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The Dead Woman Who Brought Down the Mayor

Vivian Gordon was a reputed prostitute and blackmailer—but her murder led to the downfall of New York Mayor Jimmy Walker

George crawls into a pneumatic tube which will transport him to Mr. Spacely’s office (1963)

George Jetson Navigates a Series of Tubes

Travel by pneumatic tubes? The idea was seriously considered in the 1960s

Women from Gee’s Bend work on a quilt during the 2005 ONB Magic City Art Connection in Birmingham, Alabama’s Linn Park.

A River Bend Community Set To Music: Gees Bend Jazz Symphony

Artists are making sweet music using history and museum collections as inspiration

On Wednesday, legendary Taiko drummer Kenny Endo performs a mix of traditional Japanese music and original jazz with Japanese flute player and drummer Kaoru Watanabe.

Events February 26-28: A Garden Scavenger Hunt, Japanese Flute and Drums and Author Taylor Branch

This week, get active in Smithsonian’s gardens, jam out to jazz on traditional Japanese instruments and meet the author of The King Years

The challenge is to figure out how all that wiring works.

Mapping How the Brain Thinks

The White House wants to fund a huge project that would allow scientists to see, in real time, how a brain does its work

High temperatures and high levels of humidity reduce the human body’s ability to do work.

Climate Change is Reducing Our Ability to Get Work Done

Increased temperature and humidity have already limited humankind’s overall capacity for physical work—and it will only get worse in the future

The human heart

Growing New Hearts Without Using Embryonic Stem Cells

A different type of stem cell—one used in asexual reproduction—can create new heart muscle tissue without raising ethical questions, new studies show

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What Damage Could Be Caused by a Massive Solar Storm?

An enormous solar storm could short out telecom satellites, radio communications, and power grids, leading to trillions of dollars in damages, experts say

Meals in a Jar: From Pancakes to Baby Back Ribs, Just Add Water

Ready-made meals, good for months on a pantry shelf, work for busy nights, camping trips and power outages

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Oscar Redux: Life is a Cabaret; An Old Friend is Back

For the 40th anniversary of the Oscars that made Cabaret a classic, actor Joel Grey stops by the Smithsonian for a special donation and screening

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Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

The Story of How An Artist Created a Genetic Hybrid of Himself and a Petunia

Is it art? Or science? With DNA, Eduardo Kac pushes the limits of creativity and ethics

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VIDEO: The Show, Lincoln’s Washington at War, Depicts the Transformation of Washington

A new documentary from Smithsonian Channel looks at how the Civil War helped transform the city of Washington, D.C.

Ice melt in Greenland will significantly affect water levels throughout the world, most of all the equatorial Pacific and South Africa.

Melting Polar Ice Will Spike Sea Levels at the Equator

Expect higher sea levels in the equatorial Pacific and lower ones near the poles by 2100, according to new research

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With Biodesign, Life is Not Only the Subject of Art, But the Medium Too

Artists are borrowing from biology to create dazzling “biodesigns” that challenge our aesthetics—and our place in nature

Micro-unit LaunchPad, Clei s.r.l/Resource Furniture; architecture by Amie Gross Architects

Micro Apartments Are the Future of Urban Living

To combat the housing crisis in major American cities, architects are designing smaller, more efficient apartments that will change the way urbanites live

The Natural History Museum celebrates orchids from Latin America on Saturday in its “Orchids of Latin America Family Day”

Events February 22-24: Early Human Adaptation, Orchids and the Harlem Renaissance

See evidence of how early humans adapted, celebrate Latin America’s coolest flowers and learn about Harlem the Renaissance’s most important artists

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PHOTOS: Andean Cubs Get a Clean Bill of Health (Caution: Cuteness)

The playful pair of two-month-old cubs got a thorough exam from veterinarians and big thumbs up from everybody

One of the Cornell team’s prosthetic ears, created from living cartilage cells.

An Artificial Ear Built By a 3D Printer and Living Cartilage Cells

Cornell scientists used computerized scanning, 3D printers and cartilage from cows to create living prosthetic ears

Justice Robert Jackson, Lyudmila Pavlichenko and Eleanor Roosevelt in 1942.

Eleanor Roosevelt and the Soviet Sniper

Pavlichenko was a Soviet sniper credited with 309 kills—and an advocate for women’s rights. On a U.S. tour in 1942, she found a friend in the first lady

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Some Mosquitoes Become Immune to DEET After Just a Few Hours of Exposure

A new study indicates that roughly half become habituated to the smell of DEET over time, reducing its effectiveness as a repellent

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