Discoveries | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/discoveries/RSS feed for DiscoveriesenThu, 24 Jul 2025 19:44:24 +0000Scientists Feared the World's Smallest Snake Had Gone Extinct. They Just Found It Againhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-feared-the-worlds-smallest-snake-had-gone-extinct-they-just-found-it-again-180987044/When fully grown, the Barbados threadsnake is only three to four inches long—shorter than many earthwormsThu, 24 Jul 2025 19:44:24 +0000Underwater Archaeologists Capture Photos of Japanese Warship That Hasn't Been Seen Since It Sank During World War IIhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/underwater-archaeologists-capture-photos-of-japanese-warship-that-hasnt-been-seen-since-it-sank-during-world-war-ii-180987026/The “Teruzuki” was a Japanese Navy destroyer that sank near the Solomon Islands on December 12, 1942. Eight decades later, researchers have identified the wreckage in the PacificWed, 23 Jul 2025 14:57:10 +0000Astronomers Say They've Finally Spotted Betelgeuse's Companion Star, Long Predicted to Exist but Never Seenhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/astronomers-say-theyve-finally-spotted-betelgeuses-companion-star-long-predicted-to-exist-but-never-seen-180987025/The discovery, if confirmed, could explain Betelgeuse’s mysterious six-year oscillations in brightnessTue, 22 Jul 2025 20:52:17 +0000Dinosaurs Gathered to Perform Mating Dances With Kicks and Spins at This Site in Colorado—and You Can Go See It for Yourselfhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dinosaurs-gathered-to-perform-mating-dances-with-kicks-and-spins-at-this-site-in-colorado-and-you-can-go-see-it-for-yourself-180986995/Paleontologists have discovered what appears to be one of the largest dinosaur courtship arenas in the world, just 15 miles west of DenverThu, 17 Jul 2025 15:00:00 +0000Video Reveals an Unlikely Bond Between Ocelots and Opossums in the Amazon, Walking Together Like 'Old Friends'https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/video-reveals-an-unlikely-bond-between-ocelots-and-opossums-in-the-amazon-walking-together-like-old-friends-180986994/Researchers captured the footage by surprise, with cameras initially set up to record bird behaviorWed, 16 Jul 2025 19:50:17 +0000'Nothing Short of Magical': Scientists Discover a Dinosaur Bone Nearly 800 Feet Beneath a Parking Lot at a Denver Museumhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nothing-short-of-magical-scientists-discover-a-dinosaur-bone-nearly-800-feet-beneath-a-parking-lot-at-a-denver-museum-180986967/The partial vertebra appeared inside a 2.5-inch-diameter column of rock that researchers drilled, earning the title of the oldest and deepest dinosaur fossil found in DenverThu, 10 Jul 2025 19:44:42 +0000Lost Bow of American Warship Found Eight Decades After It Was Blown Off by a Japanese Torpedo in World War IIhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/lost-bow-of-american-warship-found-eight-decades-after-it-was-blown-off-by-a-japanese-torpedo-in-world-war-ii-180986959/After the attack, crews sailed the USS "New Orleans" backwards for more than 1,000 miles across the Pacific. Since then, the location of the vessel's bow has been a mysteryThu, 10 Jul 2025 16:39:21 +0000A Rare Interstellar Object Is Blazing Through Our Solar System, Marking Only the Third Cosmic Visitor on Recordhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-rare-interstellar-object-is-blazing-through-our-solar-system-marking-only-the-third-cosmic-visitor-on-record-180986931/The comet follows just two other deep space objects documented by astronomers in 2017 and 2019Mon, 07 Jul 2025 18:06:08 +0000Gas Workers Digging Beneath the Streets of Lima Stumble Upon 1,000-Year-Old Mummy With Dark Brown Hairhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/gas-workers-digging-beneath-the-streets-of-lima-stumble-upon-1000-year-old-mummy-with-dark-brown-hair-180986924/The burial belonged to a child who may have lived among fishermen from the Chancay culture, which thrived in Peru before the rise of the Inca EmpireWed, 02 Jul 2025 19:29:18 +0000These Killer Whales Make Tools From Kelp to Massage Each Other in a Newly Discovered Grooming Behaviorhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-killer-whales-make-tools-from-kelp-to-massage-each-other-in-a-newly-discovered-grooming-behavior-180986873/Dubbed "allokelping," it might be a unique cultural phenomenon that's as endangered as the orca population itselfMon, 30 Jun 2025 18:14:34 +0000The James Webb Space Telescope Reveals Its First Direct Image Discovery of an Exoplanethttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/james-webb-space-telescope-reveals-its-first-direct-image-discovery-of-an-exoplanet-180986886/Researchers identified the likely planetary candidate’s infrared light after blocking out its