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Articles

Spoonfuls of instant coffee still give some morning coffee drinkers their caffeine fix.

Is There a Future For Instant Coffee?

Ask China, they’re buying the most of it

This guy is definitely spending too much time waiting for his flight.

If You’ve Never Missed a Flight, You’re Probably Wasting Your Time

Do you find yourself spending endless hours waiting at the airport? Here’s what math says about the perfect time to arrive for your next flight

Inflatable modules, shown here on the International Space Station, could change the way we're able to explore space.

These Inflatable Modules Could Change Space Exploration

The International Space Station’s upcoming non-rigid BEAM module may be the key to making the future of space more roomy and affordable.

How Do Thousands of Clear Blue Lagoons End Up In These Brazilian Sand Dunes?

Every year during the rainy season, Brazil’s Lençóis Maranhenses National Park treats visitors to an amazing sight

Various examples of garderobe design

From Turrets to Toilets: A Partial History of the Throne Room

For centuries the humble bathroom has been shaping the space we live and work

Art Meets Science

These Psychedelic Images Find Order Amid Chaos

Artist Jonathan McCabe builds computer programs that create their own art—intricately patterned images that look part organic, part kaleidoscopic

Washington, D.C.

Museums After Hours: D.C.’s Best Kept Secret

If you like visiting the capital’s museums by day, you’ll love what they offer after five

An app captures a physical Lego build and converts it into a digital play-thing.

Tech Watch

Your Lego Castles Can Be Captured In 3D (There’s An App For That)

A physical-to-digital game sets allows kids (and adults) to bring real-life creations to apps

British soldiers enter Baghdad in 1919.

World War I: 100 Years Later

The Disintegration of the Iraqi State Has Its Roots in World War I

Created by European powers, the nation of Iraq may be buckling under the pressure of trying to unite three distinct ethnic groups

Moqueca, a soup found in northeast Brazil.

World Cup 2014

Five Brazilian Dishes to Make for Your World Cup Watch Party

Native to five World Cup host cities, these foods will bring South America to your kitchen

A fishing spider enjoying a tasty platyfish that it snatched from a garden pond in Australia.

New Research

Spiders All Over the World Have a Taste for Fish

Eight-legged predators probably prey on vertebrates much more often than arachnologists previously assumed

The Smithsonian announced the first presidential portraits created using 3-D technology. The prints and the 3-D data will become part of the collection of the National Portrait Gallery.

President Obama is Now the First President to be 3D Scanned and Printed

A Smithsonian-led team earlier this year scanned the president, creating a bust and life mask for the National Portrait Gallery

Untitled, Distant Steam Vents; Yellowstone National Park, 2008

Stark Photographs of America the Beautiful, Forever Altered by Man and Nature

Victoria Sambunaris’s new photography book, Taxonomy of a Landscape, goes beyond the amber waves of grain to catalogue what’s on America’s horizon

A hourd in Carcassonne

The Medieval Origin Story of the Balcony

Architect/historian Eugène Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc suggested that the balcony was forged in the heat of battle.

Raw tomato pomace begins Ford's process.

Making Car Parts From Tomatoes

Ford and Heinz want to replace barrels of petroleum used in manufacturing with buckets of tomato skins

Nao robots race—slowly—to the open ball.

World Cup 2014

RoboCup: Building a Team of Robots That Will Beat The World Cup Champions

By 2050, robotic experts at the annual world robotic’s championship hope to create a team of robots that can best the winning World Cup team

Ralph Lauren received the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal at the American History Museum, where Hillary Rodham Clinton honored his role in preserving the Star-Spangled Banner

Hillary Clinton Awards Ralph Lauren for Helping the 200-Year-Old Star-Spangled Banner See Another 200 Years

At a Naturalization ceremony held at the home of the famous flag, second generation American Ralph Lauren explained what the banner means to him

The Gory New York City Riot that Shaped American Medicine

Back before medical school was a respected place to be, New Yorkers raised up in protest over the doctors’ preference for cadavers for study

Many fish and other organisms make their home on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. How will the massive living structure change as climate changes?

New Research

Great Barrier Reef Gets A Little Good News

New research shows that some corals may be able to adapt to faster warming than previously thought

The Trouble with Crowdfunding the Next Big Tech Gadget

Crowdfunding is hot right now, but a lack of regulation might leave backers at risk of falling prey to a swindle

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