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The History of the Olympic Pictograms: How Designers Hurdled the Language Barrier

Infographic design first appeared at the Olympics in 1948, when the games were last in London

The skull of Oviraptor. This fossil was found with fossil eggs, indicating that this parent was brooding over a nest.

Baby Dinosaur Mystery

The dinosaur paleontologists named Oviraptor, “egg thief,” ironically turned out to be a caring mother

Jeffrey Clancy’s misshapen spoons convey an uneasiness characterizing much of the work at the Renwick’s “40 Under 40″ exhibit opening Friday. Collection of Curious Spoons, 2010.

40 Under 40 Opens at the Renwick Today

Forty artists honor 40 years of craft

What a deteriorating brain looks like

An Answer for Alzheimer’s?

A treatment for the disease has eluded scientists for almost two decades. But new research offers hope that they finally may be on the right path

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Events July 20-22: Living Earth Festival, Movie Day, Book Signings at Air and Space

This weekend, celebrate Earth, have a movie day and check out some super cool planes at the Udvar-Hazy Center

Illustration in Science and Invention magazine, explaining the special effects for Metropolis (1927)

1927 Magazine Looks at Metropolis, “A Movie Based On Science”

How filmmakers created a gorgeous, dystopian future

What puts the buzz in energy drinks?

Energy Drinks: Wassup With Supplements?

The effects of energy drink supplements like taurine, guarana and ginseng have been studied prolifically, and some of their benefits are rather surprising

The head of Diplodocus, on a reconstruction at the Utah Field House of Natural History.

How Did Diplodocus Eat?

Huge dinosaurs like Diplodocus couldn’t chew, so how did they eat?

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Neanderthals Weren’t Stone Age Rodeo Riders?

Neanderthal injuries are often compared to those of rodeo riders, but these cowboys may not be the best guide to our cousins’ trauma

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Teen Photographers Win Spot at National Portrait Gallery

Winners of the museum’s Teen Portrait Competition discuss their portraits and the stories behind them

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The Mystery of 221B Baker Street

Our series on Design and Sherlock Holmes begins with an investigation into the location of the famous detective’s London flat

A pack of street dogs naps on a traffic island in Bucharest, Romania. In spite of a culling program, the animals swarm the streets—and occasionally maul residents and tourists.

Man’s Best Friend or the World’s Number-One Pest?

With perhaps 600 million strays skirmishing for food on the fringe of the human world, street dogs are a common element of travel just about everywhere

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Ocean Acidity Rivals Climate Change As Environmental Threat

Rising ocean acidity is now considered to be just as much of a formidable threat to the health of Earth’s environment as the atmospheric climate changes

Square Tower House at Mesa Verde National Park

Mesa Verde’s Mary Jane Colter Collection (But Don’t Call it That)

Among the treasures that will be on display when the park’s new museum opens later this year are 30 pieces donated by the legendary architect

Jennifer Griffin on Managing a Kitchen as an Amputee

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The Clovis Weren’t the First Americans

Projectile points found in Oregon provide more evidence that people arrived in the New World before the Clovis culture

Research Associate Alain Touwaide, seated in his office in the Natural History Museum, argues Rome’s great expansion was driven not by geopolitical strategy, but by a need for plants.

Colds and Conquests: How A Health Crisis May Have Spurred Roman Expansion

Smithsonian Research Associate Alain Touwaide will argue that a quest for medicinal plants may have spurred Roman expansion at his July 18 lecture

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The Swimsuit Series, Part 4: A Competitive Swimmer’s Musings

In Leanne Shapton’s Swimming Studies “Bathing” chapter, there’s a story behind every suit

Anna May Wong in Tod Browning’s Drifting (1923), to be preserved by George Eastman House.

The Year Ahead in Archival Films

A guide to the movies being preserved now that will be available in future months

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Where the Buffalo No Longer Roamed

The Transcontinental Railroad connected East and West—and accelerated the destruction of what had been in the center of North America

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