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Sick of Fluorescents? New Technology Provides Flicker-Free Light

A new advance in lighting could soon bring a silent, consistent glow that’s easy on the eyes to an office near you

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UPDATE: Spidernaut Dies at Natural History Museum

After 99 days in space, the museum’s new jumping spider made it only five days before dying of natural causes

Dining aboard the RMS Caronia, from a 1950s World Cruise brochure.

Dress Codes and Etiquette, Part 3: The Death of the Dinner Jacket on Open Water

Are the days of wearing just a tuxedo t-shirt just over the horizon?

It took many, many long sea voyages and much tedious charting to produce the first crude maps of the world. Today, travelers are increasingly abandoning even the best maps in favor of electronic navigation devices.

Have GPS Devices Taken the Fun out of Navigation?

With the rise of the digital age, the fascinating skills of map reading and celestial navigation are becoming lost arts

Even Legos can be a gift for human evolution enthusiasts.

A Holiday Gift Guide for the Whole Human Family

An offering of books, bumper stickers, artwork and other knickknacks for the hominid enthusiast on your gift list

Smithsonian Under Secretary for History, Art and Culture, Richard Kurin will discuss the dazzling, outsized life of diva May Yohe, the subject of his new biography.

Events December 4-6: May Yohe, DC Demographics and Kenyan Water

This week, a new book on an old diva, a panel on the capital’s Latino populations and a documentary about waterways in Kenya

The enlightened truth of the role of fire in human evolution.

Fire Good. Make Human Inspiration Happen.

New evidence suggests that fire may have influenced the evolution of the human mind

A composite false-color image of fire in space. The bright yellow traces the path of a drop of fuel, shrinking as it burns, producing green soot.

In Space, Flames Behave in Ways Nobody Thought Possible

Combustion experiments conducted in zero gravity yield surprising results

Sir Dr. NakaMats is one of the greatest inventors of our time; his biggest claim to fame is the floppy disk.

Dr. NakaMats, the Man With 3300 Patents to His Name

Meet the most famous inventor you’ve never heard of – whose greatest invention may be himself

Only a sophomore in high school, Jack Andraka may have invented a new test for a deadly form of cancer.

Jack Andraka, the Teen Prodigy of Pancreatic Cancer

A high school sophomore won the youth achievement Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for inventing a new method to detect a lethal cancer

Elon Musk is a man of all trades when it comes to technology.

Elon Musk, the Rocket Man With a Sweet Ride

The winner of the Smithsonian Ingenuity Award for technology hopes to launch a revolution with his spaceship and electric car

Panama is the ideal site for the BioMuseo (Museum of Biodiversity), due to open next summer.

Frank Gehry’s BioMuseo, New Science Museum in Panama

Over 43,000 square feet of exhibit space will tell the story of the isthmus and the diverse species who live there

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How Benh Zeitlin Made Beasts of the Southern Wild

The Oscar nominee for Best Director transformed filmmaking as he assembled a new myth out of Hurricane Katrina

Esperanza Spalding has brought new life to jazz.

Esperanza Spalding Took on Bieber, Now Takes on Jazz

The innovative bassist and winner of the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for performing arts is taking jazz to a whole new place

Anne Kelly Knowles uses geography and technology to trace history.

The Civil War

Looking at the Battle of Gettysburg Through Robert E. Lee’s Eyes

Anne Kelly Knowles, the winner of Smithsonian American Ingenuity Awards, uses GIS technology to change our view of history

Sebastian Thrun is turning his expertise in artificial intelligence to humans.

How Artificial Intelligence Can Change Higher Education

Sebastian Thrun, winner of the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for education takes is redefining the modern classroom

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Why Peanut Butter is the Perfect Home for Salmonella

A food safety expert explains the scientific reasons why salmonella outbreaks in peanut butter—like the one earlier this week—are so common

A cautious Camptosaurus approaches a resting Allosaurus. Even though the carnivore undoubtedly hunted the herbivore at times, the two weren’t constantly at war with each other.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Dinosaurian Oddities

Cartoon poster which hung outside Martin’s Lunch Room circa 1929

In the 1920s, Shoppers Got Punk’d By Fake Televisions

Don’t touch that dial….really, don’t

A view of 1930s New York

If You Can Make It Here: The Rise of New York City

Saul Lilienstein discusses how the city rose from the 1929 crash and became stronger than ever, Saturday at the Ripley Center

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