Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Human beings and chimps share as much as 98 percent of their DNA. If our species are so similar, can chimps be genetically engineered to be more like us?

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

The Smithsonian Castle is recreated in gingerbread by Charles Froke, executive pastry chef of Washington's Four Seasons (Produced by: Abby Callard)

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Our host, Eric Schulze, has the answer

Christopher Gray | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winner for Youth Achievement Christopher Gray is the founder and CEO of Scholly, the groundbreaking web and mobile app that matches current or future college students who need financial support with scholarships that can help them. Scholly has been downloaded 850,000 times and has connected college students with some $50 million in scholarships. Philadelphia-based Gray, an ABC “Shark Tank” winner and recipient of a $100,000 grant from philanthropist Steve Case’s Rise of the Rest competition, sees his digital platform as a 21st-century tool for helping countless young Americans achieve their college dreams without piling on crushing debt.

Vice president of engineering and chief evangelist at Google on the connected world in 2050

Through painstaking work, photographer Drew Gardner transformed Elizabeth Jenkins-Sahlin into her ancestor, a famous women’s rights activist. (Credit: Drew Gardner)

Nearly 300,000 people gather every Memorial Day to witness the legendary Indianapolis 500, one of the greatest spectacles in U.S. racing

In 1925, an Alaskan adventurer and his trusted Siberian husky completed a grueling 600-mile journey across the frozen plains. Their exploits would end up saving the lives of 2,000 people.

Who’s afraid of the dark? Our Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze is here to explain the illuminating science behind night vision.

From This Object in History, aired on @SmithsonianChannel

Chris Mah, researcher at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in the invertebrate zoology department, describes the characteristics of different sea star species observed on the final dive of the Laulima O Ka Moana expedition. (Credit: Video courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, 2017 Laulima O Ka Moana)

Snowball the cockatoo bobs his head and lifts his leg to the beats of the Backstreet Boys' "Everbody"

The American Ingenuity Award winner is giving new hope to thousands of young people in America's prisons

High-speed video captures the unique ability of a leaping praying mantis to control its spin in mid-air and precisely land on a target.

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

Photographer David Burnett focused his camera on the many tourists who flocked to Florida in 1969 to watch the launch of Apollo 11 (Produced by Molly Roberts; Photographs by David Burnett/Contact Press Images)

In the remote Pacific, the Phoenix Islands provide an unspoiled center for marine science

Archaeologists in Saqqara make a dazzling discovery: a late period Egyptian coffin with a gilded mask. Now, to bring it to the surface, they use a pulley known as a "tambora," a technology that dates back to Ancient Egypt

With millions of men serving in WWII, the nation needed pilots to ferry planes from the factory to the air bases. That’s when Jackie Cochran proposed a novel idea: why not let women fly?

Pastry artist Zilly Rosen renders Presidents Lincoln and Obama in cupcake form at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Meredith Bragg). Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Inauguration-2009.html

Fans strap on their blue suede shoes and join the celebration of Elvis Presley's 75th birthday at the National Portrait Gallery. Read more at http://Smithsonian.com

What are freckles, and how do they form? In this one-minute video, our Ask Smithsonian host, Eric Schulze, shines a light on the subject.

Henry Ford was a genius who virtually created the automobile industry as we know it. But what's less lauded was his talent for publicity—and his ability to partner with other pioneers such as Ohio's Harvey Firestone.

Much more than you’d think – and it’s whirling around at dangerously high speeds

The answer depends on how you feel about cluster headaches

In 1963, civil rights leader Medgar Evers arrived home when he was shot and killed. It would be over 30 years before his killer was brought to justice.

Watch to get the answer that surprised the heck out of us

Our host explains why you should never say ‘no’ to a hungry pregnant woman

The science behind earworms and why they won’t leave us alone

In a conversation with architect David Rockwell, the philanthropic chef urges an invested effort to create technology that could collect water from the clouds

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 world.

The "Manned Orbiting Laboratory," or "MOL," was built to capture high-resolution images of Soviet targets on the ground. It was so advanced, it could pick up objects on earth as small as a baseball

In about four billion years from now, the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies will crash together Visualization: NASA, ESA, and F. Summers, STScI Simulation credit: NASA, ESA, G. Besla, Columbia University, and R. van der Marel, STScI

Experts are working on a unique experiment that will use an inflatable aeroshell/heat shield to protect a spacecraft when entering a planet's atmosphere or returning to Earth

The space suits used by the astronauts on Gemini 7, known as grasshopper suits, were designed for comfort. But after two weeks inside them, that was the last thing on the crew’s minds.

Visitors to Nantucket were able to ski through wide strips of slushy ice left on the beach in February 2015.

Chef Darin Nesbit demonstrates how to cook cricket-crusted redfish. (Still Image: Natthanan Chumphookaew/iStock)

A series of remarkably well-preserved human remains in a remote cave in Scotland has archaeologists grappling with a staggering question: were these bodies brought here during the Bronze Age to be mummified?

After mapping the movement of stars for years, astronomers believe they have found a black hole at the center of the Milky Way

http://smithsonian.com/ask Now it's your turn to ask the Institution's experts your questions about science, history, art or culture

A London blacksmith has perfected a technique known as pattern welding to create elaborately-designed replica Saxon swords and knives. He demonstrates his technique on camera.

A chick in the process of hatching as the female adult looks on

Under exuberant coach, Knute Rockne, Notre Dame set the standards for football excellence. But off the field, the Fighting Irish was a PR sensation, capturing the hearts of a riveted nation.

Cocktail historians differ on the birthplace of the word "cocktail," but they cherish America' invention of drinks like the mint julep (Meredith Bragg)