Code | smithsonianmag.comhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/code/RSS feed for CodeenFri, 27 Feb 2026 22:25:46 +0000This Ancient Roman Game Board Was a Mystery. Researchers Used A.I. to Figure Out How to Playhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-ancient-roman-game-board-was-a-mystery-researchers-used-ai-to-figure-out-how-to-play-180988266/The limestone oval is carved with a dark, thin rectangle on which ancient people repeatedly moved game piecesFri, 27 Feb 2026 22:25:46 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-ancient-roman-game-board-was-a-mystery-researchers-used-ai-to-figure-out-how-to-play-180988266/Nobody Has Been Able to Solve the CIA's Famous 'Kryptos' Sculpture. Soon, the Solution Will Be Sold to the Highest Bidderhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nobody-has-been-able-to-solve-the-cias-famous-kryptos-sculpture-soon-the-solution-will-be-sold-to-the-highest-bidder-180987200/Three of the four messages carved into the sculpture have been deciphered, but the final puzzle has left amateur sleuths stumped. In November, the solution could fetch up to $500,000 at auctionTue, 19 Aug 2025 18:35:54 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nobody-has-been-able-to-solve-the-cias-famous-kryptos-sculpture-soon-the-solution-will-be-sold-to-the-highest-bidder-180987200/The QWERTY Keyboard Will Never Die. Where Did the 150-Year-Old Design Come From?https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-qwerty-keyboard-will-never-die-where-did-the-150-year-old-design-come-from-49863249/The invention's true origin story has long been the subject of debate. Some argue it was created to prevent typewriter jams, while others insist it's linked to the telegraphFri, 03 May 2013 12:34:57 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-qwerty-keyboard-will-never-die-where-did-the-150-year-old-design-come-from-49863249/The Spy Who Exposed the Secrets of the Black Chamber, One of America's First Code-Breaking Organizationshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-spy-who-exposed-the-secrets-of-the-black-chamber-one-of-americas-first-code-breaking-organizations-180985947/In 1931, Herbert O. Yardley published a tell-all book about his experiences leading a covert government agency called the Cipher BureauTue, 04 Feb 2025 11:30:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-spy-who-exposed-the-secrets-of-the-black-chamber-one-of-americas-first-code-breaking-organizations-180985947/British Government Places Export Ban on Alan Turing's World War II-Era Notebookshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/british-government-places-export-ban-on-alan-turings-world-war-ii-era-notebooks-180984941/The mathematician took careful notes while working on a portable voice encryption system in the mid-1940sWed, 21 Aug 2024 20:23:51 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/british-government-places-export-ban-on-alan-turings-world-war-ii-era-notebooks-180984941/Voyager 1 Sends Clear Data to NASA for the First Time in Five Monthshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/voyager-1-sends-clear-data-to-nasa-for-the-first-time-in-five-months-180984209/The farthest spacecraft from Earth had been transmitting nonsense since November, but after an engineering tweak, it finally beamed back a report on its health and statusTue, 23 Apr 2024 19:45:32 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/voyager-1-sends-clear-data-to-nasa-for-the-first-time-in-five-months-180984209/'Unsolvable' Code Hidden in Antique Dress Pocket Is Finally Crackedhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/unsolvable-code-hidden-in-antique-dress-pocket-is-finally-cracked-180983550/Short, handwritten lines of unrelated words contained coded weather reports to send via telegraph in the late 19th centuryMon, 08 Jan 2024 20:41:12 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/unsolvable-code-hidden-in-antique-dress-pocket-is-finally-cracked-180983550/Code Breakers Discover—and Decipher—Long-Lost Letters by Mary, Queen of Scotshttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/codebreakers-discoverand-decipherlong-lost-letters-by-mary-queen-of-scots-180981613/The deposed monarch wrote the 57 encrypted messages during her captivity in EnglandFri, 10 Feb 2023 20:06:38 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/codebreakers-discoverand-decipherlong-lost-letters-by-mary-queen-of-scots-180981613/See Inside the Rarely Seen and Newly Reimagined CIA Museumhttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cia-museum-artifacts-online-catalog-180981091/Off-limits to all but a few in-person visitors, the museum is starting to welcome the public, online at leastThu, 10 Nov 2022 13:06:01 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cia-museum-artifacts-online-catalog-180981091/Two Hundred Years Ago, the Rosetta Stone Unlocked the Secrets of Ancient Egypthttps://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/rosetta-stone-hieroglyphs-champollion-decipherment-egypt-180980834/French scholar Jean-François Champollion announced his decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs on September 27, 1822Tue, 27 Sep 2022 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/rosetta-stone-hieroglyphs-champollion-decipherment-egypt-180980834/