Smithsonian Magazine

These Historic Snuffboxes Associated With 18th-Century Monarchs Were Stolen in a Shocking Heist. Now, They’re Back on Public Display

In 2024, thieves made away with the intricately decorated boxes, which had been on display in Paris. Two of the boxes, which ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Archaeologists Unearth Traces of a Mysterious Medieval City That Was Abandoned Under Puzzling Circumstances Hundreds of Years Ago

Found in a Polish forest, the town of Stolzenberg appears to have been built around the turn of the 14th century. Surveys ...
Smithsonian Magazine

This High School Student Invented a Filter That Eliminates 96 Percent of Microplastics From Drinking Water

Virginia teenager Mia Heller’s filtration system harnesses the power of ferrofluid, a magnetic oil that binds to ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Alien Life Could Look Nothing Like What We Expect. Here’s How Microbes Beyond Earth Might Live Without Liquid Water

Like the lead character of “Project Hail Mary,” some scientists are proposing ways that life might exist beyond a star’s ...
Smithsonian Magazine

The Real Count of Monte Cristo Was Alexandre Dumas’ Father, a Trailblazing Black General

Ahead of the March 22 premiere of a new TV adaptation, learn about the life of Thomas-Alexandre Dumas, the French Army ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Humans May Have Transported Live Parrots Over the Andes Mountains Along Sophisticated Trade Routes Before the Rise of the Inca Empire

Archaeologists were puzzled when they found parrot feathers in a pre-Inca burial in coastal Peru. A new study suggests that ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Typos Have Plagued Us for Centuries. Just Ask the Publishers Who Printed the Seventh Commandment as ‘Thou Shalt Commit Adultery’ in 1631

A new exhibition at Yale Library explores the history of typos across five centuries. Visitors will see corrections that were ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Some Antibiotic Drugs Can Alter Your Gut Microbiome for Up to Eight Years, New Research Suggests

Just a single course of treatment can leave a lasting impression, according to a study of nearly 15,000 people in Sweden ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Scientists Make a Major Breakthrough in Solving a Hair-Raising Mystery About Static Electricity

Static electricity may seem simple. Students often learn that rubbing a balloon against their hair will cause negatively ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Haunting Casts Preserving Pompeii Victims’ Final Moments 2,000 Years Ago Go on Display in a Solemn New Exhibition

Since 1863, archaeologists have made more than 100 plaster casts, which show how victims died after Mount Vesuvius erupted in ...
Smithsonian Magazine

This Iconic Pink Floyd Instrument Just Became the Most Expensive Guitar Ever Sold at Auction

David Gilmour's 1969 Fender Stratocaster, used on "The Dark Side of the Moon" and other famous albums, sold for a record ...
Smithsonian Magazine

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

Mycologists cultivated fungi they found in post-wildfire landscapes to understand the evolutionary traits behind their ...