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

A large portion of Indiana's economy relies on an invaluable crop: corn. Popcorn plants like Pop Weaver have perfected the production of our favorite movie snack down to a science.

Filmed by the famous photographer during the Spanish Civil War, this clip debuted at the 2010 Orphan Film Symposium

A true-life saga involving organized crime, racial prejudice, and evolving American identity, David Grann’s 2017 nonfiction book Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the F.B.I. seemed at first glance like a perfect fit for Martin Scorsese, the beloved filmmaker whose dozens of critically adored movies include Taxi Driver, GoodFellas, and The Departed. But when Jim Gray, a former chief of the Osage Nation, and other Osage leaders invited the filmmaker to Oklahoma to hear their concerns about his new project, Scorsese came. Scorsese listened. And then he rewrote and reconfigured Killers of the Flower Moon from soup to nuts, with a result that has earned a rapturous response from Native viewers like Gray and journalist Sandra Hale Schulman, and from the broader critical community, too. The movie opens in theatres tomorrow and will appear on the Apple+ streaming service before the end of the year. In this episode, Schulman walks me through a brief history of how Native Americans have been depicted in a century’s worth of movies. Then, Chief Gray tells me about his personal connection to Killers of the Flower Moon, the pattern of Native American erasure from national discourse, and how he and his colleagues persuaded Scorsese to rethink the new movie. A transcript of this episode can be found here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/how-the-osage-changed-martin-scorseses-mind-180983094smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/how-the-osage-changed-martin-scorseses-mind-180983094) . Sandra’s Smithsonian story about Native representation in cinema is here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-brief-history-of-native-representation-in-film-180983043/) . You can learn more about Sandra and her work at her site (http://www.sandraschulman.com/) . Dennis McAuliffe Jr.’s The Deaths of Sybil Bolton: An American History, which Chief Gray cites as formative in this episode, is here (https://www.amazon.com/Deaths-Sybil-Bolton-American-History/dp/081292150X) . There’s More to That is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Chris Klimek, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Jessica Miller, Adriana Rosas Rivera, Genevieve Sponsler, Terence Bernardo, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Fact-checking by Stephanie Abramson. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Music by APM Music.

Timelapse of a British artist creating a site-specific piece for the Ulster Museum

This relic from ancient Persia had a profound influence on the Founding Fathers. More on the Cyrus Cylinder: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/the-cyrus-cylinder-goes-on-view-at-the-sackler-gallery-1334866/

The artist discusses where his work fits among the many genres of painting

The figurative painter talks about the artistic process, his education and his influences.

A clip from the father of video art's 1969 piece

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 C.E., it covered the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum under tons of ash. Millennia later, in the mid-18th century, archeologists began to unearth the city, including its famed libraries, but the scrolls they found were too fragile to be unrolled and read; their contents were thought to be lost forever. Only now, thanks to the advent of artificial intelligence and machine learning, scholars of the ancient world have partnered with computer programmers to unlock the contents of these priceless documents. In this episode of “There’s More to That,” science journalist and Smithsonian contributor Jo Marchant tells us about the yearslong campaign to read these scrolls. And Youssef Nader—one of the three winners of last year’s “Vesuvius Challenge” to make these clumps of vulcanized ash readable—tells us how he and his teammates achieved their historic breakthrough. Read Smithsonian’s coverage of the Vesuvius Challenge and the Herculaneum scrolls here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/three-students-decipher-first-passages-2000-year-old-scroll-burned-vesuvius-eruption-180983738/) , here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/buried-ash-vesuvius-scrolls-are-being-read-new-xray-technique-180969358/) , and here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/archaeologoists-only-just-beginning-reveal-secrets-hidden-ancient-manuscripts-180967455/) . Find prior episodes of our show here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/podcast/) . There’s More to That is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Chris Klimek, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Jessica Miller, Adriana Rosas Rivera, Genevieve Sponsler, Rye Dorsey, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Fact-checking by Stephanie Abramson. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Music by APM Music.

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.

The Dutch seized the majority of the items in the aftermath of a brutal 1906 conflict that killed an estimated 1,000 Balinese

John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton shared the award for their work on artificial neural networks and machine learning

Hundreds of artifacts have been unearthed at a burial mound in the city of Chifeng, but researchers are particularly intrigued by the six-inch-long object

The Shipwreck Treasure Museum in Cornwall, England, is selling its collection, which includes items connected to nearly 150 shipwrecks

The Manhattan district attorney's office has obtained an arrest warrant for Edoardo Almagià, who has been accused of working with looters and dealing stolen artifacts for years

Steve Lazarides' personal collection of prints, original works, handwritten press releases and burner phones sold at auction for around $1.4 million

The 1951 artwork, "La Grande Dame (The Cat Woman)," stands over six feet tall and features paintings of "hybrid creatures and lush dreamscapes"

Cenotes in the Yucatán Peninsula are time capsules preserving remnants of Maya culture and fossils of extinct megafauna

Iconic images of Dr. King from the Smithsonian collection

A Two-Day Festival in the historic Arts & Industries Building brings community, artists and scholars together for a “Culture Lab”

Wanita Johnson, who celebrates her birthday this weekend in Whitehorse, still has a sharp memory for how the Second World War helped shape her life.

