Articles tagged as Military | Smithsonian Magazine

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is trying to rejigger Japan’s long-standing commitment to pacificism

July 2, 2014

The Airman's Coin Ceremony during the final week of Air Force Basic Military Training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, April 4, 2013. After this event, individuals are no longer called a ''trainee.'' They've earned the right to be called ''Airman.'' Many Airman consider this to be one of the most significant events in their career.

Cool Finds

More Than Two Thirds of American Youth Aren’t Good Enough for the Military, Says the Military

The military won’t accept people prescribed ADHD medications—but that doesn’t mean soldiers aren’t using Adderall

July 1, 2014

Lt. Col. Geoffrey Barnes, Detachment 1 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Attack Squadron commander, performs a pre-flight inspection of an MQ-1B Predator unmanned drone aircraft in September 3, 2008.

Cool Finds

There Have Been 418 Major Drone Crashes Since 2001, Many of Them in the United States

Even the military is having drone problems

June 26, 2014

Military robots are being built with plenty of firepower. But should they be trusted to kill?

Tech Watch

Can Killer Robots Learn to Follow the Rules of War?

Researchers have set out to learn whether military machines can be programmed to behave morally, and if so, should have the authority to kill on their own

May 29, 2014

A protester at the Bring Back Our Girls rally in New York City, which took place last week.

President Obama pledges immediate, on-the-ground support

May 7, 2014

Cool Finds

Scholars Translate Ancient Guilt Trip in Letter From Soldier to Family

A new translation of an 1,800-year-old letter illustrates the hardships suffered by soldiers on the Roman frontier

March 27, 2014

World War I: 100 Years Later

Help Transcribe Diaries From World War I

WWI diaries are some of the most requested documents in the National Archives, but until now they’ve only been available on paper

March 18, 2014

As the rest of the world considers what to do about Russia’s military actions, the Paralympians find themselves in limbo

March 3, 2014

Cool Finds

Caffeine Kick Not Doing It For You? Try a Mild Electric Shock—The Pentagon Is

Direct jolts of electricity to the brain give a burst of alertness

February 18, 2014

Cool Finds

This Chip Will Self Destruct (If DARPA Can Get It To)

Should a United States computer fall into the wrong hands, the army wants to be able to disintegrate that chip and its information on command

February 12, 2014

The XStat is designed so that as many as 97 tiny sponges can be injected into open wounds to stop bleeding in seconds.

Tech Watch

An Injectable Bandage Can Stop Heavy Bleeding in 15 Seconds

A new technology developed for the military has the potenial to save soldiers from fatal gunshot wounds

February 12, 2014

The mushroom cloud from the atmospheric detonation of the 11 megaton Castle Romeo nuclear bomb.

Cool Finds

For 25 Years, U.S. Special Forces Carried Miniature Nukes on Their Backs

The B-54 Special Atomic Demolition Munition was a nuclear bomb the size of a backpack

February 10, 2014

New dress regulations seek to accommodate soldier’s religious symbols

January 24, 2014

Hundreds of years before the Great Wall of China, seen here, there was another.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Chart the First Great Wall of China

Hundreds of years before the Great Wall, the Qi Dynasty built a wall of rammed earth

January 14, 2014

A U.S. destroyer, part of the U.S. 6th Fleet, sits near Syria.

Syria’s Chemical Weapons Are Going on a Convoluted Journey Before They’re Destroyed

Multiple nations and multiple hand-offs will take Syria’s chemical weapons out of the country for disposal

December 26, 2013

How the North American Aerospace Defense Command Got Into the Business of Tracking Santa

It all began in 1955 with Sears, a wrong number and a very confused Colonel

December 24, 2013

The United States, not China, will dominate world affairs, George Friedman believes.

George Friedman on World War III

The geopolitical scientist predicts which nations will be fighting for world power in 2050

August 2010

In the 1940s, the Soviet Union launched an all-out espionage effort to uncover military and defense secrets from the US and Britain (Klaus Fuchs, left, and David Greenglass, right).

Spies Who Spilled Atomic Bomb Secrets

As part of the Soviet Union’s spy ring, these Americans and Britons leveraged their access to military secrets to help Russia become a nuclear power

April 19, 2009

Dive Bomber

Underwater archaeologists ready a crashed B-29 for visits by scuba-wearing tourists at the bottom of Lake Mead

October 2005

Lee's father, Maj. Gen. "Light-Horse Harry" Lee fought in the Revolutionary War.

The Civil War

Making Sense of Robert E. Lee

“It is well that war is so terrible, or we should grow too fond of it.”— Robert E. Lee, at Fredericksburg

July 2003