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The exquisite folios on display often incorporate gold details and other luxurious elements. A Prince Enthroned Iran, present-day Afghanistan, Herat ca. 1425-1430

“Worlds Within Worlds” at the Sackler Tells Stories Within Stories

A new exhibit explores the prosperous rule of the Mughal empire and the cross-cultural art it inspired

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Packing List Series, Part 2: An Artist’s Illustrated Guide

With a watercolor sketchbook guide, Adolf Konrad drew on his talents to record his belongings

Organic tools found at South Africa’s Border Cave include (a) wooden digging sticks, (b) poison applicator, (c) bone arrow point, (d) notched bones, (e) lump of beeswax mixed with resin and (f) beads made from marine shells and ostrich eggs.

The Origins of Modern Culture

A 44,000-year-old collection of wood and bone tools from South Africa may be the earliest example of modern culture, a new study suggests

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Yesterday Was National Orgasm Day and You Missed It

Did you celebrate? If not, you’ll just have to celebrate twice next year

Gore Vidal: Left in 1948 (Image: Library of Congress) Right, in 2008

Read a 2007 Essay in Smithsonian by Gore Vidal, Last Writer of His Kind

Why more writers should be as fearless, and as prickly as Vidal

A French postcard issued around 1900, predicting La France’s future

Could a Whale-Powered Bus Be the Future of Transportation?

Visionary postcard artists illustrated around 90 fanciful cards between 1899 to 1910 imagined what the future held in store for France in the year 2000

Cover of the September 1919 issue of Popular Science Monthly

Hello Mars — This is the Earth!

In 1919, Popular Science magazine imagined how Earthlings might communicate with Mars

For Soldiers, Sperm Banking Could Be the New Flack Jacket

Soldiers arriving home with missing or mutilated genitals have drown attention to the lack of government support for in vitro fertilization

Smell Hallucinations Exist Too, and Could Be a Sign of Health Problems

Nasal hallucinations are a real thing, and they stink

Powell and Lealand No. 1

Sherlock Holmes and the Tools of Deduction

Sherlock Holmes’s extraordinary deductions would be impossible without the optical technologies of the 19th century

Researchers discovered that simply smiling can reduce stress and increase well-being.

Simply Smiling Can Actually Reduce Stress

A new study indicates that the mere act of smiling can help us deal with stressful situations more easily

The hand holds on the Nova are a pretty far stretch from the usual polyurethane grips found at the indoor rock climbing gym.

New Tech May Have Athletes Climbing the Walls

How the Nova, the latest in artificial climbing wall design, goes from in-home gym to living room gallery

Goats beware.

When It’s Okay to Kill 80,000 Wild Goats

The Galapagos recently finished exterminating 80,000 invasive goats from the island

Jacob Lawrence’s 1941 Bar and Grill depicts the reality of segregation of the Jim Crow South, a new experience to the Harlem artist.

Curator Talk at the American Art Museum on African-American Art Exhibition

Virginia Mecklenburg offers a Wednesday lecture on the artists from “Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era and Beyond”

India’s northwestern boundary with neighboring Pakistan is so brightly lit that the thin orange line tracing its path can be seen from space.

How An Unholy Alliance of Unusual Weather and Scarce Coal Nuked India’s Power Grid

Power grids supplying both the northern and eastern parts of India went down, throwing 620 million people, or 8.9% of the world population into darkness

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Why You Shouldn’t Panic Over The Latest News About Bird Flu

New research reveals that the flu virus has mutated into a novel strain of influenza, which transfers not just from bird to seal, but from seal to seal

Fanny Blanker-Koen crosses the finish line to become the first triple champion of the 14th Olympic Games.

The Paris Olympics

How Fanny Blankers-Koen Became the ‘Flying Housewife’ of the 1948 London Games

Voted female athlete of the 20th century, the runner won four gold medals while pregnant with her third child

This crystal ball won’t help you.

Why Experts are Almost Always Wrong

No one, not even the experts, really knows what’s about to happen

Mycoplasma mycoides, 2011

Teaching Molecular Biology with Watercolors

Molecular biology professor David Goodsell is just as skilled with a microscope as with a paint brush

One goal at the 2010 World Cup reignited a debate that sparked the future introduction of goal line technology.

Gooooal! Two Technologies Compete to Sense Soccer Goals

A major botched call by referees during the World Cup has opened the door for computerized replacements

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