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Travel

Hoh Rainforest moss

National Parks

Is This the Quietest Square Inch in the U.S.?

An acoustic ecologist reveals his findings

Whitney Plantation, Big House

Inside America’s Auschwitz

A new museum offers a rebuke — and an antidote — to our sanitized history of slavery

Edelweiss.

Switzerland

Switzerland’s Most Beautiful Alpine Gardens

The best place to see Switzerland’s stunning flora is high up in the mountains

Jaya Jaitly has fought for the survival of traditional crafts such as the earthen pots, pans, planters, piggy banks and pradip, or oil lamps.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: India

Meet the Woman Fighting for the Survival of India’s Traditional Crafts Culture

Jaya Jaitly aims to protect India’s cultural heritage from the threat of globalized marketplaces

A Cheese-Lover’s Guide to the Midwest

America’s heartland is a cheesy paradise

Arches National Park

National Parks

Marathoner Sets Out to Run All of America’s National Parks

Autumn Ray’s goal: 59 national parks before she turns 40 in four years

This spring, think about looking for cherry blossoms in unexpected places.

Where to See the Best Cherry Blossoms Around the World

The blossoms in Japan and Washington, D.C are breathtaking, but you can see beautiful flowers in places like Stockholm, too

Cow trekking at Bolderhof.

Europe

Save a Horse, Ride a Cow Through the Swiss Alps

A farm in Switzerland offers a slow moo-tion ride through the alpine countryside

Avenue of Cherry Trees Yoshida Hiroshi, Showa era, 1935

How Cherry Trees Blossomed Into a Tourist Attraction

The fragile and transient blossom may herald the first stirrings of spring, but their significance has evolved since the 9th century

Digital Skin by Mateo Mounier

See Dozens of Dazzling New Light Installations in Baltimore This Week

Light City Baltimore is a massive, site-specific festival, launched in hopes of becoming an annual spectacle

Independence Day Celebration by Lauren Good Day Giago, (Arikara/Hidatsa/Blackfeet/Plains Cree), 2012, antique ledger paper, colored pencil, graphite, ink, felt-tipped marker

For These Native American Artists, the Material Is the Message

A new exhibition traces the evolution of Plains tribes’ narrative art from the 18th century up through today’s contemporary works

The Bisti Badlands in northern New Mexico is known for its Easter egg-like rock formations.

These Massive Rock Formations Look Just Like Cracked Eggs

Bisti Badlands’ bizarre eggs bring a bit of Easter to the New Mexico desert

This Tube is full of mosquitoes.

Cool Finds

The London Underground Has Its Own Mosquito Subspecies

Take a bite out of this strange evolutionary example

Much of the bunker looks the same as it did when it was fully functional.

Switzerland

Switzerland’s Historic Bunkers Get a New Lease on Life

As the shadow of war fades, the country’s former fallout shelters now house everything from museums to cheese factories

On a remote plateau, researchers reveal a royal capital whose splendors prefigure the glories of the Angkor complex.

The Lost City of Cambodia

Deep in the jungles of southeast Asia, archaeologists have rediscovered the remains of an invisible kingdom that may have been the template for Angkor Wat

When Dinosaurs Roamed the (Not Yet) Petrified Forest

Recent surprise discoveries at the national park have prompted a complete rethinking about the creatures of the Jurassic Era

Breaking Ground

How the Green Book Helped African-American Tourists Navigate a Segregated Nation

Listing hotels, restaurants and other businesses open to African-Americans, the guide was invaluable for Jim-Crow era travelers

The Ichthyornis is a toothed bird that links birds with reptiles.

The “Sistine Chapel of Evolution” Is in New Haven, Connecticut

Charles Darwin never visited the Yale museum, but you can, and see for yourself the specimens that he praised as the best evidence for his theory

Local actors Judy Barth, Ruth Ochsenrider and Jim Barth peer over photos of original Scopes Trial jurors during the annual Scopes Trial Festival in Dayton, Tennessee.

How Much Has the Town Where the Scopes Trial Took Place Evolved Since the 1920s?

Each July, Dayton, Tennessee, celebrates its role in the famous court case with a re-enactment and festival

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