Smithsonian Magazine

Beavers Are Ecosystem Engineers—and They Might Be Helpful Allies in the Fight Against Human-Caused Climate Change

New research suggests that wetlands created by the industrious rodents are carbon sinks, meaning they store a lot of ...
Smithsonian Magazine

These Modern-Day Photographs Highlight Why, Centuries Later, Pompeii Still Attracts Throngs of Tourists and Archaeologists

The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius froze the ancient Roman city in time, giving modern-day humans a remarkable vision into the past ...
Smithsonian Magazine

What Killed the Neanderthals? New Research Suggests a Lack of Genetic Diversity May Be Partially to Blame

When the climate cooled, the population of Neanderthals shrank. Most that lived between 60,000 and 40,000 years ago were ...
Smithsonian Magazine

In a Graveyard of Shipwrecks Between Europe and Africa, Archaeologists Discovered Vessels Doomed Over Thousands of Years

The "harbor" of the Strait of Gibraltar is the final resting place for shipwrecks from Ancient Rome, the Medieval era and ...
Smithsonian Magazine

A Mars Rover Found Building Blocks of Life Never Seen on the Red Planet Before, Boosting the Case for Ancient Habitability

The organic molecules discovered by NASA’s Curiosity rover could have been formed by life, but they could have also come from ...
Smithsonian Magazine

In Japan, a New Steward for 1,200 Years of Cherry Blossom Data Has Been Found, Sustaining a Climate Change Research Project

Climate scientist Yasuyuki Aono, who died last summer, learned to read ancient Japanese script to compile records on peak ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Gibraltar’s Famous Monkeys Are Eating Dirt, Likely to Alleviate Stomach Aches From Munching on Tourists’ Junk Food

The British territory's Barbary macaques are the only wild monkeys in Europe. But many are consuming human snacks high in ...
Smithsonian Magazine

150-Year-Old Frogs Collected by a Founding Smithsonian Naturalist Helped 21st-Century Scientists Track How Pesticides Devastated Amphibian Populations in Illinois

In celebration of the upcoming Save the Frogs Day, learn how scientists used historic cricket frogs to connect ...
Smithsonian Magazine

A Rare ‘Cloud Jaguar’ Was Spotted in Honduran Mountains for the First Time in a Decade, Representing a Win for Conservationists

The big cats are rarely seen at high elevations, so the sighting suggests that efforts to protect a wildlife corridor in the ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Artist Matt Mullican to Present Lecture “Mirrors and Melted Telephones” on April 27

Matt Mullican courtesy Capitain Petzel . On Monday April 27th, the Archives of American Art is pleased to present the 2026 ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Experience the Genius and Artistry of Ohio’s Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks

Mound City, lying just across the Scioto River from Hopeton, is the finest surviving necropolis, or burial complex, of the ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Connected Forests Favor More Diverse, Disease-Preventing Microbes

New research shows that forest connecting different types of habitats may help frogs fight a deadly amphibian fungus ...