Ben Panko

Ben Panko is a staff writer for Smithsonian.com

The enigmatic Yayoi Kusama built a museum for her work in near total secrecy

Yayoi Kusama Secretly Built a Museum

Opening October 1, the Tokyo museum will showcase art and archives from the visionary avant-garde Japanese artist

This Pueblo rock carving in New Mexico might represent a remarkable solar eclipse dating back to 1097.

This New Mexico Petroglyph Might Reveal an Ancient Solar Eclipse

In 1097, a Pueblo artist may have etched a rare celestial event into the rock for all of posterity

Dana, a lioness rescued from a Syrian zoo, is shown in the enclosure of its new home the day after giving birth to a cub named Hajar

Lion Saved from Syrian Zoo Gives Birth

Just hours after reaching its new home following a daring rescue, the lion gave birth to a healthy cub

This 1962 photo shows author Flannery O'Connor in the driveway at Andalusia in Georgia.

Georgia College Gifted Farm Where Flannery O'Connor Composed Southern Gothic

The author's alma mater will take over and maintain the Savannah-born author's final home

A meteor from the Perseids is seen falling over the Very Large Telescope array in Chile.

Catch the Perseid Meteor Shower's Fiery Show

Though the moon will partially obscure the normally dazzling sight, the shower's peak is still worth a peek

An acrylic painting by Laura Collins recreates a 2006 photo of stars Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton

New Art Exhibit Remembers Trashy Tabloid Culture of 2000s

The Brooklyn show highlights art inspired by the age when celebrity scandals and gossip reigned supreme

Americans have started feeding their pets an abundance of high-quality meats, suitable for human consumption. But fido doesn't need filet mignon.

America's Fancy Pet Food Addiction Is a Big Problem for the Environment

American pets have been increasingly served up prime cuts of meat, but this food comes at a cost

Your eclipse glasses won't be the only tool to make this month's stellar phenomenon cool

Use This App to Get the Most From the Coming Eclipse

With livestreams, simulations and safety guides, this Solar Eclipse app will be the key tool for the upcoming astronomical extravaganza

Voyager 1 is currently zipping along at around 38,000 miles per hour​ nearly 13 billion miles from Earth.

Send a Birthday Message to Voyager 1, Humanity's Most Distant Traveler

To mark its 40th anniversary, NASA is asking for your help crafting a message

The ionocraft shown next to a standard U.S. quarter

The Sci-Fi Technology that Could Power Microbots

Using no moving parts, ion thrusters could propel tiny robots for long periods

The Sabino sailing into port in 2005. The steamboat still carries museum-goers on tours of the Mystic River.

America's Oldest Coal-Powered Steamboat Chugs Along

After a two-year restoration, the 109-year-old Sabino is ready to sail for many years to come

Watercolor paintings like this were used to produce the dark, dystopian worlds of cyberpunk anime

What Does the Architecture of Anime Look Like?

A new exhibit brings together the creative design behind some of the most iconic cyberpunk anime films

Under the Sun's surface is a rapidly rotating core with a temperature of 29 million degrees Fahrenheit

The Sun's Core Spins Roughly Four Times Faster Than Its Surface

Satellite data lets scientists peer into the depths of our star, uncovering hints to its formation

In the hours before the Sun rises, Tsukiji bustles with traders buying seafood for the coming day

Fire Breaks Out at Historic Tokyo Fish Market

As Tsukiji Market faces an uncertain future, a fire torches several stores at the edge of the century-old landmark

The revolving gun turret from “Ironclad” ship USS Monitor is lifted from the ocean floor. An NEH grant will go toward a conservation initiative to preserve objects from the Civil War-era ship.

NEH Announces Last Grants for 2017

Programs for digitization, preservation, education and more are supported with $39.3 million in funding

By editing a gene soon after fertilization, scientists were able to successfully fix a disease-causing mutation in human embryos

Five Things to Know About the Latest Gene Editing Breakthrough

While it's not the first case of genetically modifying human embryos, the study has reignited a long-running controversy

The rocky terrain of northern Australia's Arnhem Land contains many examples of Aboriginal artwork

Aboriginal Rangers Uncover Trove of Rock Art in Northern Australia

Hundreds of examples of art dating back centuries were found by rangers while they were conducting burn offs

An arachnid in the trapdoor spider family, a group known for its snug and potentially even ocean-going burrows.

How One Brave Spider Floated Thousands of Miles to Colonize a New Continent

Improbably, new genetic analysis shows that trapdoor spiders may have ridden ocean currents from Africa to Australia

This 3D recreation depicts what scientist believe the ancestor of all modern flowers looked like

What Did the Ancestor of All Flowers Look Like?

Tracing back the genetic tree of flowering plants millions of years, scientists recreate the predecessor of Earth's flowers

Scientists found some of the physical imprints of Alzheimer's disease in the brains of elderly chimpanzees

Aging Chimps Show Signs of Alzheimer's Disease

Long been thought unique to humans, a new study suggests that our close ancestors exhibit some of the hallmarks of the illness

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