Smithsonian Magazine

A Clump of Human Brain Cells on a Computer Chip Learned to Play the Nostalgic Video Game ‘Doom’

A few years ago, Cortical Labs announced that it had trained about 800,000 cells cultured on a computer chip to play “Pong,” ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Why Was This 2,000-Year-Old Sling Bullet Inscribed With the Word ‘Learn’?

The artifact is the first sling bullet of its kind unearthed at the ancient city of Hippos, though archaeologists have found ...
Smithsonian Magazine

See 15 Images of Wondrous West Africa From the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest

Journey to Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso and many more nations through this gallery of the people, culture and wildlife of the ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Scientists Identify the World’s First Known Dog, Which Pushes Back the Animals’ Genetic Record by About 5,000 Years

Two new ancient DNA studies suggest that domesticated dogs were widespread in western Eurasia more than 14,000 years ago ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Music Takes Center Stage This Month at the National Museum of American History

Here’s what’s happening this month at the museum… Amy Kehs EXHIBITIONS NOW ON VIEW Melania Trump’s Inaugural Gown 2025 Melania Trump's Inaugural Gown National Museum of American History First Lady ...
Smithsonian Magazine

‘The King and I’ Spotlights an English Governess Who Modernized Siamese Society. The Real Anna Leonowens Exaggerated Her Influence and Lied About Her Origins

The beloved musical is loosely based on a Eurasian schoolteacher's accounts of her time at King Mongkut's court. These ...
Smithsonian Magazine

‘The Sopranos’ Changed How Television Told Stories. These Scripts, Sketches and Set Designs Reveal What Made the Mob Drama So Thrilling

An exhibition at the Museum of the Moving Image in New York provides visitors with a behind-the-scenes look at the ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Two Green ‘Fireballs’ Streaked Across the West Coast Sky, Some of the Latest in a String of Dazzling Meteors Above the U.S.

A green fireball meteor flew above central California on the night of March 22. AllSky7 / Peter Jenniskens and Jim Albers On ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Fish Traps Have Been Banned on the Columbia River for Nearly a Century. Could Bringing Them Back Help Save Salmon?

A new experiment is testing the commercial success of fish traps in Washington and Oregon. Even as some conservationists ...
Smithsonian Magazine

These Never-Before-Seen Photos Show Astronaut Neil Armstrong Relaxed and Smiling After He Almost Died in the Gemini 8 Emergency

Few members of the media were at the unexpected arrival site. Military police officer Ron McQueeney was one of the few ...
Smithsonian Magazine

In a First, the World’s Most Expensive and Volatile Substance—Antimatter—Traveled by Truck

The work paves the way for longer-distance transport of the rare material so scientists can study it at other facilities ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Scientists Say This 600-Year-Old Grape Seed Is ‘Genetically Identical’ to Modern Varieties Used to Make Pinot Noir

Researchers analyzed grape seeds dating to between 2300 B.C.E. and 1500 C.E., including one particularly intriguing sample ...