Articles

Shearith Torah

Why Religious Freedom and Diversity Flourished in Early America

Jam-packed exhibition features artifacts as diverse as Jefferson's Bible, a steeple bell cast by Paul Revere and a storied Torah

These WWI Ambulance Trains Could Care for 500 Men at Once

During World War I, the British converted a large number of commuter train cars into ambulance cars

The memorial (shown here in early June) will be dedicated on the 325th anniversary of the hangings.

The Site of the Salem Witch Trial Hangings Finally Has a Memorial

In a town that has long profited from witchcraft-seekers and Halloween revelers alike, a new memorial strikes a different tone

A Smithsonian scientist and other researchers announce success in the first-ever cryo-preservation of zebrafish embryos using gold nanotechnology and lasers.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

A Cool New Way to Freeze and Unfreeze Zebrafish Embryos Using Gold Nanotechnology and Lasers

The downstream applications could make food cheaper, repair coral reefs and help restore frog populations

A scuba diver swims in the coral reefs of Palau. Beneath the depths that humans can dive, natural wonder and a better understanding of our planet awaits.

Why The First Complete Map of the Ocean Floor Is Stirring Controversial Waters

Charting these watery depths could transform oceanography. It could also aid deep sea miners looking for profit

U.S. Marines' First Test Against Japanese Defenses on Okinawa

As U.S. marines advanced northward in Okinawa, they approached a craggy mass known as Mount Yae-Take

An earthship seems to rise out of the high plains at the foot of the mountains near Taos, New Mexico.

These Otherworldly "Earthships" Offer Visitors Unusual, Off-the-Grid Accommodations

Spend the night in an art house built from garbage

Adorable New Tiger Cub Born at the Zoo Yips at Its Mom on Video

The new Sumatran tiger cub signals a success in efforts to save the critically endangered species

"Many people, Indian and otherwise, will continue to fight until your team name sits in the rubbish heap where it belongs," says Gover.

Commentary

The Washington Football Team Can Legally Keep Its Racist Name. But It Shouldn’t

The director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, and a citizen of the Pawnee Nation, speaks out against the D.C. sports franchise

This two-stair prototype harvests energy from a user as they descend the stairs, then returns it on the upward climb.

New Assistive Stairs Put a Spring in Your Step

Inventors design a staircase that recycles energy to assist users

This is an illustration, not a picture, of a virus, because viruses are super small. But a new "VirusCam" promises to be able to see and track individual viruses, potentially leading to breakthroughs for human health.

"VirusCam" Can Watch Individual Viruses to (Someday) Keep You From Getting Sick

Viruses are tiny and hard to see, but a new microscope can track them individually to try to better prevent disease

Jane Austen's brother, Edward, inherited this grand Palladian-style home from the wealthy relatives who raised him.

Take a Stroll Through Jane Austen's England With This Interactive Map

A look at the houses and towns that shaped the life and writing of the famed author on the 200th anniversary of her death

No flush

How Fake, Lab-Made Poop Can Improve Sanitation

The, er, sludge replicates the properties of human waste to better understand sanitation in Bangladesh

A crowd gathers in the "Bird Migration" exhibit at the Steinhardt Museum during the inauguration event.

The Middle East Is a Treasure Trove of Natural Wonders. Now It Has a Museum to Show Them Off

Everything from early human skulls to priceless taxidermy relics will be on display in the ark-shaped museum

Sam Kass explains the brewing process.

How Barack Obama Became the First President to Brew Beer at the White House

The former president and his staff crafted ales featuring honey from the White House garden

Pocahontas Redefined How Europeans Saw Native Americans

Prior to the arrival of Pocahontas in England, indigenous people of the Americas were viewed as cannibals, brutish, and non-Christian

Criseyde and Her Maidens Listening to a Reading, by Warwick Goble, from The Complete Poetical Works of Geoffrey Chaucer, 1912.

The Timelessness of Millennial-Bashing

Even in the 14th century, writers blamed younger generations for ruining everything

John Quincy Adams Kept a Diary and Didn’t Skimp on the Details

On the occasion of his 250th birthday, the making of our sixth president in his own words

This false-color image depicts various compounds that ants smell to detect where their nestmates stand in the colony's social hierarchy.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Studying Ant "Noses" Could Lead to Better Bug Repellents

The new class of repellents, called "excito-repellents," is similar to "getting on an elevator with someone who's put on way too much perfume"

Even top predators like pumas flee in our presence. Worse, they might be disrupting entire food chains as they go.

New Research

How Fear of Humans Can Ripple Through Food Webs and Reshape Landscapes

Predators like pumas cower in our presence. And these big cats aren’t the only ones

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