Smithsonian Magazine

The Most Massive Black Hole Merger Ever Seen Was So Rare, It Seemed Impossible. Now, Astrophysicists May Finally Have an Explanation

Past research about black hole births rarely included magnetic fields or the spins of the precursor stars. But considering ...
Smithsonian Magazine

How Did Humans End Up Smooching on the Lips? It May Have Started Out With a 21-Million-Year-Old Kiss

Our ancient primate relatives—including Neanderthals—may have enjoyed a nice peck on the lips. But researchers still don’t ...
Smithsonian Magazine

More Than a Dozen NASA Spacecraft Have Laid Eyes on Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS. Now, You Can View New Images That They Captured

The space agency got a close look at the interstellar visitor over the past few months as it zipped by Mars and the sun ...
Smithsonian Magazine

A Frida Kahlo Painting Just Became the Most Expensive Work by a Female Artist Ever Auctioned

"The Dream (The Bed)," a self-portrait created in 1940, sold for $54.7 million. The previous record holder, Georgia ...
Smithsonian Magazine

Urban Raccoons Are Showing Signs of Early Domestication, With Shorter Snouts Than Their Rural Cousins

The shorter faces of these city-dwelling trash bandits offer a telltale sign of domestication and line up with a leading ...
Smithsonian Magazine

These Bach Compositions Were Lost to History. They Were Just Performed for the First Time in 300 Years—and You Can Listen to Them

After discovering the two pieces in the 1990s, researchers have finally concluded that they were created by the famous German composer. An organist performed them for audiences on November 17 ...