Articles

“These males were still alive and living around the females, they just apparently weren’t getting any of the matings, or the matings weren’t working,” says Robert C. Fleischer.

Future of Conservation

Safer Digs for Tortoises Put a Damper on Their Love Lives

A new genetic study surprised scientists who learned the males were not breeding

Meet the Ozark hellbender, an elusive creature that has become only more so as of late.

Future of Conservation

What the Heck Is a Hellbender—And How Can We Make More of Them?

Why the Saint Louis Zoo decided to invest in this slimy, surprisingly adorable amphibian

The Reason This South American Tribe Shrunk Their Enemies' Heads

The Shuar of South America is the only tribe to have never been conquered by the Spanish Empire

None

Frank Lloyd Wright-Designed Buildings (and One Doghouse) Open for Rare Tours in Honor of the Architect's 150th Birthday

These new or normally unavailable tours and displays pay homage to an architecture legacy

The sarcophagus of Tadja, one of the mummies from Abusir el Meleq that had its DNA analyzed in a new study.

New Research

Ancient Mummies Finally Give Up Their Genetic Secrets

Armed with new DNA techniques, scientists have extracted genetic sequences from preserved Egyptians

“The Smithsonian family stands together in condemning this act of hatred and intolerance, especially repugnant in a museum that affirms and celebrates the American values of inclusion and diversity,” wrote secretary of Smithsonian Institution David Skorton in an Institution-wide email.

Noose Found in National Museum of African American History and Culture

This marks the second such incident within a week on Smithsonian grounds

Joseph Goebbels viewing the 1937 Degenerate Art Exhibition.

Why It’s So Hard to Find the Original Owners of Nazi-Looted Art

International experts recently gathered at Smithsonian to discuss the state of international provenance research

This celestial chart from 1687 is one of many illustrations from books, charts, and maps showing artists’ imaginings of polar bears.

How Polar Bears Became the Dragons of the North

Renaissance maps depicting the “white bears” say more about our own fears and fantasies than about the predators themselves

Don’t skimp on the SPF

How Sunscreen Protects Your Skin’s DNA

The chemistry behind this protective lotion reflects a modern understanding of the danger of ultraviolet rays

The historical marker in Enterprise, Alabama describing the significance of the statue.

American South

Why an Alabama Town Has a Monument Honoring the Most Destructive Pest in American History

The boll weevil decimated the South's cotton industry, but the city of Enterprise found prosperity instead

Exclusively feeding in the wild on blood from live animals, vampire bats, native to Central and South America, can regurgitate blood in order to feed one another, though they won't do this for just anyone.

What a Vampire Bat Can Teach Us About the Economics of Friendship

A Smithsonian scientist says important lessons about making friends and sharing can be learned from these blood-sucking creatures

Colorful St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

Explore Crucian Cuisine on a New U.S. Virgin Islands Food Tour

Get a taste of St. Croix's culinary traditions

This Engineering Job Is Not for the Faint-Hearted

The engineers working on 3 World Trade Center in New York are among the most daring around

The new sea turtle tanks have one-way glass to minimize visitor impact on the animals.

American South

A State-of-the-Art Sea Turtle Hospital Welcomes Patients and Visitors in South Carolina

The South Carolina Aquarium invites tourists to visit their reptilian patients, watch surgeries and even conduct mock operations using VR

Multiple views of the young teen's right humerus arm bone that runs from the shoulder to the elbow show where the tumor left its mark.

Oldest Cancer Case in Central America Discovered

A young teen, who died 700 years ago, likely suffered pain in the right arm as the tumor grew and expanded through the bone

Suburban single-family homes in Fresno, California.

History of Now

The Racial Segregation of American Cities Was Anything but Accidental

A housing policy expert explains how federal government policies created the suburbs and the inner city

Edith Wharton moved to Paris and stayed put during World War I, unlike many of her friends who fled.

Edith Wharton Recruited the World’s Greatest Artists to Raise Money for WWI Refugees

A century ago, the famous author took it upon herself to help those left behind by the war’s carnage

“We’ve been taxing work, output and income and subsidizing non-work, leisure and unemployment. The consequences are obvious! To Don Rumsfeld,” Arthur Laffer wrote around the graph, signing and dating his work as well.

The Restaurant Doodle That Launched a Political Movement

How one economist’s graph on a napkin reshaped the Republican Party and upended tax policy

How NASA Cut Costs With a New Kind of Spacecraft

With budgets for space exploration falling toward the end of the 1960s, NASA began to make plans for a new kind of reusable spacecraft to save money

How a Downed U.S. Plane Almost Caused a Nuclear War

When the Cubans accidentally shoot down a U.S. U-2 aircraft, the threat of nuclear war becomes a serious possibility

Page 345 of 1274