Nature

The Great Blue Hole of Belize was named by Jacques Cousteau as one of the world's top diving sites.

The Greatest Diving Sites in the World

The vertiginous void of the Great Blue Hole offers divers the feeling of facing off with the edge of the world

A replica model of the 45-foot-long snake thought to be of Anaconda descent

Snake Found in Grand Central Station!

Sculptor Kevin Hockley unveils his fearsome replica of Titanoboa

The author and his bike stand about 850 feet above San Francisco on Conzelman Road. Repeated 10 times, this little hill amounts to a world classic of climbing.

The World’s Best Uphill Bike Rides

Long, steady climbs on a bicycle are the holy grail of athletic conquests. We hill climbers measure the worth of a landscape by its rise over run

The Shape of Fruits to Come

How our need for convenience is redesigning our food supply

None

Nature in Focus at the Environmental Film Festival

Environmental Film Festival highlights on view at Smithsonian locations

None

Ask Smithsonian: Can Birds Be Identified Just From Their Feathers? Questions from Our Readers

Our new feature, Ask Smithsonian, is all about finding the answers. Do you have a question for our curators?

An ocotillo flower

Wildflower Hunting in the California Desert

March is the traditional time to view the fab flora in Joshua Tree National Park

At the American Indian Museum, Thirza Defoe performs traditional songs and hoop dance daily until March 17.

Events March 13-15: Public Murals in Southeast DC, The Last Reef, and Hoop Dance with Thirza Defoe

This week, discuss the varying views on public murals, take a 3-D journey of the world's coral reefs, and perform a People's Dance with Thirza Defoe

A reconstruction of a new fossil beluga relative, described by Smithsonian scientists, is in the foreground. Its living relatives, the beluga and narwhal, are illustrated left to right in the background. Coloration of the extinct whale is speculative.

Behind-the-Scenes With Curator Nick Pyenson: A New Fossil Whale

Around the Smithsonian, routine work can often reap scientific discovery

17,000 feet

More Great Walks of the World

Which hikes are the best in the world, and which ones did we miss?

Meadows, lakes, snow and granite are the enduring elements of California's John Muir Trail, which leads through 211 miles of some of the world's most beautiful alpine wilderness.

Great Walks of the World

The fact that people opt to walk today tells us there is something virtuous and irresistible in the plodding of one foot forward after the other

This scene from Lake Wanaka captures much that is great about New Zealand, like the Southern Alps and the country's many gleaming lakes.

New Zealand: What’s Hot and What’s Not

From Stewart Island in the south to the Surville Cliffs in the north, New Zealand is a country almost as geographically diverse as the United States

Caravans cram this campground in Akaroa in a scene typical of New Zealand. Cyclists and hikers, when camped among such fleets of vehicles, may wish for a patch of privacy somewhere in the nearest forest—if only there were access.

Free Camping in New Zealand: Don’t Bank on It

Wild camping isn't just a pleasure; it's a necessity for many cyclists

Visualization of California's statewide citrus production volumes.

Designing the Perfect Fruit

How a tiny, seedless fruit becomes the iPhone of the produce aisle

The author facing off with the edge of the world, where the gray and blustery waters of the Southern Ocean meet the rocks of Curio Bay, in the Catlins.

Halfway to the Bottom of the Earth: The Catlins

To see this place on a globe, home of the world's southernmost tapas reastaurant, one must lift it upward to expose the underbelly of the planet

None

President Obama to Speak At Groundbreaking for African American History and Culture Museum

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Smithsonian's newest museum, scheduled to open in 2015, will feature Obama, Laura Bush and others

None

Archivist Michael Pahn Free Associates Among the Smithsonian’s Music and Film Collections

On a search through the Smithsonian archives, Pahn follows one tradition after another to find that music is the connective thread that binds many cultures

Ryan Monger (at left) set out for Costa Rica in 2004 looking for waves. There, on the beach, he found something much better.

Love on the Road

Traveling does seem to facilitate encounters—especially between like-minded people searching for similar things

One of thousands of properties destroyed by the February 22, 2012 Christchurch earthquake

Shattered: Christchurch After 10,000 Earthquakes

The abandoned boulevards and blocks of condemned buildings look like a scene from an unhappy future

Indulge and educate yourself at the Power of Chocolate Festival this weekend.

Weekend Events Feb 10-12: Mourning, The Power of Chocolate Festival, and the Emerson String Quartet

Page 28 of 42