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Science

The character of Smokey Bear first appeared in 1944.

A Brief History of Smokey Bear, the Forest Service’s Legendary Mascot

How the beloved figure has become a lightning rod in a heated environmental debate

Hesperornithoides miessleri was a feathered dinosaur with many features we now associate with birds.

Discovery of Raptor-Like Dinosaur Adds a New Wrinkle to the Origin of Birds

A small, 150 million-year-old dinosaur unearthed in Wyoming ran on the ground, but it may have been closely related to some of the first fliers

NASA Mission Control during the Apollo 11 moonwalk, with the live broadcast from the lunar surface on the screen.

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

A Wind Storm in Australia Nearly Interrupted the Moon Landing Broadcast

As Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon, radio telescope operators in New South Wales scrambled to receive the live video

The author likes to think the lunar rover's design was informed in part by his father's experience retooling the family station wagon.

From the Family Station Wagon to the Apollo Lunar Rover, My Dad’s Engineering Talent Had No Limits

Stricken with polio as an adult, he retired from the military and joined NASA’s ingenious design team

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Reflections on the New Fossil Hall From the Experts Who Created It

The team behind the Smithsonian’s new dinosaur and fossil hall reflect on what “deep time” means to them.

Although the saying, "it's hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk," has been a common expression for over a century, it likely has never actually been hot enough to cook an egg on pavement.

Attempting to Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk Has Been a Summer Pastime for Over 100 Years

The Fourth of July is also National Fry an Egg on the Sidewalk Day, and no amount of scientific logic can crack this tradition

Excavation of the Philistine cemetery at Ashkelon.

Ancient DNA Sheds New Light on the Biblical Philistines

A team of scientists sequenced genomes from people who lived in a port city on the Mediterranean coast of Israel between the 12th and 8th centuries B.C.

Photos Capture the Great South American Eclipse

On July 2, residents of Chile and Argentina witnessed the first total solar eclipse since August 2017

Ann Montgomery, lead crew systems engineer during the Apollo program, on the swing arm of the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center with other NASA employees, circa 1970.

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

At 21, Ann Montgomery Became a Lead Engineer at NASA, Managing the Cameras and Other Crucial Gear Used on the Moon

Montgomery worked closely with the Apollo astronauts to train them to use handheld tools and equipment on the moon

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Future of Space Exploration

Future of Space Exploration

To boldly go where no humans have gone before

The little shrimp turn green to blend in with the seaweed meadows they call home.

Newborn Shrimp Often Undergo Sex Reversal, but Ocean Acidification Could Disturb That Natural Process

Chemicals in microalgae are crucial for these bright green shrimp’s sexual development, but ocean acidification could change that

An artist's interpretation of what life could have been like if ancient humans and ancient ostriches crossed paths.

Fossil of Ancient Bird Three Times Bigger Than an Ostrich Found in Europe

The fossil is about 1.8 million years old, meaning the bird may have arrived on the continent around the same time as Homo erectus

Though photons do not have mass, they do transfer momentum when they reflect off a reflective space sail, giving it a slight boost.

Future of Space Exploration

LightSail 2 Launches to Space to Soar on the Power of Sunshine

The Planetary Society’s second solar sail will attempt to use sunlight to fly through space

The new app allows users to walk on the moon with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

Education During Coronavirus

The Augmented Reality App That Lets You Experience the Moon Landing

Tied to a new series from the Smithsonian Channel, the app is the closest you can get to being on the moon without time-traveling to 1969

Commander Neil Armstrong, Command Module Pilot Michael Collins and Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin, July 24, 1969

Apollo at 50: We Choose to Go to the Moon

How Neil, Buzz and Mike Got Their Workouts in on Their Way to the Moon and Back

To counter the effects of weightlessness, NASA equipped Apollo 11 with an Exer-Genie for isometric exercises

Smithsonian Podcast

Sidedoor: A Smithsonian Podcast

Stories from the Institution told in an innovative audio experience

Anaxagoras, who lived in the fifth century B.C., was one of the first people in recorded history to recognize that the moon was a rocky, mountainous body.

An Ancient Greek Philosopher Was Exiled for Claiming the Moon Was a Rock, Not a God

2,500 years ago, Anaxagoras correctly determined that the rocky moon reflects light from the sun, allowing him to explain lunar phases and eclipses

The robot is a bit slow moving at about 1.5 body lengths per minute. But the new design shows promise for future hybrid systems.

Engineers Built a Robotic Lionfish With an Energetic Bloodstream

The robo-fish pumps energy-packed liquid through vein-like tubes to move its fins and swim for hours

Original Caption: Firemen stand on a bridge over the Cuyahoga River to spray water on the tug Arizona, as a fire, started in an oil slick on the river, sweeps the docks at the Great Lakes Towing Company site in Cleveland Nov., 1st. The blaze destroyed three tugs, three buildings, and the ship repair yards.

The Cuyahoga River Caught Fire at Least a Dozen Times, but No One Cared Until 1969

Despite being much smaller than previous fires, the river blaze in Cleveland 50 years ago became a symbol for the nascent environmental movement

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