smithsonianmag.com
Every smithsonianmag.com story we have translated and published, newest first. · 450 stories
Journal
From a Black Limo With a Silken Armchair to a Bulletproof 'Sardine Can,' the Vatican Looks Back at the Evolution of the Popemobile
A new exhibition at the Vatican Museums highlights a century of collaboration with Mercedes-Benz, showcasing eight papal vehicles that devel
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'Gulliver's Travels' Turns 300 This Week. Jonathan Swift's 'Profound Satire of Human Nature' Is Still Just as Bitingly Relevant
Since it was first published in October 1726, the novel purporting to tell the fantastical travel tales of Captain Lemuel Gulliver has never
Journal
Drug-Resistant Germs Now Kill More Than 50,000 Americans Each Year, According to a New CDC Report
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has identified 19 "superbugs" that currently pose a threat to human health in the United Stat
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Paleontologists Discover the First Known Amphibian That Lived Entirely at Sea: a Flat, Armored Creature From 237 Million Years Ago
Two nearly complete fossilized skeletons of the strange new species were found in southwestern China. Scientists suspect its marine lifestyl
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A Rare Nanotyrannus Skeleton Sells for $47.3 Million, Becoming the Second Most Valuable Dinosaur Ever Auctioned
Paleontologists have long argued over whether some small tyrannosaur skeletons belonged to a new genus, called Nanotyrannus, or were young T
Journal
A Cult Grew Around the First Emperor of Rome in 27 B.C. A New Book Argues His Followers Might Have Created the Template for Christianity
Augustus was seen as a descendant of the gods who would go on to redefine authority. New research posits that his rule paved the way for Jes
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Readers Respond to the September/October 2026 Issue
Your feedback on sea shells, the battle against long Covid, the museums of Mexico City and the story of how an Arkansas town embracing its m
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As Winnie-the-Pooh Turns 100, the Original Stuffed Toy Remains in New York. Will the Silly Old Bear Ever Return to Britain?
A century after A.A. Milne first published his classic children's tales, British admirers and royal emissaries have made a polite push to br
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The World's Newest Carnivorous Plant Is a Red Sundew That 'Death Hugs' Its Insect Prey. Its Survival Depends on a Rare and Disappearing Florida Habitat
Confined to hidden sinkhole lakes in the Panhandle, the Florida threadleaf sundew is both a discovery and a warning bell for a vanishing eco
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Before Mountain Biking Became One of the Most Popular Recreational Sports, Adventurous Souls of the American West Had to Invent a Rugged Bike
The origin story has two settings: In Colorado, a gang of riders had the tenacity to conquer a treacherous terrain, and in California, other
Journal
Dolores Huerta, Farmworker Rights Activist Who Coined 'Sí Se Puede,' Dies at 96
A pioneering labor organizer who co-founded the United Farm Workers union, Huerta spent a lifetime fighting for migrant laborers' rights, ad
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See 18 Captivating Images From the European Wildlife Photographer of the Year Contest
From tranquil landscapes to a thunderous flock of seabirds, the recognized photos reveal stunning scenes of often-hidden aspects of the natu
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'Lie Down and Look Up' at England's Most Ornate Ceilings, From Sparkling Gold-Leaf Stars to Intricate Plaster Designs at Queen Victoria's Seaside Retreat
A new campaign encourages visitors to take in the lavish art above their heads at five historic sites across England. There are even cushion
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Did Women and Children Collaborate With Male Artisans to Create China's Terra-Cotta Army? Fingerprints Left on the 2,000-Year-Old Clay Warriors May Hold the Answer
A new study found that adult women and juveniles under the age of 15 accounted for 67 percent of the fingerprints analyzed. The research cha
Health
Some Monkeys Seem to Become Germophobic After Living Through a Disease Outbreak, Just Like Humans
Macaques that had gotten sick or seen others become ill were less likely to eat a tasty treat that looked like it was contaminated with poop
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Hundreds of Baby Whales Have Died in Argentina This Year—and Scientists Are Scrambling to Understand Why
Their leading hypothesis is that the young cetaceans are dying from a bacterial infection, but experts are still trying to figure out why th
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In NASA's Plan for Artemis 3, SpaceX and Blue Origin Will Compete to Have Their Landers Take Humans Back to the Moon's Surface
The 14-day mission, slated for mid-2027, will serve as a test to see which company's lunar lander performs better in low-Earth orbit. Both w
Journal
Romans Made Color-Changing Glass With Ancient Nanotechnology. Scientists Just Discovered How to Replicate the 1,600-Year-Old Marvel
Researchers were inspired by Lycurgus Cup, a chalice from the fourth century C.E. that appears opaque green under reflected light but wine r
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How Astronomers and Art Historians Are Working Together to Identify the Inspiration Behind Famous Works of Art
Researchers study paintings and literature to uncover untold history of the works, sometimes finding themselves trying to discern celestial
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Ben Franklin Wasn’t Serious When He Implied the Wild Turkey Would Be a ‘Respectable’ National Symbol … But He Wasn’t Wrong, Either
The birds strutted around North America for hundreds of thousands of years before hunters decimated their population. Credit its recovery to
Journal
Looted by Nazis and Recently Restituted, a Kaleidoscopic Kandinsky Painting Just Sold for Nearly $42 Million
"Das bunte Leben," the Russian artist's dreamlike panorama, bridges folklore and early modernism. The sale follows a 2023 ruling concluding
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Specialists Removed Three Thrilling, Century-Old Murals From the Walls of a French Monastery. Beneath, They Made 'a Discovery for the History of Art'
Hidden under multi-paneled Symbolist murals by French artist Odilon Redon were sketches that he had drawn directly on the walls of the 11th-
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Divers Recover a Mysterious Cauldron That Had Been Hiding at the Bottom of an English River for Hundreds of Years
Nobody knows how the three-legged iron cauldron ended up in the River Wear. Weeks before Halloween, it finally returned to the surface
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This 11-Foot-Wide, Bowl-Shaped Object Was Found in a Minnesota Cornfield. Experts Suspect It's a Stray Rocket Part
The mysterious, shiny object has not been conclusively identified, but it might be space junk from a rocket built by the Chinese company Lan
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