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Articles

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

Portrait of paleontologist Mary Anning and her trusty assistant, Tray.

These Paleo Pets Made Fossil Hunting Less Lonely

In the solitary hunt for bones, furry companions provide company, act as field assistants and sometimes even make the ultimate sacrifice

The Brain-Freezing Science of the Slurpee

More than 60 years ago, a broken soda fountain led to this cool invention

The Hurricane Turn pulls out of the station at Talkeetna.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Alaska

For a Truly Authentic Alaskan Experience, Hop Aboard America’s Last Flag-Stop Train

Reaching off-the-grid homesteads and cabins, the Hurricane Turn train stops for anyone who flags it down

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Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Alaska

Eskimo Yo-Yos, Muskox Knitting Yarn and Other Unique Gifts to Buy in Alaska

Inspiration comes not only from nature but also from the instinct to use what’s close at hand

New research is causing the original keystone species, the ochre sea star Pisaster ochraceus, to lose some of its supposed ecosystem-controlling powers.

Tide Shifts Against the Concept of a Keystone Species

Starfish challenge a key ecological concept, ushering in a slightly-more democratic era for tide pools everywhere

We’ve never cared less about a charismatic animal standing forlornly on a rapidly deteriorating landscape.

Podcast: Does Anybody Even Care About the Arctic Anymore?

This week’s episode of Warm Regards asks why our coldest region has gotten the cold shoulder

A brown bear hunts for salmon in Silver Salmon Creek.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Alaska

Where and How to (Safely) Bear Watch in Alaska

Attacks à la Revenant are a statistical blip. An Alaska expert outlines the dos and don’ts of sharing wilderness with the state’s 133,000 bears

Self-Portrait by Romaine Brooks, 1923

The World Is Finally Ready to Understand Romaine Brooks

An early 20th-century artist, Brooks was long marginalized, her work overlooked, in part because of her fluid sexual and gender identity

A map of gravity variations on the Earth's seafloor, which mostly correspond to underwater ridges and the edges of Earth's tectonic plates.

Journey to the Center of Earth

Study Says Earth’s Plate Tectonics May Be Just a Phase

New models suggest that earth’s plates could grind to a halt in about five billion years.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History holds this patent model for a Gorrie ice machine, the first mechanical refrigeration or ice-making machine the U.S. Patent Office patented.

Six of History’s Smartest, Weirdest and Most Interesting Inventions for Beating the Heat

From a bicycle mister to ice energy, here are a few innovative ways for cooling down

Expanding human populations in India have pushed tigers into small, isolated habitats—and resulted in some unusual behaviors.

Anthropocene

Sorry, Tiger Dudes: Your Ladies Are Faking It

India’s tigresses may be feigning interest in sex as the result of shrinking habitat and overlapping territories

Cool Finds

Photographer Captures the Enduring Grandeur of the Steinway Piano Factory

Christopher Payne’s new book strikes a chord

Cupid Fountain

The Heiress to a Gun Empire Built a Mansion Forever Haunted by the Blood Money That Built It

Sarah Winchester inherited a fortune and used it to construct a mysterious mansion in northern California

Kevin Kelly unpacks 12 technological forces in his new book.

Wired Founder Kevin Kelly On the Technologies That Will Dominate Our Future

The optimistic futurist says we’ll share more, own less and spend far more time on our devices

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