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Articles

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Summer Reads: Zombie Science, the American Revolution and Travels Across Italy

Looking for a good book? We’ve got some suggestions

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Two Faces, One Portrait

A collage artist combs through glamour shots of forgotten Hollywood actors to create compelling celebrity mashups

Leborgne’s brain (colorized photo) has appeared in numerous medical textbooks.

Discovering the Identity of a 150-Year-Old Patient

Who was “Monseiur Leborgne”?

Days after Jackie Mitchell (center) struck out Yankee superstars (from left) Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth, the duo watched the female phenom demonstrate her fastball during spring training in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on April 4, 1931.

The Woman Who (Maybe) Struck Out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig

Of all the strange baseball exploits of the Depression era, none was more surprising than Jackie Mitchell’s supposed feat

The Lone Ranger mask from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

Is the New Tonto Any Better Than the Old Tonto?

A new film revives The Lone Ranger, but has it eliminated the TV series’ racist undertones

New digital identification technology is able to identify a person based on his or her typing patterns.

How You Type Could Become Your New Password

New technology can identify an individual just from keystrokes

The annual value of Japan's Manga Publishing Industry is $6 billion.

How Do You Rebrand a Country?

A look at Japan’s attempt to call itself “cool”

Jeannette Paillan, a Mapuche documentary filmmaker, was the inspiration for this 2012 textile, titled Lukutuwe (Fertility). Scanning the QR code embedded in the tapestry reveals a quotation from Paillan, in Spanish, about the importance of sustaining the Mapuche language.

What’s a QR Code Doing on That Blanket?

Artist Guillermo Bert is weaving together technology and Native American tradition

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The Education of a Bomb Dog

A top training academy works double time to meet skyrocketing demand for canines who can sniff out danger

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Coming Soon: The Dream Chaser, a Nimbler Space Shuttle

This NASA-funded project could head into orbit within just a few years

“A Democracy of Images,” open today at the American Art Museum, features 113 images that span the history of American photography, including William Eggleston’s Tricycle (Memphis), c. 1975.

How American Photography Went From Family Portraits to Art Form

A new exhibition at the American Art Museum show photography’s role in the development of democracy in America

Less conspicuous than the rugged Rocky, Cascade and Coast Mountain Ranges in this photograph are the markings of agriculture, in the bottom center.

It’s a Green, Green, Green, Green World

NASA and NOAA release satellite images of Earth and all its vegetation

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These Beautiful Maps Show Where All Known Birds, Mammals And Amphibians Live

The maps include data on birds, mammals and amphibians, but not reptiles or fish since not enough is known about those organisms’ distribution

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We Can Handle a Hurricane or Tornado, But What About a Mega-Disaster?

Fueling the trip to the exoplanet Gliese 667Cd, discovered earlier this week, would be one of humankind’s greatest challenges to date. Above is an artist’s rendering of a view from the planet.

Powering the 21st Century

Can We Power a Space Mission To An Exoplanet?

Ion engines, solar sails, antimatter rockets, nuclear fusion—several current and future technologies could someday help us fuel an interstellar journey

Image Credit:ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center.

Colorado Wildfires Are So Big They Can Be Seen From Space

27 Years Later, Radiation Still Hides Out in Chernobyl’s Trees (Fukushima’s Too)

Trapped in the trees, radiation from Chernobyl could be re-released with a forest fire

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Why Do We Yawn and Why Is It Contagious?

Pinpointing exactly why we yawn is a tough task, but the latest research suggests that our sleepy sighs help to regulate the temperature of our brains

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Why Living in a City Makes You More Innovative

Research suggests that the more opportunities you have to connect with different people—and fresh ideas—the more creative and productive you tend to be

A Brief History of the Baseball

The development of the baseball, from shoe rubber and lemon peels to today’s minimalist, modernist object

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