Smithsonian Magazine

Two Chemists Win Nobel Prize for Unraveling a Mystery of Molecular ‘Handedness,’ Helping Drugmakers Develop Safer Medications

Many molecules come in two mirrored forms—like left and right hands—but living organisms generally contain only one. However, ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Employee of a Russian Anti-Plague Lab Dies of Pneumonia, Sparking Concerns Over the Disease Behind the Black Death. Here’s What to Know

No official cause of her pneumonia has been confirmed, and Russian health officials say that none of the deceased ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Researchers May Have Directly Glimpsed an Exoplanet’s Magnetic Field for the First Time, Building Hope of Peering Deeper Into Faraway Worlds

Radio signals emanating from Beta Pictoris b suggest that this young and massive exoplanet has a strong magnetic field and ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Five Discoveries That Changed Our Understanding of T. Rex Forever, From Warm Blood to Lips

Paleontologists are still unraveling the secrets of the world’s most famous dinosaur, such as its outward appearance or the ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Like a Mythical Phoenix, This Planet May Have Risen From the Ashes of a Dead Star

The “second-generation” world, predicted from telescope data, could be the first known planet of its kind, and it may shed ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Discover the Story of Elizabeth Van Lew, the Mastermind Behind a Critical Union Espionage Network During the Civil War

Elizabeth Van Lew operated a network of spies in Richmond, Virginia, sending coded messages to General Ulysses S. Grant ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Humans May Have Used These Mysterious Symbols to Encode Information Tens of Thousands of Years Before the First Writing Systems

The team analyzed 260 engraved objects discovered in caves in what is now southwest Germany, including this 40,000-year-old mammoth figurine. Universität Tübingen / Hildegard Jensen, CC-BY-SA 4.0 ...
Smithsonian Magazine

New Research Shows That These Ancient Egyptian Servants May Have Been Brutally Sacrificed and Buried Alongside Their Pharaohs

Forensic research has identified deliberate and fatal wounds on skulls from simple grave sites near First Dynasty royal tombs ...
Smithsonian Magazine

These Soldiers Were Buried in an Unmarked Grave During the Revolutionary War. Now, Historians Finally Know Their Names

At a recent memorial ceremony, officials honored 28 Continental soldiers and at least 38 British soldiers who were buried in ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Trio of Scientists Wins Medicine Nobel for a Method to Turn Nerve Cells On and Off With Light, Helping to Unravel the Brain’s Mysteries

Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel received the 2026 award for their contributions to a revolutionary technique ...
Smithsonian Magazine

This Brain Implant Allows People With Paralysis to Speak and Gesture at the Same Time Via a Mind-Controlled Virtual Avatar

The experimental technology is still in the early stage and was fully tested in just two participants. But it could one day ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Could 2026 Be a Year With No Atlantic Hurricanes? We’ve Surprisingly Passed Their Peak Month Without Any, Thanks to El Niño

Atlantic hurricane season runs from June through November, and the last time one passed by without an intense cyclone was more than 100 years ago. While the ongoing "super" El Niño seems to be ...