Written by the former chief historian of NASA, the book examines the evolution of our cosmic understanding—from early civilizations to the present day

Rome/New York – Queen Letizia of Spain will join international efforts against hunger and [...]

Over the last twenty years, the FAO corporate website has expanded to meet diverse Organizational needs and promote the work of divisions and country offices across FAO. When Director [...]

Read the series on how FAO increased efficiency, effectiveness and transparency to better support its Members in the transformation of agrifood systems.

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

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

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.

If you need something while up in space, soon all you'll have to do is print it.

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.

Interpretive exhibits coordinator Steven Madewells demonstrates a few experiments at Spark!Lab, an interactive exhibit at the National Museum of American History. Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/theres-nothing-like-a-sparklab-to-ignite-the-imagination-1-180949007/

The first plane to fly nonstop from New York to Paris will reside on the ground level of the National Air and Space Museum for the next five months as it undergoes preservation (Courtesy of the National Air and Space Museum)

Re-enactors relive the Battle of Baltimore and celebrate the flag that inspired our national anthem (Ryan R. Reed). Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/star-spangled-banner-back-on-display-83229098/

Jeff Bezos | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winner for Technology The Princeton-educated Amazon founder, Washington Post owner and new-economy pioneer also helms an innovative spaceflight company, Blue Origin, which he founded in 2000. This year it became the first aerospace manufacturer to launch, land and relaunch a rocket into space—an essential leap toward our extraterrestrial future. Bezos aims to revolutionize travel and work in space by making spaceflight so inexpensive that entrepreneurs will rush to create new businesses that have not even been imagined yet. Blue Origin’s achievement has been described as comparable to the shift from the sail to the steam engine. Read more about Bezos’ work: http://smithmag.co/GICDO2 | #IngenuityAwards And more about the American Ingenuity Awards: http://smithmag.co/77xPqy

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

Gemini 8 was in trouble. After completing the first space docking with another craft, it begins to spin uncontrollably. Ditching protocol, commanding officer Neil Armstrong tries an unorthodox plan.

No one had ever launched, landed and relaunched a rocket into space until the company's historic achievement.

As part of Project Mercury, NASA prepared to send a chimpanzee, Ham, into space to test the effects of space on a living creature.

Four hundred years ago, escaped slaves formed the village of Palenque. The town’s younger generations have reconnected with their African roots through cultural traditions handed down from their ancestors (Kenneth Fletcher/SmithsonianMag.com). Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/colombia-dispatches.html

Watch breathtaking underwater footage off the Panama coast, where coral reefs reproduce in a flurry of carefully-timed action. Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/A-Coral-Reefs-Mass-Spawning.html

Obviously it's a bad idea to go out into space without a trusty spacesuit, but what exactly happens?

The American Ingenuity Award winner on the connection between history and music

Sarah Parcak | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winner for History This tech-savvy researcher of our past uses satellites and other remote-sensing tools to discover and explore stunning new evidence of lost cultures—including, just this year, another possible Viking site in North America. In addition, she has located an astonishing number of ancient Egyptian remains—thousands of settlements, lost tombs and hidden pyramids. A Yale- and Cambridge-trained Egyptologist and archaeologist, Parcak is a professor of anthropology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where she serves as founding director of the Laboratory for Global Observation. Read more about Parcak’s work: http://smithmag.co/ZuwTGP | #IngenuityAwards And more about the American Ingenuity Awards: http://smithmag.co/77xPqy

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

As the space shuttles complete their final missions, curator Valerie Neal at the National Air and Space Museum highlights the spacecraft's history and legacy in manned space flight.

Teeth are key to identifying elderly remains

Officials in Extremadura are hoping to attract digital nomads and tech workers in a bid to boost the region's shrinking population

A ring could explain a mysterious arrangement of impact craters near the equator and might even have caused an ice age, according to a new study

The Galeón Andalucía, which is now making its way to London, was designed to resemble the armed merchant vessels manufactured by Spain and Portugal between the 16th and 18th centuries

On this day in 1690, "Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick" attracted colonial officials' ire by repeating a scandalous rumor and condemning a British alliance with the Mohawk

Scientists sent bioengineered heart tissue samples to the ISS to study how to keep astronauts safe during future long-term space travel

A SpaceX mission arrived at the International Space Station with two astronauts instead of four to leave room for NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on the return trip in early 2025

In the ’90s, many scientists disputed an epidemiologist’s warning that the fast-paced life extension of the 20th century would plateau. Now, a new study suggests he was right

The two artifacts donated by Blue Origin achieved record-breaking feats and will extend the museum's story of trailblazing space travel into the present

The success is a giant leap toward the company's goal to take humans and cargo all the way to Mars on the world's biggest and most powerful launch vehicle

The final 3D atlas of the sky will help scientists study dark matter and dark energy, which make up 96 percent of the universe but remain mysterious

While most wooden artifacts disintegrate after thousands of years, the newly unearthed oak tool has remained in remarkable condition

On its 66th flyby of the king of planets, Juno has captured spectacular views of the stormy atmosphere, processed by citizen scientists

See images of the American flag captured by our readers.

CBC Newfoundland and Labrador would love to hear your suggestions of folks and organizations who are there when you need them — and all the other times, too.

Tammy Roberts, Home Base's executive director, said before these services launched, there was "no place for youth to go" other than the emergency room or to RCMP cells. 

As a child, the future president acquired a marine animal's skull, which became the first specimen in his natural history collection

Out-of-the-can branding helped transform World War II's rations into a beloved household staple

Families of Norton Elementary School won’t be seeing their kids return anytime soon. Repairs are going to take longer than expected and students are expected to be back in the school by the start of the next school year.

Atlantic salmon returns were at their lowest level ever this year, say researchers, who are nevertheless refusing to give up hope that the population can rebound.

The Art Zone is a place where teens can creatively express themselves and their worship for God. For Saskia, art is a way to quiet her mind and let God speak.