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An Inca skull from the Cuzco region of Peru, showing four healed trepanations. The new review focuses on the practice in ancient China.

Drilling Deep: How Ancient Chinese Surgeons Opened Skulls and Minds

A new review finds evidence that the Chinese performed trepanation more than 3,500 years ago

We asked Smithsonian scholars to make book recommendations to our readers for this holiday season of gift giving.

Increase and Diffuse Knowledge for the Holidays With These Smithsonian Curated Books

Books recommended by Smithsonian Institution scholars

A California Startup Is Using Ashes to Protect Forests

Better Place Forests is accepting reservations from those who wish to have their remains scattered in a redwood forest in northern California

Ahead of her time: Foote first identified the greenhouse effect, now a seminal concept in climate science.

This Suffrage-Supporting Scientist Defined the Greenhouse Effect But Didn’t Get the Credit, Because Sexism

Eunice Foote’s career highlights the subtle forms of discrimination that have kept women on the sidelines of science

A small boat rescues a seaman from the 31,800 ton USS West Virginia burning in the foreground. Smoke rolling out amidships shows where the most extensive damage occurred.

The Children of Pearl Harbor

Military personnel weren’t the only people attacked on December 7, 1941

Things are getting steep in Western Norway.

Cool Finds

Escape With a Virtual Ride on the World’s Steepest Train

Things are looking up (down, right and left) thanks to a 360-degree video captures a stunning Norwegian fjord

Two trainees work on repairs.

How to Experience a Mission to Mars (If You Still Want to Come Back)

Space Camp for adults? It’s definitely a thing

The shipworm, scourge of sailors everywhere, is actually a kind of ghostly saltwater clam.

How a Ship-Sinking Clam Conquered the Ocean

The wood-boring shipworm has bedeviled humans for centuries. What’s its secret?

Ex-President William Howard Taft (1857-1930) sworn in as chief justice of the United States in 1921

Chief Justice, Not President, Was William Howard Taft’s Dream Job

The 27th president arguably left a more lasting mark on the nation as leader of the Supreme Court

How does language influence our thoughts? Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner in "Arrival."

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Does the Linguistic Theory at the Center of the Film ‘Arrival’ Have Any Merit?

We asked a Smithsonian linguist and an anthropologist to debate the matter

Don’t Miss These 11 New Museum Exhibitions This Winter

You’ll find everything from beloved childhood characters to animatronic dinosaurs on display this season

How does a bear catch a break around here?

New Research

Decades-Old Chemicals May Be Threatening Polar Bear Fertility, As If They Didn’t Have Enough to Worry About

A new study sheds light on how today’s pollutants could become tomorrow’s threats to wildlife and humans

The Best Books About Science of 2016

Take a journey to the edge of human knowledge and beyond with one of these mind-boggling page-turners

Art Meets Science

The Best “Art Meets Science” Books of 2016

Eight sumptuous books from the past year that meet at the intersection of science and art

Moana

How the Story of ‘Moana’ and Maui Holds Up Against Cultural Truths

A Smithsonian scholar and student of Pacific Island sea voyaging both loves and hates the new Disney film

With its peace accords up in the air, the Colombia's diverse ecosystems face an uncertain future. Shown here: the valley of Cocora near Salento, Colombia.

How Colombia’s Failed Peace Treaty Could Wreak Havoc on Its Diversity-Rich Ecosystems

A potential influx of legal and illegal mining leaves the country’s megadiverse landscapes—and the communities who depend on them—in jeopardy

The Best Books About Food of 2016

Looking for the perfect gift for the food lover in your life? Any of these suggestions will hit the spot

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