Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

History

The NASA team assembling Curiosity back in 2011.

NASA’s Curiosity Team Gives Us a Geeky Reason To Go to the Inauguration Parade

Although the rover itself could not make the trip from Mars, a full-size model will roll in the parade alongside the real-life crew

Accompanied by a mat of long brown hair, these broken bones on the side of the highway most likely belonged to a woman.

Braving the Pan-American Highway of Death

Along the roadway in Peru, hand-built memorials to accident victims occur almost as regularly as the kilometer markers themselves

Hurt says now when he visits soul food restaurants, he tends to fill his plate with vegetarian options, staying away from chicken and meats.

Is America a Nation of Soul Food Junkies?

Filmmaker Bryan Hurt explores what makes soul food so personal, starting with his own father’s health struggle, in a PBS film premiering tonight

None

The Fisher Space Pen Boldly Writes Where No Man Has Written Before

The Fisher Space Pen has been made famous by Apollo astronauts and Jerry Seinfeld. But just how does it work? And is NASA really spend millions making it?

None

President Obama’s Autopen: When is an Autograph Not an Autograph?

When the President signed the fiscal cliff deal from 4,800 miles away, he did it with the help of a device that dates back to Thomas Jefferson

Peru’s mountainous terrain is the landscape of dreams for climbers, hikers and cyclists.

A Short Bike Ride in the Peruvian Andes

The author kicks off 2013 with a 1,100-mile cycling journey through the Andes from Lima, Peru, to Ecuador’s lofty capital of Quito

None

You Know You Want To Snoop Around Marilyn Monroe’s Secret FBI File

Freshly un-redacted FBI files paint Monroe as a bit of a communist

None

Educating Americans for the 21st Century

This School Is Getting Girls Into Physics

The gap between boys and girls in math and engineering starts early and continues through college. But a school in the UK is trying to buck that trend

Adam Lanza’s DNA Will Tell Us Nothing

Genetics is a powerful tool, but it will not tell us why Adam Lanza killed those people

None

Why Do Rich People Wear Monocles?

Monocles have been the chosen eyewear of our cartoon rich people for a long time now

A History of Sequins from King Tut to the King of Pop

As you don your sparkly holiday fashions, think of the trend’s start in an Egyptian tomb

Machias Seal Island is home to a population of Atlantic Puffins.

Canada And the United States Are Bickering Over Ownership of a Tiny Island

A tiny island with little more than a lighthouse and some puffins is the center of a border disagreement

None

Think Apple Maps Are Bad? These Cartographics Blunders Were Way Worse

If you think Apple messed up big time, think again. The history of map making is full of far worse blunders

None

Open For Business: The 3D Printed Gun Store

After Makerbot and Stasys pulled support, 3-D gun printers have found help elsewhere, and opened an online database of designs

None

Was Yasser Arafat Poisoned by Polonium?

In November, the body of Yasser Arafat was exhumed from beneath several feet of concrete to determine whether or not the leader had been poisoned by polonium 210

None

Russia Just Voted To Stop Letting Americans Adopt Russian Kids

The Duma - Russia’s power house of Parliament - voted in support of a bill that would ban American citizens from adopting Russian orphans

Larissa and Michael Milne, shown here in their hometown of Philadelphia, sold nearly all their belongings in 2011 and embarked on a tour of the world. Along the way they visited the frightening but fascinating country of North Korea. Also shown in this photo is the Milnes’ travel companion, “Little Rocky,” a six-inch figurine of one of Philadelphia’s most famous native sons.

A Frightening and Fascinating Journey Through North Korea

When a Philadelphia couple took a world tour in 2011, they quickly struck upon the idea of visiting one of the world’s most mysterious places

None

Your Guide to the Most Delicious Drinks for the Holidays

Few beers may so strongly evoke the image of dark winters and frozen European landscapes as Imperial Stout—and a bottle fits nicely in a Christmas stocking

None

Rasputin Was Murdered Today in 1916

It’s still a mystery who exactly orchestrated and carried out the deed

None

We Prefer Our Leaders to Have Deep Voices, Even If They Are Women

Our biology may be influencing our decision making when it comes to how we select our leaders

Page 92 of 128