Articles

Harry Warnecke shot rare color photographs of many cultural icons, including Louis Armstrong.

Celebrities of the Past, Now in “Vibrant Color” at the Portrait Gallery

The National Portrait Gallery showcases Harry Warnecke's early color photographs of famous faces from the 1930s and '40s

Ice cores from a lake in Norway. Image from Science/AAAS

Trees Weathered the Ice Age

Pine and spruce trees managed to survive in certain spots in Scandinavia, according to DNA analyses

Passer domesticus is one of the most common animals in the world. It is found throughout Northern Africa, Europe, the Americas and much of Asia and is almost certainly more abundant than humans.

The Story of the Most Common Bird in the World

Why do we love what is rare and despise what is all around us?

This scene from Lake Wanaka captures much that is great about New Zealand, like the Southern Alps and the country's many gleaming lakes.

New Zealand: What’s Hot and What’s Not

From Stewart Island in the south to the Surville Cliffs in the north, New Zealand is a country almost as geographically diverse as the United States

Airships and Oranges: The Commercial Art of the Second Gold Rush

How citrus crate label design fueled a boom that caused the art form's own demise

Diagram of Grado ship relic

How a Ship Full of Fish Helped Recreate an Ancient Fish Sauce

A 2,000-year-old shipwreck held ceramic vessels full of fish sauce, as well as a giant tank for transporting live fish

The Makani Airborne Wind Turbine

Welcome to the Feel Good Future

At TED and other geek gab events, the focus is not on what is, but rather what's possible. Here are five inventions whose time may soon be coming

Triceratops (left) and Torosaurus (right)

The Torosaurus Identity Crisis Continues

Was Torosaurus really just a grown-up Triceratops? A new paper says "no"

GRAND PRIZE WINNER Sunset clamming Xiapu, Fujian, China • Photographed January 2009 Xiapu, China “is famous for photo ops because it has lots of small hills along the coasts,” says Dong. “I zoomed in with my Nikon so that the reflection filled the whole frame. I waited till those fishermen walked into the right position and took the shot.” Jia Han Dong, a shipping company manager from New Jersey, was vacationing in a small fishing community in southern China when he climbed a hill, intending to photograph the setting sun above the East China Sea. He walked around for hours trying to find the best spot to set up his equipment, but the conditions weren’t ideal. “It was kind of cloudy,” recalls Dong. Then the sun appeared and lent the shoreline a golden cast. “I saw those fishermen going out for low tide clamming with their tools on their shoulders. I loved the color, the pattern of the posts in the foreground, the texture of the water.

9th Annual Photo Contest Winners and Finalists

See the winning photos from our 2011 contest

People in their 80s rarely complain of sleep problems.

Better Sleep in the Golden Years?

A large survey finds that the elderly are more satisfied with their sleep habits than are people in any other age group

Celebrate Debussy's 150th birthday with the Calefax Quintet

Weekend Events March 3-5: Calefax Quintet, Women’s History Month, and Nowruz

Biologist Thomas Seeley says animals other than bees use swarm intelligence—including, sometimes, people.

The Secret Life of Bees

The world's leading expert on bee behavior discovers the secrets of decision-making in a swarm

"The questions is not what you look at, but what you see." - Henry David Thoreau

Perception, Defined

The renowned author of A Natural History of the Senses visits Florida's Morikami Japanese Gardens to examine the astonishing wealth of human perception

After playing a sad movie scene for a group of women, researchers collected their tears and placed the unidentified fluid under men's noses. The result was a reduced sexual arousal and testosterone levels.

The Truth About Pheromones

Yes, scientists say, your airborne compounds send signals about your moods, your sexual orientation and even your genetic makeup

After ruling out diet, scientists discover the secret behind blue feathers lies inside how the feathers are made.

Why Are Some Feathers Blue?

New research into a long-puzzling feature of avian life shows there's more to color than meets the eye

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Did the Titanic Sink Because of an Optical Illusion?

New research may have found the reason why the ship struck an iceberg: light refraction

Raul Ortega makes his shrimp tacos, shown here, the same way he did when he lived in San Juan de los Lagos.

How America Became a Food Truck Nation

Our new food columnist traces the food truck revolution back to its Los Angeles roots

Almost a whole page of the Dictionary of American Regional English is dedicated to "wampus," a Southern term for a variety of real creatures, such as a wild horse, and imagined ones, such as swamp wampuses and whistling wampuses.

Words from the Dictionary of American Regional English

After half a century of studying jib-jabbing, linguists have just finished the nation's most ambitious dictionary of regional dialects

On April 15, North Korea will open the tallest and swankiest building in Pyongyang, the Ryugyong Hotel.

A Fabulous New Luxury Hotel—In North Korea?

The 1,080-foot-high Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, opening in April, has also been labeled the "Hotel of Doom"

Artists such as David Hockney were inspired by the SX-70.

How the Polaroid Stormed the Photographic World

Edwin Land's camera, the SX-70, perfected the art of instant gratification

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