Articles

Why We Need To Start Listening To Insects

You may not think of the buzz and whine of insects as musical, but the distinctive pitch of mosquito wingbeats could tell us how to fight malaria

Stragglers—French Wounded in the Retreat of Chateau-Thierry by Claggett Wilson, ca. 1919

World War I: 100 Years Later

After Nearly a Century in Storage, These World War I Artworks Still Deliver the Vivid Shock of War

Pulled from the collections of the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Claggett Wilson's watercolors are in a traveling show

Dismantling a Huge Howitzer for a Precarious Move

This 200-ton howitzer artillery gun is too heavy to transport in one piece. The answer is to split it in two

A group of women in traditional dress stand beside a Thomas Cook boat on the Nile in 1904.

How an Alcohol-Hating English Preacher Founded Global Tourism

Thomas Cook's tours set the stage for today's tourism industry

Saturn and its rings backlit by the sun, which is blocked by the planet in this view. Encircling the planet and inner rings is the much more extended E-ring.

Bye Bye Cassini, the Tenacious Space Probe That Revealed Saturn’s Secrets

For two decades, the sophisticated probe has brought us insights into space weather and water on distant worlds

On the Wire, by Harvey Thomas Dunn (oil on canvas, 1918)

When Artists Became Soldiers and Soldiers Became Artists

A rare opportunity to see works by the American Expeditionary Force's World War I illustration corps, and newly found underground soldier carvings

Comedy in Ancient Rome could be a matter of life and death.

When Actors Mixed Politics and Comedy in Ancient Rome

Laughter was one way to challenge authority, but it could also mean risking your life

Last year's winner in the World Championship Wildfowl Carving Competition's Decorative Lifesize Wildfowl category, "Livingstone's Turaco" by Thomas Horn.

Where Duck Decoys Became High Art

See more than 1,200 of these bobbing bits of history at the upcoming world championship

Did Judas Actually Betray Jesus to Force a Rebellion?

There are numerous theories, from money to the intriguing idea that Judas may have actually been an overzealous believer anxious to provoke a confrontation

A sea otter floats in Kachemak Bay, Alaska.

Future of Conservation

The Remarkable Return of Sea Otters to Glacier Bay

Rarely do apex predators recover from human oppression. These otters are an exception

The lush, rugged landscape of Japan's island of Hokkaido is a major draw for amateur photographers—but do Flickr photos really represent the most important conservation sites?

Future of Conservation

Is #Hashtagging Your Environment on Instagram Enough to Save It?

Location-based data might help pinpoint key ecosystems—or make conservation a popularity contest

Muse with Violin Screen (detail), 1930. Rose Iron Works, Inc. (American, Cleveland, est. 1904). Paul Fehér (Hungarian, 1898–1990), designer. Wrought iron, brass; silver and gold plating

The Innovative Spirit fy17

How Jazz, Flappers, European Émigrés, Booze and Cigarettes Transformed Design

A new Cooper-Hewitt exhibition explores the Jazz Age as a catalyst in popular style

Henry Bates (Calum Finlay) was a self-taught field biologist and note taker. He created remarkable drawings and watercolors of his collections and observations. Several of his original notebooks are in the archives of London's Natural History Museum.

Science in the Movies

How Filmmakers Distill Science for the Big Screen

The new film <i>Amazon Adventure</i> turns decades of research into 45 minutes of visual majesty

Clothes from several decades of the show are on display at The George Washington University Museum.

Reliving the Ebony Fashion Fair Off the Runway, One Couture Dress at a Time

An exhibition on the traveling fashion show memorializes the cultural phenomenon that shook up an industry

The Ocean Is Running Out of Fish. Here's the Alarming Math

Based on reporting, the ocean has long appeared to offer an infinite bounty of fish. But research paints a grim picture, with annual catch on a decline

White Horse Hill, England

Where to See Five of the Planet's Most Mysterious Geoglyphs

From California to Kazakhstan, these aerial-view anomalies offer a glimpse into the past

“Salt Series” taken during a low-altitude flight in Western Australia.

Australia's Salt Ponds Look Like Beautiful, Abstract Art From Above

Taking to the sky to show how industry shapes the earth

One of Empa's temperature sensors in the shape of a Braeburn apple

A New Sensor That Looks and Acts Like Fruit Could Reduce In-Transit Produce Waste

Swiss scientists have developed a temperature sensor that provides important data while packed with fruit in transport and storage

New York Water Taxi

How New York City Is Rediscovering Its Maritime Spirit

The city's waterfront fell into dangerous decline, but now its on the rebound with a new wave of money and creativity

In 1950, Tollund Man’s discoverers “found a face so fresh they could only suppose they had stumbled on a recent murder.”

Europe's Famed Bog Bodies Are Starting to Reveal Their Secrets

High-tech tools divulge new information about the mysterious and violent fates met by these corpses

Page 354 of 1275