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Articles

The 20 Best Small Towns to Visit in 2018

From Oregon Trail stops to Mister Rogers’ original neighborhood, these towns are worth seeing this year

Bycatch is a major problem in fisheries, resulting in the deaths of countless endangered animals. New dynamic software helps fishermen avoid this harmful phenomenon.

New Research

Smart Software Helps Fishermen Catch the Fish They Want, Not Endangered Species

Like a dynamic weather app for the sea, the program allows fishermen to pinpoint areas of conservation and can be updated daily

Robert F. Kennedy accepts the Democratic nomination as a candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1964.

Why Robert Kennedy Transformed From a Conservative Into a Liberal Champion of Civil Rights

A professor of political history looks at how RFK, assassinated 50 years ago this week, was an improbable hero to the left

Elsie Janis (1889-1956), an American singer, songwriter, actress, and screenwriter

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Sweetheart of the American Expeditionary Force

During World War I, vaudeville star Elsie Janis travelled to France to bring good cheer to U.S. troops

No photos of Cole survive. Shown here is an anatomy lecture taught by pioneering female physician Elizabeth Blackwell at the Woman's Medical College of New York Infirmary, which she founded. Cole was the resident physician at the infirmary and later a sanitary visitor at Blackwell's Tenement House Service. Blackwell described Cole as “an intelligent young coloured physician [who] carried on this work with tact and care.”

Race in America

The Woman Who Challenged the Idea that Black Communities Were Destined for Disease

A physician and activist, Rebecca J. Cole became a leading voice in medical social services

Grape breeding PhD student Laise Moreira collects flower tissue for analyzing sex trait in grapevine as part of the VitisGen2 project at the University of Minnesota Horticultural Research Center in Excelsior, MN.

The Quest to Grow the First Great American Wine Grape

Genetics might be the key to creating vineyards that both resist disease and don’t taste like skunk

Left: A cooled pāhoehoe flow from the Kīlauea, showing its characteristic ropey texture, captured in 2012 (imageBROKER / Alamy). Right: An ‘a‘ā flow from Kīlauea moves down Makamae Street in Leilani Estates, Hawaii on May 6, 2018.

A Handy Guide to Volcano Vocab

Laze, vog, lava bomb—we help you decipher what geologists are actually talking about

"We can’t separate human health from the health of the natural world,” says Sabrina Sholts, a physical anthropologist and organizer of the Smithsonian's new show, "Outbreak."

How Globalization Changed the Way We Fight Disease

A new exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History explores the deadly past of global epidemics

How Ketchup Revolutionized How Food Is Grown, Processed and Regulated

The condiment really is the perfect complement to the American diet

Marine heatwaves can kill off species and alter ecosystems.

Ocean Heatwaves Are Getting Longer and More Intense

If the past century is any indication, global warming may be contributing to less stable marine ecosystems

Playing with Native American instruments, fifth-graders from New York City Public School 276 play with percussion instruments made of pelts and other fibers.

How Native Civilizations Innovated to Conquer the Wilderness

A new activity center at the American Indian Museum in NYC sheds light on the original know-how of the Americas

Artist’s impression of satellites and debris in low-Earth orbit. Currently 70 percent of all cataloged objects are in low-Earth orbit, which extends to 2000 km above the Earth’s surface.

Greening the Future of Outer Space

A team of scientists and policy experts want to develop space sustainably for future generations

Guam kingfishers tend to incubate for 21 to 23 days. This female emerged from her shell after 22.

This Royally Adorable Baby Kingfisher Perpetuates a Species Extinct in the Wild

A fine soon-to-be-feathered friend joins the menagerie at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

The staff at Thip Khao in Washington, D.C.'s Columbia Heights neighborhood.

Meet The Devotees of the Growing Lao Food Movement in a New Video from Folklife

Seng Luangrath opened a Lao restaurant in Washington, D.C. and made it a community for other immigrants

Robert Indiana's Love (1967). The design has become a ubiquitous staple of contemporary Americana.

Archives Reveal Touching Stories on the Life of Robert Indiana, the Man Who Invented “LOVE”

Smithsonian curators reflect on the legacy of the iconic artist, following his death at age 89

It doesn’t look like a kidney, but this ‘kidney-on-a-chip’ is a breakthrough for new drug testing.

How Putting Organs on Chips Could Revolutionize Medicine

Scientists are now working to connect these ersatz “organs” together into systems

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