Culture
Shared traditions, belief systems and values among a social group
Man’s Best Friend or the World’s Number-One Pest?
With perhaps 600 million strays skirmishing for food on the fringe of the human world, street dogs are a common element of travel just about everywhere
July 18, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Hitler Plotted to Kill Churchill With Exploding Chocolate
Nazis are known for their heinous wartime crimes and tactics. Now, exploding chocolate can be added to that list, as revealed by a 60-year-old letter stamped "Secret."
July 18, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
What Does Space Smell Like?
Astronauts have consistently reported the same strange odour after lengthy space walks, bringing it back in on their suits, helmets, gloves and tools, according to Science in a Can.
July 18, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
How Common Was Cannibalism?
While eating one another is understandable if stranded on a snowy mountain or desolate wasteland, evidence exists that some societies tucked into the practice even if not faced with life-or-death situations, just for the fun of it.
July 18, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Jennifer Griffin on Managing a Kitchen as an Amputee
While some might see the lack of a hand as an end to a life of cooking, Jennifer Griffin figured out how to revamp and revise her methodology for pulling a meal together
July 18, 2012 |
By Jesse Rhodes
360-Year-Old Advertisement Extolls Coffee’s Virtues
An advertisement issued by some brilliant London entrepreneurs may well be the first coffee ad ever.
July 18, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
The Messy History of Tacos
There's so much more to the humble taco than meets the hungry North American consumer's eye - or palate.
July 16, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Spooky Reads for Halloween
Vampires, Axe Murderers and Monsters from the Deep: Smithsonian's Reading Guide for All Things Halloween
July 16, 2012 |
By Smithsonian.com
An Architect-Turned-Barista Draws a Fine Line Between Brewing and Design
As the finale to our coffee series, we talk with Yeekai Lim, an entrepreneur from Los Angeles, about coffee, design, and the common ground(s) they share
July 13, 2012 |
By Jimmy Stamp
Return of the King Salmon
In the ocean waters just off California's Central Coast, the fish are swarming this summer like they haven't in years
July 12, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Climate Change Will Mean the World Eats Rice
The future under climate change indicates that rice will soon become an even more abundant staple, thanks to a boost in carbon dioxide that make crops like rice thrive
July 11, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Smithsonian Gets Google Mapped
Smithsonian and Google Maps launched an easy to use application Tuesday providing step by step directions inside 17 museums and the National Zoo.
July 11, 2012 |
By Leah Binkovitz
A Short Walking Tour of New York’s Lower East Side
In the 1860’s the Lower East Side was deluged in a wave of immigrants from Germany; known as Klein Deutschland, it had the 5th largest German-speaking population among cities in the world at the time
July 11, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
Fifty Years Ago, Lyndon Johnson Answered the First Satellite Phone Call
Telstar 1, which launched into orbit 50 years ago today, was the world's first commercial satellite, and a testament to international, and government-industry, cooperation.
July 10, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Hungry? Pull Over. Here’s Your Guide to the Best Bets of Roadside Foraging
All along the roadways of America—and the world—there's figs, avocados and wild berries ripe for the picking
July 10, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Why Store-Bought Popsicles Drip Less
Just in time for another scorching July day, the history of the modern popsicle - and why the store-bought ones are less drippy than the DIY kind.
July 09, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
This One Beautiful Video Sums Up All of Space Shuttle History
This weekend marked the one-year anniversary of the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis for STS-135, the final Shuttle mission, and artist McLean Fanestock 's video Grand Finale 2010-11 brings the Shuttles' 30 year tenure together by simultaneously displaying all 135 flights, from 1981 right on through to 2011.
July 09, 2012 |
By Colin Schultz
Meet Edith and Fanny, Thomas Jefferson’s Enslaved Master Chefs
Monticello research historian Leni Sorensen offers an impression of what life was like for these early White House chefs
July 09, 2012 |
By Jesse Rhodes
How Our Food System Could Be Radically Better in 2032
Fast forward 20 years. How will we get our food? What delicacies will stock our fridges and appear on restaurant menus? Will our diets be significantly different, or will we have simply found new things to stuff in yet-undiscovered pockets of our pizzas? Andrew Purvis of Green Futures Magazine ponders the question, with an optimistic slant: [...]
July 07, 2012 |
By Rachel Nuwer
The Tallest, Strongest and Most Iconic Trees in the World
Its bark is fire resistant. Its fruit is edible. It scoffs at the driest droughts. It shrugs, and another decade has passed. It is the baobab tree, one of the longest-living, strangest looking plants in the world
July 05, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
