Nature

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From Pyenson Lab: When Is a Museum Specimen the Real Deal?

Can you tell the difference between a replica and the real thing? Does it matter? A curator at Natural History talks about copies, 3-D printing and museums

The Natural History Museum celebrates orchids from Latin America on Saturday in its “Orchids of Latin America Family Day”

Events February 22-24: Early Human Adaptation, Orchids and the Harlem Renaissance

See evidence of how early humans adapted, celebrate Latin America's coolest flowers and learn about Harlem the Renaissance's most important artists

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Vilcabamba: Paradise Going Bad?

Life in this legendary town in Ecuador's Valley of Longevity may be too good—and too long—to be true

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A Smithsonian Expert Breaks Down the Science of Meteors

Meteor scientist Cari Corrigan says that the type of destruction wrought by today's meteor explosion over Russia is exceedingly rare

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What Makes the Trout in Ecuador Look Like Salmon?

Aiming to catch a few trout for dinner, the author decides to try his luck at one of the region's many "sport fishing" sites

About 15 miles north of Quito, a yellow line representing the Equator runs up a long, regal walkway to the base of the Mitad del Mundo monument, built in 1979. The thing is, they built the structure several hundred feet south of the true Equator.

Much Ado About Nothing at the Equator

Just north of Quito stands a grand and glowing tribute to one of Ecuador’s proudest features: the Equator. The problem is, it was built in the wrong place

Let your horse sleep in today. Smithsonian museums don’t open until noon due to weather.

Museums Delay Opening Due to Weather

Smithsonian museums in the Washington, D.C. area as well as the National Zoo will open at noon Monday, due to inclement weather

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PHOTOS: Orchids of Latin America

Known for being particularly eye-catching, the orchids of Latin America are part of religious, cultural and even culinary life in the region

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Things to Do in Quito While Nursing Achilles Tendonitis

With its clean public parks, brewpubs, museums and tapas bars, Quito is a fine place to spend a week recovering from an injury

This sign just north of Tumbes is a clear sign, if the mangroves aren’t, that one is entering the muggy, and in some ways dangerous, tropics.

Ecuador, Land of Malaria, Iguanas, Mangoes and Mountains

The author leaves Peru behind and crosses into Ecuador, where he encounters his first sign of a mosquito

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Two New Prehistoric Bloodsucking Species Found in Montana

Forty-six million-year-old fossils help identify mosquito species from an ancient insect hot spot

Today, President Barack Obama will take the oath of office for his second term.

Inauguration Day 2013

All you need to know for the day: where to eat, rest and what to see

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What to Eat—or Not—in Peru

The ceviche carts and meat grills are colorful pieces of scenery, but eating a cherimoya or a sweet and starchy lucuma could be the truest taste of Peru

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How to Win Inauguration Weekend: There’s an App for That

One man won the election, but with free tours and insider information, you can still win the weekend. Plus hours, eating spots and where to rest your feet

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

Astrophysicist Lawrence Krauss is in the house on Monday to explain why our understanding of physics in the past 50 years has been based on a particle whose existence we couldn’t prove.

Events January 14-17: Higgs Boson, Up “Close” with President Obama, Modern Origami and Shiny Pots

This week, learn why the Higgs Boson particle matters, see a huge portrait of President Obama, discover modern origami and stand in DC's most opulent room

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No Place Compares to the Unrelenting Lifelessness of Peru’s Sechura Desert

From tropical mountains, we descended into a landscape of flailing-armed cacti, spiny succulents like giant artichokes and sand dunes as high as mountains

The miserable sprawl and slums of north Lima make a poor first impression for tourists fresh out of the airport. Here, the author’s brother, Andrew, is shown 15 kilometers north of Lima, on the way to the mountain town of Canta.

From the Slums of Lima to the Peaks of the Andes

After unpacking and assembling his bicycle at the airport terminal, the author heads north on the Pan-American Highway toward the mountain town of Canta

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

Welwitschia mirablis

Photos of the World’s Oldest Living Things

Among the organisms documented by photographer Rachel Sussman are 80,000-year-old aspen trees and 600,000-year-old bacteria

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