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A new DNA analysis method reveals how ancient skeletons would have looked in the flesh.

Hair and Eye Color Can Now Be Determined for Ancient Human Skeletons

A new method based on DNA forensics can tell us about the appearances of those who lived long ago

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What Django Unchained Got Wrong: A Review From National Museum of African American History and Culture Director Lonnie Bunch

The museum director and former film studies professor examines Quentin Tarantino’s take on slavery

Last summer, a study found that long-term cannabis use reduced cognitive skills. A new study seems to say the opposite.

Long-Term Marijuana Use Could Have Zero Effect on IQ

Last summer, a study found that long-term cannabis use reduced cognitive skills. A new study seems to say the opposite

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The Jetsons and the Future of the Middle Class

Living paycheck to paycheck in the techno-utopian future

Hurt says now when he visits soul food restaurants, he tends to fill his plate with vegetarian options, staying away from chicken and meats.

Is America a Nation of Soul Food Junkies?

Filmmaker Bryan Hurt explores what makes soul food so personal, starting with his own father’s health struggle, in a PBS film premiering tonight

Each year, around 5,300 Golden Warblers – a threatened species – die from collisions with communication towers.

Communication Towers Are Death Traps for Threatened Bird Species

Nearly 7 million North American birds - including 13 threatened species - lose their lives through tower collisions each year

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VIDEO: The Story Behind the Emancipation Proclamation

You’ve seen Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” now hear director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture Lonnie Bunch talk about the forces behind the January 1, 1863 order and the eventual abolition of slavery

Astrophysicist Lawrence Krauss is in the house on Monday to explain why our understanding of physics in the past 50 years has been based on a particle whose existence we couldn’t prove.

Events January 14-17: Higgs Boson, Up “Close” with President Obama, Modern Origami and Shiny Pots

This week, learn why the Higgs Boson particle matters, see a huge portrait of President Obama, discover modern origami and stand in DC’s most opulent room

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Scorchingly Hot 2012 Riddled With Extreme Weather

Drought, heatwaves, cyclones—even a tornado in Hawaii—mark last year as one filled with record-breaking severe weather

An illustration of the variety of planets in our galaxy being detected by NASA’s Kepler spacecraft. Research on their frequency suggests one in six stars in the Milky Way is orbited by an Earth-size planet, which means there would be at least 17 billion planets on which life might exist.

17 Billion Earth-Size Planets! An Astronomer Reflects on the Possibility of Alien Life

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The Fisher Space Pen Boldly Writes Where No Man Has Written Before

The Fisher Space Pen has been made famous by Apollo astronauts and Jerry Seinfeld. But just how does it work? And is NASA really spend millions making it?

Samsung TVs get smarter.

How Smart Should TVs Be?

Researchers have developed a breath-based test for bacterial infections, using the same concepts employed in a breathalyzer (above).

A Breathalyzer Test for Bacterial Infections

A new approach to detecting lung infections could be faster and less invasive

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Video: Tiny Artificial Muscles Dance Like Mexican Jumping Beans

MIT scientists have created thin polymer sheets that expand and contract when in contact with water, lifting several times their weight

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How Hot is That Pepper? How Scientists Measure Spiciness

How does the Scoville Scale rate the relative spiciness of a chili pepper?

Turkey feather

Beautiful Artwork Cut Out of Feathers

A clever artist uses a scalpel and tweezers to cut beautiful bird silhouettes out of feathers

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The Gadgets of the Future From the Electrical Shows of Yesterday

Decades before the debut of the Consumer Electronics Show, early adopters flocked to extravagant high-tech fairs in New York and Chicago

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No Place Compares to the Unrelenting Lifelessness of Peru’s Sechura Desert

From tropical mountains, we descended into a landscape of flailing-armed cacti, spiny succulents like giant artichokes and sand dunes as high as mountains

Small red boring sponges embedded in star coral, killing the coral polyps immediately surrounding them.

Drill, Baby, Drill: Sponges Bore Into Shells Twice as Fast in Acidic Seawater

In acidic water, drilling sponges damage scallops twice as quickly, worsening the effects of ocean acidification

The “Greensboro Four,” above immortalized on their North Carolina A&T State University campus, fought racial segregation by refusing to leave a local retail store when the staff would not serve them coffee. Learn to protest like a pro this weekend at the American History Museum.

Events January 11-13: Civil Disobedience, Farm-Fresh Foods and Arabic Calligraphy Lessons

This week, protest racial segregation in the 1960s, discover DC’s “slow food” movement and learn to write in Arabic

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