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Giant sauropods' feet didn't just leave footprints for future paleontologists to find, but changed landscapes entirely.

Journey to the Center of Earth

Dinosaurs Literally Reshaped The Planet

Dinos didn’t just leave behind footprints and fossil bones—they also changed the landscapes in which they lived

A typical night market in Taiwan.

The Best Night Markets for Midnight Snacking in Taipei

Go light on dinner, these magnificent markets add rich flavor to Taipei’s nightlife

Learning about bugs at Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio.

Age of Humans

Americans Think National Parks Are Worth Way More Than We Spend On Them

An independent survey finds that although NPS’s annual budget is around $3 billion, Americans are willing to pay much more

One of the ingredients of the ancient Roman burger? Ground pistachios.

Taste-Testing the History of the Hamburger

One intrepid reporter cooked three different versions of the burger to uncover just when, exactly, the sandwich was invented

The key to the Bastille, as held in Mount Vernon's collections.

How the Key to the Bastille Ended Up in George Washington’s Possession

A gift from an old friend is one of Mount Vernon’s most fascinating objects

Ducks: We rule the world.

Defying Stereotypes, Ducklings Are as Clever as They Are Cute

Newborn ducks understand abstract concepts such as sameness and difference with no training whatsoever

Ballast from the first historically documented ship carrying enslaved Africans that wrecked off the coast of Cape Town, South Africa in December 1794.

Breaking Ground

Few Artifacts of the Transatlantic Slave Trade Still Exist. These Iron Blocks Help Tell That Gut-Wrenching Story

A profound symbol of the horrific conditions aboard a slave ship is the ballast used as a counterweight for human cargo

Two skulls belonging to extinct marine mammal herbivores used in the new study, both from the Smithsonian's collections.

When Did Today’s Whales Get So Big?

More recently than you might think, say scientists who scoured the fossil record

Ten-year veteran of the Smithsonian's protective services office, Sargeant Nadia Tyler is master of the wildly popular Pokémon Go.

Gotta Catch ‘Em All on the National Mall

Sergeant Nadia Tyler, a security guard at Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, is collecting Pokémon creatures daily

Illustration of Gualicho shinyae hunting with its jaws, not arms.

Arm Day at the Gym Apparently Not a Thing for Newly Found, Tiny-Armed Dino

Turns out T. rex doesn’t have a copyright on those adorably awkward, itty-bitty arms

The Fight for the “Right to Repair”

Manufacturers have made it increasingly difficult for individuals or independent repair people to fix electronics. A growing movement is fighting back

A male greater sage-grouse dances for a female.

Age of Humans

New Schemes Pay You to Save Species—But Will They Work?

Programs being set up in the American West are taking a radical new approach: paying landowners to preserve animal habitat.

An astrophysicist makes the case that it might be worthwhile to revisit the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 to safeguard the practice of science on the lunar surface.

Can There Be Real Estate on the Moon?

A Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist thinks a legal crisis is waiting for us on the surface of the moon.

Participants in "The Leading Strand" project share their prototypes with each other.

Art Meets Science

Here’s What Happens When Neuroscientists and Designers Team Up to Explain Scientific Research

A new interdisciplinary project results in a moving sculpture, an animated piece, a song that evolves and more

After the Deepwater Horizon oil blowout in 2010, rescuers rushed to save birds, like this pelican. In the end, it didn’t really matter, most birds died.

Age of Humans

Why We Pretend to Clean Up Oil Spills

Six years after Deepwater Horizon spewed oil into the Gulf of Mexico, we still have no idea what we’re doing

A fetal skull that was dissected in the 1800s, originally held in the University of Cambridge Anatomy Museum.

New Research

How Fetus Dissections in the Victorian Era Helped Shape Today’s Abortion Wars

Besides teaching us about disease and human development, they molded modern attitudes of the fetus as distinct entity from the mother

What Gives “Seinfeld” Its Staying Power?

In a new book, pop culture writer Jennifer Keishin Armstrong analyzes how the show about nothing changed everything

Seven Magic Mountains

Six Monumental New Outdoor Art Installations to See This Summer

Skip the museum and head to one of these large-scale installations instead

Crowd outside the 1924 Republican National Convention in Cleveland listen to speeches broadcast from inside the hall via an early “public address system.”

100 Years of Women at the Ballot Box

Women Ruled the Floor When the GOP First Came to Cleveland

The 1924 Convention was the first to feature female delegates, and they made their presence known

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on His Love of History, Youth Sports and Which Books Everyone Should Read

The basketball legend has always had a writer’s touch

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