leads. In the 1930s, He Introduced American Audiences to the World of Chinese Opera

North American Bird Losses Are Accelerating. New Research Suggests Fertilizers and Pesticides May Be to Blame

Astronomers Witnessed the Birth of a Magnetar for the First Time. It Explains the Mysterious Flickering of an Ultrabright Supernova

Scientists Discover Microscopic Traces of Leaves, Seeds and Toxic Berries on Pots Used by Stone Age Cooks Thousands of Years Ago

Albert Einstein Played With These Building Blocks as a Child. Here’s How They Helped Shape His Magnificent Mind

Sea Levels Might Be Higher Than We Thought, Putting Millions of People in the Path of Coastal Flooding Sooner Than Expected

These Charcoal-Eating Fungi Flourish After Fires. Uncovering Their Genetic Secrets Could Help Rebuild Burned Ecosystems

A Czech Man Used This Stone in His Barn's Foundations. It Turned Out to Be a Rare Bronze Age Spearhead Mold

The Egyptians Used an Ancient Version of Wite-Out to Correct Their Mistakes on This Papyrus Scroll 3,300 Years Ago

Do These Severed Orca Fins Covered in Tooth Marks Mean Killer Whales Are Cannibals? It's Complicated, Scientists Say

Venomous Snakes Represent a Serious Public Health Problem. Scientists Are Biting Back With a Groundbreaking Antidote

Someone Used This Mysterious Coin as Bus Fare in the 1950s. It Turned Out to Be 2,000-Year-Old Currency Minted by the Phoenicians

A 1,300-Pound Spacecraft Might Be Plummeting Through Our Atmosphere Right Now

This Museum Is Using Pokémon to Teach Visitors About Fossils. Fans Are Waiting for Hours to Snag Tickets

Taking a Daily Multivitamin Might Slow Some Signs of Biological Aging, a New Study Suggests

Bumblebee Queens Breathe Underwater to Survive Drowning, Revealing How They Can Live Submerged for a Week

See a 163-Year-Old Civil War Shipwreck in Stunning Detail With These New High-Resolution Sonar Images

This Ancient Reptile Started Life on All Fours. As It Grew, It Stood Upright and Started Walking on Two Legs Instead

A Native Soldier Allied With the British Killed a Young White Woman in 1777. Propaganda Transformed Her Into a Martyr of the American Revolution

This Massive Mural Made From 100,000 Bottle Caps Is One Artist's Reinterpretation of 'The Mona Lisa'

How a Tiny Clump of Moss Helped the FBI Solve a Grave-Robbing Case

This Traveler From India Graffitied His Name on Five Ancient Tombs in Egypt's Valley of the Kings 2,000 Years Ago

Four Ways to Experience the Authentic Spirit of Wyoming

See How Scientists Reconstructed the Face of Little Foot, a Human Ancestor Who Lived 3.67 Million Years Ago

NASA's Asteroid-Smashing DART Mission Changed a Space Rock's Orbit Around the Sun, Marking a First for Humanity

Would You Jump Into Your Local River? Swimmable Cities May Be Within Reach as Once-Polluted Waterways Are Restored

Vibrant Wildflowers Are Blanketing Death Valley National Park, Resulting in the Most Breathtaking Bloom in a Decade

As the Planet Warms, a Humble Sea Bean Is Proving to Be a Promising Superfood

These Koalas Bounced Back From the Brink of Local Extinction Extremely Fast. Surprisingly, So Did Their Genetic Resilience

This Rare Silver Medal From the First Modern Olympic Games in 1896 Just Sold at Auction

These Intricately Decorated Ostrich Eggshells Suggest Our Ancestors May Have Understood Basic Geometry 60,000 Years Ago

Scientists Thought These Marsupials Went Extinct 6,000 Years Ago. They Just Found the Animals Alive

Tudor Courtiers Exchanged Portrait Miniatures as Love Tokens. Centuries Later, New Research Is Unlocking the Secrets of These Intimate Artworks