Articles

To find flecks of gold, workers devour the rainforest floor with water cannons. "There are a lot of accidents," says one. "The sides of the hole can fall away, can crush you."

The Devastating Costs of the Amazon Gold Rush

Spurred by rising global demand for the metal, miners are destroying invaluable rainforest in Peru's Amazon basin

Anna Matuschek, who works in Stuttgart for the German magazine Motor Klassik, rides on Route 66 outside Oatman, Arizona.

The Mystique of Route 66

Foreign tourists and local preservationists are bringing stretches of the storied roadway back to life

Adam Bernbach making drinks with organic local gin.

Jose Andres and Other Toques of the Town Honor Alice Waters

What do you cook for famed chef Alice Waters? Washington's culinary celebrities faced this challenge at the unveiling of her portrait at the Smithsonian

Adorable Photos of the National Zoo’s Rare Maned Wolf Pups

For the first time in two years, a litter of the South American mammals was born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

A reconstruction of Tyrannosaurus rex on display at the National Museum of Natural History.

T. rex Trying…

A new cartoon series counts the many things tiny-armed Tyrannosaurus couldn't do: cross-country ski, eat from a buffet, count to five

The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame

The Game that Put the NFL’s Reputation on the Line

In 1930, many football fans believed the college game was better than the professional one

Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's plantation, was run by hundreds of enslaved African Americans in his lifetime.

“Paradox of Liberty” Tells the Other Side of Jefferson’s Monticello

Presented by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, this exhibit looks at the iconic founding father through the eyes of his slaves

Top: The ninespine stickleback, Pungitus pungitus, is typical of the saltwater form. Bottom: A freshwater form of stickleback with fewer bony plates and fewer spines.

What Robot Fish Can Tell Us About Parallel Evolution

When housed in an aquarium with a swirling robotic school, what determines whether a fish will join the crowd?

What's tougher: Rugby or American football?

Football or Rugby: Whose Players are Tougher?

Could football players last 80 minutes in a rugby match? The great debate continues

The Godfather Effect looks at how the film saga portrays Italian-Americans and what that has meant to author Tom Santopietro, the film industry and the country.

What is The Godfather Effect?

An obsessed film buff (and Italian-American) reflects on the impact of Francis Ford Coppola’s blockbuster trilogy

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Frito Pie and the Chip Technology that Changed the World

As we approach one of the biggest snack days of the year, meet the "Tom Edison of snack food" who brought us the "Anglo corn chip"

The view from the Dirt Mulholland

L.A.’s Answer to the Yellow Brick Road

A group including the actor Jack Nicholson has tried to get Dirt Mulholland on the National Register of Historic Places

Who is headed to the Moon next?

Going to the Moon…Or Not

Is that what it will take for NASA to get its mojo back? Or are there better ways to spend its money?

How do boa constrictors know when to stop constricting?

Boa Constrictors Get a Feel for Their Prey

What makes a snake stop squeezing? We do science to prove ourselves wrong, because the answer people predicted is not the correct answer

The American Indian Museum features two daily films through the month of February

Events Jan 31-Feb 2: Draw and Discover, Great Spies of WWII, and February Daily Films

This week, sketch at the Luce Foundation Center, learn about espionage during WWII, and enjoy a Cree film at the American Indian Museum

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How an Ankylosaur Went Out to Sea

How did a heavily armored dinosaur wind up at the bottom of Alberta's Cretaceous sea?

The last photo of Mawson's Far Eastern Party, taken when they left the Australasian Antarctic Party's base camp on November 10, 1912. By January 10, 1913, two of the three men would be dead, and expedition leader Douglas Mawson would find himself exhausted, ill and still more than 160 miles from the nearest human being.

The Most Terrible Polar Exploration Ever: Douglas Mawson’s Antarctic Journey

A century ago, Douglas Mawson saw his two companions die and found himself stranded in the midst of Antarctic blizzards

Jean Dujardin and Missi Pyle in Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist

The Never-Ending Tussle Between Box Office Hits and Award Winners

Blockbuster movies often lose out at the Oscars, while winners can't find enough viewers

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Sunday Funnies Blast Off Into the Space Age

When Dr. Athelstan Spilhaus met President Kennedy in 1962, JFK told him, "The only science I ever learned was from your comic strip."

Best of the Worst Roadside Dinosaurs

From New York to California, America's roads are haunted by bad dinosaurs

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