Articles

Who Designed the Seal of the President of the United States?

We see it on the President's lectern and in the Oval Office, but who came up with the look and feel of it in the first place?

January 23, 2013

Scientists Dismiss Geo-Engineering as a Global Warming Quick Fix

A new study shows that dispersing minerals into oceans to stem climate change would be an inefficient and impractical process

January 23, 2013

Learning From Nature How to Deal With Nature

As cities like New York prepare for what appears to be a future of more extreme weather, the focus increasingly is on following nature's lead

January 23, 2013

Origami: A Blend of Sculpture and Mathematics

Artist and MIT professor Erik Demaine makes flat geometric diagrams spring into elegant, three-dimensional origami sculptures

January 23, 2013

Ecuador, Land of Malaria, Iguanas, Mangoes and Mountains

The author leaves Peru behind and crosses into Ecuador, where he encounters his first sign of a mosquito

January 23, 2013

Men Commit Scientific Fraud Much More Frequently Than Women

According to a new study, they're also much more likely to lie about their findings as they climb the academic ladder

January 23, 2013

Everything Was Fake but Her Wealth

Ida Wood, who lived for decades as a recluse in a New York City hotel, would have taken her secrets to the grave—if here sister hadn't gotten there first

January 23, 2013

Bag Full of Otters Recovered at Thai Airport

Eleven live otters turned up in a scanned bagged that someone had abandoned at the oversized luggage area of Bangkok's airport

January 23, 2013

NAACP Leader Roy Wilkins Predicts: “We’ll Elect A Negro President”

In 1970, the civil rights activist shared his prescient optimism about the future of race relations in the United States

January 22, 2013

Events January 22-24: Persian Tile Lessons, Arts & Craft Beer and MLK Book Signing

This week, learn to be a Persian artist, get crafty in Renwick Gallery and pick up an illustrated copy of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s most famous speech

January 22, 2013

Why Hypercolor T-Shirts Were Just a One-Hit Wonder

Heat-sensitive color made this sportswear a hot item—but it didn't last

January 22, 2013

Nanoparticles With a Heart of Gold Can Kill Cancer Cells

Gold nanoparticles are multitaskers when it comes to destroying cancer cells, researchers have found

January 22, 2013

Stocking Up: Uncovering the Secrets to the Best Broth

What do the experts recommend you do to get the most flavorful soup possible?

January 22, 2013

After Millennia of Heavy Use, Mercury Gets the Boot

From an Elixir of Life to the Philosopher's Stone, mercury's long legacy is coming close to an end

January 22, 2013

Watch Jupiter “Kiss” the Moon Tonight

Tonight, night sky watchers in the Northern Hemisphere can see Jupiter pass less than a finger's width away from the waxing Moon

January 21, 2013

Inauguration Day 2013

All you need to know for the day: where to eat, rest and what to see

January 21, 2013

“The Grave Looked So Miserable”

January 18, 2013

The Gory Details of Artist Katrina van Grouw’s Unfeathered Birds

A British artist, with experience in ornithology, explains how she created anatomical drawings of 200 different species of birds for a new book

January 18, 2013

At Night, Giant Fields of Burning Natural Gas Make North Dakota Visibile From Space

Locals have a new nickname for their state. North Dakota: "Kuwait on the Prairie"

January 18, 2013

A Lucky Two Percent of People Have a Gene for Stink-Free Armpits

But a new study finds most of them still use deodorant

January 18, 2013