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Simple but safe: An elaborately painted bike lane in Portland marks among the few places on America’s roadway system where cars are not allowed.

Is Portland, Oregon the Best City for Bikes in the Country?

With dedicated bike lanes and businesses catering to cyclists, the Oregon city is a true pedaler’s paradise

Alphonse Mucha in front of his first poster for Sarah Bernhardt

How Alphonse Mucha Designed the Nation State of Czechoslovakia

When the country gained its independence after World War I, Alphonse Mucha was called upon to design an important part of any country’s identity - money

A Triceratops at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.

Huge Triceratops Uncovered in Alberta

Paleontologists in Canada have just uncovered a rare, especially big Triceratops skeleton

The giant swallowtail, a Southern butterfly, has historically not been found in Massachusetts, but in recent years it has appeared more and more frequently.

New Evidence for Climate Change: Butterflies

The meticulous records of an amateur butterfly club in New England are opening a window into changes happening to the regional climate

Comic Phyllis Diller, the Betty Friedan of Comedy, Dies at 95

A collection of the standup comic’s jokes, costumes and even her signature prop–the cigarette holder–reside at the American History Museum

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Bill Gates’ Potty Mouth – His Eco-friendly Toilet Contest Hands Out $100,000 in Prizes

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Top 10 Chanelisms: Coco’s Wise Words to Mark Her Birthday

Today the French fashion designer’s observations seem wise, clever or amusingly dated

Literary food bloggers draw inspiration from favorite books.

From the Page to the Plate: Bringing Literary Dishes to Life

Authors like Roald Dahl or James Joyce never could have predicted that their words could be spun into these tantalizing meals

Kitchen tech teaches chefs to cut along a virtual line.

Cooking With Robots

Along with motion-sensing cameras and projectors creating augmented reality, they’ll likely be among the tools training chefs of the future

Hugo Gernsback’s 1922 proposal for a monument to Alexander Graham Bell

Crowdfunding a Museum for Alexander Graham Bell in 1922

Long before the age of Kickstarter, Hugo Gernsback used his magazine to garner interest for a monument devoted to the inventor of the telephone

An Air Force plane sprays dispersant onto the Gulf of Mexico following the Deepwater Horizon spill. New research could produce safer dispersants that include ingredients found in food.

An Oil Dispersant Made From Ingredients in Peanut Butter, Ice Cream and Chocolate?

New research is yielding oil dispersants that are non-toxic and prevent oil from sticking to birds and wildlife

Left, the Kingdom Tower of Jeddah. Right, the Tower of Babel.

Better, Faster, Taller – How Big can Buildings Really Get?

The race for the tallest structure in the world has been with us since humans built structures, and today it is going strong. But where’s the limit?

The nodosaur Animantarx. While this dinosaur is from Utah, it represents the sort of dinosaur that made the track found at the Maryland NASA campus.

NASA’s Nodosaur Track

Over 110 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed where a major NASA facility now sits

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The Best Places to See Hominid Bones Online, Part II

The Internet is full of great websites where you can play with hominid fossils

Learn more about the stories of the Tuskegee Airmen. Edward C. Gleed and two unidentified airmen, 1945. Photo by Toni Frissell.

Events August 21-23: A Pilot’s Journey, Olympic Trivia and Conservation Clinics

This week, learn more about the Tuskegee Airmen, test your Olympic trivia and learn how to care for your heirlooms

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

Books of the Future May Be Written in DNA

Researchers have encoded a book, including pictures and an accompanying computer program, in DNA

A pair of Stegoceras on display at the Royal Tyrrell Museum, Alberta, Canada.

How Domed Dinosaurs Grew Up

Dome-headed dinosaurs dramatically reshaped their skulls. How does this affect how we count dinosaur species?

Brain research is now part of the daily news.

Brain Science: 10 New Studies That Get Inside Your Head

This new research reveals how little we know about the brain and how it affects our daily lives

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Through the Lens of Cosmo Covers: Remembering Helen Gurley Brown

With her magazine, the longtime editor sold sex as well as the latest, often provocative fashions

An endangered whooping crane

‘We the People’ Do a Better Job of Picking Endangered Species than the Government

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