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Which Animal is the Smartest, How Did Fingernails Evolve and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

Text Me, Ishmael: Reading Moby Dick in Emoji

Why someone would translate Herman Melville’s classic into emoticons

How Did Computers Uncover J.K. Rowling’s Pseudonym?

Forensic linguistics can use powerful programs to track written text back to its author

Your Weekly Sermons, Illustrated

Artist John Hendrix finds divine inspiration every Sunday when he goes to church

Everybody in Almost Every Language Says “Huh”? HUH?!

What makes this utterance the “universal word”?

From the Editor

From the Editor

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Discussion

From our readers

Invitees to the museum’s grand reopening in 2008 admire the newly restored flag.

Previewing the Smithsonian’s Plans for the 200th Anniversary of the Star-Spangled Banner

And at the same time, the American History Museum celebrates its 50th birthday

Why Carl Sagan is Truly Irreplaceable

No one will ever match his talent as the “gatekeeper of scientific credibility”

500,000 Cranes Are Headed for Nebraska in One of Earth’s Greatest Migrations

At the end of March, 80 percent of the world’s cranes will converge upon one 80-mile stretch of land

From the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.

How Merv Griffin Came Up With That Weird Question/Answer Format for Jeopardy!

Champion Ken Jennings delves into what gives the virtually unchanged game show its lasting power

This double-edged iron sword was found in Denmark’s Tisso Lake.

The Vikings’ Bad Boy Reputation Is Back With a Vengeance

A major new exhibition is reviving the Norse seafarers’ iconic image as rampagers and pillagers

The Baliem Valley was a “magnificent vastness” in Rockefeller’s eyes, and its people were “emotionallly expressive.” But Asmat proved to be “more remote country than what I have ever seen.”

What Really Happened to Michael Rockefeller

A journey to the heart of New Guinea’s Asmat tribal homeland sheds new light on the mystery of the heir’s disappearance there in 1961

As the Planet Warms, What Happens to the Reindeer?

Ecologists are racing across the ice to find out how climate change will affect the Arctic natives

An artist's rendition of the Big Bang.

What Astronomers Are Still Discovering About the Big Bang Theory

A half-century after it was confirmed, the theory still yields new secrets

What is Garry Kasparov’s Next Move?

The great chess champion brings his knowledge to the games of Sochi, global politics and computer intelligence

From the Editor

Introducing our February 2014 issue

Can Space End, Where Did Time Zones Come From and More Questions from our Readers

You asked, we answered

"You're in three dimensional space": "Aerial America" got the swoop on Padre Island during the series' visit to Texas.

How the Crew of “Aerial America” Gets its Stunning Shots

A new fusion of camera and captor gives us a bird’s-eye view of America

The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln

The History of How We Came to Revere Abraham Lincoln

The slain president’s two personal secretaries battled mudslingers for a quarter-century to shape his image

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