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Artifacts and artworks from around the Smithsonian model the Institution's mandatory mask requirement (see below for key to their identities and locations).

What Does the Smithsonian Look Like in the Post-COVID Era?

Key personnel from across the Institution weigh in on the long road back to normal(ish) operations

Ted Siebert set a world record when he built this sandcastle for Turkish Airlines in Key Biscayne, Florida, in 2015.

How to Build a Sandcastle

World-record-holding sand sculptor Ted Siebert gives some tips for amateur builders looking to hone their skills this summer

Jewish doctors give medical examinations in the Warsaw Ghetto

Covid-19

How a Public Health Campaign in the Warsaw Ghetto Stemmed the Spread of Typhus

A new study shows how life-saving efforts by Jewish doctors helped curb an epidemic during World War II

Even though social insects tend to live in super-tight quarters, colonies of such species are somehow able to limit the spread of contagions.

Covid-19

In Social Insects, Researchers Find Clues for Battling Pandemics

Studying the ability of some ants, termites, bees and wasps to contain pathogens may help human societies control diseases of their own

A group of activists, including Judy Heumann (center, with yellow stockings) protest for the enforcement of Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, in April of 1977. Later that month, the protesters would occupy a federal building in San Fransisco in protest in a sit-in that lasted more than 25 days.

The ADA Was a Monumental Achievement 30 Years Ago, but the Fight for Equal Rights Continues

A look back at the fight for disability rights comes with the reckoning of the challenges left unsolved

The patio at the Laurent House.

This Frank Lloyd Wright Home Was a Trailblazing Example of Accessible Design

The Laurent House in Rockford, Illinois, was built 40 years before the Americans with Disabilities Act became law

Bisa Butler, I Am Not Your Negro, 2019. Cotton, wool and chiffon, quilted and appliquéd. 79 x 60 in.

Artist Bisa Butler Stitches Together the African American Experience

Her dynamic quilts that reimagine old portraits will be on display in New York in her first solo exhibition

In the recent "Portraits" podcast, LL recounts why he turned to a 100-year-old masterpiece of the richest person in modern history—John D. Rockefeller Sr.—for his power pose.

How a Maverick Hip-Hop Legend Found Inspiration in a Titan of American Industry

When LL COOL J sat for his portrait, he found common ground with the life-long philanthropical endeavors of John D. Rockefeller

Baby sauropod on a nest, taken at the American Museum of Natural History's World's Largest Dinosaurs exhibit.

How Dinosaurs Raised Their Young

New research into eggshells and nesting sites help paleontologists unravel the family lives of the Mesozoic

A boy has his temperature checked as he receives a free COVID-19 test in Los Angeles.

Covid-19

What Scientists Know About How Children Spread COVID-19

As communities struggle with the decision over whether to open up schools, the research so far offers unsatisfying answers

A stone point from Chiquihuite cave

Discovery in Mexican Cave May Drastically Change the Known Timeline of Humans’ Arrival to the Americas

In a controversial new study, scientists cite artifacts dating the event to more than 26,000 years ago

Pierre Charles L'Enfant's Plan for Washington D.C., as revised by Andrew Ellicott. Engraved by Thackara and Vallance sc.

The Notorious ‘Yellow House’ That Made Washington, D.C. a Slavery Capital

Located right off the National Mall, the jail lent institutional support to slavery throughout the South

Nobody knows when Fungie, a solitary cetacean, arrived in the waters off Dingle, a town on the southwest coast of Ireland.

A Dolphin Has Been Living Solo in This Irish Harbor for Decades

Named Fungie, the cetacean draws thousands of tourists to Dingle—and may teach us how to protect other solitary-sociable animals in the wild

Like statues, animals named after controversial historic figures are sparking a conversation about "relics of systemic oppression" in science.

A Bird Named for a Confederate General Sparks Calls for Change

McCown’s longspur has launched a renewed reckoning over the troubling histories reflected in taxonomy

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100 Years of Women at the Ballot Box

100 Years of Women at the Ballot Box

How women have fought for and wielded the right to vote in the century since the 19th Amendment was ratified

For the first time, an ultra-black skin color or pigmentation that protects 16 varieties of deep-sea fishes has been documented.

Elusive, Ultra-Black Fish Are Cloaked to Survive in the Deep Ocean

Special pigment cells in deep-sea fish may provide clues to cancer treatment and stealthy new materials

John Lewis' mugshot, taken after his arrest in Jackson, Mississippi, as a Freedom Rider

John Lewis’ Storied History of Causing ‘Good Trouble’

The activist and congressman, who died Friday at age 80, viewed protest as crucial in American society

In planning to re-open, Zoo staff have spent several weeks consulting scientific experts and preparing rigorous healthcare guidelines.

The National Zoo Will Reopen to the Public on July 24

Two bison, an Andean bear and a baby wallaby are among the new animals ready to welcome visitors back

In April, people queued at a testing tent in East New York in Brooklyn. COVID-19 rates are highest among black New Yorkers in Kings County.

Race in America

What ‘Racism Is a Public Health Issue’ Means

Epidemiologist Sharrelle Barber discusses the racial inequalities that exist for COVID-19 and many other health conditions

Cryptids like Bigfoot, Yeti, Sasquatch or the mis-translated "Abominable Snowman" abound in folk tales.

Why Bigfoot and the ‘Abominable Snowman’ Loom Large in the Human Imagination

In cultures around the world, folklore of a ‘Wild Man’ share a common narrative

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