Articles

The embellished cave temples of Badami are among the earliest examples of rock-cut caves in southern India. The Chalukyas, who ruled over Deccan between the sixth and eighth centuries, oversaw the transition from rock-cut to freestanding, structural architecture.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: India

The Remarkable Cave Temples of Southern India

Deccan's intricate monuments, many of which are carved into cliffs, date back to the sixth century

Russia Gave Us a Discount on Alaska

Many ridiculed Secretary of State William Seward for purchasing Alaska from Russia in 1867. But he turned out to be quite the shrewd businessman.

Microbeads and other tiny plastics could knock this aphrodisiac off the menu.

New Research

Your Cosmetics May Be Killing a Popular Aphrodisiac: Oysters

Microplastics from beauty products and other sources affected oysters’ ability to reproduce in laboratory experiments

Mom and baby share a lot, including their microbial ecosystems.

New Research

Does Having a C-Section Alter Baby's First Microbiome?

A study of cesarean babies swabbed with birth canal fluids suggests that some newborns may be missing out on helpful microbes

A picture snapped by Spirit near Home Plate shows silica formations poking out of the soil, which may have been formed by microbial life.

Mysterious Martian 'Cauliflower' May Be the Latest Hint of Alien Life

Unusual silica formations spotted by a NASA rover look a lot like structures formed by microbes around geysers on Earth

This casket was made from reclaimed wood. At "green cemeteries" around the country, there is a movement to use fewer harmful chemicals and non-renewable resources in funerals and burials.

Age of Humans

Could the Funeral of the Future Help Heal the Environment?

A traditional ten-acre cemetery holds enough embalming fluid to fill a small swimming pool. But there may be a greener way

Inside Infinite Harvest's 5,400 square-foot grow facility in Lakewood, Colorado.

Astronauts and Arugula: Using Space-Station Technology to Grow Food

Infinite Harvest, an indoor vertical farm in Lakewood, Colorado, provides a glimpse into the future of global large-scale food production

Statue of Liberty stamp art, 1994, by Tom Engerman

Get Stuck on New York's Pop Culture With These Historic Stamps

A new exhibition at the National Postal Museum spotlights Gotham’s cultural impact

“I’d never go into a back alley in Berlin or Manhattan,” Wolf says. “It’s not like that at all here.” In this alley, a resident has found a creative use for coat hangers: to make hanging planters for orchids.

The Beautiful Life Hacks in Hong Kong's Back Alleys

In a new book, photographer Michael Wolf captures the ways inhabitants of the ultra-dense city carve personal space out of grim alleyways

A life-sized Helicoprion head, created by sculptor Gary Staab, seems to burst through the wall at the Idaho Museum of Natural History as part of the buzz shark exhibit.

Art Meets Science

The Prehistoric Buzz Shark Has a Modern-Day Hero in Artist Ray Troll

How an Alaska-based artist helped solve a mystery that baffled paleontologists for over a century

North Dakota poet Bill Lowman

Open Range Meets Open Mic at the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering

Every year, the world's best cowboy poets gather in Elko, Nevada

The Rocky Mountaineer traverses through the Canadian Rockies.

The World's Most Scenic Train Rides

These train rides offer passengers views of some of the world's most stunning landscapes

This cuneiform tablet may re-write the history of math and astronomy.

New Research

Babylonians Were Using Geometry Centuries Earlier Than Thought

Ancient astronomers were tracking planets using math believed to have first appeared in 14th-century Europe

This Woman Was Picasso, Hemingway and Fitzgerald's Muse

The wealth and candid charisma of Sara Murphy meant she inspired and was admired by many an artist in 1920s Paris

"I Just Want to Come Home," a mural addressing the relationship between police and young men of color.

New York City Is Paying Public Housing Residents to Paint Murals

Young tenants will create public art that captures social issues at five housing projects, one in each borough

At 122 feet long, The Titanosaur has to poke its tiny head out of the entryway to fit in the exhibit hall.

Here's How You Squeeze the Biggest Dinosaur Into a New York City Museum

A team of specialists had to get creative to mount a towering Titanosaur inside the American Museum of Natural History

12 Secrets of New York's Central Park

Learn some little-known facts about this NYC landmark

How Zildjian Cymbals Made It From the Ottoman Empire to Now

In 1622, Avedis Zildjian, an Armenian metalworker in Turkey, melted a top-secret combination of metals to create the perfect cymbal, still in use today

Google's New AI Can Beat Human Champions at the Game of Go

Google appears to have won the long race to develop a Go-winning artificial intelligence, considered a major step towards more human-like AIs

Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter by Alexander Gardner

Poetry Matters

Can the Civil War Still Inspire Today's Poets?

As epic verse about the American past falls victim to modernism, a poet who is also a historian calls for a revival

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