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A Murray Meisner original dress, sold on Etsy

A Holiday Shopping Reminder: Do We Really Need That Extra Pair of Jeans?

Meaningful purchases trump frenetic shopping and closets bulging with new clothes

William Crockford—identified here as “Crockford the Shark”—sketched by the great British caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson in about 1825. Rowlandson, himself an inveterate gambler who blew his way through a $10.5 million family fortune, knew the former fishmonger before he opened the club that would make his name.

Crockford’s Club: How a Fishmonger Built a Gambling Hall and Bankrupted the British Aristocracy

A working-class Londoner operated the most exclusive gambling club the world has ever seen

After decades of uncertainty, a new study confirms that both polar ice sheets are melting.

Confirmed: Both Antarctica and Greenland Are Losing Ice

After decades of uncertainty, a new study confirms that both polar ice sheets are melting

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Spidernaut Returns Home From Space

After a 99-day at the space station, a red-backed jumping spider comes to the Natural History Museum

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Why Did Plant-Munching Theropods Get So Big?

Were these Late Cretaceous dinosaurs just the culmination of an evolutionary trend towards ever-larger body size or was something else at work?

The films of Ang Lee continue at the Freer with his 1993 comedy, The Wedding Banquet.

Events Nov. 30-Dec. 2: Africa’s Space Programs, the Middle East’s Diva and Ang Lee’s Wedding Banquet

Explore a continent’s long history with the stars, hear the vocal stylings of Karima Skalli and watch another classic in a series of film screenings

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The Meals That Starving Travelers Dream Of

Daydreaming of food is a tradition as old as the saga of man versus wild. What would you wish to eat if you were starving in a tent or a dinghy at sea?

Danilo Pérez performs at the Kennedy Center November 30.

Danilo Pérez, Creator of Musical Guardians of Peace

The Panamanian performer catches up with Joann Stevens before his Nov. 30 concert at the Kennedy Center

A rendering of The Brewery development in Milwaukee, WI

A New Life for Old Breweries

In response to a changing economy and demographic shift toward urban areas, the deserted homes of Schlitz, PBR and other beers are being repurposed

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The 2012 Smithsonian American Ingenuity Awards Liveblog

Follow along as we award the best innovators of the year

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The Episode Where George Jetson Rages Against the Machine

Never trust a robot co-worker

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Why Do We Hiccup? And Other Scientific Mysteries—Seen Through the Eyes of Artists

In a new book, 75 artists illustrate questions scientists haven’t fully answered yet

Archaeopteryx had a wing that was different from that of modern birds, and, as seen here, might have been a glider more than a powered flyer.

Feathers Fuel Dinosaur Flight Debate

Was the early bird Archaeopteryx more of a glider than a flier?

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Primate Origins Tied to Rise of Flowering Plants

Scientists argue that grasping hands and feet, good vision and other primate adaptations emerged because the mammals plucked fruits from the ends of tree branches

Kinstler’s character sketch of Plummer is being given to the National Portrait Gallery.

Amy Henderson: A Portrait is a Story Unfolding

Artist Everett Raymond Kinstler’s portrait of the legendary performer Christopher Plummer joins the collection as Kinstler is honored in New York City

An artist’s rendering of the matter ejected from the quasar SDSS J1106+1939 surrounding a black hole.

Astronomers Discover the Most Explosive Black Hole Yet

The newly discovered quasar spews an amount of energy equivalent to more than two million suns

The Sackler Gallery celebrates 25 years with a full schedule of events, including an explosion event by artist Cai Guo-Qiang.

An Explosive 25th Anniversary for the Sackler with Artist Cai Guo-Qiang

The Gallery marks the occasion with an “explosion event,” lectures, performances and more

A likeness of Madame Restell, published in the National Police Gazette, 1847

Madame Restell: The Abortionist of Fifth Avenue

Without benefit of medical training, Madame Restell spent 40 years as a “female physician”

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Shopping Gets Personal

Retailers are mining personal data to learn everything about you so they can help you help yourself to their products.

Principles from the weather models that predicted Sandy a week ahead of time might be used to warn about the flu before it arrives.

How Weather Models and Google Could Help Forecast Flu Season

Principles from the weather models that predicted Sandy a week ahead of time might be used to warn about the flu before it arrives

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