A Brief History of the Waffle Iron
Cornelius Swartwout’s invention, patented 150 years ago, helped feed America’s passion for waffles
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Breakfast at the Zoo and 25 Other Things to Do at the Smithsonian in September
Breakfast at the Zoo and 25 Other Things to Do at the Smithsonian in September
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Could a Rusty Bridge Generate Electricity?
New research shows that water flowing over thin layers of rust can generate power
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How Biology Inspires Future Technology
Bioengineers at Harvard’s Wyss Institute showcase their ingenious medical, industrial and environmental designs at the Cooper Hewitt
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This Smithsonian Scientist is on a Mission to Make Leeches Less Scary
Curator Anna Phillips is on a quest to make leeches less repulsive to the public
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This Centuries-Old Geoduck Shell May Rewrite the Rules About Who Can Harvest the Fancy Clam
A remnant from a meal long gone, the find in British Columbia could give the region's indigenous communities an important legal claim
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The 175-Year History of Speculating About President James Buchanan's Bachelorhood
Was his close friendship with William Rufus King just that, or was it evidence that he was the nation's first gay chief executive?
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Follow the Ancient Amber Road
See the remnants and relics of key routes between Venice and St. Petersburg for transporting amber through the ancient world
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A 3.8-Million-Year-Old Skull Puts a New Face on a Little-Known Human Ancestor
The cranium of a male Australopithecus anamensis, a close relative of Lucy, provides clues about one of the earliest hominins to walk on two legs
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Divers Get an Eerie First Look Inside the Arctic Shipwreck of the HMS Terror
Marine archaeologists exploring the 19th-century vessel could discover clues about what befell the sailors of the Franklin expedition
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The Accidental Invention of the Slinky
The idea for the timeless toy sprung to mind when Naval engineer Richard James dropped some coiled wires
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Why Molokai, With All Its Wonders, Is the Least Developed of Hawai'i's Islands
Even centuries before Captain Cook’s arrival, its resources were exploited by outsiders
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A Warming Climate Threatens Archaeological Sites in Greenland
As temperatures rise and ice melts, Norse and Inuit artifacts and human remains decompose more rapidly
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How Engineers of New Energy Technology Are Taking Cues From Nature
From sunflower spirals to schooling fish, renewable energy innovators are uncovering ideas for improving efficiency and output in natural phenomena
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Four U.S. CRISPR Trials Editing Human DNA to Research New Treatments
Breaking down how the gene editing technology is being used, for the first time in the United States, to treat patients with severe medical conditions
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How to Discover Dinosaurs
Smithsonian paleontologist Hans Sues reveals some of his tips for finding and excavating a Mesozoic monster
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These High-Tech Scarecrows Will Keep Pesky Creatures Away
From robots to digitized recordings, farmers are upping their game when it comes to protecting their crops
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What the Restoration of Iraq’s Oldest University Says About the Nation's Future
The Mustansiriya has withstood centuries of war, floods and architectural butchery, but can it survive its own restoration?
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The Hard-Drinking Early Smithsonian Naturalists of the Megatherium Club
William Stimpson created a fraternity of young scientists and named it for an extinct North American sloth
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I Spent the Night at a Library in Wales and You Can Too
Housing more than 150,000 written works, Gladstone's Library is the only residential library in Great Britain
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Special Skull Windows Helped Dinosaur Brains Keep Cool
Dinosaur skulls had many cavities and openings, some of which may have held blood vessels to help cool off the animals' heads
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