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Articles

Every Time You Curse, You’re Participating in a Weirdly Complex Cultural History

The words we consider naughty are a reflection of how we see ourselves as a culture

Strategy for pumping while seated.

What’s the Best Way to Swing a Playground Swing?

There is physics everywhere, including on the playground

Many public schools currently serve lunch on one-use-only foam trays.

Six Public School Systems Are Trying to Replace Foam Lunch Trays With Compostable Ones

Healthier food and less wasteful utensils and packaging are next on the school lunch reform list

Would you murder this robot?

Should Robots Have Rights?

Would you murder a robot? If you did, should you be charged for it?

Chelodina mccordi, hunted to near extinction for the pet trade.

Poachers Are Using Scientific Papers to Guide Them to Their Next Victims

For scientists who discover new species, the prospect of their science being used to gather and sell the species they described is a strange one

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Why Brain Size Doesn’t Correlate With Intelligence

We can nurture growth, but never really control it

Purple loosestrife, which is blooming 24 days earlier than it did a century ago, poses a serious threat to wetland habitats.

How Climate Change is Helping Invasive Species Take Over

Longer seasons and warmer weather have combined to be a game-changer in the plant wars

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The Serene Beauty of Horses in the Womb

Photographer Tim Flach sees similarities between baby equines and humans

From the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

There’s a 1,200-year-old Phone in the Smithsonian Collections

One of the earliest examples of ingenuity in the Western Hemisphere is composed of gourds and twine

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Are Snowflakes Really Unique and Other Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

2013 Smithsonian Ingenuity Awards

The 2013 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award Winners

We recognize nine of the past year’s shining achievements and the innovators behind them

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This Thanksgiving, Step Back in Time and into 17th-Century Plymouth Colony

Reenactors in this “living museum” bring the Pilgrim’s homestead back to life

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Step Inside Yayoi Kusama’s Dazzling “Infinity Rooms”

The artist’s New York exhibition, “I Who Have Arrived In Heaven,” invites viewers to get lost in new mirror-lined installations

Since laws limit the height of new structures in Mexico City, an architect has proposed building a 65-story Earthscraper.

The Next Frontier in Urban Design Will Send You Undeground

Move over Morlocks, humans are headed to your neighborhood

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Why Shakespeare is Julie Taymor’s Superhero

For the renowned director of the screen and stage, the Bard is a fantasy and a nightmare

Carlos, by Joseph Rodriguez: a sense of ownership of the city

Witnessing the Latino Experience at the American Art Museum

A voluminous new exhibition highlights Latino art as American art

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Dive into Jen Lewin’s Interactive Light Pool

“The Pool” invites visitors to create dazzling light displays by jumping across 100 glowing pads

Teaching a simulated robot to walk is significantly easier if it starts with a simple body plan and grows limbs as it learns.

Beware. Scientists are Creating Machines That Can Evolve on Their Own

Or to put it a nicer way, researchers have found a way for robots to grow on their own

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The Brilliance Behind the Plan to Land Curiosity on Mars

Adam Steltzner’s ingenious ideas were crucial to the most spectacular space mission of our time

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The Totally Original Sound of St. Vincent

The singer-composer brings new sophistication to pop composition, conjuring ethereal dreamscapes from her suburban roots

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