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October 2021
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Features
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In Their Element
A photographer takes the plunge into forbidding waters off Norway for an extraordinary encounter with orcas
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Sake in the USA
The ancient Japanese art of brewing a fragrant alcoholic drink from rice is being reinterpreted by Atsuo Sakurai in an unlikely setting
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The Plague Among Children
It was highly contagious, lethal and mysterious. Then medical experts developed treatments and vaccines, and the affliction disappeared—but not entirely
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The Wonder of Avi Loeb
The physicist thinks we might have glimpsed evidence of an alien civilization. Despite controversy, he’s determined to find more
Departments
What It Takes
A successful Secretary must acknowledge the Institution’s failures as well as successes—and celebrate its capacity for change
The Storm Problem
Smithsonian Secretary Joseph Henry used an army of volunteers in what would eventually become the nation's weather forecasting operation
Material Witness
For historians, the textiles are much more than just decorative covers for a bed
The Other Sparta
Fierce? Yes. Tough? You bet. But the true history of the Greek civilization had a lot more nuance
Play the Past
On campuses across the country, professors are putting historically based games into the classroom
Key to a Lost Language
The Tuxtla Statuette illuminates an endangered Latin American culture
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