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Jesper Kongshaug's Northern Lights display at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

The Northern Lights—From Scientific Phenomenon to Artists’ Muse

The spectacular aurora borealis is inspiring artists to create light installations, musical compositions, food and fashion

American Carl Nordeng relocated several years ago to Vilcabamba, Ecuador, where he is now making his own coconut oil.

Faces From Afar: One American’s Endeavor to Kick Ecuador’s Vegetable Oil Habit

Coconut oil is healthy. It smells and tastes like sweet tropical butter. Yet almost nobody in Ecuador uses it

Your publicly available “likes” can tell others a lot you wouldn’t expect—including your political views, sexual orientation and religion.

How a Computer Program Can Learn All About You From Just Your Facebook Likes

Your publicly available “likes” can tell others a lot you wouldn’t expect—including your political views, sexual orientation and religion

A golden ticket from the 2005 film, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” is part of the donation of 30 objects from Warner Bros.

A Batarang, A Golden Ticket and a Green Gremlin: Treasures from Warner Bros.

Warner Brothers added to its collection of donated items with more than 30 new items to the American History Museum

An artist’s rendering of Curiosity, the rover that is currently exploring Gale Crater on Mars. Learn about the rover from the scientist in charge of its mission this Tuesday at the Air and Space Museum.

Events March 12-14: Missions to Mars, the Civil War in Art and a Meditation on Imaginary Landscapes

Meet the scientist behind the Mars rover, learn the civil war’s influence on contemporary art and watch films by European media collective Flatland

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The Cyrus Cylinder Goes on View at the Sackler Gallery

The Cyrus Cylinder makes its U.S. debut on March 9. It is considered one of the most important archaeological artifacts in history.

The pollution in California’s San Joaquin Valley, including above this Norton cornfield, was tested by NASA as part of a program to monitor air quality from space.

New Study Examines San Joaquin Valley, Home to America’s Dirtiest Air

The smog-filled valley recently hosted NASA planes that tested air quality to help calibrate future satellite efforts to measure air pollution

The quiet highway that leads through Cotopaxi is a bike-friendly route.

Cold, Hungry and Happy in the High Andes

40 bucks in cash, a warm sleeping bag and plenty of wine carry the author through his final days in Ecuador, in the remote high country outside of Quito

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The Secret Plot to Rescue Napoleon by Submarine

In 1820, one of Britain’s most notorious criminals hatched a plan to rescue the emperor from exile on the Atlantic isle of St Helena — but did he try it?

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What Happened the Last Time the Climate Changed

Smithsonian scientists investigate a sudden warming of the Earth 55 million years ago to understand how climate change will affect future ecosystems

A good night’s sleep is worth the effort.

Lousy Sleep Isn’t Good For Your Body, Either

More and more scientific research is showing that sleep is more important to our state of mind—and body—than we ever could have imagined

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Scientists Map Buried Flood Channels on Mars in 3D

Deep channels, buried under lava but now mapped with satellite data, give hints to the planet’s violent, wet and recent past

Caffiene, naturally present in some plant nectars, was shown to improve honeybees’ long-term memory in a new study.

Even Bees Get a Buzz When They Drink Caffeine

The drug, naturally present in coffee and citrus plant nectars, is shown to improve honeybees’ long-term memory

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Two-Time Gold Medalist Gabby Douglas Talks Big Dreams, Big Wins and Having Fun

Douglas discusses her recent donation of her leotard and other items from the 2012 London Olympics

Floyd Smith, patent 1,462,456 for a parachute pack and harness, 1919

An Early History of the Parachute

It wasn’t a military expert or an aviation pioneer, but a Russian actor who developed the first viable parachute

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The (Natural) World, According to Our Photo Contest Finalists

From a caterpillar to the Milky Way, the ten finalists in the contest’s Natural World category capture the peculiar, the remarkable and the sublime

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Which Major Cities Are Leaders in Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

Research shows that cities can cut emissions by 70 percent; check out the ones striving their hardest to curb their carbon appetites

Bette Davis and Henry Fonda star in Jezebel, the 1938 hit set in antebellum-era New Orleans. See it at the American History Museum this Friday.

Events March 8-10: An Old School Southern Film, an International Women’s Day Celebration and a Classical Concert

This week, watch Bette Davis in the 1938 hit Jezebel, join performance art that honors African women and listen to one of the world’s best pianos

Locusts covering a bush during the 2004 swarm near the Red Sea cost in Israel.

A Plague of Locusts Descends Upon the Holy Land, Just in Time for Passover

Israel battles a swarm of millions of locusts that flew from Egypt that is giving rise to a host of ecological, political and agricultural issues

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This 33,000-Year-Old Skull Belonged to One of the World’s First Dogs

A new DNA analysis confirms that an ancient skull found in a Siberian cave was an early ancestor of man’s best friend

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