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Trixie the Triceratops

Dinosaur Sighting: Triceratops Topiary

The reader is correct that Trixie is technically a “real, live dinosaur”

A doctor's diagnosis "by radio" on the cover of the February, 1925 issue of Science and Invention magazine

Telemedicine Predicted in 1925

With video screens and remote control arms, any doctor could make a virtual housecall

Re-creation of a dessert from the Chez Panisse menu. (Total cost: $3.98)

And for Dessert: An Object Lesson on Simple Pleasure

How a disappointing dessert becomes an object lesson on simplicity and pleasure

Thomas Edison examines Clarence Dally's, his assistant, hand thru a fluoroscope of his own design.

Clarence Dally — The Man Who Gave Thomas Edison X-Ray Vision

“Don’t talk to me about X-rays,” Edison said after an assistant on one of his X-ray projects started showing signs of illness. “I am afraid of them.”

The land where the Clovis once hunted.

Clovis People Hunted Canada’s Camels

North American camels went extinct at the end of the last ice age. Were humans partly to blame?

Nouveau Pac Man Cuisine

Food and Video Games

Video games may be the art medium of the 21st century, but they’re also an advertising medium. Here are five notable games that promoted foods

The Boardercross snowboarding activity teaches students about angles and turning

How Can You Use a Snowboard to Make an Acute Angle?

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Arthur Conan Doyle’s Ethereal Dinosaurs

Prior to the 1925 debut of The Lost World, the novelist pulled a stunt to make people think dinosaurs might still be alive in a distant jungle

The bison may never leave Catalina Island.

The Isle Where Buffalo Roam

When filming for a 1924 silent Western was finished, the crew members abandoned several of their extras

Carleton E. Watkins, “Interior Chinese Restaurant, S.F.,” (ca. 1880)

Was Chop Suey the Greatest Culinary Joke Ever Played?

Have you heard the one about the crowd of hungry miners looking for a meal in Chinatown?

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Excavating the River of Giants

Rare footage shows how paleontologist R.T. Bird diverted a river to excavate a set of Texas dinosaur tracks in 1938

Juliette Gordon Low by Edward Hughes, 1887

The Girl Scouts Celebrate 100 Years — Learning More About Juliette Gordon Low

“Once a girl scout, always a girl scout” is the defining motto of an exhibition devoted to the founder of the organization

A screengrab of the Highlight app for the iPhone

Need a Little Social Discovery in Your Life?

The buzz at the SXSW conference this year is about mobile apps that tell you when there are people nearby you really should meet

At the American Indian Museum, Thirza Defoe performs traditional songs and hoop dance daily until March 17.

Events March 13-15: Public Murals in Southeast DC, The Last Reef, and Hoop Dance with Thirza Defoe

This week, discuss the varying views on public murals, take a 3-D journey of the world’s coral reefs, and perform a People’s Dance with Thirza Defoe

Few landscapes have inspired the author quite like the Picos de Europa of northern Spain.

Why Do You Travel?

What is it we look for over mountains and across oceans? Answer our survey and we’ll publish responses in the May issue of Smithsonian

George Stephanopoulos and James Carville in The War Room.

The Films That Led to Game Change

The HBO film has roots in two acclaimed documentaries that covered the 1992 and 1960 presidential elections

A thermal infrared image of orchard water levels

Drones: The Citrus Industry’s New Beauty Secret

In the future, farmers will use unmanned drones to improve the appearance of their crops

A growing number of clocks automatically synchronize with a radio signal and don't have to be adjusted for Daylight Saving Time. How do they work?

How Do Some Clocks Set Themselves?

With Daylight Saving Time set to start, take a look inside the radio-controlled clocks that adjust automatically

Microraptor, covered in iridescent plumage

Microraptor Was a Glossy Dinosaur

The feathered, four-winged dinosaur had a glorious sheen

Will we see an artificial version?

Building a Human Brain

Could supercomputers create an artificial brain that can learn new behavior and develop cognitive skills? Some scientists say not if, but when

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