Smithsonian Magazine

A New Book of Toni Morrison’s University Lectures, Now Collected for the First Time, Shares Some of the Legendary Novelist’s Most Important Lessons

Before her career as a novelist, Toni Morrison was a teacher. The famed American author, best known for works such as Beloved ...
Smithsonian Magazine

These Stunningly Detailed 3D Images of Ants Showcase the Remarkable Diversity Across Their Species

Scientists used a game-changing technique to scan about 2,200 preserved specimens in just one week to create the Antscan ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Humans and Animals Often Like the Same Mating Calls, Supporting a 150-Year-Old Observation by Charles Darwin

New research by Smithsonian scientists suggests that preferences for certain sounds might be evolutionarily conserved ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Women Who Reshaped Financial Power and Economic Opportunity

How have women built real financial power? 'We Do Declare' shares oral histories of women who opened pathways to wealth, ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Popular Lore Claims That William Howard Taft Got Stuck in a Bathtub. New Research Sheds Light on the Legend’s Forgotten Origins

A long-overlooked 1929 account contains the earliest known reference to the anecdote, suggesting that the 27th president ...
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

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

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

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

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

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 ...