Articles

GRAND PRIZE WINNER Indonesian artists make a few final touches before performing Bhopal, India • Photographed June 2008 Hatvalne, who has worked as a photojournalist for the past two decades, was taken by the dancers’ fastidious preparations before a performance. “I love photographing people,” he says. “I also sometimes photograph landscapes as well, but there is no better landscape than a human face.”

8th Annual Photo Contest Winners and Finalists

See the winning photos from our 2010 contest

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Tour the American History Museum With an American Girl

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Debunking the "Dinosaurs" of Kachina Bridge

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Experiments in Cooking: Salmon Poached in the Dishwasher

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Quagga: The Lost Zebra

In South Africa, quaggas were hunted to extinction in the late 1800s

Under the right conditions, patterns emerge from the brain's monumental complexity.

Beauty of the Brain

Stunning new images reveal the marvelous and mysterious world inside our heads

The Makgadikgadi Pans National Park is part of a rare African open wild land. The environment is so harsh that zebras have to cover a lot of ground to survive.

Nothing Can Stop the Zebra

A 150-mile fence in the Kalahari Desert appeared to threaten Africa's zebras, but now researchers can breathe a sigh of relief

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Wild Things: Giant Pandas, an Ancient Ibis and More...

Panda-friendly forests, one bizarre bird and foxes on junk food

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Women in Science

Smithsonian spotlights the women that are changing the face of scientific research

One of the country's most popular rappers, J-Me avoids political statements in his music. But his lyrics, he says, reflect the concerns of Myanmar's young.

Myanmar's Young Artists and Activists

In the country formerly known as Burma, these free thinkers are a force in the struggle for democracy

The dam, to be built at the confluence of the Inambari and Araza rivers, is one of dozens expected to power South America's economic ascent.

A Mega-Dam Dilemma in the Amazon

A huge dam on Peru's Inambari River will bring much-needed development to the region. But at what cost?

"You didn't learn your history, you lived it," says Cornelia Bailey, who grew up on Sapelo.

Holding on to Gullah Culture

A Smithsonian curator visits a Georgia island to find stories of a shrinking community that has clung to its African traditions

Scavenger hunts with mobile devices are a hit with teens.

Collaborations

Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt, better known as Semiconductor, are developing a multimedia piece about volcanologists.

Semiconductor on Volcanic Inspiration

The British performance artists discuss how their research on volcanoes will inform their newest works

Gene Krupa "stole Benny [Goodman]'s thunder," says Kennith Kimery, executive producer of the SMithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra. "In the end that cost him his job."

Gene Krupa: a Drummer with Star Power

Rising to fame with the Benny Goodman band, Gene Krupa was the first superstar drummer

Sculptor Alexander Calder is perhaps best known as the inventor of the mobile. View Portrait of the Arist as a Young Man and more at the Portrait Gallery.

What's Up

Paul Gauguin's Tahitian mistress Tehamana modeled for many of his South Seas works, including the lush Te Nave Nave Fenua (The Delightful Land), 1892.

Gauguin's Bid for Glory

Of all the images created by the artist Paul Gauguin, none was more striking than the one he crafted for himself

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Letters

Readers Respond to the January Issue

Marquee languages definitely serve their purposes. But when you learn a minority language, like Romansh or Sioux, you become a member of a select group.

Spoken Like a Native

Learning a minority language opens doors—and hearts

Archaeologists have been recovering historical artifacts from the vessel possibly stolen by Blackbeard since 1996.

Did Archaeologists Uncover Blackbeard's Treasure?

Cannons. Gold dust. Turtle bones. For archaeologists researching the notorious pirate's flagship, every clue is priceless

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