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Smart News / Smart News Travel

San Francisco's modern-day Chinatown. Old Chinatown was almost completely destroyed during the earthquake of 1906 and the fires that ensued.

Cool Finds

Traces of San Francisco’s Pre-1906 Earthquake Chinatown Uncovered

Old sewing machines shed light on an enclave that city officials once tried to eliminate

The "Great Garuda" seawall will be shaped like Indonesia's national symbol—a mythical, birdlike creature.

Cool Finds

Jakarta Is Building a Gigantic Bird-Shaped Seawall

But will the Great Garuda project be enough to save a sinking city?

The ashram's entrance was once closed to visitors, who had to sneak in or bribe a guard.

Cool Finds

Abandoned Beatles Ashram Is Opened to the Public for the First Time in a Long, Long, Long Time

Get back to the site of the Fab Four’s disastrous meditation retreat

During the first two years of the team's studies, snow sealed the entrance to Snow Dragon cave. But in recent years, low snowpack has kept the entrance open year-round.

Cool Finds

Behold the Beauty of Disappearing Glacier Ice Caves on Mt. Hood

Catch them before they’re gone — these tunnels and caverns may soon melt away

It took Leo Tolstoy six years to write War and Peace.

Trending Today

There’s a ‘War and Peace’ Marathon Going On in Russia

It will take 1,300 readers four days and 60 hours to read the book out loud

Trending Today

See the Vatican Light Up With Images Warning Against Climate Change

Animals prowled across St. Peter’s Basilica in a move to connect Earth’s beauty with the dangers of climate change

A scientist says a multispectral analysis of the Mona Lisa shows hidden portraits beneath the famous painting.

New Research

A French Scientist Says the Mona Lisa is Hiding a Portrait of Another Woman

Some art experts, however, are skeptical

Cool Finds

Is Stonehenge a Hand-Me-Down Monument?

New research suggests the monument was first built in Wales then dragged 180 miles to its current location

A cyclist braves Beijing's smog with a face mask last month.

Trending Today

Beijing Just Issued Its First “Red Alert” for Smog

Will the city’s latest smog crisis spur international action on climate change?

A diver inspects the plane's forward turret.

Cool Finds

View a Rare Seaplane Lost Just Before the Pearl Harbor Attack

The plane was a casualty of the first phase of the raid that took place on December 7, 1941

Mount Etna's eruption on December 3, 2015 was powerful enough to produce volcanic lightning

Trending Today

Watch Mount Etna and Momotombo Erupt in All Their Glory

Photos and video catch the spectacular events in action

How many curls can you count?

Cool Finds

A Buddha in Japan Is Missing Half of Its Curls

What happened to the Buddha of Nara’s famous ‘do?

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Inca Road

Visit Machu Picchu With Google Street View

Armed with a backpack and 15 high-res cameras, Google just tackled one of the world’s wonders

Residents evacuate their homes in Chennai during catastrophic floods.

Trending Today

Five Things You Should Know about the Catastrophic Flooding in Chennai

Mass evacuations, a submerged airport and questions about the city’s urban planning

Trending Today

Hundreds of Fake Ads Protest Paris Climate Summit’s Corporate Sponsors

Artists in Paris distributed 600 posters calling out companies’ hypocrisy

Never fear—Swett, SD's town sign has been replaced with one that doesn't have bullet holes.

Cool Finds

For Sale: A Haunted Ghost Town

Swett, South Dakota can be yours for just $250,000

This is an artist's impression of sauropod dinosaurs on the Isle of Skye.

New Research

Hundreds of Dinosaur Tracks Discovered Along the Scottish Coast

Giant sauropods once roamed the Isle of Skye

Trending Today

Mount Everest’s Glaciers are Turning Into Lakes

Thousands of Himalayan glaciers could melt by the end of the century

Centurions drink from a fountain near Rome's Coliseum during a heat wave in summer 2014. A recent announcement that centurion reenactors will be banned from the Coliseum during 2016 has led to protests and public outcry.

Trending Today

Rome Just Banned Centurions

Officials stir up controversy by kicking impersonators out of the Colosseum

Trending Today

A Hemingway Book Has Hit the Paris Bestseller List After Recent Attacks

A Moveable Feast declares that “there is never any end to Paris”

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