Visual Arts
Benjamin Franklin’s Phonetic Alphabet
One of the founding father's more quixotic quests was to create a new alphabet. No Q included
May 10, 2013 |
By Jimmy Stamp
Macoto Murayama’s Intricate Blueprints of Flowers
The Japanese artist depicts blossoms from various plant species in fastidious detail
May 10, 2013 |
By Megan Gambino
What the Great Gatsby Got Right about the Jazz Age
Curator Amy Henderson explores how the 1920s came alive in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel
May 10, 2013 |
By Amy Henderson
28-Year Satellite Time-Lapse Shows Exactly What We’re Doing to Our Planet
28 years in just a few seconds, as seen from space
May 09, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Events May 10-12: Plant Potting, Super Science Saturday and a Musical Tribute to Mother’s Day
This weekend, celebrate the earth by playing in a garden, unlock the mysteries of astronomy and take mom to hear some great classical music
May 09, 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
The Best of Design, Cooper-Hewitt Announces 2013 Award Winners
From a Las Vegas Denny's with a wedding chapel to rock 'n' roll posters, this year's design award winners have a good time with great design
May 09, 2013 |
By Leah Binkovitz
What Happens When a Keyboard Goes From Tactile to Touchscreen?
There's a word for that odd quirk of Apple iPads that hold on to design components of old keyboards
May 08, 2013 |
By Jimmy Stamp
Feel What It’s Like to Live on an Antarctic Icebreaker for Two Months
In February 2013 Cassandra Brooks, a marine scientist with Stanford University, landed at McMurdo Station, a U.S. research station on the shores of Antarctica’s Ross Sea. For two months she worked on a ship, the icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer, cruising through the Antarctic sea. Brooks documented her life on the ship for National Geographic, and now she’s [...]
May 07, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
U.S. Gives Mongolia Its Tyrannosauras Skeleton Back
The U.S. government is returning a Tyrannosaurus skeleton to Mongolia and the Metropolitan Museum of Art is giving two statues back to Cambodia
May 07, 2013 |
By Rachel Nuwer
Creepy or Cool? Portraits Derived From the DNA in Hair and Gum Found in Public Places
Artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg reconstructs the faces of strangers from genetic evidence she scavenges from the streets
May 03, 2013 |
By Megan Gambino
Fact of Fiction? The Legend of the QWERTY Keyboard
What came first: the typist or the keyboard? The answer may surprise you
May 03, 2013 |
By Jimmy Stamp
For Perusing Pleasure, Zandra Rhodes’ New Online Fashion Archive
The honored Brit—50 years in the business—goes for the bold in her designer collections
May 02, 2013 |
By Emily Spivack
This Camera Looks at the World Through an Insect’s Eyes
With 180 individual lenses, this new camera mimics an insect's compound eye
May 02, 2013 |
By Colin Schultz
Want to See How an Artist Creates a Painting? There’s an App for That
The Repentir app reveals an artist's creative process by allowing users to peel back layers of paint with the touch of their fingertips
May 02, 2013 |
By Marina Koren
Events May 3-5: American Civil Rights, Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Interactive Robot Games
This weekend, tour America's shift towards equality, meet local Asian Pacific American writers and celebrate Children's Day
May 02, 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
PHOTOS: The Mind-Blowing, Floating, Unmanned Scientific Laboratory
Wave Gliders are about to make scientific exploration a lot cheaper and safer
May 2013 |
By Joseph Stromberg
How Lego Is Constructing the Next Generation of Engineers
With programmable robots and student competitions, Lego is making “tinkering with machines cool again”
May 2013 |
By Franz Lidz
Never Underestimate the Power of a Paint Tube
Without this simple invention, impressionists such as Claude Monet wouldn’t have been able to create their works of genius
May 2013 |
By Perry Hurt
How Do You Make a Painting Out of Sounds?
Jennie C. Jones has the answer. Her first solo museum show opens at the Hirshhorn in May
May 2013 |
By Jamie Katz
Spotlight
The latest Smithsonian exhibitions showcase Civil War photography, Buddhist figures and Time magazine cover portraits
May 2013 |
By Paul Bisceglio
