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Construction on the Pentagon was completed in January 1943. With about 6.4 million square feet, it is still today the world’s largest low-rise office building.

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Why Is the Pentagon a Pentagon?

Planners battled to ensure the building kept its unique shape

What Is Dark Matter and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

The heroes of the movie Kong: Skull Island prepare to encounter the 104-foot-tall ape King Kong.

Science in the Movies

How Big Can a Land Animal Get?

King Kong’s biggest enemy isn’t humans—it’s the laws of physics

Shortly after the announcement of the TRAPPIST-1 system, NASA crowdsourced its Twitter followers for possible planet names. The actual process of naming new planets, however, is a bit more involved.

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How Do New Planets Get Their Names?

Sorry, Planet McPlanetface: Asteroids, moons and other celestial bodies go through a strict set of international naming guidelines

The Beast must learn to love someone else and be loved before the last petal falls on the Enchanted Rose in the tale of the new Disney film, Beauty and the Beast

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The Beast’s Enchanted Rose Lasted a Decade. How Long Can a Real One Last?

A Smithsonian expert says the film’s was undoubtedly a hybrid tea rose

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Why Is Pennsylvania Ave D.C.’s Main Thoroughfare and More Questions From Our Readers

Your questions answered by our experts

The woolly arctic moth caterpillar produces alcohols that allow it to avoid freezing at temperatures reaching -70 degrees F.

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What Do Insects Do in Winter?

When winter comes, most bugs either migrate or time travel. But some get far more creative

Still Life with Fruit, Oysters, and Wine by Everhart Kuhn, ca. 1865

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Are Oysters an Aphrodisiac?

Sure, if you think so

Many Chinese restaurant names with words like golden, fortune, luck and garden are chosen for their auspiciousness—out of the owners’ desire for success.

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Why Do Chinese Restaurants Have Such Similar Names?

Consistency and familiarity is the tradition

The doormouse hibernates to conserve resources in harsh conditions. Similarly, scientists envision humans hibernating to endure long-distance space travel.

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Can Humans Ever Harness the Power of Hibernation?

Scientists want to know if astronauts can hibernate during long spaceflights. First, they need to understand what hibernation is

Inspectors examined the eyes of immigrants at Ellis Island in New York Harbor, but did they change their names?

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Did Ellis Island Officials Really Change the Names of Immigrants?

On the 125th anniversary of the famous portal to the U.S., history shows inspectors were not the ones changing people’s names

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Is the Earthworm Native to the United States and More Questions From Readers

You asked, we answered

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When Did the Vice Presidency Stop Going to the 2nd Place Winner and More Questions From Our Readers

Also up for discussion—why are oceans seawater and not freshwater?

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Ask Smithsonian: What Is a Freckle?

Those adorable and charming spots splayed across the nose and cheeks might also be an indicator of sun damage

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Ask Smithsonian: How Do You Make a Mummy?

Mummification has been practiced for eons and the Egyptians are the best known, but not the only practioners

None

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Ask Smithsonian: Is the World Due for Another Massive Plague Outbreak?

It is highly unlikely, experts say, but a plague-based bioterror assault is another matter

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Why Do Astronauts on the International Space Station Float and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answered

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Ask Smithsonian: How Does Night Vision Work?

The ability to see in the dark is becoming more accurate and more portable

How Powerful Is a Volcanic Eruption and More Questions From Our Readers

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How does skin heal? You'll never look at a scab the same way again.

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Ask Smithsonian: How Does Skin Heal?

The skin is an organ system that is unique to each individual, so not everyone heals the same way

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