Articles

Former Brazilian soccer player Valdo kicks a ball down the footgolf green in Bellefontaine near Paris — October 2013.

Obscure Sports

How the Soccer Ball Could Save the Golf Course

Enter the sport of footgolf, which is exactly what it sounds like

Joyable helps individuals address different situations that trigger social anxiety.

Smart Startup

There is Now a 12-Week Online Program for Overcoming Social Anxiety

Two Stanford graduates are the brains behind Joyable, a startup that pairs users with coaches to tackle social challenges

Ask Smithsonian: Why Does Rain Have A Distinctive Smell?

Summertime humidity—and our own memories—help create the conditions for how we perceive the sharp, fresh odor of a rain storm

Lyra — A baobab in Botswana.

Stunning Photos of Africa's Oldest Trees, Framed by Starlight

"Diamond Nights" captures the surreal beauty of ancient trees after nightfall

This 5,300 Year-Old Corpse Was Found by Accident

Hikers Erika and Helmut Simon stumbled upon a frozen body deep in the Ötztal Alps, little did they know it belonged to one of the oldest preserved corpses

Cyclists won't have to look away from the road with head-up display.

Five Tech Ideas That Could Improve City Bike Commuting

A group of London designers imagines Google Glass-like visors and buses that project outlines of their blind spots on the road

Katya and Blanca Canto pose with their carved gourds at their home in Cochas Grande.

A Look Behind the Peruvian Art of Gourd Carving

With magnificent hand carvings, artisans craft stories of celebration and tragedy into dried gourds—a tradition practiced for more than 4,000 years

A reconstruction of "grandfather turtle."

New Research

This Ancient Creature Shows How the Turtle Got Its Shell

The 240-million-year-old "grandfather turtle" may be part of the evolutionary bridge between lizards and shelled reptiles

The Foods Americans Once Loved to Eat

Turtles, beavers and eel were once beloved staples of the continental diet. What happened?

Windows of Burano, Italy.

These Window Collages Are Serious Eye Candy

A Portuguese photographer provides a window into, well...windows

Older community barbershops in Detroit serve as community gathering places.

Barbers Are Giving Buzz Cuts to Detroit's Overgrown Lots

A new project funded by a Knight Cities grant has local barbers and landscape contractors working to revitalize vacant spaces

Rice Lake in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve.

Canada

One Vancouver Forest Played Just About Every Wooded Locale on "The X-Files"

If the truth is still out there, there’s a good chance it’s in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve

The famous Cyclone roller coaster in Coney Island, New York.

Urban Explorations

Ride America's Most Historic Roller Coasters

This summer, ride the coasters that add history to their thrills

Wingsuit Flying: The Most Extreme Sport of All?

Wingsuit flying is famous for two things: a sense of thrill that's hard to match in any other sport, and a terrifyingly high death rate.

Mosasaur

14 Fun Facts About the Animals of "Jurassic World"

While the lead predator of the film might be a genetically modified fiction, these real fossil species were just as amazing and bizarre

People Get Seasonal Depression in the Summer, Too

Millions suffer from SAD in summer as well as winter, and evidence hints that birth season plays a role in who develops the disorder

Smithsonian Channel

The Roller Coaster Was Invented to Save America From Satan

In the 1880s, LaMarcus Thompson was troubled by America's slide into hedonism and immorality. Out of that concern, we got the roller coaster

Q'eswachaka suspension bridge. Q'eswachaka, Apurímac River, Canas Province, Cusco, Peru.

Urban Explorations

A Dozen Indigenous Craftsman From Peru Will Weave Grass into a 60-Foot Suspension Bridge in Washington, D.C.

The ancient technology used lightweight materials to create soaring 150-foot spans that could hold the weight of a marching army

How to Avoid Your Neighbors

J.S. Lovering Wharton built this house on a rock off the coast of Rhode Island because, as legend has it, he wanted a place where no one could bother him

Artist Jeff Koons admires his Puppy (1992). Carpeted in colorful swaths of flowering plants, the 41-foot-tall Westie joined the Guggenheim Bilbao’s permanent collection in 1997 and stands in the square just outside the museum entrance.

Shine On: Jeff Koons in Bilbao

Frank Gehry's titanium-clad Guggenheim plays host to a stunning survey of Koons's larger-than-life career

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