Smithsonian Magazine

⁣This Letter Penned on the ‘Titanic’ Days Before It Sank Shares the Perspective of the Ship's Second-Class Passengers The letter, now up for auction, describes good weather and bustling activity as the "Titanic" prepared to set off across the Atlantic Ocean https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-letter-penned-on-the-titanic-days-before-it-sank-shares-the-perspective-of-the-ships-second-class-passengers-180989174/

⁣People Aren't Born as Righties or Lefties—They Develop Hand Dominance With Practice, a New Study Suggests Humans do have a biological preference for using one side of their body, which might prime them for using limbs on that side for complex motor tasks like writing—and honing those skills over time https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/people-arent-born-with-as-righties-or-lefties-they-develop-hand-dominance-with-practice-a-new-study-suggests-180989168/

⁣This 1950s Airplane Disaster Prompted the Flight Safety Demonstrations Passengers Know Today. Searchers Just Found the Wreckage in the Atlantic Ocean A team of explorers used an autonomous underwater vehicle to locate the remains of the Pan American ‘Clipper Endeavor’ about five miles off the coast of Puerto Rico https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-1950s-airplane-disaster-prompted-the-flight-safety-demonstrations-passengers-know-today-seachers-just-found-the-wreckage-in-the-atlantic-ocean-180989170/

⁣Ancient Genes Reveal That Big, Bright Avocados Were Carried Through the Americas Thousands of Years Ago People brought large avocado seeds from South America to Central America, kicking off a burst of diversity for the fruit https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ancient-genes-reveal-that-big-bright-avocados-were-carried-through-the-americas-thousands-of-years-ago-180989171/

⁣Double Puggles: See the Adorable 'Twin' Echidnas Born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park The two babies hatched earlier this year to one mother during the same breeding season—an extremely rare occurrence, according to the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/double-puggles-see-the-adorable-twin-echidnas-born-at-the-san-diego-zoo-safari-park-180989165/

⁣A New World Record in the Greased Pole Walk Brought Extra Excitement to This Year's World Eskimo-Indian Olympics in Alaska A 45-year-old record fell at the annual sporting event, which celebrates Indigenous athleticism and culture with events including the knuckle hop and the Alaskan high kick https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-new-world-record-in-the-greased-pole-walk-brought-extra-excitement-to-this-years-world-eskimo-indian-olumpics-in-alaska-180989164/

⁣This Indian Maharaja Saved Hundreds of Polish Orphans During World War II, Offering Them Refuge When No One Else Would Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja, ruler of the princely state of Nawanagar, opened his realm to young Poles who had been detained in Soviet labor camps as the children of the intelligentsia https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/this-indian-maharaja-saved-hundreds-of-polish-orphans-during-world-war-ii-offering-them-refuge-when-no-one-else-would-180989150/

⁣British Intelligence Turned This Mansion Into a Bugged Spy Trap for Nazi Prisoners of War During World War II Visitors can now tour the house, where German generals relaxed and gabbed upstairs while Jewish refugees working as spies and translators for the British government listened in from the basement https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/british-intelligence-turned-this-mansion-into-a-bugged-spy-trap-for-nazi-prisoners-of-war-during-world-war-ii-180989166/

⁣A Volunteer Stumbled Upon a Strange Document in the U.K. National Archives. It Turned Out to Be a Rare Copy of the Declaration of Independence Printed in July 1776 Michael Scurr, a retired insurance broker, found the text while cataloging boxes of 18th-century correspondence housed at the London archives. It's the only known copy of its kind outside the United States https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-volunteer-stumbled-upon-a-strange-document-in-the-uk-national-archives-it-turned-out-to-be-a-rare-copy-of-the-declaration-of-independence-printed-in-july-1776-180989169/

⁣Naked Mole-Rat Queens Emit a Special Scent to Stop Their Rivals From Reproducing, a New Study Suggests The strange-looking creatures are one of two known mammals that use a social structure like that of bees and ants. A ruling rodent maintains power over her colony via one key chemical compound, according to new research https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/naked-mole-rat-queens-emit-a-special-scent-to-stop-their-rivals-from-reproducing-a-new-study-suggests-180989148/

