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Articles

Jennifer Griffin on Managing a Kitchen as an Amputee

360-Year-Old Advertisement Extolls Coffee’s Virtues

An advertisement issued by some brilliant London entrepreneurs may well be the first coffee ad ever

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The Clovis Weren’t the First Americans

Projectile points found in Oregon provide more evidence that people arrived in the New World before the Clovis culture

Research Associate Alain Touwaide, seated in his office in the Natural History Museum, argues Rome’s great expansion was driven not by geopolitical strategy, but by a need for plants.

Colds and Conquests: How A Health Crisis May Have Spurred Roman Expansion

Smithsonian Research Associate Alain Touwaide will argue that a quest for medicinal plants may have spurred Roman expansion at his July 18 lecture

Volcanic ash from the Ejyafjallajokull eruption floats in the stratosphere.

Harvard Geoengineers Want To Fake a Volcanic Eruption

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U.S. Faces Worst Drought Since 1956

Drought grips 55% of the US mainland causing a shortfall in crop production, with very low chances of it ending any time soon

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The Swimsuit Series, Part 4: A Competitive Swimmer’s Musings

In Leanne Shapton’s Swimming Studies “Bathing” chapter, there’s a story behind every suit

Anna May Wong in Tod Browning’s Drifting (1923), to be preserved by George Eastman House.

The Year Ahead in Archival Films

A guide to the movies being preserved now that will be available in future months

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Where the Buffalo No Longer Roamed

The Transcontinental Railroad connected East and West—and accelerated the destruction of what had been in the center of North America

“Parks and Recreation” heroine Leslie Knope would love to see this mural study from an Indiana post office on her visit to DC. Clearing the Right of Way by Joe Cox, 1938.

Five Things Leslie Knope Should See at the Smithsonian

As NBC’s “Parks and Recreation” prepares to shoot its season five in D.C., we offer up five must-sees for the newest city councilmember of Pawnee, Indiana

William Shatner, who turned 81 in March, still seems possessed of boundless energy and bluster.

What William Shatner Would Put on His Gravestone

The modern-day Renaissance man, known for his work on the stage and the screen, provides insights from the Tao of Captain Kirk

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The Messy History of Tacos

There’s so much more to the humble taco than meets the hungry North American consumer’s eye - or palate

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The End of Swimsuit Design Innovation

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Sugar Placebo Pills Can Make You Feel Worse

Lurking in the shadows around any discussion of the placebo effect is its nefarious and lesser-known twin, the nocebo effect

3 Ways Emergency Preparedness Is Like Wedding Planning

Last week, the CDC released its Wedding Day Survival Plan, a document which reads like a natural disaster preparedness checklist

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These Adorable Lemurs Are On the Verge of Extinction

Lemurs are the most threatened group of vertebrates on the planet

A mother’s DNA contains enough information to sequence a fetal genome.

Fetal Genome Sequenced Without Help From Daddy

Researchers now need only a blood sample from a pregnant mother to construct a fetus’ entire genome

Wurman describes TED as the conference of the 20th century. He says WWW will be the conference of the 21st century.

Why TED Founder Richard Saul Wurman Thinks TED Is So Last Century

The creator of the popular speaker series spent Friday at the Smithsonian talking about the next step in his prolific design career

A map of Chicago, Illinois, imprinted in 1913 from the United States Geographical Survey’s historical topographic map collection.

A Treasure Trove of Old Maps at Your Fingertips

Soon, all of the United States Geographical Survey’s old topographical maps will be available online

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Sahelanthropus tchadensis: Ten Years After the Disocvery

A decade ago, scientists unearthed what may be the oldest hominid ever found

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