The Actress Who Left the Stage to Become a Civil War Spy
Pauline Cushman, now featured in a Smithsonian photography exhibition, unexpectedly found herself spying for the Union after accepting a dare
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Ancient Sea Life May Have Hitched Across Oceans on Giant Living Rafts
Enormous crinoids of the Jurassic era, related to sea stars and sea urchins, could have carried whole ecosystems around the world
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Learn to Surf on the Break Where It All Began
Waikiki Beach on O'ahu is the home of surfing—and you can take lessons there too
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These Lenses Zoom With a Couple Blinks of Your Eyes
Researchers have developed a soft polymer lens that changes shape based on electrical input
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Joy Harjo’s New Poetry Collection Brings Native Issues to the Forefront
The recently announced U.S. Poet Laureate melds words and music to resist the myth of Native invisibility
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Remembering Julia Child
Smithsonian curator Paula Johnson addresses many of the questions visitors ask about America’s beloved cooking teacher and her kitchen
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The New ‘Little Women’ May Finally Do Justice to Its Most Controversial Character
Based on the trailer of the new adaptation of the beloved novel, Amy March seems poised to get the well-rounded portrait she deserves
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How the Wiffle Ball Came To Be
Patented in 1957, the lightweight ball saved players' arms and more than a few windows
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How Marian Anderson Became an Iconic Symbol for Equality
Her beautiful voice famously rang out from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial; a new show takes a look at the highs and lows of her global acclaim
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Watch Leaves Change Color in a Matter of Seconds
A new time-lapse video of over 6,000 leaf photos reveals the biology behind fall foliage
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How Helicopters Helped Make Woodstock Happen
The legendary music festival was propelled by up to 22 helicopters, which airdropped food and flowers, transported performers, and irritated festival-goers
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Visit the World’s Only Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum
The Milwaukee attraction showcases the oldest and rarest of all the bobbleheads—and thousands more
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A New Species of Leech Is Discovered Near Washington, D.C.
Smithsonian researcher describes a previously unknown species of olive-green bloodsucker that has three jaws with up to 59 teeth
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14 Fun Facts About Roller Coasters
For starters, one of the oldest coasters in America carried coal before it carried passengers
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From Nazi Prisons to Cat Sanctuaries, Explore the Many Lives of These Russian Palaces
Follow the footsteps of doomed royals and revolutionaries through these architectural marvels
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In 1870, Henrietta Wood Sued for Reparations—and Won
The $2,500 verdict, the largest ever of its kind, offers evidence of the generational impact such awards can have
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The New Treasures of Pompeii
From gorgeous artworks to grimacing corpses, archaeologists are still uncovering the truth about life—and death—in the doomed city
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Dragonfly Spacecraft to Scour the Sands of Titan for the Chemistry of Life
The NASA rotorcraft, resembling a large quadcopter drone, will fly through the orange clouds of the ocean moon in the outer solar system
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Saturn Could Lose Its Rings in Less Than 100 Million Years
Recent discoveries suggest that the planet's distinctive feature may be gone in the cosmic blink of an eye
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How the Turtle Got Its Shell, With Apologies to Aesop
Smithsonian paleontologist Hans Sues unpacks the complicated evolution of how this creature grew a home upon its back
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John Steinbeck's Epic Ocean Voyage Rewrote the Rules of Ecology
A legendary writer, a quirky biologist and their jolly adventure in the Sea of Cortez
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