Smart News

Whaling captured the popular imagination.

The Real-Life Whale That Gave Moby Dick His Name

Mocha Dick had encounters with around 100 ships before he was finally killed

"Syria, Souk of Aleppo" In the Souk of Aleppo, with a Mamluk portal leading to a courtyard to the right, 2008

25 Images Capture at-Risk Heritage Sites of the Latest World Monuments Watch

The World Monuments Fund shines a light on landmarks in over 30 countries and territories that are in desperate need of conservation

The remnants of Hurricane Ophelia are seen enveloping Ireland on October 16

How Ex-Hurricane Ophelia Turned Skies Red Over the U.K

In a year of crazy weather, the remnants of the massive storm headed toward the British Isles

Nicholas Culpeper fought against the medical establishment of the time by taking the radical action of writing in English, not Latin.

How Nicholas Culpeper Brought Medicine to the People

His 17th-century text is still in print today

Diploscapter pachys hasn't had sex for 18 million years, and is doing just fine

New Research

This Worm Hasn't Had Sex in 18 Million Years

By fusing its chromosomes, the creature could essentially clone itself while still maintaining genetic variation

Amy Sherald was the first-prize winner of the National Portrait Gallery’s 2016 Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. Sherald’s painting is currently on view at the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, which is hosting the exhibition resulting from the Portrait Gallery’s triennial Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition: “The Outwin 2016: American Portraiture Today.”

Smithsonian Curator Talks Barack and Michelle Obama’s Official Portrait Selection

Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald will become the first black artists commissioned to paint a presidential couple for the Smithsonian

C.O.R.E Demonstration for Fair Housing, August 21, 1963. Before the Fair Housing Act of 1968, a practice known as redlining limited loans to owners in minority neighborhoods which contributed to housing decay. Discrimination also prevented minorities from moving into better neighborhoods. A Department of Buildings survey in August 1963 revealed over 16,000 housing violations in a single month. Over 379 cases were turned over to the criminal court for prosecution.

The "Unlikely Historians" Who Documented America in Protest

A new exhibit showcases photos and films that have long been stowed away in a basement at New York Police Department's headquarters

Jemison aboard the space shuttle 'Endeavour' in the Spacelab Japan science module.

This Groundbreaking Astronaut and Star Trek Fan Is Now Working on Interstellar Travel

Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, wants us to look beyond Earth

Rita Hayworth in 'Gilda.'

How Margarita Cansino Became Rita Hayworth

Hayworth navigated identity, ethnicity and transformation throughout her career

New Research

Genetic Study Shows Skin Color Is Only Skin Deep

Genes for both light and dark pigmentation have been in the human gene pool for at least 900,000 years

July 18, 2006 file photo of poet Richard Wilbur

Richard Wilbur, Esteemed Poet and Two-Time Pulitzer Winner, Dies at 96

He championed a formal style in an era dominated by experimental, confessional poetry

A Viking-age woven band of silk displays patterns in silver thread discovered to be Arabic script

New Research

Did Vikings Bury Their Dead in Clothing Bearing the Arabic Word for "Allah"?

While contact between Vikings and Muslim cultures is well documented, the interpretation of the 10th-century burial cloth has been called into question

An illustration of two neutron stars merging, ejecting gamma ray streams and clouds of matter that produce heavy elements and light

Scientists Spot the Spark From Ancient Collision of Neutron Stars

The chirp and flash from the event offers clues to the origin of Earth's precious metals

The Cardiff Giant, posed with a branch tastefully obscuring his genitals.

The Cardiff Giant Was Just a Big Hoax

Even though it didn't really look much like a petrified person, spectacle-seekers flocked to view it

Mark Twain's love of cats pervaded his literature as well as his writing habits.

Mark Twain Liked Cats Better Than People

Who wouldn't?

New research allowed astronomers to see a star forming region on the other side of the galaxy.

New Research

Scientists Peek Across the Galaxy to the "Dark Side" of the Milky Way

Until now, researchers haven't been able to map half of the galaxy we call home

Cool Finds

Footage Recalls the Night Madison Square Garden Filled With Nazis

A short documentary shows the 20,000-strong rally held by the Nazi-supporting German-American Bund in 1939

Trending Today

Five Things You Didn't Know About the Boy Scouts of America

The Boy Scouts will begin admitting girls next year, just one of many changes the organization has undergone over the years

A researcher uses a pipette to remove DNA from a micro test tube.

Trending Today

The Navajo Nation Might Lift a Longstanding Ban on Genetic Research

A policy written by tribal officials could help alleviate ethical concerns and guide genetic research and data sharing

Gardener Rob Gimpel harvests cabbage from the commemorative War Garden.

Cool Finds

A Century After WWI, a Victory Garden Sows Seeds of Remembrance

The Library of Congress is playing host to heirloom vegetables and traditional growing methods that date back to 1917

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