A New App Turns Fractals Into Ornate Art

With Frax, users can create mathematically-driven art, adding color, depth and texture to geometric shapes

Can cameras read what’s going on in a second grader’s mind?

Can Facial Recognition Really Tell If a Kid Is Learning in Class?

Inventors of software called EngageSense say you can tell if kids are engaged in class by analyzing their eye movements

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Why the Oral Contraceptive Is Just Known as “The Pill”

A new birth control method gave women unprecedented power and revolutionized daily life

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The Science Behind Why Pandas Are So Damn Cute

There’s a reason why millions adore these furry exemplars of China’s “soft power”

Author David Sibley writes in our 101 Objects Special Issue: As a young man John James Audubon was obsessed with birds, and he had a vision for a completely different kind of book. He would paint birds as he saw them in the wild "alive and moving," and paint every species actual size. He travelled the U.S Frontier on foot and horseback seeking birds of every species known to science. He wrote of his time in Kentucky, around 1810, "I shot, I drew, I looked on nature only; my days were happy beyond human conception, and beyond this I really cared not." As Jonathan Rosen points out in The Life of the Skies, these paintings promoted a romantic vision of the wilderness of the New World, to be viewed by people who would never see these birds in real life. Perhaps that is one reason Audubon found more success in England than in the young United States, and why his work still holds its appeal today, as the wilderness he knew and loved recedes further into the past. Read more of Sibley's essay.

How James Audubon Captured the Romance of the New World

An amateur naturalist’s unparalleled artworks still inspire conservationists and collectors alike

PicoBrew Zymatic

Can Brewing Beer Be as Simple as Brewing Coffee?

Inventor Bill Mitchell is developing the PicoBrew Zymatic, an appliance that brews beer at the touch of a button

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Explore Mars’ Mountains and Canyons from a Probe’s-Eye View

Using ten years of data from their probe, the European Space has created a lifelike flyover simulation of the red planet

Behold! The World’s First One-Handed Zipper

After a lot of trial and error, inventor Scott Peters has made a no-fuss magnetic zipper

Projections indicate that our rate of trash production will keep rising past 2100—a concern, because waste can be a proxy for all other environmental stresses.

When Will We Hit Peak Garbage?

Projections indicate that the global rate of trash production will keep rising past 2100—a concern because waste can be a proxy for environmental stresses

These Spectacular Cutaways Give You An Insider’s View of Your Food

Nathan Myhrvold and a team of photographers have sliced meats, vegetables, pots, pans and ovens in half to produce stunning cross-sections of cooking

5 High-Tech Ways to Scare Anyone This Halloween

Forget spaghetti for brains and grapes for eyeballs, these ultra-realistic props will take fright night to whole new level

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Love These Stories? Give 11 Issues of Smithsonian This Holiday for Only $12

Save 81% off the cover price

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Last Day! Vote to Name the National Zoo’s Panda Cub

It is Chinese tradition to celebrate the name of a new life on the 100th day, and we need your help picking the name!

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熊猫实时视频花絮

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Making Giant Panda Breeding Recommendations

Making Giant Panda Breeding Recommendations

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What to Expect During the Next Year

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Watch a Tick Burrowing Into Skin in Microscopic Detail

Their highly specialized biting technique allows ticks to pierce skin with tiny harpoons and suck blood for days at a time

Horseshoe crab

Animal Specimens, From Fish to Birds to Mammals, Get Inked

Inspired by Japanese fish rubbings, two University of Texas biologists make spectacular prints of a variety of species at different stages of decay

Will This $15 Device Protect Against School Shootings?

High school students in Washington D.C. have designed the DeadStop, a simple attachment that instantly locks armed intruders out of classrooms

Kura

Does This Japanese Restaurant Chain Foretell the End of the Waiter?

A mechanized sushi diner drives down the cost of eating out, but does the experience feel as cold as the fish?

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