A beta version of the 3D interactive exhibit that is set to open in 2017.

Breaking Ground

Google Is Redefining 3D Tech at the New African American History Museum

Next spring, visitors will interact with artifacts beyond those in the physical exhibitions

Pablo Picasso by Albert Eugene Gallatin, 1934

Commentary

Why It Takes a Great Rivalry to Produce Great Art

Smithsonian historian David Ward takes a look at a new book by Sebastian Smee on the contentious games artists play

Zora Neale Hurston by Carl Van Vechten, Noble Black Women: The Harlem Renaissance and After,1935, printed 1983

These Rarely Seen Photographs Are a Who’s Who of the Harlem Renaissance

Carl Van Vechten captured and archived images of most of the era’s great artists, musicians and thought leaders

The Brains Behind Star Trek

Sci-fi fan Gene Roddenberry was a freelance writer with a futuristic vision. He had high hopes for his script about a peacekeeping spaceship

Bicycle made by Raleigh in the 1980s in 893 pieces

The Innovative Spirit fy17

These Photos of Deconstructed Devices Reveal Their Hidden Beauty

Engineer-artist Todd McLellan finds marvel in blowing out the mundane

Shrunken heads were prepared and worn by the victor of a battle, believing the victim’s power would then be transferred to that victor. Popular in the mid-19th century, shrunken heads were a collectible which became so popular that Europeans created replica shrunken heads from unclaimed bodies. On loan from: Buffalo Museum of Science and San Diego Museum of Man.

These 12 New Museum Exhibitions Are Fall Must-Sees

Shrunken heads, punk rock and robots make for an action-packed autumn

How did this double 'r' become so prevalent?

It’s Sherbet, Not Sherbert, You Dilettantes

The frozen treat has been mispronounced by generations of Americans

Dennis Wiist inspects an eagle's foot at the National Eagle Repository in Commerce City, Colorado.

Inside a Remarkable Repository that Supplies Eagle Parts to Native Americans and Science

The repository, which has long provided feathers to tribes for traditional uses, also helps bird conservation researchers

Laser Scientists Are Developing Star Trek’s Phaser

Some of the technology from Star Trek is already coming to life in the Lockheed Martin lab

Boldly going where no curatorial object has gone before.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Mission to Restore the Original Starship Enterprise

The beloved 1960s studio model stars in Building Star Trek, a documentary premiering on Smithsonian Channel this Sunday

Gas or charcoal? It's the perpetual debate. And despite many grilling advances, many still prefer good old fashioned charcoal.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Story of the Weber Grill Begins With a Buoy

When metalworker George Stephen, Sr. put two halves of a buoy together, he didn’t know he was making a charcoal grill that would stand the test of time

Inside the Church of Saint Nicholas, Father Nikolai Yakunin blesses parishioners during Pascha (Russian Easter), which begins at midnight and ends at dawn. The smoke of the incense is said to lift prayers to heaven.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Alaska

In a Remote Alaskan Town, a Centuries-Old Russian Faith Thrives

Residents of Nikolaevsk remain true to the traditions of their ancestors, who fled religious persecution in the 17th-century

The Browns in Topeka, Kansas

The Children of Civil Rights Leaders Are Keeping Their Eyes on the Prize

The next generation is following in the footsteps of its forebears

History of Now

Black Tweets Matter

How the tumultuous, hilarious, wide-ranging chat party on Twitter changed the face of activism in America

Breaking Ground

Take an Interactive Tour of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

What to expect when you visit the Smithsonian’s newest museum

The casein film can either be used as wrappers, like this, or it can be sprayed onto food.

Age of Humans

Here’s a Food Wrapper You Can Eat

Made from milk protein, it not only keeps food from spoiling, but it also could keep a lot of plastic out of landfills

Breaking Ground

The Definitive Story of How the National Museum of African American History and Culture Came to Be

From courting Chuck Berry in Missouri to diving for a lost slave ship off Africa, the director’s tale is a fascinating one

Michael Jackson performs in Kansas City, Kansas during the "Victory" tour in 1984.

Breaking Ground

Michael Jackson’s Costumes Show Why Nobody Can Beat the King of Pop When it Comes to Style

Outfits from the Jackson’s “Victory” tour will be part of an inaugural exhibition at the African American History Museum

Free timed-entry passes to the new museum, which opens September 24, are available beginning August 27 at 9 a.m., EDT

Breaking Ground

How to Get Timed-Entry Passes for National Museum of African American History and Culture

It’s finally time to plan your trip to NMAAHC

Redd Velvet (born Crystal Tucker) started her career as a classically trained singer. In her early 40s she moved to Memphis and switched to the blues.

Keeping the Blues Alive

Is blues music a thing of the past? A festival in Memphis featuring musicians of all ages and nationalities shouts an upbeat answer

Page 140 of 366