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Articles

Felicity Aston looks back on her journey across Antarctica.

To the Bottom of the World—and Back Again

When Felicity Aston caught sight of Antarctica’s coastal mountains, she told me, “they were like a neon sign flashing at me saying, ‘You have finished!’”

The Venopolis Zoo

Hunting Dinosaurs on Venus

Why bother with cloning and time travel, when your dream safari awaits on a nearby planet?

An abstract image of an egg

Where Jet Engines, Football Fans and Eggs Collide

Does the noise in a Super Bowl stadium create enough power to fry up a dozen eggs?

A restoration of the island hadrosauroid Tethyshadros by Nobu Tamura

The “Duck-billed” Dinosaur That Wasn’t

Instead of a long, low duck bill, the beak of Tethyshadros was shaped like a snowplow and serrated. Why it had such a strange beak is a mystery

The Marx Brothers in Horsefeathers

Super Bowl Guide to Football Films

The sport was fodder for slapstick comedy, but as the technology evolved, so did the way in which filmmakers portrayed the gridiron on the big screen

The Art of Video Games exhibit opens at the American Art Museum on March 16.

The Top Five Most Anticipated Exhibits of 2012

Take a look at the five upcoming exhibits we’re most excited about

The bluetongue skink. Note the blue tongue.

How Animals Prepare for an Alien Invasion

Why can some—but only some—bluetongue skinks eat a toad that is poisonous to eat or even lick?

Lucy Jones is among the world's most influential seismologists—and perhaps the most recognizable.

Meet Lucy Jones, “the Earthquake Lady”

As part of her plan to prepare Americans for the next “big one,” the seismologist tackles the dangerous phenomenon of denial

According to author Eric Klinenberg, there are more than 32 million people living alone—about 28 percent of all households.

Eric Klinenberg on Going Solo

The surprising benefits, to oneself and to society, of living alone

Some orchid species mimic nectar-producing flowers to lure bees; others emit the fetid smell of rotting meat to attract carrion flies.

The Orchid Olympics

Breeders from 19 countries put their creations to the test at the 20th World Orchid Conference in Singapore

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Wild Things: Yeti Crabs, Guppies and Ravens

Tree killers and the first beds ever round up this month in wildlife news

Acquired by Samuel Cox, the mummy is "our . . . most richly decorated [specimen]," says curator Melinda Zeder.

How One Mummy Came to the Smithsonian

An American diplomat’s memento takes center stage after 125 years

A 1920 poster by Howard Chandler Christy.

Here & Now

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Letters

Readers Respond to the December Issue

Claudio Sgarbi says he "was totally astonished" when he examined a manuscript including a drawing that seemed to prefigure Leonardo da Vinci's Vitruvian Man.

The Other Vitruvian Man

Was Leonardo da Vinci’s famous anatomical chart actually a collaborative effort?

Growing up in multiple countries has allowed architect David Adjaye to always be highly sensitive to the cultural framework of different peoples in his designs.

Breaking Ground

Q&A: Architect David Adjaye On His Vision for the New Museum

The designer of the National Museum of African American History and Culture talks about his vision for the new building

Chemist Mehdi Moini is perfecting a new technique for understanding the past.

How Old is That Silk Artifact?

A chemist from the Textile Museum is perfecting a new technique for understanding the past

Entomology research technician Nor Faridah Dahlan with frozen tissue samples.

Icons and Insights

Icons and Insights

Dickens World, a theme park in Chatham, offers an 1800s immersion. The novelist, says the attraction's Kevin Christie, "was a showman. He would have loved this."

Going Mad for Charles Dickens

Two centuries after his birth, the novelist is still wildly popular, as a theme park, a new movie and countless festivals attest

Ellen "Nelly" Ternan, in 1870, was a figure lost to history.

Dickens’ Secret Affair

Biographer Claire Tomalin’s literary sleuthing revealed the untold story of the famed author’s “invisible woman”

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