Articles

The titular "Dial of Destiny" in the new Indiana Jones film is based on the Antikythera mechanism, an ancient device used to chart the cosmos.

Based on a True Story

The Real History Behind the Archimedes Dial in 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'

A device called the Antikythera mechanism is the true-life basis for the object at the center of the franchise’s latest installment

Big Boi in between verses at Lakewood Amphitheater in Atlanta on September 10, 2016.

A Rap Legend Looks Back on 50 Years of Hip-Hop

Outkast’s Big Boi traces the genre’s indelible impact on global music and culture

The artist’s rendering of the USS Indianapolis. Smith often draws highly detailed features, such as the guns, separately and only later places them onto the larger work.

A Veteran’s Artistic Tribute to Naval Might and Sacrifice

JD Smith has dedicated himself to creating incredibly detailed and historically accurate renderings of warships that fought in World War II

Unfinished pencils at the Musgrave plant in Shelbyville, Tennessee—“The Pencil City.”

See Inside One of America’s Last Pencil Factories

The family-owned facility in Tennessee produces more than 70 million pencils annually

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Can American Craft Sodas Save the Soft Drink Industry?

The sector is one of the few in the industry that are forecast to grow

Thomas Edison told journalists they would each receive a brief, private demonstration of the new light bulb’s capacities. They could marvel at what he had achieved before he swiftly ushered them away, ensuring they’d be out of the room long before the bulb burned out.

How Thomas Edison Tricked the Press Into Believing He'd Invented the Light Bulb

A year before he developed a working bulb, the "Wizard of Menlo Park" created the illusion that his prototype burned for more than a few minutes at a time

Why do chickens have wings if they can’t use them to fly?

Why Are Chickens So Bad at Flying? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

GUN SITE Gun Site was constructed on the former Anchor Ranch, a 320-acre property to the west of the main research site. The area had a flat, empty space where scientists studied projectiles and ballistics. Its main drawback was its proximity to a road, but efforts to blockade traffic during tests were largely successful.

An Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Los Alamos Lab Where J. Robert Oppenheimer Created the Atomic Bomb

In never-before-seen photographs, explore the secret U.S. facility and home to the Manhattan Project scientists who developed the first nuclear weapon

On May 25, 1977, a fire at the Everard Baths in New York City killed 9 people and injured 12 more.

LGBTQ+ Pride

Before It Burned Down, This Bathhouse Served as a Haven for New York City's Gay Community

For decades, gay men gathered anonymously at the Everard Baths, seeking sexual liaisons and camaraderie alike

Robert W. Bowles of Long Island competes at the first Sunfish World Championship in the U.S. Virgin Islands, in 1970. Bowles placed ninth that year. 

How the Most Popular Sailboat Ever Was Invented

The Sunfish taught millions of Americans to seize the breeze

Though stationary, fibers of different colors and textures are combined in ways that suggest water or air in motion and subject to the whims of turbulence.

Material Wealth

The Deep Cultural Significance of the Art of Felt

A river of fabric? Janice Arnold’s installations, inspired by the people of Central Asia, go to great lengths to evoke wonder

Fiber-weaving expert Marques Hanalei Marzan.

Material Wealth

This Hawaiian Artist Weaves Contemporary Style With Ancient Tradition

Fiber artist Marques Hanalei Marzan carries on the artistic customs of his ancestors

Bisa Butler selects fabrics that symbolically honor and protect her subjects.

Material Wealth

The Genius Behind Bisa Butler's Vibrant Quilts

The renowned artist's exuberant portraits celebrate Black history and take the form to a new level

Left to right, Butler’s larger-than-life fabric depictions are inspired by African American stories she’s compelled to share. Marzan links fibers from plants indigenous to Hawaii and other Pacific islands into astonishing shapes. Arnold builds on thousands of years of felt-making in creations that allude to community and nature, such as a flowing river.

Material Wealth

Meet the Artists Reinventing American Fiber Art

These innovative creators are quilting, weaving and felting dramatic pieces that bring American fiber arts to unexplored heights

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History paleoanthropologist Briana Pobiner came across this hominin tibia in Kenya’s Nairobi National Museum. The magnified area shows cut marks.

Our Human Relatives Butchered and Ate Each Other 1.45 Million Years Ago

Telltale marks on a bone from an early human’s leg could be the earliest evidence of cannibalism

Apparatus for administering nitrous oxide and other anesthetic gases

These Objects Tell the Story of Human-Driven Climate Change

Smithsonian curators dig into the collections to find artifacts that illustrate how we arrived at this moment

A bandicoot uses its nose to sniff out subterranean insects, leaving behind shallow holes known as “snout pokes.”

The Unlikely Survival Story of Australia's Bandicoots

The defenseless marsupial was nearly wiped out by invasive species. Now rescuers are pinning hopes on a remnant island population

Analyzing DNA found in the water off Greenland, researchers have found the signs of species on the move.

The Atlantification of the Arctic Ocean is Underway

The discovery of a tiny fish far from its normal range is a poignant reminder of the changes that are already happening

George Washington used the light of this brass candle stand while laboring over his farewell address in 1796.

How George Washington Wrote His Farewell Address

A candle stand used by the first president illuminates his extraordinary last days in office

Algae collected by the artist while free diving off Point La Jolla, California

Stunning Seaweed Prints Capture Life Underwater

Free diver Oriana Poindexter creates cyanotypes of kelp collected off the California coast

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