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An artist’s reconstruction of Purgatorius, a probable primate ancestor.

Five Early Primates You Should Know

Scientists have identified dozens of early primates, based on teeth, but still have a hard time assessing how these mammals relate to modern primates

Eating a fatty sandwich for breakfast could impact your cardiovascular health by the afternoon.

Even in Healthy Adults, High-Fat Fast Foods Affect Arteries Almost Immediately

In a new study, people who ate a pair of fatty sausage and egg sandwiches for breakfast showed reduced blood vessel health by the afternoon

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Why Does Dracula Wear a Tuxedo? The Origins of Bram Stoker’s Timeless Vampire

The evolution of Dracula, from the mind of a sickly youth to an iconic portrayal on the silver screen

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Pandas and the Other Animals Chill-Axing at the Zoo. Museums and Zoo Open Tomorrow

Hurricane Over. Tomorrow its Back to Increasing and Diffusing Here at the Smithsonian

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The Haunted and the Haunting: Best Places to Visit on Halloween

This Halloween, indulge in the the electric, nerve-zapping thrill of fear, and consider visiting real destinations of creepy history and ghostly legends

We love candy, to eat and to look at. Big Suckers, from the portfolio Seven Still Lifes and a Silver Landscape. Wayne Thiebaud, 1971.

Candy From Halloween’s Past

From candy’s lackluster beginnings to the Halloween boom, Smithsonian shares some tricks and treats

William H. Johnson donated his work to the American Art Museum, allowing for a look at the growing legacy of the late artist.

Events Oct. 31-Nov. 1: Empires, Spooky Stories and American Artists

This week, a look at changing relationships with Latin America, Halloween stories and the rise of the late William H. Johnson

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The Halloween Tradition Best Left Dead: Kale as Matchmaker

Be happy this Scottish tradition is passé, your future marriage may have depended on it

Fossil teeth, found by Ferdinand Hayden in Montana, which Joseph Leidy attributed to the dinosaur “Trachodon.”

Finding Hayden’s Dinosaurs

Thanks to some historical detectivework, a pair of researchers has relocated one of the earliest recognized dinosaur sites in the American west

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Women Who Shaped History

The Fox Sisters and the Rap on Spiritualism

Their seances with the departed launched a mass religious movement—and then one of them confessed that “it was common delusion”

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UPDATE: ALL Smithsonian Museums and the Zoo Remain Closed on Tuesday

From the Zoo’s many critters to the Castle’s chimneys, the Smithsonian prepares for severe weather

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Recapping ‘The Jetsons’: Episode 06 – The Good Little Scouts

A camping trip to the moon might seem fanciful, but 1960s advertisers were already promoting space tourism

Models indicate that climate change will cause more frequent hurricanes, but the overall trend can’t be linked with a particular event, such as Hurricane Sandy (above, on October 29).

Can We Link Hurricane Sandy to Climate Change?

Models indicate that climate change will cause more frequent and intense hurricanes, but the overall trend can’t be linked with any particular storm

A mount of Cetiosaurus at the New Walk Museum in Leicester. While the neck of this sauropod is almost completely known, no skull has ever been described.

C is for Cetiosaurus

Sauropods are iconic dinosaurs, but the first of their kind ever found was initially thought to be a huge crocodile

Pumpkinhead and cat(?), date unknown

12 Creepy Kids in Halloween Masks

When their faces are obscured, these children transform into frightening little creatures

Fox Sisters

“A Very Common Delusion”: Spiritualism and the Fox Sisters

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Nikon Announces the Winners of its “Small World” Competition

See a selection of beautiful images captured by scientists gazing through light microscopes

Defying its reputation as aloof, this tortoiseshell cat was labelled “the friendliest cat we met”

Judging a Cat (Wrongly) by the Color of its Coat

Black cats aren’t evil, and torties aren’t always aloof. But people often think coat color and behavior are linked

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Why Are Humans Primates?

People may seem very different from lemurs, monkeys and apes, but all primates share a few key physical and behavioral characteristics

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Tracking the Twists and Turns of Hurricanes

Incredibly powerful supercomputers and a willingness to acknowledge that they’re not perfect has made weather scientists become much more effective in forecasting hurricanes.

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