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Arts & Culture

A dry farm field.

The Deep South, As Seen Through the Eyes of Renowned Photographer Steve McCurry

A new book written by travel writer Paul Theroux features images that chronicle life in this part of the country

Matt Damon stars as Mark Watney, the titular "Martian" who gets left for dead on the red planet.

The Secret of “The Martian” Success? Scientific Peer Review

Andy Weir’s tale of a stranded astronaut got its start as a blog, complete with reader comments that helped shape the plot

Edward Burtynsky, Oil Spill #10 Oil Slick at Rip Tide, Gulf of Mexico, June 24, 2010, chromogenic print

Age of Humans

This Stunning Contemporary Art Captures Terror, Wonder and Wit in the Anthropocene

Smithsonian art historian Joanna Marsh selects nine works that tell stories about life in the age of humans

Age of Humans

The Age of Humans: Living in the Anthropocene

A special look at the ways humans are transforming the planet and the projects that may shape a more sustainable future

A Guide to Buying Ethical Coffee

How to make sense of the beans that promote sustainable agriculture and humane worker rights

What gives your local Chardonnay that je ne sais quoi? It just might be the regional microbes.

New Research

Wine Gets Some of Its Unique Flavors From Regional Microbes

Small genetic differences in a single species of yeast produce distinct mixes of chemicals that contribute to terroir

"What About Grandma"

Awkward Family Photos Is Playing in Peoria

Like a long family road trip, the hilarious exhibition of awkward photos featuring kith and kin makes a stop in Illinois

Nine American Airports for Art Lovers

Your layover just got better

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The Innovative Spirit

This Interactive Installation Rains a Poem Down on Viewers

Artists Camille Utterback and Romy Achituv wrote the software that drives an artwork, in which onlookers catch letters falling on a large screen

So far, nine states have tried to pass laws that encourage a "teach the controversy" approach to climate change.

Age of Humans

See Where Climate Science Conflict Has Invaded U.S. Classrooms

Conservative politicians are introducing bills that promote teaching climate science as controversial

Alice with Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Disney's 1951 film

After Giving Us a New Spin on Oz, Gregory Maguire Takes on Wonderland

Alice is 150 years old, and the world is still wondering about her

Age of Humans

Electric Fishing Puts a Rare Dolphin-Human Partnership at Risk

Illegal fishing practices are threatening traditional cooperation between humans and river dolphins in Burma

Reproduction of early English vessels at Jamestown, Virginia.

Age of Humans

Rising Seas Threaten to Swallow These Ten Global Wonders

Climate change-induced increases in sea level are forcing archaeologists and communities to get creative and make tough calls

American South

The Twisted History of the Gateway Arch

With its origins as a memorial to Thomas Jefferson’s vision of Western Expansion, the Arch has become a St. Louis icon

Scaled back so no two books share a page, the library still has 10 to the power of 4,677 books.

This Digital Library Contains Every Phrase That Could Ever Be Uttered

Inspired by an essay by Jorge Luis Borges, computer programmer Jonathan Basile has created a “Library” of Babel

Salgado has documented many indigenous tribes and their traditions. Here, men are decorated with feathers and paint for a reahu funerary ceremony.

Sebastião Salgado Has Seen the Forest, Now He’s Seeing the Trees

He documented human suffering around the world. But now, back in his native Brazil, the renowned photographer is healing the devastated landscape

Mouth (for L’Oréal), New York, 1986; printed 1992.

How Irving Penn Turned Fashion Photography Into a Fine Art

A new show at the Smithsonian American Art Museum looks back at a photo giant who blurred the lines

Hemingway enters New York Harbor with his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer, aboard the ocean liner Paris on April 3, 1934. He described her as “clever and entertaining and full of desire.”

Hemingway in Love

In a new memoir, one of Hemingway’s closest friends reveals how the great writer grappled with the love affair that changed his life and shaped his art

Twins Ida and Irene practice swimming in a learn-to-swim program on Eydhafushi, an island in the Maldives.

Age of Humans

Third-Graders in the Maldives Discover the Beauty Beneath Their Seas

Many tourists have experienced the Maldives’ beauty. Most Maldivians haven’t, because they don’t know how to swim

Children at the Free School Under the Bridge, an outdoor, donation-supported school under a highway overpass, learn about not just reading and math, but climate change and the ozone layer.

Age of Humans

How India Is Teaching 300 Million Kids to Be Environmentalists

In an enormous undertaking, schoolchildren nationwide are learning about climate change and the environment

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