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Not from the current spill, the Rainforest Action Network shows what they say is lasting damage from Ecuador’s long history of damage from oil production.

A Ruptured Pipe Spilled Oil Upstream of the Amazon River

A burst pipeline in Ecuador spilled 10,000 barrels of oil into a tributary of the Amazon River

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The Story Behind the Lacoste Crocodile Shirt

A 1920s French tennis star put the little reptilian logo onto a white polo shirt

The Smithsonian Folklife Archives. (Text by Leah Binkovitz. Photo by Brendan McCabe.)

Behind the Smithsonian: The Folklife Archives

You never know what you will find amidst the 50,000 recordings in the Smithsonian’s folk music collection

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Why Navy Scientists Want to Mimic Cicadas

No, it’s not about learning to live underground for 17 years. It’s all about the noise.

The cast of the popular television show goofs off at a donation ceremony in 1978, which added Archie and Edith Bunker’s chairs to the “A Nation of Nations” exhibit. (L-R): Jean Stapleton, Secretary (1964-1984) S. Dillon Ripley, Norman Lear, Sally Struthers and Rob Reiner as they peer into the case where the chairs are displayed. View Full Record for 92-1711.

Entertainment Curator Remembers ‘All in the Family’ star Jean Stapleton

Dwight Blocker Bowers discusses the show’s iconic donation to the American History Museum and its place in television

From May 17 to July 4, 1863, Ulysses S. Grant and the Union Army placed the city of Vicksburg, MS under siege to defeat Confederate troops. Hear the play-by-play of this turning point in the Civil War in a talk by best-selling author Jeff Shaara on Wednesday.

Events June 4-6: The Middle Passage, the Battle of Vicksburg and Whales

This week, hear stories of the slave trade, learn about one of the Civil War’s most pivotal battles and discover Smithsonian’s whale collection

This European lobster (Homarus gammarus) can live at least 50 years in the wild.

Don’t Listen to the Buzz: Lobsters Aren’t Actually Immortal

Contrary to memes circulating online, lobsters can’t live forever—but they do keep growing and growing until they die

Lisa Randall is the first female theoretical physicist tenured at Harvard.

Lisa Randall’s Guide to the Galaxy

The famed cosmologist unveils her latest theories on the invisible universe, extra dimensions and human consciousness

Global sea levels were as much as 400 feet lower than today.

Never Heard of Doggerland? Blame Climate Change From Millennia Ago

Rising waters have forced populations to relocate since the dawn of early man

Batang, a female orangutan at the National Zoo, snacks on a pumpkin.

How to Cook Meals for the 2,000 Animals at the National Zoo

Secretary Clough explains how the Zoo’s chefs prepare food for 400 different species

Spotlight

What’s new at the Smithsonian in June

Eric, left, and Ryan Berley serve up handmade jellies, nut clusters, walnut pillows, nonpareils and other goodies.

America’s Oldest Sweet Shop Gets a Hipster Makeover

How Philadelphia candymakers Eric and Ryan Berley are giving new life to Shane Confectionery

An Iraqi girl stands on former marshland, drained in the 1990s because of politically motivated water policies.

Is a Lack of Water to Blame for the Conflict in Syria?

A 2006 drought pushed Syrian farmers to migrate to urban centers, setting the stage for massive uprisings

Planetary Resources president Chris Lewicki stands next to the Arkyd space telescope.

A Space-Based Telescope for the People Wants Your Support

An asteroid mining company wants your money to put a satellite telescope that you can control into space

As part of the Star Songs project, X-ray emissions from the EX Hydrae system (above, near center)—in which one star pulls matter from its partner—are converted into music.

How to Convert X-Rays From A Distant Star into Blues, Jazz and Classical Music

A vision-impaired scientist, her coworker, and a composer team up to transform light bursts from stars into rhythms and melodies

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The Evolution of the Treble Clef

For centuries, music notation was an inexact technique and hasty transcriptions may have resulted in this symbol

Britain Will Decide If Badger Culling Is Humane Based on the Noises the Dying Animals Make

The similarities between how the shot badgers thrash about compared to harpooned whales will also be factored in

A hidden treasure–a bottle of Normandy apple cider stashed eight months earlier–is withdrawn from a hole in a rock wall in France’s Dordogne Valley. It was replaced with a Chimay Belgian ale. Want to play the game? Read this post for instructions.

Find the Beer! Bottles of Brew Await in Hiding Places in France

Bottles of strong brew lurk in rock walls and cliffs around southern France. Can you find them?

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The Paleofuture Blog Has Moved to Gizmodo

Our intrepid blogger bids farewell

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When Large Birds Disappear, Rainforests Suffer

A century after toucans and toucanets disappeared from patches of Brazilian jungle, trees have evolved to have smaller, weaker seeds

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