Articles

The split in the Whig party over slavery spelled its doom.

History of Now

What Can the Collapse of the Whig Party Tell Us About Today’s Politics?

Is the Republican party on the verge of catastrophe? Probably not, if history is any indicator

How the Fastest Animal on Earth Attacks Its Prey

When hunting, the Peregrine falcon will fly to great heights, then dive bomb its prey

In a new book The Naturalist, the Smithsonian's Darrin Lunde draws on Teddy Roosevelt's diaries and expedition journals to tell the story of the 26th president as a prodigious hunter, tireless adventurer and ardent conservationist.

Teddy Roosevelt's Epic (But Strangely Altruistic) Hunt for a White Rhino

In a new book, a Smithsonian naturalist tells the gritty, controversial tale of how one of America’s presidents felled a threatened species

Friends or strangers? Listeners may be able to tell just from the sound of the pair’s laughter.

Who's Laughing Now? Listeners Can Tell if Laughers are Friends or Not

We laugh differently with friends, and the reasons may lie deep in our social evolution

Age of Humans

Lemur Extinctions Are Harmful to Madagascar's Plant Life, Too

Plants and trees that once relied on a particular species of lemur to spread their seeds may also be headed for extinction.

In "Gardens Speak," artist Tania El-Khoury explores the human cost of Syria's civil war.

This Haunting Exhibit Unearths the Stories of Syria’s Slain

Ten victims of the Middle East crisis have their stories told in a moving art installation in Washington, D.C.

Run-DMC-JMJ on the rooftop of Russell Simmons's apt

Breaking Ground

Vintage Photos Recall the Early Days of Hip-Hop, Before It Became a Billion-Dollar Industry

More than 400 images from the 1980s to the early 2000s detail the "standout moments" of the rise of Run DMC, Grandmaster Flash, Jay Z and many more artists

A spectrometer can determine the nutritional value and caloric content of single piece of fruit.

You May Soon Be Able to Scan a Piece of Fruit to Check Its Nutritional Value

That's one of the ideas Target is testing as it explores how much of a competitive edge it gets from being transparent about food

Is yogurt the elixir of longevity? Not exactly.

A Science Lecture Accidentally Sparked a Global Craze for Yogurt

More than a century ago, a biologist’s remarks set people searching for yogurt as a cure for old age

A mini-module, called a BEAM, is slated to be attached to the International Space Station in late May. There, it will undergo testing.

This Expandable Structure Could Become the Future of Living in Space

A Nevada real estate magnate has poured $290 million into a wild dream of being a landlord in outer space. His first tenant: NASA

Untitled by Robert Irwin, 1963-65

To Truly Experience Robert Irwin, You Simply Must View His Artworks in Person

Part visionary, part magician, Irwin makes art that breaks all the rules

Here's What Bat Echolocation Sounds Like, Slowed Down

Bats use a perceptual system called echolocation that allows them to produce high pitch sounds that bounce off nearby objects and living things

Wayne Shorter and McCoy Tyner at Shorter's April 29, 1964 session for "Night Dreamer" at the Van Gelder Studio, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey

These Rarely Seen Images Show Jazz Greats Pouring Out Their Hearts

Frank Wolff's gritty portraits, the hallmark of Blue Note Records, became a visual catalog of jazz in action

Cow by Bear. Eat cow... served by a bear.

Eat Dinner Cooked by a Bear

This furry chef serves international cuisine in San Diego—when he isn't hibernating

The Anna’s hummingbird is one of many species of birds that attract females with sounds generated by their feathers.

These Birds Can Sing Using Only Their Feathers

When feathers meet air in just the right way, birds can create distinctive sounds

The Chilarchaea quellon trap-jaw spider can snap its long chelicerae shut in about a quarter of a millisecond.

Tiny Spiders Are the Fastest Known on Earth

Some trap-jaw spiders can snap their mouths shut with incredible force—in less than a millisecond

Germany, Hamburg, Speichrstadt and Hafencity district

Age of Humans

Coastal Cities Need to Radically Rethink How They Deal With Rising Waters

"Transitional architecture" is both a futuristic solution to sea-level rise and a hearkening back to older ways of living

Photograph of British Kil class patrol gunboat HMS Kildangan painted in dazzle camouflage.

World War I: 100 Years Later

When the British Wanted to Camouflage Their Warships, They Made Them Dazzle

In order to stop the carnage wrought by German U-Boats, the Allied powers went way outside the box

Crisis, From the series Ashab Al-Lai/ Fault Mirage: A Thousand Lost years by Ahmed Mater, 2015

A Changing Mecca Is the Focus of the First U.S. Exhibition to Feature a Saudi Artist

The works of Ahmed Mater at the Sackler examine the stark collision of the sacred and profane

Cemeteries of the Future

Do you want to be buried in a coral reef, a skyscraper or on an artificial island?

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