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A New Tool From This American Life Will Make Audio as Sharable as Gifs

A tech company best known for creating Twitter bots has put its skills to help make podcasts go viral

The coffee foam

The Innovative Spirit fy17

How to Clean Water With Old Coffee Grounds

Italian researchers have figured out how to turn spent coffee grounds into a foam that can remove heavy metals from water

President Lyndon Johnson reviews a speech he will make about the Vietnam War, just weeks before the 1968 election.

The History of the October Surprise

From assiduous editorials to destructive superstorms, the last weeks of presidential elections have seen shocking campaign twists

The walrus diorama at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, photographed in 2009, includes a "realistic" marine background.

The History and Future of the Once-Revolutionary Taxidermy Diorama

In their heyday, these dead animal displays were virtual reality machines

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How Waffle House Uses Twitter to Help Recovery Efforts

FEMA themselves admit that they look to the omnipresent chain to see where the damage is the worst

The National Zoo's resident cassowary in 2010.

Behind the Scenes at the National Zoo With the World’s Most Dangerous Bird

The zoo’s cassowary “still has that mysterious aura about her—that prehistoric, dinosaur-walking-through-the-rainforest-quality.”

Osgood says he can walk peacefully in total anonymity if he leaves his bow tie at home; but people always make him cakes with bow ties.

Charles Osgood’s Love Affair With the Bow Tie Began With a Dire Warning About Clip-Ons

As one of his iconic bow ties arrives at the Smithsonian, Osgood reflects on good and bad doggerel and how to tie a good knot

Understanding the Gospel of Nat Turner

The leader of the deadly slave revolt had a deep Christian faith that propelled his rebellious actions

Global Cities by Norwood Vivian, 2015

Mapping the World’s Great Cities in a Most Unusual, Yet Visually Arresting, Fashion

Part urban planner, part cartographer, sculptor Norwood Viviano uses state-of-the-art mapping tools to make powerful works of art

DFB 45, Arès, Brandon Ballengée, 2008. Scanner photograph of cleared and stained multi-limbed Pacific Tree frog from Aptos, California in scientific collaboration with Dr. Stanley K. Sessions. Title in collaboration with the poet KuyDelair.

Art Meets Science

With Deformed Frogs and Fish, a Scientist-Artist Explores Ecological Disaster and Hope

A 20-year retrospective of Brandon Ballengée’s artwork explores humans’ connection to cold-blooded creatures

Just try and infect me.

No, I Don’t Need a Flu Shot: I’m an Alpha Female

For spotted hyenas, like humans, social wealth equals better health

A rehearsal takes place at Teatro América, on Galiano Street in Havana. From the outside, the theater is nothing special, concealed behind a dull screen of gray polygon concrete. But step inside and you’ve entered the museum that is Cuban architecture.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Cuba

Havana’s Hidden Architectural Gems

The city’s eclectic architecture is both extraordinary and imperiled

Richmond, Virginia, USA, 15th October, 1992, President George H.W. Bush at the Town Hall debates

The History of the Town Hall Debate

Its origins go back to America’s earliest days, but its appearance on the national stage is relatively new

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Journey to the Center of Earth

How Earthquakes and Volcanoes Reveal the Beating Heart of the Planet

The Smithsonian Global Volcanism Program has stitched together a visual archive of the world’s earthquakes and volcanoes

"A Changing America: 1968 and Beyond" exhibition.

Breaking Ground

The Sounds and Images of Black Power Take Center Stage in This Post-Civil Rights Exhibition

After Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, black leaders and cultural influencers encouraged community self-reliance and pride

Second Place Winner: Cetacea, designed by Keegan Oneal, Sean Link, Caitlin Vanhauer and Colin Poranski at the University of Oregon

Future of Energy

These Wild Sculptures Actually Generate Green Energy

The winning designs of the LAGI 2016 competition range from giant sailboat sculptures that harvest fog to floating gardens that harness wave power

One of the best ways to experience Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in Alaska is by kayak.

Family Travel

Beautiful Photos from America’s Six Least-Visited National Parks

These parks are less popular, but no less spectacular

MythBusters’ Adam Savage and a team of makers from Baltimore made these letters, which lit up every time someone posted to social media using the hashtag #sxsl.

Here’s What You Missed At the White House’s First-Ever South By South Lawn Festival

On Monday, artists, musicians, tech enthusiasts and other innovators gathered in the president’s backyard to celebrate a bright future

A remote-controlled hexacopter captured this image of two northern resident killer whales photographed from 100 feet. Scientists use the unmanned drone as a cost-effective, non-intrusive method for monitoring the health of whales.

How Drones in the Sky Unlock Secrets of the Sea

Researchers are using aerial technology to track coastal erosion, map coral reefs and even give whales a breathalyzer

The rare green sea turtle, shown here on a volcanic beach in the Pacific, made a mysterious reappearance on Bermuda's shores in 2015.

Bermuda

The Strange Reappearance of the Once-Vanished Green Sea Turtle

It’s a conservation biology riddle wrapped in a mystery inside a hard shell

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