USA
Andy Warhol’s Having a Really Big Few Months
When Andy Warhol famously said that “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes,” he couldn’t have been talking about himself. Two and a half decades after his death, he shows no sign of leaving the spotlight
February 01, 2013 |
By Lauren Kirchner
The FBI Once Freaked Out About Nazi Monks in the Amazon Rainforest
In October 1941, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover received a strange bit of war intelligence in a classified document
February 01, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
How to Save a Dying Language
Geoffrey Khan is racing to document Aramaic, the language of Jesus, before its native speakers vanish
February 2013 |
By Ariel Sabar
Welcome to America’s Dinosaur Playground
Countless bones and a billion years of geological action make Dinosaur National Monument the go-to park for fossil finds
February 2013 |
By Mary Roach
Lost and Found Again: Photos of African-Americans on the Plains
What would otherwise be a local-interest story became a snapshot of history integral to the American experience
February 2013 |
By Joseph Stromberg
Five Great Places to See Evidence of First Americans
Encounter the fossils and other remnants of the lives left behind by the continent’s original settlers
February 2013 |
By Guy Gugliotta
How Long Can Turtles Stay Underwater and Other Questions From Our Readers
You asked? We answered
February 2013 |
By Smithsonian magazine
New Research Disproves Prehistoric Killer-Comet Theory (Again)
Maybe the problem here is that other prevailing theories of the Clovis’ decline are just super boring by comparison
January 31, 2013 |
By Lauren Kirchner
A New Disease, a New Reason to Hate And Fear Ticks
A worrisome new tick-borne disease, similar to Lyme disease but caused by a different microbe, turned up in 18 patients in southern New England
January 31, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Riding a Hundred-Foot Wave, Surfer Breaks His Own World Record
Garrett McNamara said he felt awe, joy and excitement as the massive wall of water approached - but no fear
January 31, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Americans Buy So Many Wings, They’re Now the Most Expensive Part of the Chicken
Each February, the nation's thirst for chicken wings hits the roof, making the delicate wing the most expensive bit of the bird
January 31, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
How to Tour Louis Armstrong’s New Orleans
Jazz is synonymous with the Big Easy, and there’s no bigger name in the history of the genre than Satchmo
January 31, 2013 |
By Nina Fedrizzi
U.S. Military Wants to Recruit the Smartest Dogs by Scanning Their Brains
The theory is that, by scanning a dog’s level of neural response to various stimuli, including handler cues, the researchers will be able to identify the dogs that will be the quickest learners and therefore the easiest to train
January 30, 2013 |
By Lauren Kirchner
1913 Nickel Could Sell for More Than $2 MIllion
The coin is one of only five 1913 Liberty Head nickels known to exist, though this one has an illicit, serendipitous back story
January 30, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Parking Meters, Originally Meant to Keep Traffic Moving, Need an Update
The long history of the parking meter - innocent seeming towers behind much of today's driving woes
January 29, 2013 |
By Rose Eveleth
The Berger Cookie is Baltimore’s Gift to the Chocolate World
For nearly 200 years, the true black-and-white cookie has been delighting residents of Charm City
January 28, 2013 |
By Bonny Wolf
Museums Delay Opening Due to Weather
Smithsonian museums in the Washington, D.C. area as well as the National Zoo will open at noon Monday, due to inclement weather
January 28, 2013 |
By Leah Binkovitz
American Drilling Team Is About to Break Through 800 Meters of Ice to Reach Subglacial Lake
Sampling should be done late this evening, with scientific sampling of the subglacial waters beginning immediately
January 25, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
For Dogs, Max Is the New Spot, Even in New York City
In the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia, Max ranks as the number one name for male dogs
January 25, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
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 |
By Karen Abbott
