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Innovation

Learning about a major news event as it transpires can be stressful for families to navigate and process together.

Smithsonian Voices

Smithsonian Educators Offer Tips for Talking to Children After a Traumatic Event

As details about traumatic events unfold in the news, it is important for families to navigate these conversations with young children with care.

Italian company Beeing’s B-Box is small enough to keep on even a modest urban balcony.

Nine Attention-Grabbing Inventions Unveiled at This Year’s CES

Held virtually, the Consumer Electronics Show still debuted plenty of new gadgets, from an easy-to-use beehive to a Bluetooth mask

Three of Yosl Cutler’s surviving puppets: two Jewish characters and one Russian. These were constructed circa 1933.

Smithsonian Voices

The Life and Death of a Yiddish Puppet Theater

Puppets weren’t a common form of entertainment in Jewish culture

Shef, which currently operates in the Bay Area and New York City, features meals made by chefs specializing in dozens of cuisines and hundreds of dishes.

Sick of Quarantine Cooking? New Companies Let Chefs Prepare Homemade Meals for You

Startups like Shef and WoodSpoon give Covid-impacted professional chefs and excellent home cooks a platform for sharing their food

Researchers are hoping to track the conditions lobsters experience as they travel through the supply chain with an eye to reducing the number that die along the way.

A New Device Tracks Lobsters as They Move Through the Supply Chain

Researchers hope the technology can be used to reduce the number of the crustaceans that die along the way

(Top row) Jing Liu and Florian Idenburg, Barron Ryan, Arturo Elizondo, (middle row) Samantha Pratt, Gitanjali Rao, Anitra Belle Henderson, (bottom row) Kennyjie, Andrea Ponti and Brett Phaneuf

Innovation for Good

Ten Innovators to Watch in 2021

These visionaries are imagining an exciting future with chicken-less eggs, self-piloting ships and more

Ory in November 1945, during his comeback after working as a janitor.

Kid Ory Finally Gets the Encore He Deserves

The childhood home of the musician who put New Orleans jazz on the map will soon open to the public

Smithsonian Associates Streaming presents "Mr. President: An Evening with Martin Sheen" on January 19.

Smithsonian Voices

An Evening With Martin Sheen and 24 Other Smithsonian Programs Streaming in January

Kick off the New Year with Smithsonian Associates’ virtual multi-part courses, studio arts classes and study tours

Veteran food critic Florence Fabricant has called peanut butter “the pâté of childhood.”

A Brief History of Peanut Butter

The bizarre sanitarium staple that became a spreadable obsession

Christmas tree cured fish was one well-received recipe Julia Georgallis included in her new cookbook.

You Can Eat Your Christmas Tree. Here’s How to Do It

Turn your once-ornamented tree into something scrumptious

Projects that harness the public to make observations and report data about the health of our environment are growing. Anyone can join—no PhDs needed.

Innovation for Good

Twenty-Four Ways to Turn Outdoor Passions Into Citizen Science

Heading into the new year, consider collecting scientific data while skiing, hiking, surfing, biking and partaking in other adventures

One specimen of the ultra-black fish species Anoplogaster cornuta.

Innovation for Good

Ten Scientific Discoveries From 2020 That May Lead to New Inventions

From soaring snakes to surfing suckerfish, nature is an endless source of inspiration

From a profile of voting rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer to a celebration of collector's items and a history of the StairMaster, these are 25 stories you might have missed in 2020.

Twenty-Five of Our Favorite Stories From 2020

Smithsonian editors highlight some articles you might have missed from the past year

When all was said and done, Thomas Edison would call his talking dolls his "little monsters."

The Epic Failure of Thomas Edison’s Talking Doll

Expensive, heavy, non-functioning and a little scary looking, the doll created by America’s hero-inventor was a commercial flop

PEZ has designed about 1,400 different character heads and innumerable variations.

How PEZ Evolved From an Anti-Smoking Tool to a Beloved Collector’s Item

Early in its history, the candy company made a strategic move to find its most successful market

Since the start of the pandemic, people all over the world have increased their time spent with nature.

Smithsonian Voices

Try These Tips from Smithsonian Educators to Make the Outdoors a Curiosity-Sparking Classroom

Make the Outdoors a Curiosity-Sparking Classroom

Our favorite books this year are ones with messages that help kids understand the world around them.

The Ten Best Children’s Books of 2020

These top titles deliver history lessons, wordplay and a musical romp through the animal kingdom

A student in Evansville, Wisconsin explores a 3D model of a 19th century life mask of President Abraham Lincoln from the National Portrait Gallery’s collections in his school’s computer lab in 2014.

Smithsonian Voices

The Smithsonian’s Evolving Role as the Nation’s Knowledge Partner

Museum education has had a long, ever evolving history at the Smithsonian that can be found at the heart of its mission today

Alex Guarnaschelli talks about cooking with family connections in a live Smithsonian Associates program streaming Dec. 8.

Smithsonian Voices

Cooking with Alex Guarnaschelli and 25 Other Smithsonian Associates Programs Streaming in December

Multi-part courses, studio arts classes and virtual study tours produced by the world’s largest museum-based educational program.

Each year, Purdue University’s INSPIRE Research Institute for Pre-College Engineering turns into a toy testing laboratory.

The Ten Best STEM Toys to Give as Gifts in 2020

Tested and reviewed by engineers, these top picks make coding, robotics and engineering more accessible than ever

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