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Arts & Culture

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San Francisco’s Makeathon Leads the Way for Hacking the Urban Landscape

How citizens are using design interventions to shuffle social dynamics and change public space in cities

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Painting Portraits With Bacteria

Microbiologist Zachary Copfer has created detailed portraits of famous artists and scientists in petri dishes

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This 105-Year-Old Made Marilyn Monroe’s Earrings

Meet Sadie Mintz, a jewelry maker who saw her handiwork on the cover of LIFE magazine

“The Duke” is the official football of the NFL

How Did the Pigskin Get Its Shape?

American football may have evolved from soccer and rugby, but it turns out that the football was never truly designed, it just sort of happened

Nudie’s Rodeo Tailors original label featured a topless cowgirl (left) who got a fringed bolero in 1963.

As a Matter of Fact: Jockeys, Tartans and Cowboy Glam

The real stories behind some fashion fads and classics hold some surprising twists

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Sinfully Delicious Apples That You Should Never Try to Eat

Inspired by the work of Cornell scientists, Los Angeles-based Jessica Rath creates sculptures and photographs of the autumn fruit

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George Washington and Abigail Adams Get an Extreme Makeover

Conservators at the National Gallery Art restored Gilbert Stuart portraits of our founding figures, making them look good as new

Christopher Bonanos of New York chronicles the rise and fall of Polaroid.

Why Polaroid Inspired Both Steve Jobs and Andy Warhol

Beloved by innovators and artists alike, the camera company dissolved into history once it lost its beloved CEO. Apple should take note

Amazing Photographs of Water Droplets Colliding

See the results of 98-year-old Irving Olson’s kitchen experiments

The Black Sapote fruit develops a distinct “chocolate pudding” flavor after it has softened on the ground for a week or two.

All the Insane Australian Fruit You Can Eat

What the heck are black sapotes, carambolas and pomelo fruits?

Maria Snyder, Italian Vanity, Versace, 1983

Antonio’s World: The Life and Work of a Celebrated Fashion Illustrator

Antonio Lopez’s electrifying art defined the style of the times, 1960s-‘80s. Now, a gallery show and book call renewed attention to his accomplishments

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This Just In

Root and Branch

A chronology of NFL helmets

Leatherhead to Radio-Head: The Evolution of the Football Helmet

From hand-cobbled beginnings, the football helmet has shifted to become one of the most highly designed pieces of equipment in all of sports

PHOTOS: What Happens When a Rebel Turns Graffiti Art Upside Down

Artist Evan Roth’s award-winning work puts the action in interaction

A still of Jordan from the video Shadow Sites II, by Jananne Al-Ani.

Spotlight

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Discussion

Discussion

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What is the Daily Rainfall on Earth and More Questions From Our Readers

Submit your own questions to Ask Smithsonian

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The Next Pandemic, the End of Men, Edward Curtis and More Recent Books Worth Reading

The scariest thing about deadly diseases is how little we know about them

A first-century funerary mask from Saudi Arabia helps mark the Sackler’s 25th.

The Sackler Celebrates 25 Years of Asian Art

From Tibet to the Arabian Peninsula, the gallery has been exploring the beauty of the world for a quarter of a decade

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“Black Hands”

A new poem by Amit Majmudar

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