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Features

Back To The Future

One of Washington's most exuberant monuments—the old Patent Office Building —gets the renovation it deserves.

Grand Reopening: Speaking of Art

Two museums return home and invite visitors to engage in "conversations."

Building An Arc

Despite poachers, insurgents and political upheaval, India and Nepal's bold approach to saving wildlife in the Terai Arc just may succeed.

A Mystery Fit For A Pharaoh

The first tomb to be discovered in the Valley of the Kings since King Tut's is raising new questions for archaeologists about ancient Egypt's burial practices.

Finding a Home in the Cosmos

In a new book written with his wife, Nancy Abrams, cosmologist Joel Primack argues that the universe, far from being a meaningless void, was meant for us. Sort of.

Berried Treasure

Why is horticulturalist Harry Jan Swartz so determined to grow an exotic strawberry beloved by Jane Austen?

The Strawberry with 'Wicked Wiles'

David Chelf, a former physicist who shifted gears into horticulture, launched a venture in 2003 to grow large quantities of Mara des Bois strawberries.

Pamplona: No Bull

Forget Hemingway's bovine madness: this charming medieval town hosts the most misunderstood public party in the world - the festival of Sam Fermin.

A City Called Heaven

America's best-known oral historian tells his own story.

Last Hurrah

Everyone wanted to see the Babe the day they retired his number; photographer Nat Fein saw the story.

What's Eating America

Corn is one of the plant kingdom's biggest successes. That's not necessarily good for the United States.

Patent Pending

After a glorious renovation the old Patent Office Building opens its doors anew.

Camelot

In the mid-1800's, "ships of the desert" reported for duty in the Southwest.

Q&A With Muppet Designer Cheryl Henson

Museum will exhibit Jim Henson's first puppets and such classics as Kermit the Frog. Cheryl Henson, Henson's daughter and a muppet designer, spoke with Smithsonian's Jennifer Drapkin.

What's Up

"Zobop," Folklife, and Sea Lions

Let There Be Light

From dark and cavernous to room for everybody.

Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Monkey talk, reptilian altruism, anemone stings, aquatic crabs, and Thyrohyrax.

Al Gore Discusses "An Inconvenient Truth"

Environmentalist Al Gore talks about his new movie.

Joe Robinson

Vacation Advocate, Santa Monica, Calif.

Wild in the Yukon

A Danish photographer goes the extra mile to document wildlife in one of North America's most remote, most pristing areas, now coveted by mining and oil companies.