Articles

This month's picks include The Ravine, Four Lost Cities and The Three Mothers.

Books of the Month

Civil Rights Icons' Mothers, Lost Ancient Cities and Other New Books to Read

These February releases elevate overlooked stories and offer insights on oft-discussed topics

Paredon Records produced music that was literally revolutionary.

From the 'Sidedoor' Podcast: How a Woman-Led Record Label Spread Songs of Protest and Revolution

This episode from the sixth season of the Smithsonian's "Sidedoor" podcast delves into the history of Barbara Dane's revolutionary Paredon Records

The Tuatara, Sphenodon punctatus, is a unique reptile found in New Zealand. New research suggests the species has two mitochondrial genomes.

Smithsonian Voices

Scientists Discover This Peculiar New Zealand Reptile Has Two 'Powerhouse' Genomes

The research could help zoologists understand what makes tuataras so genetically different from all other reptiles.

Author, teacher and certified genealogical lecturer LaBrenda Garrett-Nelson will share best practices in using probate and other estate records to research enslaved ancestors.

Kick Off Black History Month With Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain and a Host of Other Events

Join Smithsonian's NMAAHC for book talks, kid programs, artist meetups and a STEM Wikipedia Edit-a-Thon

Reptile keepers are warming up to a new monitor lizard this winter, a young Komodo dragon named Onyx.

Smithsonian Voices

How to Care for Komodo Dragons, the World's Largest Lizards

The Smithsonian's National Zoo is warming up to a new monitor lizard this winter, a young Komodo dragon named Onyx

This image diagrams the difference between human and chimpanzee models of thumb muscles, which the researchers used to study the evolution of thumb dexterity.

How Dexterous Thumbs May Have Helped Shape Evolution Two Million Years Ago

Fossils and biochemical models show tool-wielding hominins used their hands like we do today

Signals from smartwatches can help catch infections early.

Covid-19

Can Smartwatches Be Adapted to Help Detect Covid-19 Infections?

With new algorithms, wearable devices—collecting vital signs like heart rate and skin temperature—could catch illness early

Xavier Viramontes, Boycott Grapes, Support the United Farm Workers Union, 1973, offset lithograph on paper

Smithsonian Voices

Curators Weigh In on the Making of the Landmark Exhibition 'Printing the Revolution!'

Exploring the origins of the exhibition that combines innovative printmaking practices with social justice

Between 1957 and 1982, “Sunrise Semester” broadcasted lectures from NYU faculty to the general public.

Education During Coronavirus

The 1950s TV Show That Set the Stage for Today's Distance Learning

"Sunrise Semester" gave a generation of women a second chance at higher education

These walrus ivory carvings were collected in the mid-1880s. They were featured in a catalogue for the exhibition "Looking Both Ways: Heritage and Identity of the Alutiiq People" at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in 2003.

Smithsonian Voices

How Arctic Anthropologists Are Expanding Narratives About the North

Studying past Arctic cultures and working with today's northern communities to address present-day socioeconomic and environmental challenges

This telescope located in Cerro Tololo, Chile is just one of many within the MicroObservatory Robotic Telescope Network.

Smithsonian Voices

With This New Digital Telescope Tool, Anyone Can Access the Heavens

This freely available technology tool provides a unique learning experience for budding astronomers and artists alike

"Yellowknife Flurry," a photograph by Nathan Myhrvold, captures the intricate structure of snowflakes.

These Are the Highest-Resolution Photos Ever Taken of Snowflakes

Photographer and scientist Nathan Myhrvold has developed a camera that captures snowflakes at a microscopic level never seen before

An Argo float, seen in the foreground, is a battery-powered device that automatically measures and transmits information about the environment.

How the Pandemic Is Undermining Weather Monitoring

Scientists are scrambling to patch the cracks forming in the global marine weather monitoring system

The Cultural Office of the Embassy of Spain in Washington is hosting a photography exhibit, PHotoEspaña, posted on the fence surrounding its historic mansion.

Virtual Travel

Their Doors May Be Closed, but Embassies Are Still Showing People the World

From cooking demonstrations to poetry readings to special exhibitions, exploring another country has never been easier

An 1802 engraving, The Cow Pock—or—the Wonderful Effects of the New Inoculation plays on the fears of a crowd of vaccinees.

History Shows Americans Have Always Been Wary of Vaccines

Even so, many diseases have been tamed. Will Covid-19 be next?

Robert S. Duncanson, Landscape with Rainbow, 1859, oil on canvas

Smithsonian Voices

A Curator Decodes the Powerful Messaging in This Landscape Painting

Curator Eleanor Harvey shares the story of Robert Duncanson and his artwork

Irmgard Keun’s disappearing act, amid the general chaos of Germany in the interwar and post-war periods, makes piecing together the author’s life a bit of a challenge.

The Extraordinary Disappearing Act of a Novelist Banned by the Nazis

Driven into exile because of her work’s “anti-German” themes, Irmgard Keun took her own life—or did she?

Soil samples collected throughout the western United States show the wide variety of minerals and colors belowground.

Art Meets Science

Meet the Soil Scientists Using Dirt to Make Stunning Paints

Professors in California and Wyoming use the unique palettes to teach geology

George Peter Alexander Healy, Abraham Lincoln, 1887. Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 188 × 137cm (74 × 53 15/16"). National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the National Gallery of Art; gift of the A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, 1942. This portrait is on view at the National Portrait Gallery, South Gallery 240.

Smithsonian Voices

A Scholar Takes a Deep Dive Into a Painted Homage to Abraham Lincoln

U.S. artist George Peter Alexander Healy’s presidential portraiture, conceived years after the sitter passed away

Seabird guano covers a small island off the coast of Peru.

Ancient South American Civilizations Bloomed in the Desert Thanks to Seabird Poop

Prehistoric farmers fertilized their crops with the waste, which they imported from the coast

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