/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/d5/03/d50315f1-6ff1-4ecb-949a-75d50b039fa0/42-56250024.jpg)
Monarchs May Soon Land on the Endangered Species List
Scientists fear that the butterfly’s population will continue to drop due to the loss of the its food source
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/41/db/41dba93a-57eb-4fbe-9b07-777e18d55859/01_02_2015_quadrantids_nasa.jpg)
Ring in 2015 With the Quadrantid Meteor Shower
The annual Quadrantid meteor shower peaks this weekend
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/1e/4a/1e4a478b-9243-40bd-aaea-14e8b184e037/42-27298423.jpg)
Don’t Make Hoppin’ John for New Year’s Without Heirloom Beans
The original dish didn’t use black-eyed peas, plus the rice and bacon you have is probably wrong
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/1c/15/1c154825-4566-49c2-a469-73101d5d0dd8/12_31_2014_roers.jpg)
NASA’s Opportunity Rover Has Developed Robot Dementia
A problem with Opportunity’s hardware means it only has short-term memory
:focal(2505x1279:2506x1280)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/0d/a4/0da478c1-333d-42ed-b996-1ebd64646292/12_31_2014_new_year.jpg)
Big News Stories of 2014 That Aren’t Going Away
We just have so much to look forward to
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/e6/dd/e6dd363c-e309-4aef-b6d7-1c78ea63a392/12_30_2014_ebola.jpg)
More Than 3,000 People Have Died of Ebola in the Past Two Months
The viral outbreak doesn’t appear to be slowing
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/a0/3a/a03a7a90-9ecc-4198-abb5-d1e7c85952f2/12_30_2014_gifts.jpg)
Americans ‘Returned’ Around $3.6 Billion Worth of Stolen Goods This Holiday Season
Billions of dollars worth of “gift returns” are actually stolen goods
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/09/6b/096bfd60-6bbb-4db3-99a8-a48107a77bc6/12_29_2014_qz8501.jpg)
2014 Was Actually One of the Safer Years to Fly
The year saw a few prominent disasters, but 2014 was, unfortunately, nothing out of the ordinary
:focal(1170x767:1171x768)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/a4/f0/a4f0c362-a874-49d5-8f15-45d623c2cb9a/12_29_2014_drunk_walk.jpg)
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/9f/4c/9f4c02ab-66bf-4450-bbf2-0a4b076456e1/42-62349887.jpg)
A Few Things You Can Do With Unneeded Presents
The first challenge is saying thank you for something you can’t use, but here’s some ideas about what to do next
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/fa/a8/faa80b3d-ead7-4177-a75c-09c15efc20fe/12_24_2014_charlie_brown.jpg)
CBS Executives Thought ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas’ Would Fail
There wasn’t much CBS executives liked about the Christmas special
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/96/d3/96d3db77-88ab-44be-b358-a087f321be8e/12_24_2014_three_kings.jpg)
There’s More to Frankincense and Myrrh Than Meets the Eye
Frankincense and myrrh have interesting medicinal properties
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/9d/91/9d917607-3c20-4a3e-84db-fe4d2955a3a4/shrine_to_uwais_al-qurani_and_ammar_bin_yasser_after_wv03_06oct2014.png)
Satellite Photos Show Hundreds of Syrian Heritage Sites Damaged In Ongoing Fighting
The new satellite photos show the extent of the damage
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/c2/5c/c25c0cf3-e10a-4fec-b8d2-191d9e731332/12_22_2014_sandra_orangutan.jpg)
Argentinian Orangutan Is “Non-Human Person,” Says Court
Being in the zoo impinges on her freedom
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/cd/92/cd920e35-92fb-4934-bd18-ec826942f303/arms.jpg)
Advanced Prosthetics Help a Dog Run And a Man Move Robotic Arms With His Mind
Two recent stories showcase the latest advances in prosthetics and the lives they have changed
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/d4/9e/d49ecca4-273b-406b-9665-413faf96fefc/12_19_2014_shell_kulluk.jpg)
Oil Companies Are Pausing Plans to Drill the Arctic
Drilling the Arctic is hard, and with oil prices flagging, it may not be worth it
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/0b/ed/0bed1ccf-86cf-4efd-9d47-8c0b319f9e16/wisdom.jpg)
Wisdom, the World’s Oldest Albatross, Laid an Egg
This is about the 35th time Wisdom has been a mother-to-be
:focal(2357x2721:2358x2722)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/83/18/83184841-6db8-4b88-97e3-12e74b3e1cfa/12_17_2014_vinyl.jpg)
Vinyl Producers Can’t Keep Up With Hipsters’ Demands
Vinyl is cool again, but will it last?
/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/ab/c4/abc442eb-21e6-4395-a289-fbc840c002d8/be028886.jpg)
Back When Americans Could Travel Freely to Cuba, Here’s What It Looked Like
The U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1960
:focal(1199x1049:1200x1050)/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/79/36/79362335-9538-4049-9f8b-734ff8375698/12_16_2014_north_pole_bathymetry.jpg)
Now the Danes Have Staked a Claim for the North Pole, Too
The ultimate decision over who controls the North Pole will come down to the United Nations
Page 87 of 128