Alicia Ault

Alicia Ault

 

Alicia Ault is an independent journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Medscape Medical News, WebMD and Wired. She splits her time between St. Petersburg, Florida, Washington, D.C., and New Orleans, exploring the rich variety of food, music, art and culture on offer in those cities.

Artist Titus Kaphar says that his 2014 Columbus Day Painting—which greets "Unseen" visitors in the first gallery—was inspired by his young son’s conflicted and confusing study of the putative discoverer of America.

Two Artists in Search of Missing History

A new exhibition makes a powerful statement about the oversights of American history and America’s art history

The 1868 treaty is "not just a historical relic," says Navajo Nation president Russell Begaye, "it’s a living document. . . It’s a contractual agreement with the U.S. government and the Navajo nation.”

The Navajo Nation Treaty of 1868 Lives On at the American Indian Museum

Marking a 150-year anniversary and a promise kept to return the people to their ancestral home

A replica of Foucault's famous experiment at the Museo Nazionale della Scienza e Tecnica in Milan, Italy

How Does Foucault's Pendulum Prove the Earth Rotates?

This elegant scientific demonstration has been delighting everyday people for nearly 200 years

Until now, no one had been able to show at a microscopic level that the turkey vulture’s larger olfactory bulbs conferred advantage in the smell department.

Turkey Vultures Have a Keen Sense of Smell and Now We Know Why

Inside the brains of this olfactory king of the roost is a powerful cellular mechanism for detecting carrion from hundreds of feet away

The 200 or so volunteer “elves” at the Santa Claus museum in Indiana respond to about 20,000 letters each year.

What Happens to All Those Letters Sent to Santa?

Believe it or not, most get answered

Elders Council Secretary Judy Augusta and Elders Council Member Catherine Ford tour the American Indian Museum's exhibition "Nation to Nation" on the day the Treaty of Fort Wayne is put on view.

A Territorial Land Grab That Pushed Native Americans to the Breaking Point

The 1809 treaty that fueled Tecumseh’s war on whites at the Battle of Tippecanoe is on view at the American Indian Museum

Link Wray

'Rumble' Aims to Upset the Rock 'n' Roll Canon

A documentary based on a Smithsonian exhibition is wowing festival audiences

Neil Armstrong's lunar spacesuit had a life expectancy of about six months. The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum wants to exhibit it for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moonwalk.

A Moonwalk Did Not Destroy Neil Armstrong's Spacesuit. Now Time Won't Either

Conservators are bringing new innovations to save the 80-pound suit that allowed the first astronaut on the moon to take that giant leap

The bird feathers attached to artifacts in the John Wesley Powell collection can give anthropologists further insight into customs and trade.

Telling the Story of 19th-Century Native American Treasures Through Bird Feathers

Famed explorer John Wesley Powell’s archive of his 19th century travels is newly examined

The Treaty of Medicine Creek

Medicine Creek, the Treaty That Set the Stage for Standing Rock

The Fish Wars of the 1960s led to an affirmation of Native American rights

Construction on the Pentagon was completed in January 1943. With about 6.4 million square feet, it is still today the world’s largest low-rise office building.

Why Is the Pentagon a Pentagon?

Planners battled to ensure the building kept its unique shape

The male mountain gorilla Limbo (left) and Green Lady, a female from the same species, are on view in the exhibition, "Objects of Wonder," at the Natural History Museum.

Dian Fossey’s Gorilla Skulls Are Scientific Treasures and a Symbol of Her Fight

At a new Smithsonian exhibition, the skulls of “Limbo” and “Green Lady” have a story to tell

The Beast must learn to love someone else and be loved before the last petal falls on the Enchanted Rose in the tale of the new Disney film, Beauty and the Beast

The Beast's Enchanted Rose Lasted a Decade. How Long Can a Real One Last?

A Smithsonian expert says the film's was undoubtedly a hybrid tea rose

Still Life with Fruit, Oysters, and Wine by Everhart Kuhn, ca. 1865

Are Oysters an Aphrodisiac?

Sure, if you think so

Many Chinese restaurant names with words like golden, fortune, luck and garden are chosen for their auspiciousness—out of the owners’ desire for success.

Why Do Chinese Restaurants Have Such Similar Names?

Consistency and familiarity is the tradition

An engraving from the Illustrated London News, recorded the "Ball in Honour of President Lincoln in the Great Hall of the Patent Office at Washington," which today is the home of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery.

When Was the First Inaugural Ball?

Nothing says there’s a new president in town more than the dance party they throw

Inspectors examined the eyes of immigrants at Ellis Island in New York Harbor, but did they change their names?

Did Ellis Island Officials Really Change the Names of Immigrants?

On the 125th anniversary of the famous portal to the U.S., history shows inspectors were not the ones changing people's names

The first episode, “Tech Yourself,” explores how the ascent of the railroad industry pushed America into creating time zones.

There’s a “Sidedoor” Entrance to the Smithsonian and It’s Through a New Podcast

Sidedoor will air eight episodes in its first season; new episodes will debut every two weeks

Ask Smithsonian: What’s the Longest You Can Hold Your Breath?

A dive into the science shows it is possible to override the system

A rare book depicting the sea monk by Guillaume Rondelet (1507-1566) in the Smithsonian Libraries dates to 1554.

Renaissance Europe Was Horrified by Reports of a Sea Monster That Looked Like a Monk Wearing Fish Scales

Something fishy this way comes

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