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Arts & Culture

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Cosmic Portraits Created From Hubble Space Telescope Images

Sergio Albiac generates images of people by collecting their head shots and replacing pixels with snippets from pictures of stars and galaxies

Scuba diving with sharks is an increasingly popular tourist activity in Australia and South Africa.

Chainmail, Metal Spikes and Unbreakable Material: Can We Design a ‘Shark-Proof’ Wetsuit?

For years, inventors have tried to create a wetsuit capable of withstanding a shark’s deadly bite

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Is There a Liberal Bias to Political Comedy?

There is a liberal bias in America’s political comedy scene, says Alison Dagnes. What gives?

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Shark Repellent: It’s Not Just For Batman Anymore

It was actually first developed during World War II in an effort to help save the lives of seamen and pilots who had to await rescue in open water

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These Ocean Waves Look Like Liquid Sculptures

Photographer Pierre Carreau captures waves mid-break, showing the surf’s delicate balance of power and fragility

The panel at Food in the Garden’s August 1 event prepares to delve into the issues surrounding community garden and food education.

Can Gardening Change the World?

The American History Museum celebrates our country’s lush food history—and explores its food future—with the Food in the Garden series

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Sharks Made Out of Golf Bags? A Look at the Big Fish in Contemporary Art

Intrigued by the powerful hunters, artists have made tiger sharks, great whites and hammerheads the subjects of sculpture

This very bottle of beer lies in a shallow grave of redwood duff in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, in northern California. Can you find it?

Find The Beer: A Trail of Stashed Bottles From Alaska to California

Traveling the West Coast? Like beer? Then consider pulling over at these highway locations from Alaska to California and finding the bottles of beer

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Landscape Through a Car Window, Darkly

A new exhibition presents 1970s photography that challenged the traditional American landscape

Bacterial Dragon (Paenibacillus dendritiformis), by Eshel Ben-Jacob

Colonies of Growing Bacteria Make Psychedelic Art

Israeli physicist Eshel Ben-Jacob uses bacteria as an art medium, shaping colonies in petri dishes into bold patterns

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The Secret to National Geographic’s Maps Is an 80-Year-Old Font

With a little ingenuity, a 1930s cartographer left his mark on the society

Pete Seeger performs at a peace rally in New York City, 1965.

Give Peace a Listen with Smithsonian Folkways Magazine

The new issue covers peace songs and spoken word from around the world

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What Caused the Death of American Brewing?

American breweries are back on the rise, after a near century long decline almost spelled their doom

Still from trailer for It movie, an adaption of the Stephen King novel

The History and Psychology of Clowns Being Scary

You aren’t alone in your fear of makeup-clad entertainers; people have been frightened by clowns for centuries

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The Science of Champagne, the Bubbling Wine Created By Accident

There’s a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to the spirit’s trademark fizziness

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Would You Like Arches With That? When Famous Architects Design McDonalds

Franchises of the fast food behemoth become roadside art

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Your Guide to Tasting the Many Species of Pacific Salmon

From dogs to humpies to kings, the author tastes and discusses the five main species of Pacific salmon

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Toxic Runoff Yellow and Other Paint Colors Sourced From Polluted Streams

An engineer and an artist at Ohio University team up to create paints made of sludge extracted from streams near abandoned coal mines

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The Golden Arches of McModernism

A brief history of the McDonald’s Golden Arches and the influence of Modernist ideals

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Sorry, Wolfgang, Fusion Foods Have Been With Us for Centuries

The banh mi, ramen and other foods considered national dishes that actually have cross-cultural beginnings

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