Human Environment
Public and private places and buildings, including cities, monuments, parks and reservations
Bodies of Evidence in Southeast Asia
Excavations at a cemetery in a Thai village reveal a 4,000-year-old indigenous culture
February 2009 |
By Andrew Lawler
The White House’s First Celebrity Dog
Bo, the Obama’s First Pooch, has a legacy to live up to in Laddie Boy, the family pet of President Harding
January 22, 2009 |
By Diane Tedeschi
The Curious Case of the Arkansas Diamonds
In a state park full of amateur diamond miners, one prospector dug up a valuable stone worth thousands of dollars—or did he?
January 09, 2009 |
By Brendan Borrell
Dinos Alive Tour
If you happen to be in the vicinity of the Mall of Asia in Manila before January 11 you might want to stop in to check out the Dinos Alive! Tour. Promising over 12,000 square meters of “Dino Action!” the exhibit features lots of animatronics, movies, and dinosaur themed games. Walking With Dinosaur...
January 06, 2009 |
By Brian Switek
Samarra Rises
In Iraq, the restoration of the shattered Mosque of the Golden Dome brings together Sunnis and Shiites in an unlikely alliance
January 2009 |
By Joshua Hammer
Van Gogh's Night Visions
For Vincent Van Gogh, fantasy and reality merged after dark in some of his most enduring paintings, as a new exhibition reminds us
January 2009 |
By Paul Trachtman
Enter the Dinosphere
When I was about five years old, my parents took me to a traveling robotic dinosaur exhibit at a local museum. I could hardly wait, but when I finally came face-to-face with the roaring beasts, I was terrified. I loved dinosaurs, but the gnashing teeth and waving horns were just too much for me; I ...
December 31, 2008 |
By Brian Switek
The Divine Art of Tapestries
The long-forgotten art form receives a long overdue renaissance in an exhibit featuring centuries-old woven tapestries
December 23, 2008 |
By Matthew Gurewitsch
The End of the Game, a Mystery in Four Parts
In a first-hand account of participating in an alternative reality game, one player gets caught up in the challenge
December 22, 2008 |
By Anika Gupta
The International Dinosaur Illustration Contest
For as long as scientists have been studying dinosaurs, illustrators have been drawing them. Whether it's precise depictions of their bones or imaginative restorations of what dinosaurs might have been like in life, paleo-illustration has been a diverse and popular field for over 150 years.In honor...
December 05, 2008 |
By Brian Switek
Gettysburg Address Displayed at Smithsonian
Lincoln's timeless speech during the Civil War endures as a national treasure
December 2008 |
By Owen Edwards
A Capitol Vision From a Self-Taught Architect
In 1792, William Thornton designed America's defining monument, where a new visitor center opens in December
December 2008 |
By Fergus M. Bordewich
A Monumental Struggle to Preserve Hagia Sophia
In Istanbul, secularists and fundamentalists clash over restoring the nearly 1,500 year-old structure
December 2008 |
By Fergus M. Bordewich
The Dinosaurs Devoted to Dixie
In 1863, a group of paleontologists discovered an abandoned mine shaft in Natural Bridge, Virginia. They were shocked to find that it led to a lost world where dinosaurs still lived, a discovery of great interest to the Union Army. The Yankees devised a plan to unleash some of the toothy beasts aga...
November 25, 2008 |
By Brian Switek
The Road to Repatriation
The National Museum of the American Indian works with Native Tribes to bring sacred artifacts home again
November 25, 2008 |
By Kenneth R. Fletcher
“Cliff” the Triceratops finds a good home
There are few things more nerve-wracking for paleontologists than fossil auctions. Exquisite specimens often command high prices and can be snapped up by private collectors, which keeps important fossils out of the hands of scientists. The impressive Tyrannosaurus “Sue,” for instance, was sold for ...
November 18, 2008 |
By Brian Switek
Chasing the Lydian Hoard
Author Sharon Waxman digs into the tangle over looted artifacts between the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Turkish government
November 14, 2008 |
By Sharon Waxman
American History Museum: Pieces of Our Past
Smithsonian curators probe the meanings of telltale objects
November 2008 |
By Anika Gupta
Star-Spangled Banner Back on Display
After a decade’s conservation, the flag that inspired the National Anthem returns to its place of honor on the National Mall
November 2008 |
By Robert M. Poole
Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple?
Predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years, Turkey's stunning Gobekli Tepe upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization
November 2008 |
By Andrew Curry
