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Articles

The vice-presidential learning center features a sweatshirt worn by the young Dan Quayle.

The Vice Presidents That History Forgot

The U.S. vice presidency has been filled by a rogues gallery of mediocrities, criminals and even corpses

The Games may not exist at all were it not for the perseverance of the Brits.

The Paris Olympics

The Little-Known History of How the Modern Olympics Got Their Start

Acclaimed sportswriter Frank Deford connects the modern Games to their unlikely origin—in rural England

J. Allyn Rosser is an American poet and currently teaches at Ohio University.

Summer Olympics Look, a Poem

Poet J. Allyn Rosser’s new piece on watching the Olympic Games

Kayakers on the Thames in London go with the flow near Parliament and Big Ben.

The Long and Winding History of the Thames

Float down England’s longest river, from its origin in the Cotswolds to its ramble through London, a journey through centuries of “liquid history”

At Dorney Lake, scullers try out for Britain’s Olympic women’s rowing team.

300 Years of Rowing on the Thames

There must be something in the water at Eton, where rowing rules as the sport of choice

George Clinton and crew brought the crowd to their feet on the opening night of the Festival.

June 30: Today’s Events at the Folklife Festival

Today at the Folklife Festival: Mississippi Hills cultural tourism, traditional Indiana cooking, and a tattoo workshop with Coco Bayron.

The Mother Ship Model, “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” is on display in the Rockets and Missiles exhibition station at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA.

Insider Tips for the Tourists in Town

Think you know all of the cool sights on the Mall? We bet you’ll find these insider tips from the Institution helpful this tourist season

The system detects patients’ thoughts via an fMRI machine and translates these into specific letters.

New Mind-Reading Device Lets Paralyzed People Type

Using an fMRI machine and innovative software, researchers have figured out how to enable typing without moving a muscle

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Quite Likely the Worst Job Ever

A British journalist provides us with a window into the lives of the men who made their living from combing for treasures in London’s sewers

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Will We Ever Find Dinosaurs Caught in the Act?

Is there any chance that paleontologists will one day find mating dinosaurs?

Most corn grown in the U.S. is genetically modified.

Food, Modified Food

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What If the Founding Fathers Had Known About Voltron?

Olly Moss, a UK-based graphic designer, riffs on Benjamin Franklin’s 1754 political cartoon, “Join, or Die.”

Hemingway’s Old Man Inspires Shark Oil for HIV Vaccine

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At the Portrait Gallery: “One Life: Amelia Earhart” Opens 75 Years After Her Disappearance

Eddi Tornberg’s self-powering desk

Body Heat From Your Seat Can Juice Your Laptop

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World’s Oldest Purse Adorned with Dog Teeth

The world’s oldest purse features a decoration that doesn’t look so different from modern beading. It’s just way more gruesome

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A Midsummer Night’s Surströmming

The Baltic herring ferment inside a can thanks to salt-loving, anaerobic bacteria that produce distinctive organic acids found in sweat and rotting butter

An artist works on a mural installation in the “Citified” program.

June 29: Today’s Events at the Folklife Festival

Today at the Folklife Festival: cooking with goat meat, seeing HIV/AIDS through photography, and an evening concert by Quetzal and La Sardina de Naiguatá

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The Atlantic Revisits Sending Babies Through the Mail

A photograph from the early 20th century has striking similarities to the magazine’s latest cover story

In a recent experiment, researchers used directed evolution to create enzymes that make silicon dioxide, used in semiconductors and computer chips.

Can Evolution Make the Next Generation of Computer Chips?

In a recent experiment, genetic mutation and artificial selection were harnessed to make semiconductors

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