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A Preview of Discovery’s Arrival to the Smithsonian

NASA prepares its decommissioned space shuttles for delivery to the National Air and Space Museum

2011 Grand Champion orchid: Cycnodes Taiwan Gold.

Objects Of Desire

Chronicling passions that change the world, for good and ill

Today, nearly 1,000 Fayum paintings exist in collections in Egypt and at the Louvre, the British and Petrie museums in London, the Metropolitan and Brooklyn museums, the Getty in California and elsewhere.

The Oldest Modernist Paintings

Two thousand years before Picasso, artists in Egypt painted some of the most arresting portraits in the history of art

William L. Shirer, who witnessed a 1934 Nazi rally in Nuremberg, would link the criminality of individuals to communal frenzy.

Revisiting The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

Recently reissued, William L. Shirer’s seminal 1960 history of Nazi Germany is still important reading

To find flecks of gold, workers devour the rainforest floor with water cannons. "There are a lot of accidents," says one. "The sides of the hole can fall away, can crush you."

The Devastating Costs of the Amazon Gold Rush

Spurred by rising global demand for the metal, miners are destroying invaluable rainforest in Peru’s Amazon basin

Anna Matuschek, who works in Stuttgart for the German magazine Motor Klassik, rides on Route 66 outside Oatman, Arizona.

The Mystique of Route 66

Foreign tourists and local preservationists are bringing stretches of the storied roadway back to life

Adam Bernbach making drinks with organic local gin.

Jose Andres and Other Toques of the Town Honor Alice Waters

What do you cook for famed chef Alice Waters? Washington’s culinary celebrities faced this challenge at the unveiling of her portrait at the Smithsonian

Adorable Photos of the National Zoo’s Rare Maned Wolf Pups

For the first time in two years, a litter of the South American mammals was born at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute

A reconstruction of Tyrannosaurus rex on display at the National Museum of Natural History.

T. rex Trying…

A new cartoon series counts the many things tiny-armed Tyrannosaurus couldn’t do: cross-country ski, eat from a buffet, count to five

The Four Horsemen of Notre Dame

The Game that Put the NFL’s Reputation on the Line

In 1930, many football fans believed the college game was better than the professional one

Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's plantation, was run by hundreds of enslaved African Americans in his lifetime.

“Paradox of Liberty” Tells the Other Side of Jefferson’s Monticello

Presented by the National Museum of African American History and Culture, this exhibit looks at the iconic founding father through the eyes of his slaves

Top: The ninespine stickleback, Pungitus pungitus, is typical of the saltwater form. Bottom: A freshwater form of stickleback with fewer bony plates and fewer spines.

What Robot Fish Can Tell Us About Parallel Evolution

When housed in an aquarium with a swirling robotic school, what determines whether a fish will join the crowd?

What's tougher: Rugby or American football?

Football or Rugby: Whose Players are Tougher?

Could football players last 80 minutes in a rugby match? The great debate continues

The Godfather Effect looks at how the film saga portrays Italian-Americans and what that has meant to author Tom Santopietro, the film industry and the country.

What is The Godfather Effect?

An obsessed film buff (and Italian-American) reflects on the impact of Francis Ford Coppola’s blockbuster trilogy

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Frito Pie and the Chip Technology that Changed the World

As we approach one of the biggest snack days of the year, meet the “Tom Edison of snack food” who brought us the “Anglo corn chip”

The view from the Dirt Mulholland

L.A.’s Answer to the Yellow Brick Road

A group including the actor Jack Nicholson has tried to get Dirt Mulholland on the National Register of Historic Places

Who is headed to the Moon next?

Going to the Moon…Or Not

Is that what it will take for NASA to get its mojo back? Or are there better ways to spend its money?

How do boa constrictors know when to stop constricting?

Boa Constrictors Get a Feel for Their Prey

What makes a snake stop squeezing? We do science to prove ourselves wrong, because the answer people predicted is not the correct answer

The American Indian Museum features two daily films through the month of February

Events Jan 31-Feb 2: Draw and Discover, Great Spies of WWII, and February Daily Films

This week, sketch at the Luce Foundation Center, learn about espionage during WWII, and enjoy a Cree film at the American Indian Museum

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How an Ankylosaur Went Out to Sea

How did a heavily armored dinosaur wind up at the bottom of Alberta’s Cretaceous sea?

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