FIFA Football for Schools (F4S) has come to Canada, with a pilot program in the N.W.T. already underway and offering coach training. 

Historians say that Sarah Emma Edmonds exaggerated many aspects of her wartime experiences. Still, she bravely served in the Union Army, becoming one of hundreds of women who fought in the conflict in secret

An exhibition at the Huntington Library, Art Museum and Botanical Gardens explores how Western intellectuals viewed the climate crisis between 1780 and 1930

A new exhibition at the British Library explores the public, private and spiritual lives of such figures as Joan of Arc, Christine de Pizan and Hildegard of Bingen

With Remembrance Day and Indigenous Veterans Day coming up, many people start to reflect on their family's wartime stories by looking through mementos saved by former generations. Ron Kanutski of Thunder Bay, Ont., joins the CBC's Mary-Jean Cormier to talk about his family's military history.

CBC's Superior Morning has been gathering wartime stories from listeners leading up to Remembrance Day based on mementos they have kept for generations. Here's some of the stories residents in northwestern Ontario have shared.

Lloyd Gates is one of the few surviving Second World War veterans on Prince Edward Island. He recounts the highs and lows of his wartime service in Holland and France.

OM Ireland's biggest outreach of the year teaches participants to commit their ways to Him and trust Him to act.

Thirteen participants from all over the world spent a week getting to know and supporting the refugee work in Linz. Six share about their experiences.

OM Japan and an outreach team encourage and help people who suffered from the tsunami in Ishinomaki and the area around Minami Sanriku.

A pastor and OM couple start a new church in Tonami, Japan, a rural town of 50,000.

Keisha Oliver, who is pursuing a dual-title doctoral degree in art education and African American and diaspora studies, was named a fall 2024 artist-in-residence at the Penn State College of Engineering’s Learning Factory.

The ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge has recognized Pennsylvania College of Technology for its nonpartisan democratic engagement efforts that fostered high levels of student voter engagement in the 2022 midterm elections and for its commitment to ensuring that nonpartisan democratic engagement is a defining feature of campus life.

In a case involving a transgender track athlete, the Trump administration says female transgender athletes are seeking "special treatment" to compete in girls' or women's sports.

The judge said the law likely discriminates on the basis of transgender status in violation of the equal-protection clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Thaddeus Stevens College, a two-year trade and technology-focused college, has recently expanded its articulation agreement with Penn State Harrisburg. Students completing their studies at Thaddeus Stevens College can transfer a variety of general education credits toward receiving a bachelor of science degree in human development and family studies from Penn State Harrisburg.

Five Penn State Altoona criminal justice students participated in the third annual Federal Mock Sentencing Exercise at the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Johnstown on Thursday, Oct. 24.

Penn State’s Center for Socially Responsible Artificial Intelligence (CSRAI) will host “Diagnose-a-thon,” a competition that aims to uncover the power and potential dangers of using generative AI for medical inquiries. The virtual event will take place Nov. 11-17 with top prizes of $1,000.  

Students who meet transfer requirements at Lehigh Carbon Community College are guaranteed admission to Penn State Hazleton, Lehigh Valley, Schuylkill and Wilkes-Barre.

The number of "ghost town" malls that were ubiquitous throughout South Africa in the past two years is declining as the demand for retail space strengthens.

While some were writing Sandton's obituary during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, when the work-from-home phenomenon became the norm, others - like its property owners and businesses - were planning its revival.

Uber will bring 200 BYD electric vehicles onto its platform in South Africa, starting with a pilot in Johannesburg in 2025.

The IBM Foundation has launched a website called Teacher Advisor with Watson, which uses artificial intelligence to find high-quality elementary math resources and lessons.

The percentage of U.S. public school teachers participating in unions has been declining steadily over the last two decades—and the numbers are soon likely to take an even steeper dive.

WILMINGTON, Del. – Governor John Carney on Wednesday announced Delaware was one of four states chosen by the National Governors Association to participate in a learning collaborative focused on recognizing and responding to adverse childhood experiences. The State of Delaware will join teams from Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wyoming in the Improving Well-being and Success of […]

In the picture, he can be seen striking his famous Rooh Baba pose