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Innovation

Pooling samples means one test can screen multiple people.

Covid-19

Pooled Testing Could Be the Fastest and Cheapest Way to Increase Coronavirus Screening

Placing swabs from multiple individuals in a single test gets more people diagnosed using fewer supplies

It won’t be surprising if 2020’s “quarantine summer” sees even higher than usual sales for the toy.

The Accidental Invention of the Slip ‘N Slide

A young boy’s summer antics 60 years ago inspired his father to create the timeless backyard water toy

Specimens like these at Dublin’s Natural History Museum contain valuable information about the evolution of pathogens and host organisms.

Covid-19

How Museum Collections Could Help Scientists Predict Future Pandemics

The broad array of animal specimens could allow researchers to identify likely pathogen sources, hosts and transmission pathways

Attendees arrive to watch the movie Grease at a pop-up drive-in theatre at Bucktown Marina Park on May 22, 2020 in Metairie, Louisiana.

Covid-19

This Is the Summer of the Drive-In Theater

From longtime establishments to pop-up venues, this 20th-century attraction is providing a safe, socially distanced activity

Some cities are turning to on-demand programs called microtransit.

Covid-19

Cities Are Eyeing Microtransit During COVID-19 Pandemic

From Los Angeles to Abu Dhabi, transit authorities are creating on-demand systems. But experts say there are tradeoffs

Video visits with doctors and other health-care workers saw a sharp uptick as the COVID-19 pandemic took off.

Covid-19

Is COVID-19 the Tipping Point for Telemedicine?

Sheltering in place has pushed virtual health care into the mainstream, making us wonder if we’ll ever go back to waiting rooms

To get around the hair clipper shortage, the founder of the Trans Clippers Project bulk ordered supplies during the early days of the pandemic.

Covid-19

A New Project Hopes to Give Transgender Americans Some Much-Needed Haircuts

To promote mental health during the pandemic, the Trans Clippers Project has provided hundreds of trans and nonbinary people with a free pair of clippers

A woman sunbathes in a roped-off distancing zone marked out along the beaches in La Grande Motte, southern France.

Covid-19

Five Safety Measures Beaches Are Taking to Minimize the Spread of COVID-19

Seaside areas around the world are using technology and strict regulations to try to protect visitors from the virus

Stewart Adams had originally set out to find a cure for rheumatoid arthritis.

The Inventor of Ibuprofen Tested the Drug on His Own Hangover

Stewart Adams’ headache subsided—and his over-the-counter pain reliever became one of the world’s most popular medications

Monitor local animal populations, identify plants, transcribe women astronomers' notes, bird-watch and more.

Education During Coronavirus

Seventy-Five Scientific Research Projects You Can Contribute to Online

From astrophysicists to entomologists, many researchers need the help of citizen scientists to sift through immense data collections

Cookbook author Lena Richard (above with her daughter and sous chef Marie Rhodes) was the star of a 1949 popular 30-minute cooking show, airing on New Orleans' WDSU-TV.

Meet Lena Richard, the Celebrity Chef Who Broke Barriers in the Jim Crow South

Lena Richard was a successful New Orleans-based chef, educator, writer and entrepreneur

Boxed Day-Glo orange mac and cheese like this is an invention of the past century.

How Boxed Mac and Cheese Became a Pantry Staple

Processed cheese solved the problem of the dairy product going bad, and it was incredibly convenient

Recommendations include Things That Make White People Uncomfortable, Fist Stick Knife Gun: A Personal History of Violence in America and The Making of Black Revolutionaries: A Personal Account.

Race in America

Smithsonian Scholars and Researchers Share Works That Shed Light on the History of U.S. Racism

In this dynamic time, a list of film, podcasts and books is offered for a nation grappling with its fraught history

In this origin story of the modern ventilator, we appreciate the duality of intensive care medicine: Its defining strength is also its weakness.

Covid-19

How a Polio Outbreak in Copenhagen Led to the Invention of the Ventilator

After one hospital struggled to sustain the breathing of hundreds of patients, engineers found a solution that saved lives and sparked an ethical firestorm

Maintaining social distancing is a challenge as workplaces reopen during the coronavirus pandemic.

Covid-19

How Workplaces Will Use Emerging Tech to Monitor Social Distancing

But do these technologies, apps and wearables respect employee privacy?

The first #BlackBirdersWeek celebrates Black birders and nature enthusiasts while inspiring more conservation-curious to join their community.

Smithsonian Voices

Meet the Organizers of #BlackBirdersWeek

Many of us had shared experiences of racism while being black outdoors, say Ashley Gary, Sheridan Alford, Chelsea Connor and Joseph Saunders

To help people enter into conversations "in ways that are fruitful," says Spencer Crew, the interim director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, a new online portal "Talking About Race" is now available.

How to Have That Tough Conversation About Race, Racism and Racial Identity

The Smithsonian’s African American History Museum debuts the online teaching tool “Talking About Race”

Our Stories students gather at Maunakea with kūpuna Calvin Hoe (center).

In Hawai’i, Young Storytellers Document the Lives of Their Elders

Through a Smithsonian program, students filmed a climactic moment in the protests over the building of a controversial observatory

For Papazian, the labor of brewing makes the result all the more enjoyable. “The best beer in the world,” he likes to say, “is the one you brewed.”

The Schoolteacher Who Sparked America’s Craft Brew Revolution

Here’s a toast to Charlie Papazian, the beer pioneer who blazed the way for thousands of brewers today

Vial and packaging for the 1957 H2N2 vaccine, at the National Museum of American History. Producing the inoculation required hundreds of thousands of fertilized chicken eggs per day.

Covid-19

How the U.S. Fought the 1957 Flu Pandemic

The story of the medical researcher whose quick action protected millions of Americans from a new contagion

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