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The Catholic Church Is Getting Less Strict About Miracles

Both John Paul II and John XXIII will be made saints at the end of the year, suggesting a shift from traditions

A treasure! This beer lies hidden in the woods, six inches under, in Shasta County, CA. Can you find it?

Find the Beer! A California Trail of Ales

Go locate the hidden bottles and replace each with a selection of your own

Ayana Mongush, a throat singer from Kyzyl in the Republic of Tuva, Russian Federation, plays an igil. She is part of Tyva Kyzy, an all-female throat singing group, a profession which was traditionally prohibited for women.

July 5: Today’s Events at the Folklife Festival

Check out today’s events at the Folklife Festival, including shepherd culture, Tuvan music and histories of style

A professional potter works on his craft in Mezőtúr, Hungary, a town known for its traditional pottery-making.

July 4: Today’s Events at the Folklife Festival

Check out today’s events at the Folklife Festival, including Damali Afrikan couture, Jewish music in Hungary and hair styling

Being a Lifelong Bookworm May Keep You Sharp in Old Age

Reading, writing and other mental exercises, if habitual from an early age, can slow down the age-related decline in mental capacity

Which Barbie would you buy?

Barbie Gets a Real-World Makeover

Artist Nickolay Lamm created a 3D doll-sized model of a healthy, average 19-year-old American woman, then made her up like Barbie

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This July 4th, Celebrate Two Million Years of Grilling

The advent of open fire cooking began with Homo erectus

P4 and P5, now Kerberos and Styx. Photo: NASA, ESA, M. Showalter

Astronomers Pull Rank, Name Pluto’s Moons After the Underworld, Not Star Trek

Say hello to Pluto’s newest moons, Styx and Kerberos

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VIDEO: Functional Liver Tissue Can Now Be Grown From Stem Cells

By mixing different types of stem cells in petri dishes, researchers created liver “buds” that effectively filtered blood when implanted in mice

A coy Buttercup wearing his brand new foot.

Buttercup the One-Legged Duck No Longer Has to Hobble

Buttercup’s adorable plight, which concluded on Sunday when engineers successfully outfitted the duck with a 3D printed duck foot

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Woman Builds a Prosthetic Leg Out of Legos

Vanity prosthetic legs aren’t new - but this is probably the first one built out of LEGOS

A priestess of Osun in the Yoruba tradition shops at the Dance Africa Festival and Bazaar in New York City. Her natural hair is combined with synthetics to produce her style.

July 3: Today’s Events at the Folklife Festival

Check out today’s events at the Folklife Festival, including African-inspired fashion, Bácska cuisine and folk-jazz with Dresch and Lukács

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The Amazing Public Art Deep in the Heart of Texas

Houston has a healthy allowance for beautifying its streets and parks. See how it spends it

The habitual use of antibiotics at industrial farming operations to promote growth can lead to the development of bacteria resistant to the drugs.

Factory Farms May Be Ground-Zero For Drug Resistant Staph Bacteria

Staph microbes with resistance to common treatments are much more common in industrial farms than antibiotic-free operations

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Virus Hunters Are Testing Bats, Camels, Goats And Cats to Find a Deadly Illness’ Origin

Bats have been pinpointed as the most likely culprits behind MERS, though camels are a close second

¡Así Kotama! is out July 2, on Smithsonian Folkways Records.

Listen to the Flutes of Ecuador, Then Catch Them Live

A new album on Smithsonian Folkways Records captures the effort to sustain a fading musical tradition

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These Contact Lenses Can Zoom In and Out, Give You Telescopic Vision

These contact lenses can switch your vision back and forth from regular sight to a 2.8x zoom

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Obama Tackles Illegal Wildlife Trade

Obama’s plan will specifically address poaching of elephants and rhinos, though he has also reportedly begun conversations with China about curbing demand

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Yoga a “Distinctly American Cultural Phenomenon,” California Judge Decrees

Though its roots are in India, American yoga is a whole different thing

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The Past and Future of the Baseball Bat

The evolution of the baseball bat, and a few unusual mutations

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