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By studying brain waves, heart rate and shifts in neurotransmitters and hormones, researchers aim to quantify the experiences of beauty and art.

Science

Does the Experience of Beauty Show Up in the Brain? With Electrodes and a Museum Collection of Artifacts, These Neuroscientists Aim to Find Out

Researchers are tracing the brain and body’s response to aesthetic expression in search of a scientific value to art

Manuela Callari

Original hand-carved hubs for the Purple Heart and Silver Star rest in the jeweler’s toolbox of legendary Providence-based hub carver Elio “Duke” Lossini.

Arts & Culture

This Massive Collection of More Than a Million Tools Tells the Striking History of Jewelry Making in America

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Smithsonian magazine April/May 2026 issue cover
The adult female fox, Shadow, was around 5 months old when Stuart first documented and named her in 2022.
Science The Fox Family of Mount Rainier
Even the scientists who study the animals rarely see them except on camera. But Gretchen Kay Stuart spent a season documenting them up close
Opener
History Plunder at the Pink Temple
Clara and André Malraux conspired to loot the pink temple of Banteay Srei, but their failure started a battle of reclamation
OPENER - Two U.S. Navy officers stroll past the sunlit Georgian splendor of Middleton Tavern in Annapolis, Maryland. Horatio Middleton established the tavern here in 1750. Today, visitors can order classic Chesapeake seafood, including oysters and rockfis
Travel Drafting the Revolution
Taverns, public houses and inns served as meeting places before the war and unofficial headquarters during it. Some still stand—including these nine, where you can raise a glass in memory of the founders

Photo of the Day

While waiting on the opposite subway platform, I snapped a photo of the men, all on their cell phones, sitting across from me. I could not help but think this represents the American experience for so many people in the U.S. today.

New York, New York

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