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Ross Braught, a largely forgotten artist who surely knew Jackson Pollock, painted the mural Mnemosyne and the Four Muses for the Kansas City Music Hall.

Where Did Jackson Pollock Get His Ideas?

A talented painter who died poor and forgotten may have inspired the influential American artist’s work in ceramics

Portrait of Black Madonna, by Benny Andrews, is on display in the new exhibition, “African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era and Beyond.”

Events May 25-27: Laundry Day, Healing and Aloha, 100 Artworks at the American Art Museum

This weekend, air out your dirty laundry, live the life of “aloha” and check out the American Art Museum’s latest exhibit

Indian soldiers in the service of the East India Company-who outnumbered British troops in India five to one–loading cartridges.

Pass it on: The Secret that Preceded the Indian Rebellion of 1857

British officials were alarmed at the rapid distribution of mysterious Indian breads across much of the Raj

The author, on tour in the Sauternes region of Bordeaux, loved the gold-hued sweet wine of the area but filled his bottle with local bulk red.

Tasting France’s Finest Wines

Sauternes is a village near Bordeaux that would have been cow town if dumb luck, microclimatology and royal wineries had not showered the region in fortune

Our relationship with ice cream is getting complicated.

What’s Going On With Ice Cream?

Not only is it now available in once unimaginable flavors, like salted caramel and prosciutto, but scientists also are trying to make it good for you

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The Birth of Non-Alcoholic Ketchup

One of the first recipes for ketchup published in the United States called for “love apples”

A skeleton reconstruction of Eoabelisaurus, showing the recovered parts of the skeleton

New Dinosaur Signifies Dawn of Stubby-Armed Predators

A newly described abelisaurid pushes back the history of the blunt-skulled, stubby-armed predators

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Summer Movie Forecast: More of the Same

Hollywood has always loved sequels, and judging from the box office viewers do too

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New Coating Gets Ketchup Out Lickety-Split

A substance developed at MIT sends viscous condiments pouring out of bottles with ease

A woman is made to smell her partner's body odors to see if they're suitable for marriage

Mechanical Matchmaking: The Science of Love in the 1920s

Four “scientific” tests to determine whether your marriage will succeed or fail

The National Zoo's new cheetah cubs, at 16 days old

Two Cheetah Cubs, Rescued from the Brink of Death, Arrive at the National Zoo

After a risky caesarean section and intensive care, two cheetah cubs have been nursed back to health and now come to live at the Zoo

Hedy Lamarr in a 1942 publicity photo

Team Hollywood’s Secret Weapons System

Photographer Eric Long captures a rainbow over the Air and Space Museum.

Capturing the Moment: A Rainbow this Morning on The National Mall

Smithsonian Institution staff photographer Eric Long captured the moment this morning on his way to work

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A Dinosaur Expedition Doomed From the Start

A wannabe-biologist is planning to bring a dinosaur back alive, even though the creature he’s after doesn’t exist

A European tour via Volvo

Take a Vacation on Volvo

Once you get your car you’re free to hit the road along the west coast of Sweden with its fishing villages, traditional folkways and islands

The entrance to Shanidar Cave in northern Iraq

Human Evolution Discoveries in Iraq

Fossils from the Shanidar Cave provide insights on health, violence and death rituals among Neanderthals

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What Sunken Sandwiches Tell Us About the Future of Food Storage

The sinking of the Alvin was an accident that demonstrated the promise of a novel food preservation method

Crawfish étouffée

Five Quintessential Cajun Foods

If you’ve only had the pleasure of eating a bowl of gumbo, queue up some Beausoleil and prepare some of these specialties

The author stands at the entrance to the hilltop cave near Saint Julien de Lampon, that served in the 1940s as a wartime refuge from Nazis.

Resistance to Nazis in a Land Riddled with Caves

We wondered if the cave’s tenants peered down at the valley and if they wrapped all glassware in cloth to prevent reflective giveaways to the Nazis below

Will extraterrestrial caves house unusual life forms, as the Katafiki Cave in Greece does?

What Will We Find in Extraterrestrial Caves?

Scientists hope to look for extraterrestrial life in a new place: recently discovered caves in places like the moon, Mars and Titan

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