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Outer Space, our solar system and Earth’s geography, geology and human environmentDiscover Smithsonian articles by place—including Earth, the solar system and outer space.
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
New X-Ray Technology To Reveal Secrets Beneath a Rembrandt Masterpiece
By 1984, conservators had discovered that there was, indeed, another figure hidden beneath the Old Man in Military Costume, but they haven't been able to see who it is
January 31, 2013 |
By Lauren Kirchner
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
China’s Air Pollution Is So Bad That One Entrepreneur Is Selling Fresh Air in Cans
It’s a bleak state of affairs indeed when a Mel Brooks schtickfest from the '80s actually predicts the future
January 31, 2013 |
By Lauren Kirchner
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
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
Some Microbes Are So Resilient They Can Ride Hurricanes
By comparison, other lifeforms such as fungal spores and pollen don’t thrive nearly as well as the microbes, the survey found.
January 30, 2013 |
By Lauren Kirchner
People Have Been Eating Curry for 4,500 Years
Thanks to new research methods and a pile of (very old) dirty dishes, archaeologists have discovered the very ancient origins of a globally popular cuisine.
January 30, 2013 |
By Lauren Kirchner
Prince Charles Rides the London Tube for First Time in 33 Years
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall graced the plebeians subway commuters with their presence to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the London tube's creation
January 30, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Trash and the Future of Traveling Museum Exhibits
A traveling exhibit ditches the trucks and goes digital to teach environmentally-friendly ways of living
January 30, 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
Here’s What Three Mummies Might Have Looked Like While Alive
For the first time in over 2,000 years, these three mummies' faces now stare back at viewers, much as they might have appeared just before their deaths
January 30, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Much Ado About Nothing at the Equator
Just north of Quito stands a grand and glowing tribute to one of Ecuador’s proudest features: the Equator. The problem is, it was built in the wrong place
January 30, 2013 |
By Alastair Bland
Google’s New Maps Reveal That, Yes, There Are Roads in North Korea
Seemingly overnight the formerly Google map-blank North Korea modernized, with highways, roads and train stops clustering around the capital and snaking into the country's northern stretches
January 30, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
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
3D-TV, Automated Cooking and Robot Housemaids: Walter Cronkite Tours the Home of 2001
In 1967, the most trusted man in America investigated the home of the 21st century
January 29, 2013 |
By Matt Novak
Did Shakespeare Have Syphilis?
Shakespeare acquired an uncanny obsession with syphilis late in life, perhaps along with a few bacteria of his own
January 29, 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
For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of WWII
In 1978, Soviet geologists prospecting in the wilds of Siberia discovered a family of six, lost in the taiga
January 29, 2013 |
By Mike Dash
Mongolia Is Turning Politicians’ Offices Into a Dinosaur Museum
Out with the old, in with the…even older.
January 28, 2013 |
By Lauren Kirchner

