Chris Melissinos, guest curator of an exhibit about video games at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, explains what makes the genre an art form

What’s the world record for deepest vertical dig? Go ahead, take a guess. We bet you won’t come close to the surprising answer unearthed in this one-minute video by Ask Smithsonian host, Eric Schulze. Then, stick around to find out what scientists found lurking below.

Read more about Thorpe: http://j.mp/M9PsXT Smithsonian conservators go to extreme lengths to prepare an iconic box of cereal for display

Recently digitized footage showing Marines loading onto LST with supplies on equipment and waiting on the beach, among other things. (U.S. Marine Corps History Division and Moving Image Research Collections, University of South Carolina)

Listen to a short lecture given by curator Margaret Weitekamp on Gene Kranz career with NASA and how his vest ended up at the Smithsonian

Our host, Eric Schulze, explains how science is tackling this puzzling question from space.

During World War II, Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps used scraps and found materials to create beautiful works of art.

The American Ingenuity Award winner is using geographic information systems to map history's most iconic landscapes

Lonnie Bunch, the director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, discusses the Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial, one of America's greatest monuments.

Archaelogists uncover what appear to be cat mummies–a common practice around the Ptolemaic period. But an x-ray scan reveals a surprise: the mummies are just bandages. So what happened?

Host Eric Schulze opens the floodgates of knowledge to reveal the answer.

Smithsonian magazine commissioned Drew Gardner for a project that connects Black Americans today to their lost ancestry. Read about Gardner’s project and process, as well as more details about the subjects of this incredible series here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/descendants-black-civil-war-heroes-wear-heritage-pride-180983397/ Video produced by Sierra Theobald. Special thanks to Drew Gardner Additional credits: Emma MacBeath, WikiTree US Black Heritage project; Ottawa Goodman, research and coordinator; Sam Dole, Penumbra Foundation; Elizabeth Zuck, set design; Calvin Osbourne, props and costume; Angela Huff, hair and make up; Diego Huerta, Lexia Krebs, behind-the-scenes filming; background prints by Fujifilm USA

"They have given mankind a completely new way of looking at the universe." – Stephen Hawking, congratulates Kip Thorne, Rainer Weiss, Barry Barish and Ronald Drever, the first scientists to detect gravitational waves. | Smithsonian magazine #IngenuityAwards The Smithsonian has been celebrating innovation in American culture for more than 150 years, and following in this tradition, Smithsonian magazine presents the American Ingenuity Awards, honoring revolutionary breakthroughs in the arts and sciences, education and social progress.

Article: http://j.mp/AwLdIY The global orchid community convenes in Singapore to compete for the title of best in show.

The legendary Stan Lee, creator of the Avengers, Spiderman and Iron Man, has partnered with the Smithsonian National Museum of American History to launch the first global online course about superheroes to fans around the world. Taught by "The Dark Knight" producer Michael Uslan, students will go into the vaults of the Smithsonian collection and hear from industry experts. Register now (http://bit.ly/1DsdJ3W) and beginning May 5, 2015, you can become a certified expert on superheroes. Sign up for the verified certificate to earn an original piece of artwork from top artist Phil Jimenez (Wonder Woman, New X-Men) with Phil's, Stan Lee’s, and Michael Uslan’s signatures.

Eric Schulze delves into little Rover's mind to see what all that racket is about

With federal funding, scientists and engineers hope to restore the Everglades ecosystem by removing dikes and canals and building the world's largest reservoir

With an 80-acre scale model of the 1.6 million-acre Everglades wetland system, scientists study how to restore the flow of water that was interrupted years ago

Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Wayne-Thiebaud-is-Not-a-Pop-Artist.html He made a name for himself painting pastries and other everyday objects, but his other work--cartoons and cityscapes--showcase the scope of his talents.

By 1953, six years after the Bell X-1 first went supersonic, that airplane and others were routinely flying at more than twice the speed of sound. On December 17, 1953the 50th anniversary of the Wright brothers first powered flight at Kitty HawkMajor Yeager sat down at the Pentagon for an informal press briefing to discuss his own Mach 2.43 flight in the X-1 five days earlier. Video: Department of Defense, Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration

From charming streets to stunning scenery, consider Hawaii, Idaho, Massachusetts, or New York for your next summer adventure. --- For more videos from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/ Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens Producer: Nicki Marko Producer: Sierra Theobald Editor: Michael Kneller

When Gary Roberts found this orphaned elephant next to its dead mother, he made an attempt to fly it to safety

This spring, take a break and smell the flowers in New Mexico, Kansas, California and New Jersey. --- For more videos from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/ Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens Video Editor: Sierra Theobald

Smithsonian magazine commissioned Drew Gardner for a project that connects Black Americans today to their lost ancestry. Read about Gardner’s project and process, as well as more details about the subjects of this incredible series here: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/descendants-black-civil-war-heroes-wear-heritage-pride-180983397/ Video produced by Sierra Theobald. Special thanks to Drew Gardner Additional credits: Emma MacBeath, WikiTree US Black Heritage project; Ottawa Goodman, research and coordinator; Sam Dole, Penumbra Foundation; Elizabeth Zuck, set design; Calvin Osbourne, props and costume; Angela Huff, hair and make up; Diego Huerta, Lexia Krebs, behind-the-scenes filming; background prints by Fujifilm USA

