Articles

Covid-19

The Fever That Struck New York

The front lines of a terrible epidemic, through the eyes of a young doctor profoundly touched by tragedy

Artist’s rendition of Ingenuity flying on Mars.

Smithsonian Voices

How the Perseverance Rover Paves a Path Into the Future

Three new (and particularly challenging) aspects of the Mars 2020 mission that distinguishes it from previous missions

Chosen for the 2021 inauguration, this 1859 painting by the African American artist Robert Duncanson depicts the promise of America.

Secretary Lonnie Bunch on Healing a Divided Nation

We must use the lessons of the past to help our country grow and move forward

The Peace Memorial stands in front of the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on January 15, 2021, nine days after the storming of Congress.

The Tragic Irony of the U.S. Capitol's Peace Monument

An unfinished Civil War memorial became an allegory for peace—and a scene of insurrection

The health of corals on the Great Barrier Reef is routinely being threatened by hot water temperatures. The Australian government is investigating a range of techniques to try to protect the corals and stave off warming.

Could Flushing Cold Water Over the Great Barrier Reef Save Corals?

Lack of action on climate change is forcing scientists to devise ever more elaborate ways to stave off damage

James Earl Jones (right) played Jack Johnson, while Jane Alexander (left) portrayed Eleanor Bachman, a fictionalized version of the boxer's first wife.

Based on a True Story

Looking Back at the Legacy of 'The Great White Hope' and Boxer Jack Johnson

The two stars of the play and movie reminisce about their experience adapting the life story of boxer Jack Johnson

A dedication marker outside of the damaged Prince Hall Masonic Lodge.

Black Soldiers Played an Undeniable but Largely Unheralded Role in Founding the United States

Veterans like Prince Hall fought for independence and then abolition in the earliest days of the nation

Chinchero is an agrarian town about 45-minutes outside of Cusco known for its striking landscape of snow-capped mountains and lagoons connected by a system of wetlands, as well as its Inca ruins and famous Sunday market.

The Uphill Battle to Stop Peru From Building a New Airport Near Machu Picchu

Opinions are divided in the agrarian town of Chinchero, where the airport is slated to open in 2025

A statue of Charles Darwin sits in the Natural History Museum in London. The scientist's book 'Descent of Man' was published in 1871.

How Darwin's 'Descent of Man' Holds Up 150 Years After Publication

Questions still swirl around the author’s theories about sexual selection and the evolution of minds and morals

Artist's rendering of "Futures," an upcoming exhibition at the Smithsonian's Arts and Industries Building

Futures

From Floating Cities to Biodegradable Burial Pods and Flying Cars, the Smithsonian Envisions a Multitude of Futures

The Arts and Industries Building will reopen this November with a thought-provoking exploration of what lies ahead for humanity

Album cover, Sound, 1966; Designed by Laini Abernathy (American) for Delmark Records (Chicago, Illinois); Lithograph on folder paper; 31.8 × 31.8 cm (12 1/2 × 12 1/2 in.)

Smithsonian Voices

Why Cooper Hewitt Is Seeking Works by the Innovative Black Graphic Designer Laini Abernathy

Cooper Hewitt is collecting album covers designed by this important designer, who contributed to the Black cultural scene in the late 1960s

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Covid-19

How Navajo Physicians Are Battling the Covid-19 Pandemic

Combining traditional medicine and modern science, these courageous doctors have risen to the challenge

Technicians at Canada's main polio vaccine supplier at the time, Connaught Laboratories, working on a step of vaccine formulation in 1955.

The Great Canadian Polio Vaccine Heist of 1959

A theft more than 60 years ago shows how sought-after scarce vaccine doses have been in past epidemics

A piece of bone labeled PP-00128 was thought to belong to a bear until DNA analysis revealed it came from a dog.

Ancient DNA Reveals the Oldest Domesticated Dog in the Americas

A 10,000-year-old dog bone was found in an Alaskan cave near a site with human remains

Many contemporaries argued that Black men had more than earned the right to vote through their military service in the Civil War.

Smithsonian Voices

How the Unresolved Debate Over Black Male Suffrage Shaped the Presidential Election of 1868

At the height of the Reconstruction, the pressing issue was Black male suffrage

Researchers in France are testing which fish eggs are best suited to being launched to the moon. So far, European seabass are among the leaders.

Could Astronauts Rear Fish on the Moon?

Researchers in France aim to boldly farm fish where no one has farmed fish before

While her paintings eventually became entirely abstract, Bongé's earlier work included lively port scenes and Cubist-inspired still-lifes (Sunflowers and Squash, 1944).

A New Exhibition Brings Artist Dusti Bongé Into the Light

The overlooked Mississippi painter's strong connection to the South infused her work

Could humans be visiting Venus in the future?

Ask Smithsonian

Will We Ever Send Humans to Venus?

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

In the background, a photograph taken by an American U-2 spy plane over Cuba on October 14, 1962, shows a secret deployment of Soviet nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. Right, Juanita Moody, head of the National Security Agency’s Cuba desk.

Women Who Shaped History

The Once-Classified Tale of Juanita Moody: The Woman Who Helped Avert a Nuclear War

America’s bold response to the Soviet Union depended on an unknown spy agency operative whose story can at last be told

For generations, Americans have sought to understand the sense of shared destiny—or perhaps, civic obligation—that forged the nation.

The Pitfalls and Promise of America's Founding Myths

Maintaining a shared sense of nationhood has always been a struggle for a country defined not by organic ties, but by a commitment to a set of ideals

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