Articles

An artist's rendition of Juno in orbit around Jupiter. The craft is powered entirely by the sun's rays.

Space Hub

It's Official: We Are Now in Orbit Around Jupiter

After a nerve-wracking entry, NASA spacecraft Juno successfully entered the gas giant's orbit

Future of Energy

One Step Closer to Turning Plastics Into Fuel

Researchers in California and China have discovered a new method for breaking polyethylene into liquid fuel and solid wax

Would-be assassin Frank Holt, also known as Erich Muenter

The Harvard Professor Who Shot a Financial Titan and Fomented Anti-German Sentiment in a Pre-WWI America

Readers on July 4, 1915 learned the story of a would-be assassin who said he was trying to keep the U.S. out of the European conflict

Basque craftsmen showed up with a 26 foot-long skeleton, oak timber and other traditional materials  and set up shop on the National Mall to build a ship at the Smithsonian’s 2016 Folklife Festival.

There’s a Lot More to This Basque Boat Than Meets the Eye

The lost story of the Basque heritage is just waiting to be discovered and could be revealed just by watching craftsmen rebuild an ancient whaler

Ryan Demirjian, Saro Koujakian, and Mher Ajamian of Armenian Public Radio in Los Angeles.

Armenia

"Armenian Public Radio" Brings Nirvana Attitude to the Folklife Festival

An Armenian-American trio performs traditional folk songs with a modern American sensibility

Cap-Bon-Ami at Dawn Forillon National Park Quebec, Canada

Canada

Visit Canada's Jaw-Dropping National Parks for Free

In honor of Canada's sesquicentennial anniversary, explore its spectacular parks gratis

How Do Your Checked Bags Actually Get on the Plane?

Your bags usually make the same journey you do. But before they've even boarded, they're in for a six-mile automated trip through the bowels of the airport

How Real-time Translation Apps and Online Tools Are Helping Refugees in Turkey Forge New Lives

Refugees and the technology of exile

By the “dawn’s early light,” Key saw the huge garrison flag, now on view at the National Museum of American History, waving above Fort McHenry and he realized that the Americans had survived the battle and stopped the enemy advance.

Commentary

Where’s the Debate on Francis Scott Key’s Slave-Holding Legacy?

During his lifetime, abolitionists ridiculed Key’s words, sneering that America was more like the “Land of the Free and Home of the Oppressed”

Statue in front yard, Chalmette neighborhood

Age of Humans

Plastic is Forever: The Art of Mass Consumption

For International Bag Free Day, an intimate look at American mass consumption through the eyes of photographer Chris Jordan

What Ultra High Speed Penguin Footage Reveals About Pliosaurus

How did the pliosaurus, a 45-foot-long underwater prehistoric predator, keep up with its prey? A biomechanics expert finds answers by observing the penguin

A Coney dog

The Origin of the Coney Island Hot Dog Is a Uniquely American Story

They also have very little to do with the New York City amusement park

Do Insects Have Consciousness?

A new theory has scientists buzzing

Ask Smithsonian

What's the Difference Between Invasive and Nonnative Species? Plus, More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

A schematic design of the upcoming “Icebergs” installation for the National Building Museum

Age of Humans

A Maze of Palatial Icebergs Has Floated Into a Washington, D.C. Museum

The new exhibition touches on design, landscape architecture, the life of icebergs and climate change

A 1959 exhibition of the first video game "Tennis For Two," designed physicist William Higinbotham at Brookhaven National Laboratory in 1958.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Pioneers of Video Game Technology Are About to Become the Stuff of History

The American History Museum's Lemelson Center will record 20 oral histories from early video game innovators

A prototype gene gun developed by Dennis McCabe and Brian Martinell in 1986 delivered new genetic material into the cells of plants.

Age of Humans

How Roundup Ready Soybeans Rocked the Food Economy

This 1980s-era “gene gun” fired the shot heard around the world

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Age of Humans

Video: The Past, Present and Future of Agriculture

Globalization and new technologies have given us more control and more power over our food than ever before. What's next?

For the first time in 32 years, the Smithsonian's National Zoo’s celebrated the arrival of a sea lion pup.

Proud Sea Lion Mom Shows Off Her New Pup in These Adorable Pictures From the Zoo

Calli, the 11-year-old sea lion gave birth on June 26; mother and pup are bonding and doing well

Taxi Diary Taipei lets visitors explore the Taiwanese city in an entirely new way.

Discover Taipei's Local Hangouts from the Front Seat of an In-service Taxi

Ride along through this Taiwanese city's back alleys and far-flung neighborhoods

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