Smithsonian Blogs: Latest News, Features and Insights

Strange Ball in a Strange Place: Watching the Super Bowl in Ecuador

America’s Biggest Game brings excitement, curiosity and some boredom to Ecuador

February 4, 2013

Scientists See Insect Outbreaks From Space

A new tool uses satellite imagery to help researchers track small disturbances such as bug infestations, which may increase in scope as climate changes

February 1, 2013

A Brief History of the Buffalo Chicken Wing

How the wing went from a throwaway to a delicacy in 50 years

February 1, 2013

Primal Screens: How Pro Football Is Amping Up Its Game

Pro football is turning to screens—some massive, others on smart phones—to try to keep its fans entertained.

February 1, 2013

Drone Couture: Designing Invisibility

While scientists work toward perfecting the invisibility cloak, one designer has already developed a line of clothing that makes people invisible to robots

February 1, 2013

The Uncertain Promise of Freedom’s Light: Black Soldiers in The Civil War

Sometimes treated as curiosities at the time, black men and women fighting for the Union and organizing for change altered the course of history

February 1, 2013

Solving the Mystery of Owls’ Head-Turning Abilities

New research shows how owls can swivel their heads around without cutting off blood supply to their brains

February 1, 2013

The Making of a Millennial Jazz Musician: Elijah Jamal Balbed

After being put in “baby jazz” in high school, Balbed has made a name for himself in the Washington, D.C. scene

January 31, 2013

VIDEO: See a Thought Move Through a Living Fish’s Brain

By using genetic modification and a florescent-sensitive probe, Japanese scientists captured a zebrafish’s thought in real-time

January 31, 2013

World-famous poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou talks about her life at the American Indian Museum on Friday.

Events February 1-3: Maya Angelou, Black History Month Festivities and a Teen Poetry Slam

Meet world-renowned Civil Rights poet Maya Angelou, celebrate Black History Month and watch Washington D.C.’s most articulate teens battle in rhyme

January 31, 2013

Virtual Superhuman Powers Translate into Real Life Helpfulness

Thinking like a superhero in virtual reality may induce people to be more helpful in real life

January 31, 2013

The utterly strange-looking star-nosed mole sees the world with one of the most sensitive touch organs in the animal kingdom.

How the Star-Nosed Mole ‘Sees’ With Its Ultra-Sensitive Snout

The utterly strange-looking creature sees the world with one of the most sensitive touch organs in the animal kingdom

January 30, 2013

These Machines Will Be Able to Detect Smells Your Own Nose Cannot

We’re getting closer to the day when your smartphone knows you have a cold before you do

January 30, 2013

Doug E. Fresh (shown above, performing at the Legends of Hip Hop Tour in February 2011) was a beatboxing pioneer in the 1980s.

Beatboxing, as Seen Through Scientific Images

To see how certain sound effects are humanly possible, a team of University of Southern California researchers took MRI scans of a beatboxer in action

January 30, 2013

Trash and the Future of Traveling Museum Exhibits

A traveling exhibit ditches the trucks and goes digital to teach environmentally-friendly ways of living

January 30, 2013

About 15 miles north of Quito, a yellow line representing the Equator runs up a long, regal walkway to the base of the Mitad del Mundo monument, built in 1979. The thing is, they built the structure several hundred feet south of the true Equator.

Much Ado About Nothing at the Equator

Just north of Quito stands a grand and glowing tribute to one of Ecuador’s proudest features: the Equator. The problem is, it was built in the wrong place

January 30, 2013