/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/aa/0f/aa0f673a-dede-4f49-8e4f-9f600bb56561/slovak_board.jpg)
Researchers Are Trying to Figure Out How to Play This Ancient Roman Board Game
Found in a grave in Slovakia in 2006, it is one of Europe’s best-preserved ancient gaming boards
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/80/9d/809d010d-2e3f-41c6-887a-c8be9a2797f9/dragonfly.jpg)
NASA Unveils Finalists for Its Next New Frontiers Mission
In 2025, the agency will either try to grab a piece of a comet or send a space-helicopter drone to the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/90/ab/90ab44fa-ec76-4b78-93a4-4806ab00796a/andrea-zampatti_the-laughing-dormouse_00001732.jpg)
Award Winning Images Capture the Goofiness of the Animal Kingdom
Enjoy these masterpieces in animal silliness
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/8d/08/8d087292-6312-497b-80de-96c1f1bcbbbe/collage.jpg)
The Ten Best STEM Toys of 2017
Kid tested and parent approved, these tech toys stand out for holiday wish lists
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/c3/1b/c31b9fa5-b00a-41f5-a1f0-625be25e2186/7010483597_f74b50cacf_k.jpg)
Voltaire: Enlightenment Philosopher and Lottery Scammer
The French government was trying to raise money by running a bond lottery, but a group of intellectuals had other ideas
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/b4/46/b446a164-bb9e-4829-a46c-22bddb878a57/games.jpg)
The Ten Best Board Games of 2017
Want to be a hit at your next party or family gathering? Bring a board game.
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/7e/b7/7eb770dc-309d-4969-a3ad-6f8491e232eb/alphagozero-illustration-widescreenwidth-1100.jpg)
Latest AI Teaches Itself to Play Go With No Human Help
DeepMind’s AlphaGo Zero taught itself how to play Go, becoming the greatest player in history in just 40 days
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/46/e9/46e942b2-bdc4-41d1-8ac8-401e0f3aa278/memorial_to_a_species__brent_stirton_-_wildlife_photographer_of_the_year.jpg)
Tragedy and Beauty of Nature on Display in This Year’s Best Wildlife Photos
The 16 award-winning images range from whimsical birds to the tragic aftermath of a poaching raid
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/33/50/33508655-012e-4439-a31c-02b7e2ef44ed/ap_17289663304148.jpg)
Five Things to Know About 2017 Man Booker Prize Winner George Saunders
He becomes the second America to win for his book “Lincoln in the Bardo,” an experimental ghost story that explores the grief of the 16th president
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/df/d3/dfd3fd1a-381d-48e5-b235-5534168818bb/tobiasroth-1.gif)
Competition Wants You to Turn Cultural Heritage Into GIFs
The latest round of “GIF It Up” seeks the best GIFs made from public domain prints, photos, paintings and more
:focal(347x438:348x439)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/ee/72/ee726ee4-b2f9-463b-bfb0-5864b3cee23b/istock-524618805.jpg)
The Hide and Seek World Championship Will Take Over an Italian Ghost Town
The annual event takes place in Consonno, an abandoned village once considered Italy’s Las Vegas
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/33/94/3394477c-9f16-4b8c-bef8-64dfb42ecc83/1919_chicago_white_sox.jpg)
The 1919 Black Sox Baseball Scandal Was Just One of Many
They say baseball “lost its innocence” after 1919, but betting and other improper behavior was rampant in early-20th-century baseball
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/2f/3f/2f3feb10-812c-42f0-9254-f10c0e073a60/tuerkischer_schachspieler_windisch4_1.jpg)
Debunking the Mechanical Turk Helped Set Edgar Allan Poe on the Path to Mystery Writing
Like many others, Poe was certain the machine couldn’t be playing chess under its own power
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/8f/d7/8fd7f047-a084-4e32-a01b-a9ceec77b452/julaug2017_a07_disasteratsea.jpg)
Racing the Storm: The Story of the Mobile Bay Sailing Disaster
When hurricane-force winds suddenly struck the Bay, they swept more than 100 boaters into one of the worst sailing disasters in modern American history
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/99/c1/99c10689-628a-40a1-a679-1d1739967db4/flamingo2.jpg)
The Stylish Flamingo Hotel Shaped the Las Vegas Strip
The Flamingo, still operating today, is the oldest hotel on the Strip
:focal(323x275:324x276)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/a3/fa/a3fa1f1e-3fa8-44d1-8dd4-a98ccf1700c7/glaciarium_ice_rink1976.jpg)
The First Artificial Skating Rinks Looked Pretty But Smelled Terrible
Before the technology to reliably freeze water existed, the first rinks used pig fat and salts
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/75/6b/756b7562-10fc-4a9c-a2ac-0dba0c77946d/istock-157739391.jpg)
Children of the ‘80s Never Fear: Video Games Did Not Ruin Your Life
Inside the ridiculous media panic that scared parents silly
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/c2/7e/c27ee03c-4ecd-44d2-bdc2-225896ccb165/world-pun-off-championship.png)
Each Spring, the World’s Punniest Humans Head to Texas
The 40th Annual O. Henry Pun-Off World Championships comes to Austin in May
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/ef/6c/ef6cf834-1d15-4b58-bec1-92490e54d696/sandy_dingojpg__800x600_q85_crop.jpg)
Dingo Wins Competition for World’s Most Interesting Genome
The desert dingo beat out an explosive beetle, a pit viper and pink pigeon to win a grant to have its genome sequenced
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/66/7f/667fa34f-d18d-4a34-a7a8-a63e86080090/scrabble_game_in_progress.jpg)
The Tournament Scrabble Dictionary Contains More Than A Hundred Slurs
One woman first raised the issue of the Scrabble dictionary containing offensive words in the 1990s
Page 11 of 17