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Articles

"The Right Trousers"

These Robotic Pants Could Help Some Disabled People Walk Again

‘The Right Trousers’ combine soft artificial muscles and electric stimulation to get people moving

A guest trims the excess foam off a baseball cap.

How to Make Your Own Cheesehead in Milwaukee

You can make your own iconic Cheesehead hat for this year’s football season at the Foamation factory in Milwaukee

The vibrant Baltimore Oriole can be found migrating throughout large portions of eastern and central North America.

Scientists Can Predict When Birds Will Migrate Up to a Week in Advance

A new forecasting model using years of bird migration data and weather radar could help us protect migrating birds from harm

Margaret Chase Smith became the first woman ever to serve in both the House of Representatives and the Senate—and the first senator to stand up against Joseph McCarthy's Red Scare.

Women Who Shaped History

The Senator Who Stood Up to Joseph McCarthy When No One Else Would

Margaret Chase Smith was the first woman to serve both the House and the Senate and always defended her values, even when it meant opposing her party

Puma skull from the Motmot burial.

The Maya Captured, Traded and Sacrificed Jaguars and Other Large Mammals

New archeological findings suggest the Maya city state Copan dealt in a robust jaguar trade

Blombos Cave drawing with ochre pencil on silcrete stone.

Stone Age Markings May Be the Oldest Drawing Ever Discovered

The crosshatch symbol was made with a red ochre utensil more than 70,000 years ago

The Box in a Valise/Boite en Valise (Series E) From or by Marcel Duchamp or Rose Sélavy by Marcel Duchamp, 1963

Hirshhorn Curator Explains the Significance of the Huge Marcel Duchamp Donation

Washington D.C. art lovers Aaron and Barbara Levine promise 50 important works to the museum

A cross marks the death of the 340 murdered villagers of Lidice.

The Lost Children of the Lidice Massacre

The Nazis arbitrarily slaughtered the Czech villagers, angering the world, even as Europe’s Jews faced similar fates in concentration camps

Young grassland birds don't rush their final nest exit. They instead stick around as long as possible to gobble up as much food as they can stomach.

These Teen Birds Love Sleeping In, Too

A new study suggests young grassland songbirds postpone fledging in order to mooch off mom and dad as long as they can

A jaw of an Eoconodon coryphaeus—a house cat-sized omnivore that lived between about 66 and 63 million years ago—that Williamson collected in the San Juan Basin.

Nuclear Technology May Help Bring Early Mammal Evolution Into Focus

Using a neutron scanner at Los Alamos, paleontologists are generating high-resolution imagery of early mammal fossils

Ketamine syringe, 10mg held by a healthcare professional.

Ketamine Works as a Fast-Acting Antidepressant, But the Full Effects Are Still Unknown

A new study suggests that ketamine activates the brain’s opioid receptors, complicating its use to treat clinical depression

Rice University scientists have programmed drones to coordinate their tracking efforts with each other.

Teaching Drones to Sniff Out Toxic Air

Swarms of the flying devices, using sensors and AI, will learn to find and track harmful gases

Interpreters of the artwork (above: four of the eight from left to right: Jahnel Daliya Slowikowski, Sadie Leigh, Briona Jackson, Lara Supan.) are “people that can hold space and have a connection” with the passersby, says the curator.

Don’t Be Surprised if a Woman Sings to You in the Hirshhorn’s Sculpture Garden

The Smithsonian’s first purchase of a performance art piece is happening now, but the artist requests no photos, please

A concussion occurs when the brain impacts the inside of the skull with enough force to temporarily affect brain function.

How Virtual Reality and Sideline Brain Scans Could Help Diagnose Concussions

Determining if an athlete or soldier has a concussion often depends on what they tell you, but new technologies could provide a more objective approach

The airways inside the human lung.

Tracking Down the Origins of Cystic Fibrosis in Ancient Europe

CF is the most common genetic disease among Caucasians, and how it became so widespread is something of a mystery

Aerial view of crop circles

How Center Pivot Irrigation Brought the Dust Bowl Back to Life

Crop circles saved the Great Plains when farmer Frank Zybach invented a new sprinkler system in the 1940s

Soldiers supporting the coup led by Gen. Augusto Pinochet take cover as bombs are dropped on the Presidential Palace of La Moneda in Sept. 11, 1973.

An Eyewitness Account of Pinochet’s Coup 45 Years Ago

Smithsonian ethnomusicologist Dan Sheehy poignantly recalls the brutal outcome of a nation divided

Causing trouble from the get-go

The First Academy Awards Had Its Own Version of the “Popular” Oscar

The ceremony itself was rooted in union-busting, laying the basis for the art vs. mass acclaim debate we see play out today

How Scientists Can Learn About Human Behavior From Closed-Circuit TV

While researchers used to rely on interviews and experiments, raw video reveals subtle, previously hidden reactions

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