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New York Honors Shirley Chisholm, First Black Congresswoman in U.S. History, With New Statue

The firebrand politician once quipped that she would like to be remembered as a woman who ‘had guts’




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Climate Change Has Made Climbing the Matterhorn More Dangerous

Melting permafrost is leading to more frequent rockfalls and landslides on the iconic peak and other areas of the Alps




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Weird Science: Pregnant Dads?

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction




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Ask Smithsonian: Are Humans the Only Animals to Use the Stars to Navigate?

Yet another reason to fight light pollution




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Weird Science: Space Cloud

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction




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Weird Science: Humongous Fungus

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction




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Weird Science: Gender Bending Fish

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction




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Ask Smithsonian: Can Chimps Be Genetically Engineered to Be Like Humans?

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?




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Weird Science: It Snows What on Venus?

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction




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Ask Smithsonian: Do Animals Laugh?

The answer may lie between being ticklish and having a sense of humor




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Weird Science: Lyrebird, Nature's Mimic

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction




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A Gingerbread Smithsonian Castle

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




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Weird Science: Toothbrush

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction




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Weird Science: Tongue Print

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction




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Ask Smithsonian: Why Do We Get Prune Fingers?

Why are we equipped with this curious modification? Find out in this one-minute video, where Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze gives us the info on our wrinkled digits.




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Ask Smithsonian: Why Do We Have an Appendix?

The appendix may not be as useless as commonly thought.




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Ask Smithsonian: Can Plants Communicate?

Our host, Eric Schulze, has the answer




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Christopher Gray's Scholly App Is Bringing Millions of Dollars to College Students in Need

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.




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Q & A: Joel Kotkin

How will populations change in the United States over the next 40 years? Interview by Terence Monmaney Special Thanks to Joel Kotkin




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A Tomato Trail

From soil to soup (Smithsonian.com). Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/passion-for-tomatoes.html




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Pioneering Video Artist Peter Campus Presents His Version of the Star-Spangled Banner




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Q & A: Vincent Cerf

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




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What It Took to Recreate a Portrait of Elizabeth Cady Stanton

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




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Where The Fastest Cars in the World Come Together

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




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A 600-Mile Journey Across Alaska Saves the Town of Nome

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.




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Ask Smithsonian: How Does Night Vision Technology Work?

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




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This Object in History: F-14 Tomcat

From This Object in History, aired on @SmithsonianChannel




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Sea Star Storytime with Chris Mah

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)




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Bobbing to the Backstreet Boys

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




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Aerial Acrobatics of the Praying Mantis

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.




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Avian Warning System

The Siberian jay screeches at predators when they are near, but uses a different call for each deadly intruder




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Weird Science: Toe Tastebuds?

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction




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Counting Down for the Liftoff to the Moon

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)




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Stratford-upon-Avon Is a Magnet for Shakespeare Lovers

To soar over Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire is to be transported back in time to the age of William Shakespeare, a man born in humble circumstances who would go on to become the most celebrated writer of all time.




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A Coffin Is Unearthed Using Ancient Egyptian Tech

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




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Women Proved to Be Exceptional Pilots During WWII

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?




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Cupcake Presidents

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




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Echoes of Elvis

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




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Ask Smithsonian: What’s a Freckle?

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.




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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: What Is Wind?

In this one-minute video, our Ask Smithsonian host, Eric Schulze, explains what causes wind. The answer might blow you away.




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Ask Smithsonian: How Much Stuff Is in Orbit Around the Earth?

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




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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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Ask Smithsonian: How Do Boomerangs Work?

It depends on which variety of boomerang you're using. Our host Eric Schulze has more




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Justice for Medgar Evers Comes 30 Years After His Murder

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.




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Ask Smithsonian: Where Does Space Begin?

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




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Ask Smithsonian: What Are the Weirdest Things Pregnant Women Crave?

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




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Ask Smithsonian: Why Do Songs Get Stuck in My Head?

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