smithsonianmag.com

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Google Wants to Send Data Centers to Space—and Just Launched an Experimental Satellite to Test Whether Its Ambitious Plan Will Work

The tech giant aims to use the near-constant sunlight available in low-Earth orbit to power data centers. The experimental satellite, launch

smithsonianmag.com 02.10.26 · 55👁

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Ancient Pottery Reveals the Earliest Known Traces of Chocolate East of the Mississippi, Painting a Picture of Connection in the Americas

A new archaeological discovery suggests that people in present-day Georgia have feasted with cacao for 1,000 years

smithsonianmag.com 02.10.26 · 33👁

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Dozens of Curious Artworks Created With Woven Strands of Human Hair Come to New York’s Morbid Anatomy Library

So-called hairworks were popularized during the Victorian era as a means of grieving the deceased

smithsonianmag.com 02.10.26 · 30👁

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These 15 Adorable Photos of Pandas Will Make You Want to Visit the Zoo Immediately

Members of the fluffy and adorable but vulnerable species are often cared for in zoos and breeding centers around the world, and these snaps

smithsonianmag.com 02.10.26 · 35👁

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These Wild Lemurs Sing Just Like Opera Stars, Widening Their Mouths as They Hit the High Notes, Study Suggests

Scientists suspect this musical trait arose independently in humans and indris, which split from a common ancestor some 74 million years ago

smithsonianmag.com 02.10.26 · 39👁

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Scientists Discover Two New Species of Sea Spider in the Pacific Northwest—and They Look Like They Came Straight Out of a Horror Movie

You don't need to worry about the critters coming after you, since they're only a fraction of an inch across. They join the roughly 1,400 kn

smithsonianmag.com 02.10.26 · 58👁

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An Arson Investigation Is Underway After a Suspected ‘Senseless Act of Vandalism’ Destroys a Newly Installed Benjamin Harrison Statue

The 3D-printed piece was created by students and faculty at Indiana University Indianapolis and had been installed on September 16

smithsonianmag.com 02.10.26 · 53👁

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A New Exhibition Spotlights 4,500 Years of Broken, Shot-Up and Degraded Artworks to Explore the ‘Power of the Fragment’

The show, on view in Florence and coming to D.C. next year, examines the history and impact of destroyed sculptures throughout time and acro

smithsonianmag.com 02.10.26 · 33👁

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See the Hilarious Animal Shenanigans Captured in Photos and Videos Shortlisted for the 2026 Nikon Comedy Wildlife Awards

From a sneezing moose to a real-life angry bird, this year's competition received a whopping more than 10,000 entries from 112 countries

smithsonianmag.com 02.10.26 · 51👁

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After a 12-Year Absence, Alexander Calder’s Mammoth Last Sculpture Finally Returns in Full to Capitol Hill

Calder’s final work, “Mountains and Clouds,” was removed from the Hart Senate Office Building in 2014 over fears about its structural integr

smithsonianmag.com 01.10.26 · 45👁

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Four Beluga Whales Died Weeks After Being Rescued From a Defunct Marine Park in Canada. Were the Animals Too Sick to Be Moved?

They were among 30 whales transferred from the facility over the summer. It had faced multiple allegations of animal neglect and cruelty bef

smithsonianmag.com 01.10.26 · 58👁

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The Marquis de Lafayette's Brother-in-Law Participated in Three Revolutionary Wars, Supporting American Independence but Brutally Suppressing an Uprising by Enslaved Africans in Haiti

Louis-Marie, Viscount de Noailles, served during the American, French and Haitian Revolutions. "He fights wherever France fights, because he

smithsonianmag.com 01.10.26 · 49👁

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In an Exciting but ‘Brutal’ Find, a 5,000-Year-Old Arrow Emerges From Norway’s Rapidly Melting Mountain Ice

Archaeologists discovered 48 prehistoric arrows during a recent three-week expedition in the mountains of Jotunheimen

smithsonianmag.com 01.10.26 · 44👁

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Meet This Year's Chonky Champion of Fat Bear Week: Backpack, a Laid-Back 20-Year-Old Male Who's a 'Stoic Presence on the River'

The brown bear, who now weighs between 1,000 and 1,200 pounds after fattening up on salmon, earned his nickname as a cub. When he was little

smithsonianmag.com 01.10.26 · 48👁

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The First Female Pharaoh? An Old Photo of Ancient Hieroglyphics Highlights the Status of One of Egypt’s Earliest Queens, Researchers Say

The black-and-white photograph of a long-lost artifact depicts four serekhs, symbols of Egyptian rulers, and two of them, a recent study sug

smithsonianmag.com 01.10.26 · 50👁

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SpaceX's Giant Starship Rocket Reached Earth Orbit on Its First Try, but Engine Problems Forced It to Return to the Planet Early

Two aerospace companies are competing to create the lunar lander NASA uses when it returns humans to the moon's surface. But to reach our lu

smithsonianmag.com 30.09.26 · 61👁

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An Enigmatic Chalk Drawing, Rediscovered in a Private Italian Collection, Has Been Identified as the Long-Lost Work of Édouard Manet

The sketch of a young girl, in the red chalk characteristic of Manet’s 1860s life studies, is thought to be linked to several of the artist’

smithsonianmag.com 30.09.26 · 62👁

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Could Saturn's Moon Enceladus Host Alien Life? Earth Microbes Can Live in Its Simulated Environment, Boosting Its Potential Habitability

Enceladus is covered in ice, but that layer might hide a subsurface ocean. Researchers have long wondered if the salty body of water has the

smithsonianmag.com 30.09.26 · 51👁

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A Shark Was Spotted Swimming Through the Flooded Streets of New Jersey During the Nor'easter

The creature has been identified as a smooth dogfish, a harmless species found throughout the western Atlantic Ocean. It wasn't the only ani

smithsonianmag.com 30.09.26 · 51👁

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England’s Beloved Sycamore Gap Tree Is Showing Signs of Life, Three Years After Vandals Chopped It Down

Numerous leafy shoots are now sprouting around the base of the tree’s stump, which is located near Hadrian’s Wall in northern England

smithsonianmag.com 30.09.26 · 46👁

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Is More Protein Always Better? Despite the Craze Around the Nutrient, Research-Backed Evidence About Its Benefits Is Complicated

It can be difficult to see through the array of flashy, protein-packed products and determine whether you need more of it—and which foods to

smithsonianmag.com 30.09.26 · 50👁

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When Jane Austen Took a Turn About the Ballroom in Bath, Ancient Roman Artifacts Were Hiding Beneath Her Feet. Now, Archaeologists Have Finally Found Them

Recent excavations at the Bath Assembly Rooms in England revealed Roman-era coins, roof tiles, pottery, glassware, a network of ditches and

smithsonianmag.com 30.09.26 · 50👁

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MRI Scans Might Reveal Signs of Alzheimer's Disease Seven Years Before a Telltale Marker Appears in the Brain

Not all researchers are convinced that the brain changes detected via MRI are robust enough to become a diagnostic tool. But the findings co

smithsonianmag.com 29.09.26 · 64👁

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In One of Rome’s Most Famed and Neglected Villas, Centuries-Old Risqué Frescoes, Painted Over by Nuns, Have Reappeared

Nearly a year into a $40 million restoration of the Villa Silvestri Rivaldi, conservators are rediscovering and reviving 16th-century art

smithsonianmag.com 29.09.26 · 62👁