Transportation
Maps of the Future
A 1989 prediction about portable GPS devices was right on the money
May 22, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
A Medieval Castle in the Making
The construction of a medieval fortress in France is answering important questions about 13th-century building techniques
May 21, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
A More Efficient Airline Meal Tray
A recent innovation in the design of the airline meal tray has resulted in massive savings. Maybe the next innovation should focus on the actual food.
May 17, 2012 |
By Sarah C. Rich
The Snows of…Tenerife?
The white stuff can fall at any time and almost anywhere, from the streets of Rome to the subtropical Canary Islands
May 02, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
Document Deep Dive: A Firsthand Account of the Hindenburg Disaster
Frank Ward was a 17-year-old crewman when he saw the infamous disaster, but his memories of that day are still strong, 75 years later
May 02, 2012 |
By Megan Gambino
Found: Letters from the Hindenburg
A new addition to the Smithsonian collections tells a new story about the legendary disaster
May 2012 |
By Abigail Tucker
Hand-fishing for Swamp Monsters
"It's the most exhilarating thing I've ever done," says filmmaker Bradley Beesley, whose documentaries have popularized the ancient art of noodling
April 19, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Plus Ça Change in France
The nation says au revoir to the franc and to "mademoiselle" and bonjour
to a proposed new theme park—Napoleonland
April 19, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
The Most Dangerous Game: Chasing a Sea Snail?
Abalone divers die of exhaustion, heart attacks, or becoming entangled in kelp. The fear of being eaten by a great white shark is persistent and haunting
April 11, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
The Flying Ambulance of Tomorrow
In the 1920s, a French inventor devised an ingenious way to provide emergency medical assistance
April 10, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
Secretary Clough on Discovery’s Next Mission
The retired space shuttle will fly one last time – to the Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center
April 2012 |
By G. Wayne Clough, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution
A Short Trip to Coal Country
In eastern Pennsylvania, learn more than you ever imagined about flammable carbon at the Anthracite Coal Museum, and marvel at the virtual ghost town of Centralia
March 30, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
The Greatest Diving Sites in the World
The vertiginous void of the Great Blue Hole offers divers the feeling of facing off with the edge of the world
March 28, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Will Matt Rutherford be First to Circumnavigate the Americas Solo?
"Basically, I either fail and everyone thinks I'm crazy, or I succeed and I'm a hero," says the sailor, who is on the homestretch of a nearly one-year journey
March 15, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
Wildflower Hunting in the California Desert
March is the traditional time to view the fab flora in Joshua Tree National Park
March 15, 2012 |
By Susan Spano
New Zealand: What’s Hot and What’s Not
From Stewart Island in the far south to the Surville Cliffs in the far north, New Zealand is a country almost as geographically diverse as the United States
March 01, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
The World Will Be Wonderful In The Year 2000!
The secret formula for predicting a fantastical yet credible future
February 29, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
1970s Children Draw Robot Presidents and Nuclear Apocalypse
Kids predict the darndest things
February 23, 2012 |
By Matt Novak
Halfway to the Bottom of the Earth: The Catlins
To see this place on a globe, home of the world's southernmost tapas reastaurant, one must lift it upward to expose the underbelly of the planet
February 23, 2012 |
By Alastair Bland
