Articles

A Breathtaking 110-Mile Alaskan Railroad Built in Two Years

Built during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898, the Yukon and White Pass Railway is a stunning sight

The collaboration will result in a new cultural complex to be located on this 4.5 acre triangular site at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the site of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Smithsonian to Partner with Victoria and Albert Museum to Open a London Gallery

For the U.S. museum and research complex originally funded by Englishman James Smithson, the announcement brings the 19th-century gift full circle

A male Bombay night frog getting his call on.

The Frog Kamasutra Gains a Chapter, Thanks to Camera-Wielding Biologists

One newly described sexual position for frogs could mean one giant leap for frog conservationists

Lesser flamingos feed on Lake Natron with Shompole Volcano in the background.

The Deadly Lake Where 75 Percent of the World's Lesser Flamingos Are Born

Lake Natron will kill a human, but flamingos breed on its salty water

Architects Reimagine Detroit

A new exhibition in Venice showcases how 12 teams would reinvent four sites in Detroit badly in need of facelifts

The restored Pullman Palace passenger car, which ran along the Southern Railway route during the "Jim Crow" era of the 20th century, serves as a signature artifact in the new museum.

Breaking Ground

This Segregated Railway Car Offers a Visceral Reminder of the Jim Crow Era

Subtle and not-so-subtle reminders of a time when local and state laws forced racial segration

The Entire Bay of Santorini Is an Active Volcanic Crater

What happened to the giant volcano thought to have destroyed Atlantis? The answer may be the island of Santorini...all of it

Andrew Brennen talks with a student, while on his tour of America with an organization called Student Voice.

Andrew Brennen Believes Education Reform Begins With a Simple Question

The UNC-Chapel Hill sophomore has been traveling the country asking students, "What would you change about your school?"

The view looking into the Shenandoah Valley can be hugely obscured by haze.

Age of Humans

Even in 'Pristine' National Parks, the Air's Not Clear

And cleaning it up might take centuries

How 60 Million Bison Became 1,000 in a Century

In the late 1700s, more than 60 million bison roamed the Great Plains. Over the years, demand for fur and meat drove their numbers down

The Innovative Spirit fy17

Could This New Armband Prevent Thousands of Workplace Injuries and Fatalities Each Year?

Proxxi CEO Campbell Macdonald describes his cloud-connected wearable that detects high-voltage areas

Eltz Castle

Visit Seven Storybook Castles in Germany

These magnificent structures are straight out of a fairy tale

Street Scene by Walker Evans, 1936, New Orleans, gelatin silver print

Walker Evans Wrote the Story of America With His Camera

One of the greatest historians of 20th-century America was a man who used his camera to stare, pry, listen, and eavesdrop

How the Largest Flying Bird of All Time Stayed Airborne

With a 24-foot wingspan, how did the prehistoric Pelagornis sandersi, the largest known flying bird of all time, manage to fly so well?

A photo of the two giant footprints that appeared on the shores of a Nantucket beach in August 1937.

The Summer of Nantucket’s Sublime Sea Serpent

News travels fast in small towns — especially when it involves huge footprints of a rumored mythical creature

Scientists injected more than 200 tons of dissolved carbon dioxide into this field in Iceland. Two years later, almost all the carbon had been converted into rock.

Age of Humans

Iceland Carbon Capture Project Quickly Converts Carbon Dioxide Into Stone

More than 95 percent of gas injected into the ground precipitated out as harmless carbonate, scientists calculate

Mrs. Walcott sketching a wild flower in water colors on a frosty morning in camp.

Smithsonian's Wildflower: The Illustrious Life of the Naturalist Who Chronicled America's Native Flora

The life and legacy of renowned Smithsonian illustrator Mary Vaux Walcott goes beyond the works that she created

Untitled, 2016, Jack Ludden. Digital photomontage of Self-portrait, 2014 (left), Self-portrait, 1989 (right), and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, 1989

How a Museum Cancelling a Controversial Mapplethorpe Exhibition Changed My Life

As an intern at the Corcoran, I suddenly understood the power of art

“We know of only five scrolls of this heroic size by the artist Wen Zhengming [1470-1559] and this is the only known example with a personal poem,” says curator Stephen D. Allee.

When the Painting Is Also Poetry

A sublime new show honors the Chinese tradition of the ‘Three Perfections’—poetry, painting and calligraphy

Age of Humans

Podcast: How Humans Caused Mass Extinctions Thousands of Years Ago

Humans have been the dominant species for longer than thought

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