Jane Butel, author and expert on food from the American Southwest, reveals the stories behind how chili peppers, beef and wine became part of the region's cuisine (Meredith Bragg)

For more than a year now, the world has been treated to breathtaking images of the outer reaches of our universe from the NASA instrument. But how does it even work? --- For more videos from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/ Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Supervising Producer & Scriptwriter: Michelle Mehrtens Video Editor: Sierra Theobald

When it comes to bird calls, every chirp, trill, and warble tells a story. From eerie screeches to melodic tunes, these distinctive sounds from nature are sure to surprise you. --- For more videos from Smithsonian Magazine: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/videos/ Digital Editorial Director: Brian Wolly Supervising Producer: Michelle Mehrtens Producer: Nicki Marko Video Producer: Sierra Theobald Video Editor: Michael Kneller Script: Michelle Mehrtens, Michael Kneller Audio provided by the Macaulay Library at Cornell Lab

Humans have been modifying plants since the beginning of agriculture, but now, globalization and new technologies have given us more control and more power over our food than ever before.

Forensic anthropologist Doug Owsley discusses the skeletal specimens in a new exhibit at the Natural History Museum (Meredith Bragg). Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/meet-the-scientist-who-reads-bones-40315000/

David Lynch | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winner for Education As a filmmaker, Lynch has a reputation for creating dark, surreal movies such as Eraserhead, Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart as well as the TV show “Twin Peaks.” In the education world, he's becoming known for something very different: promoting inner peace. Over the past decade, the David Lynch Foundation has sponsored Transcendental Meditation classes for half a million children in places as far-flung as the Bronx, Detroit, Los Angeles, Congo and the West Bank. The program, called Quiet Time, is now at the center of one of the largest-ever studies of meditation for children—a 6,800-pupil research project conducted by the Crime Lab at the University of Chicago and designed to learn if meditation can help kids in highly stressful environments fare better at home and in school. Read more about Lynch’s work: http://smithmag.co/9sHhtm | #IngenuityAwards And more about the American Ingenuity Awards: http://smithmag.co/77xPqy

Carleton Watkins' 19th-Century Photographs of Yosemite Valley (Produced and Narrated by: Brendan McCabe. Text by Bruce Hathaway). Read more at https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/john-muirs-yosemite-10737/

Clues into the disappearance of the ancient Picts lie in the tiny Scottish village of Aberlemno: 1,700-year-old Pictish stones, marked with some very unusual carvings.

“Superman isn’t coming. It is a moment in our time when we must look to ourselves, and not take for granted or wait for something from the top to come down, but rather…pick up the torch, carry the torch, to find information and the truth…” – Erin Brockovich applauds Marc Edwards and LeeAnne Walters for their work exposing the Flint water crisis | Smithsonian Magazine American #IngenuityAwards Read more about Edwards and Walters’ work: http://smithmag.co/D4dIHy The Smithsonian has been celebrating innovation in American culture for more than 150 years, and following in this tradition, Smithsonian magazine presents the American Ingenuity Awards, honoring revolutionary breakthroughs in the arts and sciences, education and social progress. http://smithmag.co/R7hyRO

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A shipwreck discovered off New Zealand dates to a time before Cook's arrival

Teeth are key to identifying elderly remains

Some researchers initially dismissed the remains of Palaeopascichnus lineari as teeny turds from a bygone era

In a 11-4 vote, the City Council decided to remove the 65-foot-tall monument from its location in the heart of the city

New DNA analysis adds to growing research indicating the famous Pacific island did not collapse from overuse of resources before the arrival of Europeans

A melting glacier caused a mountain in Greenland to collapse into a narrow fjord, setting off an oscillating wave that rattled seismic detectors around the world

The noisy-but-shy bird, known as the hoiho, has earned the most votes for a second time amid threats to its survival

Experts have confirmed that the image of "Knight, Death and the Devil" is a real master engraving by the renowned German artist Albrecht Dürer

A new paper analyzes three decades of fatalities around the world and predicts how "superbugs" will affect human health in the future

Archaeologists unearthed a series of mudbrick rooms filled with religious tributes, soldiers' personal effects, engraved weaponry and animal bones

When the blaze in Moscow subsided on September 18, 1812, the French—who had traveled hundreds of miles into Russia—were left without vital resources as a brutal winter approached

The annual award ceremony featured costumes, songs and paper airplanes as scientists recognized comedic research across ten disciplines

The artist's cityscapes, once dismissed as too masculine, would later influence the floral artworks that became central to her iconic style

The discoveries include sharks, shorebirds, mammals and saber-toothed salmon, with the oldest remains dating to almost nine million years ago

The vertical sign stretched across three stories of the Manhattan hotel, which once welcomed the likes of Bob Dylan, Patti Smith, Andy Warhol and Janis Joplin

The “beloved” rodent named Cinnamon was spotted this week with help from drones. She has been wandering and eating grass after escaping her zoo enclosure last Friday