Blogs

Art from the 1950s envisioned a future with robots. Are we there yet?

I Have Seen the [retro]Future

Brazilian bombshell Carmen Miranda, the lady in the tutti-frutti hat

Vogue Vittles: The Cross Between Food and Fashion

Before Lady Gaga's beef dress, there were Wonder Bread raincoats, waffle pants and Marilyn Monroe in a potato sack

Empress Dowager Cixi strikes a pose

The Extreme Makeover of Empress Dowager Cixi

China's Empress Dowager commissioned portraits—now on display at the Sackler Gallery—in an attempt to polish her public image

We no longer think of the stars as points of light on the tapestry of the night but now know that they're burning balls of gas billions of miles away in the black expanse of space.

Readers Respond: Why I Like Science

Science is the partner of art and the quest for truth

Are these machines making us stupid?

Are Machines Dumbing Us Down?

The idea that technology is causing us to lose our mental edge won't go away

An early pair of Levi Strauss & Co.'s "Duck Trousers"

The Origin of Blue Jeans

On the anniversary of Levi Strauss' death, learn the creation story of one of the most popular articles of clothing

A wild boar doing some damage

Inviting Writing: When Independence Means Self-Reliance

We were well on our way to a nice harvest when we noticed ominous signs, a presence that ravaged our homestead in the middle of the night

Rock hyraxes in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania

What in the World is a Rock Hyrax?

It's the elephant's closest living, land-based relative

Visit the Peacock Room, restored to its 1908 condition

Events Sept 26-29: Great Apes, The Peacock Room, Immigrants and Revolutionists, and Talking About Andy

This week, learn from gorillas, see a masterpiece of Asian art, play a pop quiz, and hear from an expert about Andy Warhol

Anchiceratops ornatus, on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Canada

The One and Only Anchiceratops

Paleontologists typically have only a handful of specimens, represented by incomplete materials, from a range of sites spanning millions of years

NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, currently descending towards earth.

Your Guide to the Falling Satellite

Hear from an Air and Space Museum expert on what to expect from tonight's satellite impact

One of Dahomeys' women warriors, with a musket, club, dagger—and her enemy's severed head.

Dahomey’s Women Warriors

The great Selimiye Mosque of Edirne

Where to Go when Greece Says No: Turkey

That evening a man walked into my bush camp with a gun, marched straight at me as I gaped in shock and sprawled out beside me on my tarp

Historian Amy Henderson at work, wearing her boa

Historian Amy Henderson: Movies Make Museums Move

Guest blogger Henderson ponders the idea that the big screen deserves its own gallery

Left to right: John C. Reilly, Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz and Kate Winslet in Roman Polanski's adaptation of Yazmina Reza's Carnage.

From Toronto to New York: The Fall Film Festivals

The fall film festival lineup is filled with avant garde movies and Oscar contenders

A slice of buttermilk pie

Five Ways to Eat Buttermilk

Few people drink the sour-tasting dairy drink, but, oh, the things it can do in tandem with other ingredients

Kepler-16b, the first confirmed circumbinary planet

Inside the Double-Sun Planet Discovery

How Smithsonian and Harvard scientists discovered the planet that orbits two stars

Most orchid bees, like this Euglossa paisa, have metallic coloration.

The Evolution of the Orchid and the Orchid Bee

Which came first--the plant or its pollinator?

None

Dino-Shooter Promises Primal Carnage

For the first time in 65 million years, non-avian dinosaurs roam the planet—and the best we can do is turn 'em into chunky cat food

See Sidney Mobell's 18-karat gold Monopoly Board at the Museum of American Finance in New York as part of Smithsonian's Museum Day.

The Jeweled Art of Sidney Mobell

Mobell is one of the world's most unusual artists: a craftsman who turns everyday items into extremely valuable works of jeweled art

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