Articles

Sponsor: National Portrait Gallery

Which of These Summertime Athletes Should Be Displayed on the Walls of the National Portrait Gallery?

Vote now for your pick!

Mya Le Thai holds her invention.

Future of Energy

Did Scientists Stumble on a Battery that Lasts Forever?

Researchers studying nanowires have found a battery material that can be recharged for years, even decades

"Kinetic" dress

Iris Van Herpen Is Revolutionizing the Look and Tech of Fashion

The Dutch designer redefines what it means to be fashion forward

The sensuous curves and subtle walnut grain of Maloof's rocker just seem to beckon and say “Come on in a sit a while.”

Famous for His Rocking Chair, Sam Maloof Made Furniture That Had Soul

A centennial appreciation for this master of mid-century modernism is underway with a California exhibition and an upcoming seminar

How to Unroll a Dead Sea Scroll Without Destroying It

In 1952, a remarkable copper scroll was uncovered by archaeologists near the Dead Sea. It would take four years for scientists to agree on a way to open it

Joe (left) and Anthony (right) Russo at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con International.

Meet the “Mad Scientists” Behind ‘Captain America: Civil War’

In their latest film, directors Joe and Anthony Russo explore the morality of the Star-Spangled Avenger

Cubicles: Not just mind-numbing, but unhealthy too?

Age of Humans

How Climate Change Could Make Office Work Even Unhealthier

"Sick building syndrome" and other indoor concerns could be exacerbated by climate change

This photograph of Harper Lee was taken in 1961, one year after she wrote for the Grapevine.

Exclusive: Read Harper Lee’s Profile of 'In Cold Blood' Detective Al Dewey That Hasn’t Been Seen in More Than 50 Years

Reprinted here for the first time, the article was published five years before Truman Capote’s best-selling book

David Eagleman

Think Big

Neuroscientist David Eagleman on What Is Possible in the Cosmos

The author tackles where the human brain and astronomy intersect

Playtime with baby can help expand a child’s attention span, a new study shows.

Infants Learn to Pay Attention (or Not) From Watching Mom and Dad

Parents who focus on play may help babies develop critical skills that predict future success

Austria

Nine Unique Gifts to Buy in Vienna

From specialty fruit preserves to Habsburg figurines, Austria's capital has it all

Japan'a see-through trains

Japan Is Getting “Invisible” Trains That Blend into the Landscape

Admiring the scenery just got even better

Visitors to the American Gothic House Center are encouraged to play the part of the famous pair from the painting.

Grab Your Pitchfork and Take an "American Gothic"-Themed Road Trip

A drive through eastern Iowa is the best way to appreciate one of the country’s most famous images

The history behind America's five-cent coin

A Brief History of the Nickel

In honor of the coin’s 150th anniversary, read up on how the nickel came to be minted

The grand hall of the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, Connecticut—the wellspring of some the most distinguished scholarship of our times.

The Scientific Daredevils Who Made Yale's Peabody Museum a National Treasure

When an award-winning science writer dug into the backstory of this New Haven institute, he found a world of scientific derring-do

Will digital assistants replace both Google searches and mobile apps?

How Machines Are Getting Better at Making Conversation

Digital assistants are developing personalities, with some help from poets and writers

Montruex's Freddie Mercury statue

Europe

Break Free in Freddie Mercury's Montreux

Visit the Swiss town where Queen's frontman recorded some of his greatest hits

The Original Country Music

Country music star Trace Adkins stops by the Smithsonian to examine some authentic sheet music from the Civil War.

The now-closed Fisk Generating Station in Chicago was once a triumph of engineering and considered one of the more efficient coal-fired plants in the country. Now, though, coal-fired plants like this one are looked on as dirty emitters of carbon dioxide--but CO2 is not the only greenhouse gas worth worrying about.

Age of Humans

When it Comes to Greenhouse Gases, CO2 Isn’t the Only Game in Town

Carbon dioxide rightly gets the attention in the climate change debate. But here are four more gases that can wreck our atmosphere.

Modern microscopes can image red blood cells in stunning detail.

Early Microscopes Revealed a New World of Tiny Living Things

A cloth merchant turned a device for checking his wares into an instrument fit for science

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