Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

None

Meet the People who Make Your Globes

It turns out the process of making high end globes is both fascinating and beautiful

Watch This Woman Slowly Transform From Toddler to Elderly Woman

The idea behind Danielle, who is based on a real person, is “that something is happening but you can’t see it but you can feel it, like aging itself”

None

Hear Shakespeare As It Was Meant To Be Heard

Accents change with time, rendering some of Shakespeare’s rhymes obsolete

This Is Why Your Converse Sneakers Have Felt on the Bottom

Felt on your sneakers is there not for function, but for economics - shoes with fuzzy soles are taxed less when imported than those with rubber ones

None

Your Parents’ Music Will Be Stuck in Your Head Forever—And You’ll Like It

Deep down, new research finds, kids may be secretly enjoying themselves and creating fond attachments to oldies songs that still rock their parents out

Eight of the Ten Highest-Paying College Majors Include the Word “Engineering”

According to researchers, unless students come from a wealthy family, considering whether a college degree will pay off as an investment is a smart move

“The Rape of the Sabine Women,” Pietro da Cortnoa

Ask 10,000 Men About “Forced Sex,” And Rape Statistics Start to Make Sense

When asked, one in four men admitted to committing sexual assault

None

A 1928 Yiddish-English-Hebrew Dictionary May Be the First Official Record of “Meh”

The term “meh,” defined as “an expression of indifference or boredom,” entered the Collins English Dictionary in 2008

Here’s How Researchers Determined a Long-Lost Van Gogh Painting Is an Original

Two years of intense research were required to give the painting the final stamp of approval

For $100,000, You Can Have the Most Valuable Pokemon Card Ever

This is by far the most anyone has asked for a trading card like this

None

This 1970s Underground Bomb Shelter Is Impeccably Designed And For Sale

3970 Spencer St seems pretty normal, until you look more closely that you realize that the trees in the background are fake, and the sky is painted on

Sudden Pauses in Text Messaging May Mean You’re Being Lied To

Additionally, we’re more likely to lie by text than in-person or on the phone

What Can Thirty Years of the Times’ Wedding Section Tell Us About Marriage And Social Status?

The Rap Genius Engineering team decided it would be fun to analyze over thirty years of New York Time nuptials to see just what NYT couples are like

Artists Might Not Make Much, But They’re Happier With Their Jobs Than You

While they may not make much money or live in the nicest of places, artists are actually far more satisfied with their jobs that you probably are

These Gorgeous Photos Capture China’s Quickly Vanishing Traditional Ways of Life

A new book of photography addresses the tumultuous changes currently rocking China and seeks to capture traditional ways of life that may soon disappear

The symbol of the Yamaguchi-gumi, the largest yakuza family and the ones who put out their new magazine.

Japanese Mafia Has Its Own Magazine

Looking to boost morale, the Japanese crime syndicate is putting out a magazine

None

Russian Authorities Are Deciding If It’s Illegal to Paint Putin in a Negligee

Russian police are flexing their newly appointed authority under the country’s anti-gay propaganda law

Strikes began in July in New York, and have now spread to the South.

Why It’s a Big Deal That Fast Food Strikes Have Spread to the South

Fast food workers are asking for more money and to unionize, something that’s unusual to see in the South

Saving the Last of the Great Carousels

The ornate, well made carousels of the past are in danger - degrading, being sold piecemeal and sometimes even for parts

Can Wikipedia Edits Predict Box Office Success?

How do you quantify the buzz around a movie? One group of researchers suggests looking at Wikipedia edits

Page 270 of 287