Articles by Erin Blakemore from Smithsonian Magazine

Angry Tweets Help Twitter Detect Heart Disease Risk

New research shows that Twitter can detect not just viruses, but long-term public health problems

January 22, 2015

King Tut’s Beard Fell Off...And Was Glued Back on With Epoxy

Clumsy curators won’t admit who’s behind the irreparable repair

January 22, 2015

Here’s Why Sharks Prefer Salt Water

New research shows that sharks sink in fresh water

January 21, 2015

The Science Behind Deflated Footballs

Could failure to inflate give a team a strategic advantage?

January 21, 2015

Scientists used to hypothesize that equipment from Australia's Parkes Observatory, shown here, was responsible for fast radio burst readings.

Astronomers Catch a Mysterious Burst of Energy in Action

It's the first time scientists have observed the strange radio pulse as it happened

January 20, 2015

The Wine of the Future Could Be Aged Underwater

A historic shipwreck inspired a new way to age wine

January 20, 2015

India's Tiger Population Grew Almost 60 Percent Since 2008

Could tigers be coming back from the brink? India now counts 2,226 of the big cats

January 20, 2015

The ancient artifact was found in a field and used as a doorstop for years before being identified as a rare ceremonial dirk.

This 3,500-Year-Old Dagger Made a Really Great Doorstop

One man’s doorstop is another man’s rare, ancient artifact

January 19, 2015

Deaf People Could Soon Hear... Through Their Tongues

Prototype retainer could be a more cost-effective alternative to cochlear implants

January 16, 2015

The unmanned Falcon 9 rocket propelled critical supplies to the International Space Station.

What the SpaceX Rocket Crash Really Looked Like

New images show Falcon 9’s dramatic crash landing

January 16, 2015

Two New Studies Posit At Least Two New Planets Out Beyond Pluto

We may not be done learning about our own solar system

January 15, 2015

Shivers Could Be Contagious

Looking at a chilly person could make you cold, too

January 15, 2015

Toystory the Bull Fathered 500,000 Cows Before He Died

Toystory, a Wisconsin “dream bull,” had more than half a million offspring at last count and is the stuff of legend.

January 15, 2015

Two Climbers Made It Up El Capitan Via an Impossibly Vertical Wall

It took just three weeks for Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgensen to make free-climbing history

January 15, 2015

What's the Best Place to Live? It May Depend on Your Personality

Why you'll thrive in some neighborhoods (and feel miserable in others)

January 14, 2015

One Orangutan Has Learned to Sound Just Like Us

This defies scientists’ former assumption that great apes just couldn’t learn new calls

January 14, 2015

Cangrande della Scalla was one of the most respected warriors of his day.

Mummy Feces Solve the Mystery of How Verona's Most Powerful Man Died

Digging deep for the secret behind a medieval warlord's mysterious death

January 13, 2015

Your Computer Knows You Better Than Your Mom

Why machines can predict your personality more accurately than your family or friends

January 13, 2015

Researchers from the University of Missouri have linked "cell phone separation" with anxiety and poor cognitive performance.

Separate People From Their Phones, And They Perform Less Well

Here's what happens when you're parted from your smartphone

January 12, 2015

How a Single Penny Became Worth More Than $2 Million

Fifteen years ago, few would pay $1 million for a coin—no matter how rare. That's changing.

January 12, 2015