CURRENT ISSUE
March 2023
Features
Make Way for Pufflings
Kids and senior citizens alike rally to rescue beloved young seabirds that have lost their bearings
Message Received
Glory goes to the Six Triple Eight, who overcame discrimination from fellow service members and are finally getting the recognition they earned
Re-Greening the Desert
With a new state-of-the-art irrigation project, Arizona’s Pima Indians are transforming their land into what it once was: the granary of the Southwest
The Swimming Iguana
This quirky icon of evolution faces a rocky future
Life Among the Ruins
Thanks to a few horticulturalists with an eye for history, a garden lost to time peeks out from the creeping vines
Departments
Breaking Ground
The iconic building on the National Mall will be closed for five years as its interior gets a highly anticipated makeover
Barging Ahead
The waterway opened up the heartland to trade, transforming small hamlets into industrial centers
Along for the Ride
Taken a half-century ago, her images strike a contemporary pose
Monkeying Around
A century ago, a Princeton mathematician created what would become a mainstay of the American playground
The Vienna Agent
When the fascists took power in Austria, Muriel Gardiner helped refugees and others in need, and never stopped
Untangling the Alphabet
A curious new find yields clues to the origins of the alphabet
A Life of Discovery
A look through a historic microscope helps explain what we all owe the Nobel Prize-winning scientist
Ask Smithsonian
You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts