Smithsonian Magazine

Dam Removals Are Bringing Fish Back Across the Northeastern United States, Striking Down One Tiny Barrier at a Time

While the demolition of big dams in the West gets more attention, many of these often-obsolete obstructions are also coming ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Arthur Conan Doyle Based Sherlock Holmes on a Real-Life Scottish Surgeon Who Used Deduction to Diagnose Patients and Investigate Crimes

A new book chronicles the exploits of Joseph Bell, an Edinburgh lecturer whose lessons sparked the creation of the world's ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Wildlife Experts Stunned to Find That Bird Flu Killed Jackie, the Beloved, Internet-Famous Bald Eagle

Jackie died in August after receiving weeks of intensive care at the Ojai Raptor Center in California. The necropsy results ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Small Dogs Tend to Live Longer Than Big Dogs. Scientists Say They Might Finally Know Why—and It Goes to the Molecular Level

Larger breeds like Great Danes seem to accumulate changes to chemical tags on their DNA more quickly than tinier breeds, such ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Legend Has It That This Roman Emperor Established a Camp in Wales. A Newly Discovered Fort May Offer Proof That It Really Existed

An archaeologist has uncovered an ancient fortification linked to Magnus Maximus, a fourth-century ruler who is immortalized ...
Smithsonian Magazine

This Vincent van Gogh Painting Has Not Been Seen in Public for Over 60 Years. It Is Now Poised to Set a Record at an Upcoming Auction

Impressionist painted "Chestnut Trees in Blossom" during the highly productive yet tragic final months of his life. It is ...
Smithsonian Magazine

A Monumental 18th-Century Portrait of a Young Polynesian Man—a ‘Supreme Work of Art’—Visits the U.S. for the First Time

The massive "Portrait of Mai" depicts the first Pacific Islander to visit Britain, a young man who became a quasi-celebrity ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Archaeologists in Egypt Discover a Mud-Brick Tomb Featuring a Heartbreaking Elegy to an Ancient Man’s Father

The 19-line poem was inscribed on a stone slab in the Bir al-Shaghala necropolis. The lament "is a highly literary and ...
Smithsonian Magazine

A New Contender for the World’s Oldest Shipwreck Has Been Discovered Off the Coast of Turkey. Its Ancient Cargo Is a ‘Time Capsule’ From 4,700 Years Ago

The ship was likely transporting huge jars of olive oil or wine across the Mediterranean when it sank to the seafloor. One ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Can a Cruise Capture 12,000 Years of Norwegian Heritage? Hurtigruten Certainly Thinks So

From Viking routes and fishing villages to Arctic wonders and UNESCO-listed fjords, discover Norway’s living heritage along ...
Smithsonian Magazine

See the Stunning Winners of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Contest, Capturing the Splendor and Drama of Nature

These 19 recognized images highlight the diversity across our planet and the value in appreciating and protecting the natural ...
Smithsonian Magazine

This Tiny Sardinian Village Might Be a New ‘Blue Zone’—and Could Hold the Secrets to Female Longevity

In Bolotana, a town on the Italian island with about 2,300 residents, women who reach the age of 70 are about three times as ...