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Cities

Smog often chokes New Delhi's skies, but this year's cloud is the worst on record.

Trending Today

New Delhi Scrambles to Curb Record Smog

Will the measures be enough to help the smoke-choked city improve air quality?

Sssh.

Cool Finds

Researchers Are Recording New York to Make it Quieter

A high-tech aural map could reduce noise nuisances throughout the city

Simple, yet effective.

Why Public Health Researchers Are Looking to Urban Trees

A global study finds they can help cool cities and reduce air pollution—for less money than high-tech answers

Chicago gangster Al Capone wearing a bathing suit at his Florida home. Ca. 1929-31

Seeking the Humanity of Al Capone

Through interviews with his descendants, one biographer sees the family man behind the infamous gangster

These Women Reporters Went Undercover to Get the Most Important Scoops of Their Day

Writing under pseudonyms, the so-called girl stunt reporters of the late 19th century played a major role in exposing the nation’s ills

A wave splashes over the Malecón in Havana.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Cuba

Homage to Havana

A Smithsonian director ponders the allure of Cuba’s capital city

Paris, 1739.

Cool Finds

This Is What 18th-Century Paris Sounded Like

A bygone age comes back to life in this painstaking reconstruction of the sounds of 1739

A rehearsal takes place at Teatro América, on Galiano Street in Havana. From the outside, the theater is nothing special, concealed behind a dull screen of gray polygon concrete. But step inside and you’ve entered the museum that is Cuban architecture.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Cuba

Havana’s Hidden Architectural Gems

The city’s eclectic architecture is both extraordinary and imperiled

Each crossing incorporates the existing zebra-style design.

Cool Finds

Colorful Crosswalks Paint the Streets of Madrid

This art was made to be stepped all over

These seemingly inhabited buildings are actually vacant properties illuminated by the new Breathing Lights project in three New York cities.

Cool Finds

This Art Project Breathes New Life Into Blighted Buildings

Breathing Lights will illuminate hundreds of abandoned structures throughout New York

Hello, Aurora.

Cool Finds

Why Iceland’s Biggest City Turned Off Its Lights for One Night

Reykjavik decided to pause in the dark to witness one of Earth’s most beautiful phenomena

Mall rats aren't the only animals to be found in China's gigantic shopping centers.

Trending Today

Chinese Malls Are Filled With Sad Animals

As cities spread, so do depressing mall zoos

Why Do We Still Have Morse Code and More Questions From Our Readers

You asked, we answer

Much of the timber used for T3 came from trees killed by the mountain pine beetle.

Is Timber the Future of Urban Construction?

A celebrated architect goes out on a limb with a bold new take on building tall

Do outdoor cats need to die?

The Moral Cost of Cats

A bird-loving scientist calls for an end to outdoor cats “once and for all”

These flowers may look beautiful, but in the imagination of Tamiko Thiel, they've turned hostile due to climate change.

Cool Finds

Augmented Reality Art Imagines What Could Be Seattle’s Weird, Bleak Future

Artist envisions mutant flowers and drone-like seaweed that may one day take over a post-climate change Seattle

The Survivor Tree was returned to the WTC in 2015.

Cool Finds

Saplings From the 9/11 Survivor Tree Are Headed to Paris, San Bernardino and Orlando

The tree is a powerful symbol of resilience and life, even in the most tragic circumstances

The lowly urban rat deserves our attention.

In Defense of Studying City Rats

By placing a taboo on researching these “disease sponges,” we leave ourselves at their mercy

Empress Green is a 4,500-square foot urban farm located at Urby Staten Island, a 900-apartment complex in New York City.

Meet the Woman Who Runs NYC’s First Commercial Farm in a Residential Development

Wouldn’t it be great if all apartment complexes came with an urban farm?

Kayak may be the best way to explore the climate change memorial of the future.

Anthropocene

What Will the Memorials of the Future Look Like?

From underwater trees to mechanical parrots, the memorials of tomorrow don’t look much like the ones that exist today

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