Articles

The Beatles step onto the tarmac at JFK Airport on February 7, 1964, arriving for their first performance in the U.S.

Vintage Headlines

When the Beatles Arrived in America, Reporters Ignored the Music and Obsessed Over Hair

They'd go on to change American music forever, but the press focused on the moptops

Winter Olympics

Can a Statistical Model Accurately Predict Olympic Medal Counts?

Data miners have developed models that predict countries' medal counts by looking solely at stats like latitude and GDP

A pool built in an unused metro station could help compensate for a lack of sports facilities in the city, the designers say.

Could There Be Swimming Pools or Gardens in Paris' Abandoned Metro Stations?

Two architects offer fantastical designs for how to repurpose some of Paris' forgotten subway stations

According to a new study, fruit flies can be genetically modified to glow the moment they come in contact with cancerous cells.

Can Fruit Flies Be Bred to Detect Cancer?

The insects have been engineered to glow in different patterns when they identify the smell of various cancers

United States athletes at the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The Paris Olympics

Who Really Composed NBC's Olympic Theme? Not Who You Think

Music for the Olympic Games has a long and complicated history—and John Williams, the Star Wars composer, is only part of it

Sperm from the Aedes aegypti mosquito, magnified 50 times.

New Research

Mosquitoes' Sperm Can Detect Smells

Mosquitoes' individual sperm have scent-detecting sensors

Bombus flavifrons worker visiting a columbine in Grant Teton National Park

Bumblebees Can Fly Into Thin Air

Once thought to be unimpressive fliers, bumblebees may be able to summit Mount Everest, new research suggests

New Research

Human Faces Might Only Express Four Basic Emotions

How many faces can you make? Offhand, you might guess ten, or twenty, but researchers now say...it's really only four

The Hasselblad EDC, the custom camera designed for use on the Moon.

Cool Finds

At Auction: One of the Only Cameras to Ever Make it Back From the Moon

James Irwin's custom Hasselblad was one of the only cameras to make it back from the Moon... or was it?

Welcome to South Korea, please turn around.

Cool Finds

Korea Is Using a Kinect to Monitor Its Border

The Microsoft Kinect is at the center of a lively community that includes hackers, artists and, now, South Korea's border patrol

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Why Does This Indonesian Volcano Burn Bright Blue?

Olivier Grunewald's dramatic photos showcase blue flames—not blue lava—that result from burning sulfur

I can fall out now please?

Cool Finds

Shopping Carts Are Way More Dangerous Than You Might Expect

There are a lot of things to fear in this world. Allow us to add another thing to that list: shopping carts

Trending Today

What Was the Internet Like the Day Facebook Was Born?

The web was already 15 years old. What else were we up to when The Facebook was born?

Typical entombment poses of some of the Jehol Biota’s animals (a Psittacosaurus (a) and primitive crow-like birds (b and c))—the same poses displayed by other victims of erupting volcanoes throughout history.

New Research

The “Pompeii of Animals” Shows Dinosaurs, Mammals and Early Birds in Their Death Throes

A lethal volcanic explosion is identified as the culprit behind a mysterious mass death of creatures that took place around 125 million years ago

A nurse training program at the Central State Hospital.

Cool Finds

Psychiatric Records for African American Patients Are Rare, And This Hospital Has a Century's Worth

Researchers are attempting to digitize and preserve the tens of thousands of patient records from the Central State Hospital

New Research

Third-Hand Smoke Is Dangerous, Too

Like a Virus, Nicotine Can Stick to Clothes And Surfaces for Days

Skiers can generally execute a greater number of tricks per jump in the half-pipe than snowboarders.

Winter Olympics

A Primer on the Eight Olympic Events Debuting in Sochi

Study up on the rules and history of the latest competitions to make the Winter Games lineup

Tar sands are mined in Western Canada's Athabasca fields.

Mining Tar Sands Produces Much More Air Pollution Than We Thought

Research shows that emissions of a class of air pollutants are two to three orders of magnitude higher than previously calculated

The Hetch Hetchy reservoir is one of California's crucial reservoirs.

Trending Today

California's Crucial Reservoirs Are Running Low, And That's Even Worse Than It Sounds

An ongoing drought has drained California dry

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Cool Finds

It Takes Just Five Seconds to Find Out If You’re a Good Liar

But maybe don't read too much into this test

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