What Exactly Is Duck Sauce?
Trying to get to the bottom of this Chinese food mystery sends our writer on a wild goose chase
One Night Each Winter, Devils Run Through the Streets of Barcelona
Since the early 1990s, Barcelona’s winter bonfire festival has celebrated the intersection of Catalan and Majorcan cultures
Argentina Has a Superstition That Seventh Sons Will Turn into Werewolves
If the president adopts them, however, the seventh sons are spared from their werewolf fate
In Catalonia a Christmas Log Delivers Presents in An Unusual Way
Called Tió de Nadal, the log is decorated with a smiling face and fed until Christmas, but that’s not the strangest part of the tradition
Get Set Up With a Family in NYC for Christmas
Don’t be sad at the prospect of spending the holiday alone, a popular photoblog will match you up with a family
Show Us the Holiday Decorations in Your Neighborhood
What does the holiday season look like in your community? Upload a photo of the best light displays, Christmas trees, menorahs and other festive scenes
Why is Turquoise Becoming Rarer and More Valuable Than Diamonds?
With depleting mines, turquoise, the most sacred stone to the Navajo, has become increasingly rare.
When Becoming a Man Means Sticking Your Hand Into a Glove of Ants
Young men must subject themselves to a ritual involving bullet ant-filled gloves not once but 20 times
To Limit Pollution, The Chinese Are Faced With Giving Up an Ancient Tradition
For the Chinese, who invented both gun powder and fireworks, foregoing old traditions may clean up the air—just a bit
How the Voyage of the Kon-Tiki Misled the World About Navigating the Pacific
Smithsonian geographer Doug Herman explains the traditional science of traversing the ocean seas
Photos from La Tomatina, the World’s Biggest Food Fight
On the last Wednesday of August each year, a small Spanish town erupts into a food fight featuring tomato-throwing
Meet One of the Last Bornean Elders Who Still Makes Traditional Poison Dart Blowpipes
It takes two days of constant drilling by hand to create a single pipe, which can be used to hunting animals
What Makes Soccer’s Chants So Catchy?
Songs like “Olé, Olé, Olé” and “Seven Nation Army” are dominating soccer. Music experts weigh in on why that is
Three International Twists on BBQ
This summer, ditch the tired menu of burgers and hot dogs, and instead, try grilling Turkish kofte or slathering fish in Singapore’s spicy sambal sauce
What Does a 36-Foot-Tall Human Tower Have to Do With Catalan Independence?
An eye-catching protest across Europe is steeped in cultural heritage says Smithsonian curator Michael Atwood Mason
Thousands of Lovers’ Locks Collapsed Part of an Overloaded Bridge in Paris
The trend affects bridges throughout Europe and in some places in the U.S., too
A Startup Claims To Turn the Dead into Diamonds
The Swiss-based company, Algordanza, says it’s developed a technology that transforms the ashes of a deceased loved one into keepsake jewelry
How the Hot Tamale Conquered the American South
Our intrepid reporter heads back to the Mississippi Delta in search of his favorite food—and the title of tamale-eating champ
Why Don’t Lions Attack Tourists on Safari and More Questions From Our Readers
A Moon-less Earth, yoga history, climate change and human speech
What Urban Planners Can Learn From a Hindu Religious Festival
Every 12 years, one Indian city balloons from a few million residents to tens of millions. How does this happen with such ease?
Page 24 of 34