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New Research

Veggie Power? Artificial Muscles Made From Blinged-Out Onions

Turning root vegetables into working muscles requires gold, electricity and imagination

The coconut that John F. Kennedy carved a message into while stranded during his Navy service in 1943. During his term as president, the coconut sat on his desk in the Oval Office.

Urban Explorations

These History-Making Artifacts Can Only be Found at Presidential Libraries

From coconut shells to boat cloaks, these mementos tell fascinating tales from American presidential history

A blood-sucker creeping around on a potential victim's pristine white sheets.

Cool Finds

How Our Modern Lives Became Infested With Bed Bugs

After being bitten by the tiny pests, author Brooke Borel set out to learn all she could about her blood-sucking foes

This smartphone-controlled lock could replace your keys.

This Week in Crowdfunding

A Lock that Opens When You Say “Open Sesame” and Other Wild Ideas That Just Got Funded

A company is designing athletic apparel with colorful prints based on micrographs of chicken pox and muscle cells

Evan Creelman, Newlight COO; Mark Herrema, Co-Founder and CEO; and Kenton Kimmel, Co-Founder and CTO, with a few products made of AirCarbon.

Smart Startup

Creating Plastic From Greenhouse Gases

Newlight Technologies is turning carbon emissions into plastic for everyday items

Humans traveling to Mars may need extra shielding for their brains.

New Research

A Trip to Mars Could Give You Brain Damage

Exposure to cosmic rays may cause defects that would make astronauts lose their curiosity during a mission

Future of Energy

6 Projects That Make a Sustainable Future Seem Possible

From an algae-powered building to a playground of recycled steel drums, these spots give designers, urban planners and others hope

The location of the first McDonald's, now home to the unofficial McDonald's Museum and Juan Pollo Corporate Offices.

Seven of the Most Unusual McDonald’s Around the World

From Roswell to Norway, the quirkiest spots to get a Big Mac

Protestors march in downtown Baltimore, Maryland, April 29, 2015.

Breaking Ground

The Media Needs a History Lesson When Addressing Civic Unrest, Says the Director of the African American History Museum

Lonnie Bunch discusses social justice and the role of museums during times of upheaval

The marbled salamander is increasing its distribution and range in response to warming winter temperatures.

Anthropocene

Climate Change Will Accelerate Earth’s Sixth Mass Extinction

The pace at which species disappear is picking up as temperatures rise, and things are looking especially troubling in the tropics

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Paris

Is the Croissant Really French?

A brief history of the croissant – from kipfel to Cronut

Louis Armstrong playing in Rome in 1959. You can visit his house in Queens, New York, and see how he lived for the last 30 years of his life.

Urban Explorations

Where to Celebrate the History of American Jazz

These six spots are just a short riff on what makes the musical genre particular to the United States

Ask Smithsonian: Are Cats Domesticated?

There is little genetic difference between a tabby and a wild cat, so scientists think the house cat is only domestic when it wants to be

With Semios, Farmers Can Monitor Their Fields Remotely and Keep Pests Away

Paired with wireless sensors and cameras, aerosol pheromone pesticides have entered a new era of effectiveness and affordability

The Eurasian tree sparrow is one of 30 bird species in decline around Fukushima.

Birds Are in a Tailspin Four Years After Fukushima

Like the proverbial canary in a coalmine, avian abundances may paint a grim picture of the effects of nuclear disasters on wildlife

This UH-1, on view at the Smithsonian Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, compiled a distinguished combat record in Vietnam from 1966 to 1970.

The Huey Defined America’s Presence in Vietnam, Even to the Bitter End

The 40th anniversary of the Fall of Saigon presents a chance for one Vietnam War correspondent to look back at the iconic helicopter

Bat-like Yi qi is the flying dinosaur this forest deserves.

New Research

This Fluffy Little Dinosaur Had Bat-Like Wings

About the size of a sparrow, Yi qi probably glided through Jurassic forests on membrane-covered appendages

With their dark suits and classic instrumentation, the Del McCoury Band has the look of a classic bluegrass band, but their melodies prove otherwise.

The Radical Conservatism of Bluegrass

At MerleFest, the banjo-pickers and guitar strummers bridge the old and new

On April 27, 2015, violence broke out in Baltimore, Maryland, where a CVS was set on fire, and at least 15 police officers were injured during clashes with protesters over the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who died of injuries sustained during an arrest.

Breaking Ground

Why Museums Should Be a Safe Space to Discuss Why #BlackLivesMatter

Providing history, backstory and opportunity, the new role of the museum is to help visitors unpack and wrestle with the complex issues of the day

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