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How Henry Ford Found the Right Tires for Model T Cars

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.




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How a Room in New Jersey Gave Us the Film Industry

While Thomas Edison is best-known for inventing the lightbulb, it's often forgotten that he also set up the world's first movie studio, in Fort Lee, New Jersey




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A Right Whale Skeleton Arrives at the Smithsonian

See the process involved when a massive specimen arrives at the Smithsonian




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Ask Smithsonian: How Does Daylight Savings Affect the Body?

The answer depends on how you feel about cluster headaches




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Restaurateur José Andrés Dreams of Milking the Clouds

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




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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 world.




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The Astonishing Spying Capabilities of This U.S. Satellite

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




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What Happens When Galaxies Collide?

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




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Alvin Ailey Revelations

The Alvin Ailey dance troupe performs from its signature Revelations




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NASA's Inflatable Spacecraft Heat Shield

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




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There's a Limit to the Comfort Level of NASA Space Suits

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.




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Skiing the Nantucket Slush

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




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Saving Amphibians From Deadly Fungus

Building captive colonies for eventual re-introduction to the wild, scientists from Atlanta rescue endangered frogs and other amphibians threatened with extinction by a fatal fungus spreading through South American forests




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Finding Evolution at the Natural History Museum

Discover evidence of natural selection and evolution at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum (Meredith Bragg)




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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 astonishing as its design is the fact that it was built while the normal train schedules continued, with no disruption.




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Ask Smithsonian: Lightning Round

How many of your questions can our host, Eric Schulze, answer in 45 seconds?




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Was This Cave an Ancient Lab for Preserving Human Bodies?

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?




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Finding a Black Hole

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




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E-Line Never Alone Video Game




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This London Blacksmith Forges Replicas of Medieval Swords

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.




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The Architect of Notre Dame's Astounding Football Success

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.




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Did New Orleans Invent the Cocktail?

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




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MIT's New Water-Powered Artificial Muscles

Scientists have created thin polymer sheets that expand and contract when in contact with water




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The Future Is Bright If More Teens Think About High School the Way Kavya Kopparapu Does

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma talks with the founder of the Girls Computing League about the promise of her generation




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Charles Babbage's Difference Machine No. 2

The first computer is thought to be the invention of a 19th century mathematician




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Fridays in Floyd

Every week, the Floyd Country Store draws musicians and their fans from across southwest Virginia




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Coming July 27: There's More to That from Smithsonian magazine and PRX

Smithsonian magazine covers history, science and culture in the way only it can — through a lens on the world that is insightful and grounded in richly reported stories. On There's More to That, meet the magazine's journalists and hear how they discover the forces behind the biggest issues of our time. 




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Ask Smithsonian: How Does Skin Heal?

Our skin is an endlessly complex organ. Luckily, in this one-minute video, our Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze is here to explain exactly what happens after you get a scrape.




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Evaluating Sources and Using Evidence




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Altruistic Lizards

A blue-throated side-blotched lizard defending his territory against an orange-throated side-blotched lizard




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Poaching the Venus Flytrap

Researchers are able to track Venus flytrap plants that were stolen from protected areas




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Building the Udvar-Hazy Center

Find out what it takes to build a museum large enough to house 130 aircraft




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How Coffee Breaks Became a Staple of American Life

Coffee - it's a staple of American life, and inside the vaults of the National Museum of American History, they know the secret to its wide spread success: packaging




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Helping Underprivileged Children Hear

By 2020, the Starkey Hearing Foundation plans to donate one million hearing aids to kids in the developing world




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Academy Award Nominee Kathleen Turner Discusses Political Journalist Molly Ivins

More on Kathleen Turner and her show at Arena Stage: http://j.mp/T0IkkZ Before taking the stage in "Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins," Academy Award nominee Kathleen Turner discusses the woman who inspired the show.




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Rare Apollo 11 Footage, Remixed and in HD

In 1969, three men traveled to the moon cameras documented their every move




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This Bandit-Faced Dino Hid From Predators Using Multiple Types of Camouflage

Credit: David Marshall, University of Bristol




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The Invisible Enemy Wiping Out Entire Species of Frogs

To save a species from extinction, scientists scour the Panamanian jungle for the few remaining frogs. But will they be too late?




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How Lizzie Borden Became the Main Suspect in Her Family's Murder

How did a god fearing church-goer like Lizzie Borden become a suspect in the gruesome crime of the century? Her inconsistent account, and an eerie nonchalance, immediately damaged her credibility with investigators.




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eMammal




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This Pendant Is Britain’s Oldest Piece of Iron Age Art

A small pebble with ornate markings is Britain’s earliest piece of Mesolithic art—but what do the markings denote, and was it worn for cosmetic purposes or spiritual ones?




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How a 'Non-Hazardous' NASA Mission Turned Deadly

In 1967, a horrific fire broke out during a routine pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission at Cape Kennedy, Florida. It would claim the lives of three NASA astronauts




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Ask Smithsonian: What Would Happen if a Solar Flare Hit the Earth?

"Be prepared” might not cover it when it comes to super storms.




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Ready to Fledge

The biological urge is too strong to resist for penguin chicks as they fledge and dive into the water for the first time.




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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 record of the scale of the tragedy.




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The Smithsonian Channel Commemorates the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act

Aerial America: Wilderness premieres Sunday, Sept. 7 at 9PM ET/PT




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Ask Smithsonian: How Do Noise-Canceling Headphones Work?

Our host, Eric Schulze explains how 1 + 1 = 0 when it comes to sound




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Feeding the Leopards

Caretakers feed the new baby clouded leopards at the Zoo's research facility in Virginia




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Did the Spanish Flu Impact America's Ability to Fight in WWI?

By late September 1918, in a bid to contain the spread of the flu, the U.S. had made the decision to cancel the draft. It was too little, too late—in October alone, over 200,000 Americans were killed by the disease.




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Sebastian Thrun on the Future of Learning

Why the American Ingenuity Award winner believes higher education should be a basic human right