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Woodblock print on paper by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.

Cool Finds

Japan Is Getting a Ninja Museum

Officials hope the iconic warriors can sneak more tourism into the country

Bee pollination drives billions of dollars a year in global agricultural production, but the busy insects are under threat.

New Research

New Map Highlights Bee Population Declines Across the U.S.

As wild bee populations continue to fall, new research identifies counties that will be hit the hardest

Walt Whitman photographed in 1854, two years after his serialized novella was first published anonymously.

A Graduate Student Just Discovered a Lost Work of Fiction by Walt Whitman

The serialized novella was first published anonymously in 1852

Tootsie Rolls contain small amounts of cocoa and also an ingredient you might not expect—orange extract.

Tootsie Rolls Were WWII Energy Bars

The candies were included in rations because they stayed fresh for a long time

Within Our Gates is the oldest surviving film by a black director.

Cool Finds

Watch the Oldest-Known Surviving Film by an African-American Director

Within Our Gates was Oscar Micheaux’s response to a racist classic

Dachau's gate had a chilling message for its inmates.

Trending Today

Stolen ‘Arbeit Macht Frei’ Gate Returns to Dachau

The identity of the thieves remains a mystery

Hans Scholl, Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst (pictured, left to right, in 1942) resisted the Nazis as members of the White Rose, a secret student group.

Trending Today

The Secret Student Group That Stood Up to the Nazis

The White Rose was short-lived, but its words were hard to ignore

Tracking individual lemurs—such as the endangered red-bellied lemur pictured here—is no easy task. But researchers hope that facial recognition software can help in the fight for the survival of the bushy-tailed primates.

New Research

How Do You Pick a Lemur Out of a Lineup? This Software Makes the Leap

Facial recognition software can identify individuals, helping researchers conserve the endangered primate

Aleutian people stand on the deck of a ship forcibly evacuating them to southeastern Alaska.

Trending Today

The U.S. Forcibly Detained Native Alaskans During World War II

In the name of safety, Aleuts were held against their will under intolerable conditions in internment camps

The Daisy was a popular cocktail with many variations, including the Tequila Daisy.

Here’s How To Make the Margarita’s (Possible) Predecessor, the Daisy

This cocktail has its roots in the nineteenth century, and some of its first recipes are made with brandy, not tequila

This crop near Kagwada, South Sudan was destroyed first by armed rebels, then by roaming cattle who wiped it clean. South Sudan now faces a humanitarian crisis in the form of a famine.

Trending Today

With Tens of Thousands Facing Starvation, Famine Is Declared in Parts of South Sudan

One million more are “on the brink” of famine

Cool Finds

Albania Wants to Show Off Its Shipwrecks

From 6th century B.C. Greek cargo ships to WWII wrecks, the Balkan nation is hoping to boost tourism by highlighting its underwater archaeology

Trending Today

The Country’s Most Famous Bald Eagle Pair Just Laid Another Egg

To the delight of millions of online viewers, the nesting eagles at the U.S. National Arboretum welcomed a new egg to their nest

President Trump talks to Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton in front of the "Paradox of Liberty" exhibit.

Breaking Ground

President Trump Visits the African American History Museum

Museum director Lonnie Bunch and Smithsonian Secretary David Skorton led the president and his entourage on a tour of the new museum

African-American Girl Scouts chat at a camp named after Josephine Holloway, who pioneered scouting for girls of color.

Cool Finds

Girl Scouting Was Once Segregated

Though the Girl Scouts of the USA initially declared itself a space for all girls, the reality was different for girls of color

A still from El Primo Amanecer, a short film narrated in Huichol, an indigenous language of Mexico that UNESCO classifies as "vulnerable." The film will be shown as part of a Smithsonian festival about endangered languages this week.

Four Things That Happen When a Language Dies

This World Mother Language Day, read about why many say we should be fighting to preserve linguistic diversity

Cradle to Cradle laid out a strategy for reducing waste through smarter product design. Case in point: the book itself is plastic and waterproof; the pages can be recycled and the ink can be washed off for reuse.

The Inventors of Upcycling Published Their Manifesto In a Plastic Book. Why?

You might have heard the term in relation to crafting, but it means a lot more

The first "phone book" (really a one-page sheet) came long before phones like this, but it was an important step towards the printed directories that were ubiquitous in the twentieth century and are now often considered outdated.

The First Telephone Book Had Fifty Listings and No Numbers

It came out less than two years after Alexander Graham Bell invented the device

This photo shows the Berkeley 60-inch cyclotron, build in 1939. The year before, technetium-99 was discovered by Emilio Segrè and Glenn Seaborg using the facility's 37-inch cyclotron. Ernest Lawrence, the cyclotron's inventor, is standing, third from left.

Old Particle Accelerator Tech Might Be Just What the Doctor Ordered

Shortages of important supplies for nuclear medicine has researchers looking for answers on how to produce technetium-99

Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park

Trending Today

Mining Exploration Begins in Michigan’s Porcupine Mountains

Michigan is divided over a mining company’s plans to drill for copper in a beloved state park

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