Travel / Video
Auroras emit swirling hues in the sky, mesmerizing spectators with their bands of color. Different hues come from different gases—for instance, oxygen makes green, nitrogen makes purple.
The Best Small Towns to Celebrate Summer
From charming streets to stunning scenery, consider Hawaii, Idaho, Massachusetts, or New York for your next summer adventure.
The Best Small Towns to Celebrate Spring
This spring, take a break and smell the flowers in New Mexico, Kansas, California and New Jersey.
The Best Small Towns to Celebrate Fall
Travel to Oregon, Minnesota, North Dakota and Rhode Island to see beautiful autumn foliage and much more
Belgian Train Station Offers a Glimpse of the Future
The Liège-Guillemins railway station looks like it belongs far in the future: a vast curving monolith of glass, steel and concrete curves extending high above the train tracks. Just as …
Denali Has One of the Deepest Canyons in the World
Ruth Glacier’s Great Gorge is quite simply one of the continent’s most awe-inspiring sights. At 2,000 feet and over ten miles long, it’s one of the deepest canyons in the …
This Monster Tamping Machine? A Locomotive’s Best Friend
Each time a train thunders by, its momentum pushes the tracks out of alignment, endangering the trains. The solution: a powerful tamping machine to repack the ballast–the rocks that keep …
A Railway Alternative to the Panama Canal Is Much Cheaper
While the Panama Canal has been a boon for cargo ships, it can be expensive—as high as $450,000 a toll. For smaller loads, there is an alternative: a cross-country train …
These Traditional British Sweets Have the Best Names
“Fizzers,” “parma violets,” and “love hearts” sound like playground games, but they’re actually the names of traditional British candy. And Gregg Wallace is on site to see how they’re made.
This Lithuanian Depot Has an Innovative Approach to Train Repair
When Lithuanian Railway’s aging, Soviet-era trains need repair, there’s no option but to manufacture new parts. Watch as one of these trains gets fitted with a new set of bogeys—the …
This Frank Gehry Building Was Called Unbuildable
The Frank Gehry design for the Louis Vuitton Foundation building was certainly innovative. But from a structural engineering perspective, there was nothing to suggest it was actually possible
This Remarkable Antarctic Base Can Move Around in Case of Danger
The British Antarctic Survey’s scientific research center was designed to withstand temperatures of -58F, to be self-sufficient for months on end and, should danger strike, and to move locations quickly.
Smithsonian Channel’s new “Tomb Hunters” series, which follows discoveries made at the Saqqara site, premieres Monday, June 21.
Roman Emperor Vespasian Built the Colosseum to Boost Morale
From his years as a general, Emperor Vespasian knew the morale-boosting effects that a colosseum could have on common people. So he set about building one—a task that would take …
This Ancient Greek Town Suffered the Same Fate as Pompeii
The eruption of Santorini in 1615 B.C. covered the town of Akrotiri with meters of volcanic debris. Today, archaeologists are in the process of excavating it–and marveling at its remarkably …
Everything About This Elevator in the Side of a Mountain Is Stunning
How do you build an elevator into a side of a mountain so remote that heavy machinery couldn’t be delivered there? For the Chinese government, the answer was both obvious …
How Would Odysseus’ Bow Fare Versus a State-of-the-Art Modern One?
The legendary archery of Odysseus inspires a modern-day challenge: Can a horn-and-sinew bow built to ancient Greek standards outperform a state-of-the-art bow with a scope lens?
The Grey Seal Pupping Season in Scotland Is Spectacular
The seal pupping season is an annual autumn occurrence on Scotland’s Monarch Islands, featuring the archipelago’s 35,000 grey seal inhabitants.
Constantine’s Death Threatened to Split the Roman Empire
Constantine’s death would drive a crack through the Roman Empire, splitting it into West and East. Over the next several hundred years, parts of it would even fall to foreign …
This Greek Island Has Been Partying for 2,500 Years
Inspired by Odysseus, historian Bettany Hughes is embarking on a journey through the Greek Islands. But at the island of Naxos, a different Greek hero appears to be calling: Dionysius, …
How to Stop a New York Skyscraper From Swaying
When you’ve paid over $75 million for a luxury apartment in this New York skyscraper, you also get state-of-the-art protection against winds. Left unchecked, these can be powerful enough to …
This Cactus Opens Its Petals Only One Night a Year
For the female lesser long-nosed bats in the Pinacate Desert, food is scarce. One possible source of nutrients: pollen from the saguaro cactus, whose milk-white petals open up only one …
Yellowstone Bison Are Built for Winter Survival
With a dense coat, a powerful mass of muscle and a large head ideally suited for clearing away snow and locating buried grass, bison are built for frigid conditions in …
Why Wales Is the Place to Go for Medieval Castles
Wales has no shortage of magnificent castles—from the impenetrable stronghold of Harlech Castle, to the fierce fortifications of Carnarvon. Wales boasts a series of castles known as the Iron Ring, …
Inveraray Castle: An Ancient Archive Treasure Trove
Inveraray Castle is home to one of the most important private collections of historical archives in all of Britain—a collection of records, documents and diaries, dating back to the 13th …
Cornwall, the Most Beautiful Place in Britain
One of the most evocative and breathtakingly beautiful coastal landscapes in Britain is the historic county of Cornwall. It’s also a place steeped in legend, including that of Britain’s legendary …
Britain’s Amazing Roman Structures That You Can Visit
Northumberland is one of Britain’s most historic regions, an archaeological treasure trove of impressive buildings that date back to the Roman conquest: From Hadrian’s Wall to the Vindolanda Fort.
Scotland’s Most Mysterious Stone Age Settlements
The Orkneys, an archipelago of islands off the northern coast of Scotland, are home to some of the greatest neolithic treasures in western Europe: from the settlement of Skara Brae …
Why Pyramids Were Effective Advertisements for Tomb Robbers
Pyramids were supposed to be royal burial sites, crammed with unimaginable treasures. And yet they were built to be as conspicuous as possible, attracting the attention of grave robbers.
Pablo Escobar’s Hippos Have Created an Ecological Crisis in Colombia
In the late ‘80s, infamous drug kingpin Pablo Escobar illegally imported a group of hippos for his personal zoo. Today, these hippos are wreaking havoc and are protected by the …
This 5,000-Year-Old Tomb Is Spectacularly Preserved
Despite the fact that it’s over 5,000 years old, Maeshowe, Orkney’s answer to Stonehenge, is in amazing shape. But why did Neolithic Britons go to such great lengths to build …
This Church Has an Eerie Visual Record of the Black Death
The Black Death of 1348 was a devastating event, wiping out half the population of Britain. And in churches like this one, drawings on the wall provide a haunting visual …
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