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Articles

Why Do Humans Have Canine Teeth and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Construction on Lago d’Iseo, Christo says, was as challenging as “building a highway.”

The Inside Story of Christo’s Floating Piers

The renowned artist dazzles the world again, this time using a lake in northern Italy as his canvas

The Bowdoin College swim team poses for photographer Heather Perry in Brunswick, Maine.

Underwater Photographer Heather Perry Dives Deep and Looks Up

Is it crazy to think that people are at their most natural in the water?

Watkins photographed vistas like the valley’s Half Dome.

How an Obscure Photographer Saved Yosemite

The beauty of the national park became clear long before Ansel Adams

The Temple of the Plumed Serpent is adorned with carved snake heads and slithering bodies.

A Secret Tunnel Found in Mexico May Finally Solve the Mysteries of Teotihuacán

The chance discovery beneath a nearly 2,000-year-old pyramid leads to the heart of a lost civilization

A cross marks the Austrian line in the Pasubio mountains, a relic of their 1916 “Punishment Expedition.”

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Most Treacherous Battle of World War I Took Place in the Italian Mountains

Even amid the carnage of the war, the battle in the Dolomites was like nothing the world had ever seen—or has seen since

Environmental cues mosquitoes to swarm inside a lab.

The Next Pandemic

Kill All the Mosquitoes?!

New gene-editing technology gives scientists the ability to wipe out the carriers of malaria and the Zika virus. But should they use it?

America's beaches are filled with treasures for beachcombers.

Five of the Best Beaches for Beachcombing in the U.S.

On the hunt for seashells and other buried treasure? Here’s where to look

In the tranquility of old Vienna, Stefan Zweig writes, one could never “dream how dangerous man can be.” This 1901 photograph shows a city market.

Austria

The Unhurried World of Pre-War Vienna

Author Stefan Zweig, who inspired Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, recalls Austria at the dawn of the 20th century

Is there a benefit to being overworked?

Being Super Busy May* Be Good for Your Brain

*Does busyness boost cognition, or do people with better cognition tend to keep busy?

Sculptor Anne Arnold and her husband, the abstract painter Ernest Briggs, owned a house with a barn in Montville, Maine, where they raised farm animals, including pigs, cows, and chickens, and kept many dogs and cats. Arnold frequently relied on photographs of her menagerie to create her lively sculptures of animals in metal and wood.

A Look at the Creative Process and What Makes an Artist Tick

A new exhibition delivers a better understanding of where artists find their inspiration

At Sky Hill, guests learn how to throw pottery and make sweet-scented hay by gathering grass into small heaps that will dry in the sun. Marius and Cornelia bought the land in 2006 and have used it to teach travelers of all ages about organic farming and construction.

Europe

Try Your Hand at Organic Farming in Southwest Romania

By hosting travelers, local farmers hope to reverse the impact of big industry

If Grit Breeds Success, How Can I Get Grittier?

University of Pennsylvania psychologist Angela Duckworth talks about her new book and the importance of the personal quality

The Orion spacecraft could one day take astronauts to Mars.

Radiation Remains a Problem for Any Mission to Mars

Engineers have yet to find ways to protect astronauts from cosmic rays and solar radiation

The Biodiversity Heritage Library has the digitized version of the University of Toronto’s Fisher Library’s copy of Evelyn’s work

Celebrate National Salad Month with Rare and Historic Books that Include Your Favorite Leafy Greens

A Smithsonian librarian journeys through history and time on a quest to explore salads throughout antiquity

Ground beetle (Carabus (Coptolabrus) elysii), detail

Art Meets Science

Eek! Each of These Insect Portraits Is Made From More Than 8,000 Images

With a mastery of macro, Levon Biss captures every hair and dimple on insects’ vibrant bodies

Lithuania Is Now Hosting ‘War and Peace’ Filming Location Tours

Check out the filming highlights in Eastern and Central Europe

The 400,000-square-foot building has LEED Gold certification

Breaking Ground

Come Inside the New African American History Museum (Photos)

Take a peek behind the scenes to see how curators, architects and designers are prepping for the museum’s historic opening

The scope of Dyar's tunnel networks, first discovered in 1917 against the chaotic backdrop of World War I, didn't truly sink in until 1924, when the weight of a truck in Dupont Circle caused one to collapse.

The Bizarre Tale of the Tunnels, Trysts and Taxa of a Smithsonian Entomologist

A new book details the sensational exploits of Harrison G. Dyar, Jr., a scientist who had two wives and liked to dig tunnels

Neil Puckett, a Texas A&M University graduate student, surfaces with the limb bone of a juvenile mastodon.

Underwater Finds Reveal Humans’ Long Presence in North America

Stone tools and mastodon remains help show that the Americas were peopled more than 14,000 years ago

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