Abigail Tucker

A frequent contributor to Smithsonian, Abigail Tucker is the author of The Lion in the Living Room: How House Cats Tamed Us and Took Over the World and Mom Genes: Inside the New Science of Our Ancient Maternal Instinct. More information is available at her website: abigailtucker.com

“We want them to think, ‘maybe science is something I could do,’” coastal geoscientist Rob Young said of tribal youths, who took part in a camp focusing on the area’s spiritual heritage.

Preparing for a New River

Klallam tribal members make plans for holy ancestral sites to resurface after the unparalleled removal of nearby dams

Two antique dams on Washington state's Elwha River are set to be demolished.

On the Elwha, a New Life When the Dam Breaks

A huge dam-removal project will reveal sacred Native American lands that have been flooded for a century

Impromptu jam sessions, including a gathering at Floyd, Virginia's Country Store, attract musicians and dancers raised on the raw and keening power of mountain music.

A Musical Tour Along the Crooked Road

Grab a partner. Bluegrass and country tunes that tell America's story are all the rage in hilly southern Virginia

Ancient cultures used an array of ingredients to make their alcoholic beverages, including emmer wheat, wild yeast, chamomile, thyme and oregano.

The Beer Archaeologist

By analyzing ancient pottery, Patrick McGovern is resurrecting the libations that fueled civilization

The Voodoo Museum "is an entry point for people who are curious, who want to see what's behind this stuff," says anthropologist Martha Ward.

The New Orleans Historic Voodoo Museum

Wooden masks, portraits and the occasional human skull mark the collections of this small museum near the French Quarter

Archaeologists have been recovering historical artifacts from the vessel possibly stolen by Blackbeard since 1996.

Did Archaeologists Uncover Blackbeard's Treasure?

Cannons. Gold dust. Turtle bones. For archaeologists researching the notorious pirate's flagship, every clue is priceless

Seldom-seen rulers of their wintry domain, lynx may face new threats.

Tracking the Elusive Lynx

Rare and maddeningly elusive, the "ghost cat" tries to give scientists the slip high in the mountains of Montana

The center of our Milky Way galaxy is even more breathtaking when seen as a composite made of data from three space-based instruments sensitive to different wavelengths.

Brilliant Space Photos From Chandra and Spitzer

Two unsung space telescopes create eye-opening images of the universe from light we can't see

None

I Think I'll Go Eat Dirt

A keen observer as well as celebrated wit, Arcimboldo created composite portraits that were both enjoyed as jokes and taken very seriously.

Arcimboldo's Feast for the Eyes

Renaissance artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo painted witty, even surreal portraits composed of fruits, vegetables, fish and trees

J.P. Morgan sat for two minutes; one of the resulting portraits defined his reputation.

J. P. Morgan as Cutthroat Capitalist

In 1903, photographer Edward Steichen portrayed the American tycoon in an especially ruthless light

Town Brook, the once main water supply for Pilgrims in 1621 has been ailing for decades due to multiple dams constructed along the 1.5-mile stream.

The Waterway That Brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth

Town Brook gave sustenance to the Plymouth’s early settlers, but years of dam building have endangered the struggling stream

None

Robot Swan Dances Swan Lake

None

Palm Trees in Ireland?

For the Dyak people of Borneo, tattoos once commemorated headhunting expeditions.

Looking at the World's Tattoos

Photographer Chris Rainier travels the globe in search of tattoos and other examples of the urge to embellish our skin

Jellyfish such as these Northeast Pacific sea nettles in Monterey Bay Aquarium, are brainless, bloodless and mostly aimless.

Jellyfish: The Next King of the Sea

As the world's oceans are degraded, will they be dominated by jellyfish?

Brian Boutin, a Nature Conservancy biologist, stands protectively over a newly planted bald cypress sapling. Park managers hope to slow the submersion of the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge.

Rising Seas Endanger Wetland Wildlife

For scientists in a remote corner of coastal North Carolina, ignoring global warming is not an option

During the era of horse-drawn railroads, workers filled in a ravine at Duffy's Cut.

Ireland's Forgotten Sons Recovered Two Centuries Later

In Pennsylvania, amateur archaeologists unearth a mass grave of immigrant railroad workers who disappeared in 1832

"He'd go down there [to the docks] in the middle of the night sometimes," Bodine's daughter says.

Photographing Baltimore's Working Class

Baltimore's A. Aubrey Bodine cast a romantic light on the city's dockworkers in painterly photographs

Homo heidelbergensis—one of five sculptures crafted for the new exhibition hall at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History—takes shape at a Baltimore foundry.

Sculpting Evolution

A series of statues by sculptor John Gurche brings us face to face with our early ancestors

Page 4 of 6