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Why Images of Ghosts Have Endured in Japan for Centuries
A new exhibition at the National Museum of Asian Art displays haunting, colorful woodblock prints
Chechnya bans music outside the range of 80-116 beats per minute
Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov performs a dance at his 35th birthday celebration in 2011. STR /...
Glowing Sea Creatures Have Been Lighting Up the Oceans for More Than Half a Billion Years
New research on branching animals known as octocorals pushes the early days of bioluminescence back over...
When MIT and Quaker Oats conducted experiments on unsuspecting young boys
For years, boys at Fernald State School were subjected to experiments using radioactive tracers in oatmeal....
Florida Fish Are Mysteriously Dying After 'Spinning and Whirling,'
Wildlife biologists are trying to figure out what's killing smalltooth sawfish and other species in Florida....
This ‘Zen’ Motorcycle Still Inspires Philosophical Road-Trippers 50 Years Later
Robert M. Pirsig’s odyssey vehicle takes its final ride as it vrooms into public view for...
Canoes Discovered Northwest of Rome Are Oldest Boats Ever Found in Mediterranean
Made from alder wood, this canoe was thought to have been a fishing boat. Gibaja et...
Why birds survived and dinosaurs went extinct after an asteroid hit earth (2020)
A great spotted woodpecker eats a hazelnut. Bird beaks may have allowed the animals to eat...
Wreck of Shackleton's 'Endurance' Discovered in Icy Antarctic Depths (2022)
Researchers discovered the wreck of Ernest Shackleton's Endurance, the team announced this week. The ship was...
Why Were So Many Renaissance Portraits Multisided?
The Renaissance portraits that adorn the walls of the world’s museums hold countless secrets: painted-over underdrawings,...
From the JogBra to Gatorade to Breakaway Basketball Rims, Sports Are a Field for Invention
A new exhibition at the National Museum of American History aims to inspire the next generation...
Take a Trip to Thailand With These Smithsonian Photo Contest Images
See what makes this country so captivating, from picturesque rice paddies to striking cityscapes
The Long History of Art Inspired by Solar Eclipses
For centuries, curious artists have been trying to make sense of the celestial event
In His Garage, an Untrained Artist Created a Work of Sublime Divinity
How deep faith created one of the loveliest—and most curious—sacred objects in the Smithsonian collections
The Wide Awakes: A 19th century club of cape-wearing anti-slavery activists
The most consequential political organization in American history didn’t get its start in a party headquarters...
This Artist Turned to Painting Animals in a Turbulent Historical Moment
The German Expressionist painter Franz Marc found a subject worth celebrating in the early 20th century
Century-Old Stone "Tsunami Stones" Dot Japan's Coastline
T.KISHIMOTO, via Wikimedia Commons. At the edge of Aneyoshi, a small village on Japan’s northeastern coast,...
In the Face of Prejudice, the ‘Black Swans’ Took the Ballet World by Storm
A new book shows how pioneering ballerinas captivated audiences and broke racial barriers
See the Winners of the 21st Annual Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest
This year’s top photographs capture the quiet and chaotic from the American South to East Asia
How Kids Cornered the Market on Lemonade
The tangy tale of how America’s children learned to squeeze life for all it’s worth
Explore a Century of Masterpieces, From Rodin to Picasso, Brought Together by One Passionate Collector
A self-described "little man in a hurry," Joseph Hirshhorn built a premier modern art collection
