Smithsonian Magazine: August 2009
Features
River of Riches
The Cahaba, an unsung Alabama waterway, turns out to be one of the most biologically diverse places in the nation
By Michelle Nijhuis
Finding Herod's Tomb
Archaeologists and treasure hunters had long scoured a mountain outside Jerusalem for the biblical king's resting place. Ehud Netzer is certain he has found it—mere steps from where he stood decades before
By Barbara Kreiger
Mad About Shells
For centuries, scientists, collectors and thieves risked life, limb and fortune to gather the rarest specimens. Now interest is turning to the medical potential of the animals within
By Richard Conniff
Cool Katz
Octogenarian artist Alex Katz has never been more productive—nor more in demand
By Cathleen McGuigan
Galileo's Vision
Four hundred years ago, the Italian scientist looked into space and changed our view of the universe. A new exhibit brings one of his telescopes to the U.S. for the first time
By David Zax
Muscle Man
How the original 97-pound weakling transformed himself into Charles Atlas and brought the physical fitness movement to the masses
By Jonathan Black
6th Annual Smithsonian Photo Contest Winners
Out of more than 17,000 entries contributed from around the world, Smithsonian and its readers select the year's best
By Smithsonian magazine
Departments
Indelible Images
Still Together Now
The muddy couple photographer Burk Uzzle made a symbol of the Age of Aquarius are holding on to that lovin' feeling
By Timothy Dumas
My Kind of Town
Out of the Box
The fiction writer calls Telluride's anti-commercialism—epitomized by a landmark swap stop—worth fighting for
By Antonya Nelson
Phenomena
Evolution's Big Bang
A storied trove of fossils from Canada's Burgess Shale is yielding new clues to an explosion of life on earth
By Siobhan Roberts
Presence of Mind
Blue Sky Thinking
How an unlikely mix of environmentalists and free-market conservatives hammered out the strategy known as cap-and-trade
By Richard Conniff
Wild Things
Wild Things:
Life as We Know It
Dog faces, the history of laughter, snakes, and bird warning calls
By Joseph Caputo, T.A. Frail, Megan Gambino, Ashley Luthern and Abigail Tucker
Around the Mall
Cracking the Code
Every form of life has a unique DNA barcode. The trick is finding it
By Megan Gambino
The Object at Hand
One Giant Leap
The ingenious lander enabled men to walk on the moon
By Owen Edwards
The Last Page
Darwin for Dads
A daughter tries to help one member of an endangered species survive
By Joe Queenan