⁣A Massive Flow of Rock and Mud Tumbled Down Mount Rainier Centuries Ago. Scientists Pinpointed Its Date to Better Understand the Volcano's Complex Threats In a recent study, researchers dated a historic lahar called the Electron Mudflow to the summer of 1507, establishing a way to determine when past geologic events around the Puget Sound occurred https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/a-massive-flow-of-rock-and-mud-tumbled-down-mount-rainier-centuries-ago-scientists-pinpointed-its-date-to-better-understand-the-volcanos-complex-threats-180989162/

⁣Could Life Exist on This Nearby World? In a First, Astronomers Find an Atmosphere on an Earth-Like Exoplanet in the Habitable Zone While the celestial body seems to host three features that could make a livable environment—an atmosphere, a rocky composition and a temperature that could allow liquid water to sit on the surface—researchers have not currently detected any residents https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/could-life-exist-on-this-nearby-world-in-a-first-astronomers-find-an-atmosphere-on-an-earth-like-exoplanet-in-the-habitable-zone-180989149/

⁣An Amateur Astronomer Using Google Maps Spotted a Strange Indentation. It Turned Out to Be a Meteorite Crater From 390 Million Years Ago Scientists confirmed the astronomer’s suspicions with an expedition to the site in Quebec. The discovery offers a rare case of a reported new crater turning out to be real https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/an-amateur-astronomer-using-google-maps-spotted-a-strange-indentation-it-turned-out-to-be-a-meteorite-crater-from-390-million-years-ago-180989158/

⁣The Tower of London Plans to Turn Its Moat Into a ‘Green Classroom’ and Show Off Its Architecture Archives in a Major Renovation The landmark, nearly a millennium old, has housed kings, hosted royal executions and safeguarded Britain's crown jewels. New education centers aim to invite more people to learn about that history https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-tower-of-london-plans-to-turn-its-moat-into-a-green-classroom-and-show-off-its-architecture-archive-in-a-major-renovation-180989161/

⁣An Unusual-Looking Raccoon Nicknamed Jimothy Is Winning Hearts Across the Internet for His Short, Round Body Jimothy has become a local celebrity in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood and likely has a rare congenital spine condition https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/an-unusual-looking-raccoon-nicknamed-jimothy-is-winning-hearts-across-the-internet-for-his-short-round-body-180989157/

⁣A Man With Paralysis Has Regained Feeling and Movement in His Hands After an Experimental Brain Implant After months of training, the patient can now move his arms and hands and feel the sensation of touch https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-man-with-paralysis-has-regained-feeling-and-movement-in-his-hands-after-an-experimental-brain-implant-180989156/

⁣New Women's Pro Baseball League Teams Are Named for These Pioneering American Women, Giving Female Players Another League of Their Own The Firebells, Heights, Queens and Hunters—of San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles and Boston—were inspired by an honorary firefighter, a civil rights activist, a first basewoman and a physician https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-womens-pro-baseball-league-teams-are-named-for-these-pioneering-women-giving-female-players-another-league-of-their-own-180989159/

⁣Railway Construction Reveals a Coin Minted by a Roman Officer Who Proclaimed Himself 'Emperor of the North' in Britain 1,700 Years Ago Archaeologists in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire unearthed a silver denarius bearing the name of Carausius, who ruled the breakaway state of Britannia between 286 and 293 https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/railway-construction-reveals-coin-minted-by-roman-officer-who-proclaimed-himself-emperor-of-the-north-in-britain-1700-years-ago-180989160/

⁣For the First Time in 27 Years, a Man Set a New World Record for Fastest Mile. People Have Chased the Goal for Centuries British runners in particular have long tried to cross the finish line in less than 4 minutes, records show, sometimes running in the nude or trying to win a bet https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/for-the-first-time-in-27-years-a-man-set-a-new-world-record-for-fastest-mile-people-have-chased-the-goal-for-centuries-180989154/

⁣For Three Hours Every Day, Open Ocean Transforms Into Australia's 'Ghost' Reef An isolated wonder some 1,200 miles from the nearest city, Montgomery Reef disappears as quickly as it appears, mirroring the supposed vanishing of its original owners, a tribe of Indigenous giants https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/for-three-hours-every-day-open-ocean-transforms-into-australias-ghost-reef-180989152/