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Articles

Fuselage from Flight 93, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, September 11, 2001

Remembering 9/11, From a Scrawled Note to a Scrap of Fuselage

How objects both ordinary and extraordinary help us reflect on the devastation

The German town of Oppenheim is honeycombed with underground tunnels and cellars.

Beneath This Medieval German Town Lie Over 25 Miles of Forgotten Tunnels

Go beneath the surface of Oppenheim

Mario Livio

Think Big

Astrophysicist Mario Livio on the Intersection of Art and Science

The scientist considers both a response to the vastness of the universe

Customers usually opt for a pay-as-you-go contract that allows them to purchase the Simpa Networks solar system in monthly payments over two to three years.

Future of Energy

Is Rent-to-Own Solar Power the Answer?

A Canadian entrepreneur is using a business model familiar from ‘70s daytime TV to get Indians to embrace solar

Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt and Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia in the latter's office in Washington on the occasion of Mrs. Roosevelt's being sworn in as Mayor La Guardia's assistant in the Office of Civilian Defense.

History of Now

The New Deal Origins of Homeland Security

During FDR’s administration, the First Lady and the Mayor of New York clashed over guns, butter and American liberalism

Behind the scenes at Nissan Motor's factory in Kyushu, Japan

How Eight Conglomerates Dominate Japanese Industry

Each keiretsu can have as many as 30 sub-companies—from breweries to camera and auto makers

The Jones-Hall-Sims House, stripped down from 140 years of additions and siding, was acquired in 2009 by the National Museum of African American History and Culture and has been rebuilt as part of an exhibition called “Defending Freedom, Defining Freedom: The Era of Segregation.”

Breaking Ground

For Nearly 150 Years, This One House Told a Novel Story About the African-American Experience

On view in the new museum, the woodframe dwelling evokes the aspirations and limitations of the era following enslavement

Like humans, captive Komodo dragons tend to impose their microbes upon their environments.

Captive Komodo Dragons Share Their Teeming Microbiome with Their Environment, Just Like Us

Komodos could be the perfect model for studying host-microbe interactions

How did this double 'r' become so prevalent?

It’s Sherbet, Not Sherbert, You Dilettantes

The frozen treat has been mispronounced by generations of Americans

The prototype solar vapor generator

Future of Energy

How a Sponge, Bubble Wrap and Sunlight Can Lead to Clean Water

With simple materials, MIT researchers have developed a cheap, easy-to-build device to desalinate water and treat wastewater

Dennis Wiist inspects an eagle's foot at the National Eagle Repository in Commerce City, Colorado.

Inside a Remarkable Repository that Supplies Eagle Parts to Native Americans and Science

The repository, which has long provided feathers to tribes for traditional uses, also helps bird conservation researchers

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Alaska

Life Aboard a Renovated World War II Tugboat

With help from friends, a transplanted Philadelphian embarks on a voyage of discovery through Alaska’s waters

Boldly going where no curatorial object has gone before.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Mission to Restore the Original Starship Enterprise

The beloved 1960s studio model stars in Building Star Trek, a documentary premiering on Smithsonian Channel this Sunday

The only one who really understands me.

New Research

Dogs Know When You’re Praising Them. That Doesn’t Mean They Understand Human Speech

A dose of caution with the results of an intriguing new study

Gas or charcoal? It's the perpetual debate. And despite many grilling advances, many still prefer good old fashioned charcoal.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Story of the Weber Grill Begins With a Buoy

When metalworker George Stephen, Sr. put two halves of a buoy together, he didn’t know he was making a charcoal grill that would stand the test of time

Think Curiosity is cool? You ain't seen nothing yet.

Think Big

How the Next Generation of Mars Rovers will Search for Signs of Life

The Mars 2020 rover doesn’t even have a name yet—but it already has an ambitious goal

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