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Armored Train in Action (1915) by Gino Severini. Italian Futurist paintings adopted a Cubist visual vocabulary but were bolder and brasher.

Futurism Is Still Influential, Despite Its Dark Side

Louis Armstrong embodied stardom in jazz. Photo courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery; gift of Mr. and Mrs. Bob Willoughby

Amy Henderson: Satchmo at the National Press Club

Guest blogger and Portrait Gallery historian Amy Henderson discusses Louis Armstrong and the meaning of stardom

The Voyagers are still within the heliosheath, the outer layer of the solar system

Voyager Probes Not Out of the Solar System Just Yet

New data show that nearly 35 years after their launches, NASA’s Voyager probes are now at the outermost reaches of the solar system

King Juan Carlos, at right, stands with his guide from Rann Safaris as his dead Botswanan elephant lies propped against a tree.

World Wildlife Hunt

It takes $6,000 to shoot a leopard in Botswana. For $1,200, you can shoot a crocodile. Short on cash? There’s always baboons, which go for $200 a pop

A restoration of Ichthyovenator by Michel Fontaine

Ichthyovenator: The Sail-Backed Fish Hunter of Laos

The spinosaur, apparently the first confirmed in Asia, had a wavy sail that dipped downwards at the hips, creating the appearance of two smaller sails

"Jeopardy's" Power Players Week is filmed at Constitution Hall in DC.

When Celebrity Jeopardy Comes to the National Mall

Jeopardy’s annual “Power Players” show airs this week, pitting journalists, pundits and newsmakers against each other

Editor John Henson of The New Aladdin floppy disk magazine

The Magazine of the Future (on floppy disk!)

More than 20 years before the iPad, an entrepreneur saw the potential of interactive, digital magazines

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The World’s Most Expensive Vegetable

Long before hops cones were used to make beer bitter, hops shoots were eaten as a spring green

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Dinotasia: Werner Herzog’s Gory Dinosaurs

The violent dinosaur documentary once known as Dinosaur Revolution gains new life in movie theaters

Musicians from the Marlboro Music Festival perform at the Freer Gallery this week.

Events April 24-26: the Genomics Revolution, Musicians from Marlboro, and Thomas Mobley

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Snoozing Chimps Offer Glimpse of Hominid Sleeping Habits

Most chimpanzees build tree nests when it’s time to go to bed, but some prefer sleeping on the ground; the same was probably true for early hominids

Is mining asteroids the next space frontier?

To the Asteroids and Beyond

A group of big-name tech billionaires wants to open up a new frontier in space—mining space rocks

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Hollywood Takes on the Environment

Even the earliest films had something to say about the state of the planet

Discovery, right, greets the departing Enterprise, left, at the Welcome Discovery ceremony.

Discovery Parks for Good at the Udvar-Hazy Center

An official ceremony and a weekend of space-shuttle activities welcome Discovery to its new home

Gig Harbor was named one of the 20 best small towns in America

Long Live America’s Small Towns

The author of our May article about the country’s best small towns was pleased to find that lots of small towns are thriving

Monday's solar eruption at its peak moment

Picture of the Week: A Spectacular Solar Eruption

Earlier this week, a NASA telescope captured one of the most stunning solar flares in years

The cover art for Dinosaurs Vs. Aliens

Dinosaurs vs. Aliens

You know it had to happen eventually: Dinosaurs chomp aliens in forthcoming graphic novel

The Pebble smart watch is on a roll.

Next Up? The Smart Watch

If the crowd-funding spike for the Pebble smart watch is any indication, wearable tech is about to go mainstream

David Baggett, famed among noodlers, explodes from the water with a giant catfish in his hands.

Hand-Fishing for Swamp Monsters

“It’s the most exhilarating thing I’ve ever done,” says filmmaker Bradley Beesley, whose documentaries have popularized the ancient art of noodling

Peanuts

The Legumes of War: How Peanuts Fed the Confederacy

Food shortages were a problem for both military and civilians. But even in these hard times, people could find relief in peanuts

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