host star’s overwhelming glareFri, 27 Jun 2025 16:15:28 +0000See a Vibrant, Colorful Mosaic Discovered at an Ancient Roman Settlement in Francehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-vibrant-colorful-mosaic-discovered-at-ancient-roman-settlement-in-france-180986887/Perched on a hill overlooking the town of Alès, the site, which was salvaged before construction on modern houses began, also boasts advanced architectureThu, 26 Jun 2025 18:28:40 +0000Doctors Detected a Mysterious Antibody in a French Woman's Body. It Turned Out to Be a Brand New Blood Typehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/doctors-detected-a-mysterious-antibody-in-a-french-womans-body-it-turned-out-to-be-a-brand-new-blood-type-180986866/Called "Gwada negative," it marks the discovery of the 48th known blood group system in humansTue, 24 Jun 2025 21:00:03 +0000See the First Breathtaking Images Captured by the Powerful New Telescope at the Rubin Observatoryhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-first-breathtaking-images-captured-by-the-powerful-new-telescope-at-the-rubin-observatory-180986867/Featuring never-before-seen views of galaxies and more than 2,100 newly discovered asteroids, the observations are only a taste of what to expect from the telescope's upcoming decade-long surveyTue, 24 Jun 2025 18:13:53 +0000This Rare, 6,000-Year-Old Limestone Fertility Figurine Could Be Poland's Archaeological 'Find of the Century'https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-rare-6000-year-old-limestone-fertility-figurine-could-be-polands-archaeological-find-of-the-century-180986859/Dating back to the Neolithic era, the so-called Venus of Kolobrzeg is the first artifact of its kind unearthed in the European countryMon, 23 Jun 2025 18:13:57 +0000Scientists Discover First Known Sea Spider Species That 'Eat' Methane With the Help of Bacteriahttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-discover-first-known-sea-spider-species-that-eat-methane-with-the-help-of-bacteria-180986846/The research offers new insights on interactions between creatures on the mysterious seafloor and sheds light on the methane cycleFri, 20 Jun 2025 18:28:01 +0000Tattered Pages Discovered in Storage Reveal an Enslaved Man's Daring Bid for Freedom—and His Second Life at Seahttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/tattered-pages-discovered-in-storage-reveal-an-enslaved-mans-daring-bid-for-freedom-and-his-second-life-at-sea-180986838/Historians are investigating the haunting handwritten manuscript, which chronicles Thomas White's escape from slavery in Maryland and adventures around the world nearly 200 years agoWed, 18 Jun 2025 18:56:17 +0000Archaeologists Stumble Onto Sprawling Ancient Roman Villa During Construction of a Road in Francehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-stumble-onto-sprawling-ancient-roman-villa-during-construction-road-in-france-180986800/Located near Auxerre, the grand estate once possessed an exorbitant level of wealth, with thermal baths and heated floorsFri, 13 Jun 2025 19:44:23 +0000This Long-Lost Landscape Painted by a Teenage J.M.W. Turner Was Found Hiding in Plain Sighthttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-long-lost-landscape-painted-by-a-teenage-jmw-turner-was-found-hiding-in-plain-sight-180986782/Showcasing the Romantic artist's early innovations with oil paint, "The Rising Squall" could fetch up to $400,000. Before it was reattributed, it sold for just $506 at auction last yearThu, 12 Jun 2025 20:43:38 +0000See the First-Ever Direct Images of the Sun's South Pole, Captured by the Solar Orbiter Spacecrafthttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/see-the-first-ever-direct-images-of-the-suns-south-pole-captured-by-the-solar-orbiter-spacecraft-180986788/The spacecraft's tilted orbit will allow scientists to investigate the mechanisms behind space weather that impact crucial human activity on EarthThu, 12 Jun 2025 20:41:27 +0000Scientists Had Never Seen This Mysterious Squid Alive in the Wild—Until Now. See the First Footage of the Elusive Creaturehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-had-never-seen-this-mysterious-squid-alive-in-the-wild-until-now-see-the-first-footage-of-the-elusive-creature-180986779/A three-foot-long Antarctic gonate squid was spotted swimming 7,000 feet below the surface of the Southern OceanWed, 11 Jun 2025 20:51:09 +0000Astronomers Discover a Possible Dwarf Planet Far Beyond Neptune, Where There Should Have Only Been Empty Spacehttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/astronomers-discover-a-possible-dwarf-planet-far-beyond-neptune-where-there-should-have-only-been-empty-space-180986703/As it orbits the sun once every 25,000 years, the celestial body 2017 OF201 travels beyond the Kuiper Belt into a region thought to be largely devoid of objectsThu, 29 May 2025 16:32:11 +0000