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Articles

Strikes began in July in New York, and have now spread to the South.

Why It’s a Big Deal That Fast Food Strikes Have Spread to the South

Fast food workers are asking for more money and to unionize, something that’s unusual to see in the South

A photo of the lunar surface captured by China’s Chang’e 2 probe.

Before This Year is Out, China’s Rover Should Be Cruising the Moon

China’s Chang’e 3 rover is slated to launch by the end of the year

Valley of the Reclining Woman

Carl Warner’s Mountains Are Made of Elbows and Knees

The British photographer creates convincing landscapes—deserts and rocky scenes—by piecing together photos of nude models

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What Digitization Will Do for the Future of Museums

The Secretary discusses his new e-book about how the Smithsonian will digitize its collections and crowdsource its research

Severed Octopus Arms Have a Mind of Their Own

Octopus tentacles still react up to an hour after being severed from their dead owner, and even try to pick up food and feed a phantom mouth

Could life on Earth have been born on Mars?

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

Did Life Come to Earth From Mars?

Mineralogical clues point to the idea that the early Earth, starved of oxygen and submerged by a vast ocean, needed molecules from Mars to kick start life

The development of ARPANET, the precursor of the modern internet, from December 1969 to March 1977

See How Fast ARPANET Spread in Just Eight Years

The internet of today touches the vast majority of the globe—and beyond—but not so long ago the net had a much more modest footprint

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The Star Tau Boo Flips Its Magnetic Field, Too

Scientists watched the magnetic field of a star 51 light years away flip back and forth

New research shows that abnormally cool waters in the Pacific, part of a natural cycle, have masked the warming we should have seen due to greenhouse gas emissions. When the waters go back to normal, global warming will likely accelerate.

Why Global Warming Has Paused—And Why It Will Soon Start Up Again

Abnormally cool waters in the Pacific, part of a natural cycle, have masked the underlying warming caused by humans burning fossil fuels

One-year-old cubs play at the nursery in Bifengxia, China

A Zoo Panda Keeper on His Trip to China and Why Mei Xiang is a Great Mom

Panda keeper Juan Rodriguez opens up about Mei Xiang’s first days with her new cub, as well as a recent trip to a partner panda facility in China

Saving the Last of the Great Carousels

The ornate, well made carousels of the past are in danger - degrading, being sold piecemeal and sometimes even for parts

Smithsonian Buddha. (Digital image courtesy of the Smithsonian. Text by Vick Gan.)

This Life-Size Sculpture Gives You a Map to the Buddhist Cosmos

Get an up-close look at the Smithsonian’s stunning Buddha

Haters May Have a Natural Disposition to Hate

The researchers coined the term “dispositional attitudes” as a new means of assessing a person’s baseline outlook on the world

Can Wikipedia Edits Predict Box Office Success?

How do you quantify the buzz around a movie? One group of researchers suggests looking at Wikipedia edits

John Surratt after he was captured

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The Family Plot to Kill Lincoln

Mary and John Surratt helped John Wilkes Booth assassinate Abraham Lincoln and then paid the ultimate penalty for their actions

Red Mural, by Amber Hasselbring

A Butterfly Species Settles in San Francisco’s Market Street

Two advocates track Western tiger swallowtails through the city and use art to encourage residents to think of the fluttering creatures as neighbors

The Housing Bubble’s Latest Victims Are Doomed Desert Tortoises

The Bureau of Land Management funded the center through mandatory fees for housing developers, but money dried up after the housing bubble burst

Drones Could Carry Defibrillators Straight to Heart Attack Victims

For heart attack victims, life expectancy decreases by about 10 percent for every minute that ticks by after an emergency

The Rim Fire

Wildfires Now Could Mean Floods Next Spring

By burning down trees, wildfires open the door for future flooding

The Bullialdhus Crater. It looks little, but it ain’t.

The Moon Had Water Since the Day It Was Born

The Moon was birthed from the Earth—a blob of molten rock sent spiraling off into space in the aftermath of a massive collision 4.5 billion years ago

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