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.

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.

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)

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

In this trailer, experts discuss the importance of sharks to the health of coral reefs. Marine ecologist Enric Sala of Scripps Institution of Oceanography talks about the role of sharks as top predators in ocean ecosystems. Peter Knight, executive director of WildAid, and Sonja Fordham of the Ocean Conservancy detail the decline of shark populations worldwide as a result of fishing pressure

Credit: David Marshall, University of Bristol

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

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?

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.

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

Artist Michael Kirby spent four days painting an image from "Falnama: The Book of Omens" in front of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/muralist-uses-the-sidewalk-outside-the-sackler-gallery-as-canvas-20678724/

Scientists are researching how the rodent can become less susceptible to its feline foe.

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

It looks like a fairly nondescript plank of wood, found in the fields of Star Carr. But from an archaeological perspective, it’s far more significant: It’s the oldest piece of carpentry found anywhere in Europe.

After his arrival in Omaha in 1892, Tom Dennison - nicknamed the "Grey Wolf" - controlled the city's street's for more than 30 years

Kenneth Morris is the great-great-great-grandson of the heralded abolitionist and helped compile an illustrated biography of his ancestor. (Credit: Drew Gardner)

Between the unusual court shape and specialized equipment, jeu de paume is a game that must be seen to be believed

Every Veterans Day, Jeremy Redmon thinks about his father, Donald Lee Redmon — an Air Force veteran who survived more than 300 combat missions over Southeast Asia, but who took his own life when Jeremy was 14. This year, Redmon traveled back to Hanoi with a group of former prisoners of war, many of whom had flown the same missions as his dad. Jeremy asked these veterans questions he was never able to ask his own father, about how they’d healed from the war and lived rewarding lives thereafter. In this episode, guest host Jennie Rothenberg Gritz speaks with Redmon about the complexities of the Vietnam War, as well as his own experiences as a reporter in Iraq. Then, Vietnamese American author Mai Elliott discusses her family’s experiences in North and South Vietnam, and how her feelings about the conflict changed throughout the 1960s. Read Jeremy Redmon’s Smithsonian story “Fifty Years After Their Release, Former Vietnam POWs Journey Back to Hanoi” here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/fifty-years-finding-freedom-vietnam-vets-healing-journey-hanoi-180983052/) . Order Mai Elliott’s book The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family here (https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Willow-Generations-Vietnamese-Family-ebook/dp/B074JBTTZ3?ref_=ast_author_mpb) . 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 Jennie Rothenberg Gritz, 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.

Carefully planned gardens provide visitors a place to relax and reflect during their visit to the Smithsonian.

In 1905, New York City hosted a grand procession for the last living soldier of a war that ended 90 years earlier

A mata mata turtle can go 15 minutes between breaths--it's another one of the Smithsonian's National Zoo's many unique animals. Join the Zoo's experts for an inside look at some of its 2,000 rare and extraordinary creatures.

Credit: Smithsonian Digital Studio

The octopus places the arm in its mouth, treating it like food.

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)

It's 1933 and Mae West is just arriving at Grauman's Chinese Theater for the premiere of I'm No Angel. It draws fans from all over the country—as well as an organized protest from conservative religious groups.

The director of the Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation explores how personality and environment help creativity flourish

In 1619, George Yeardley, the newly appointed governor of Jamestown, made history: He convened 22 elected members of a burgeoning commonwealth, creating the first democratic assembly in America.

The first coffin Marcus Daly built was for his own child. Now, he has mastered the art of creating a final resting place for so many

Credit: Carlos Jaramillo, German Bayona and Edward Duarte, using Gplates and VideoPad by NCHsoftware

We asked visitors to the National Mall what they thought should be in the Smithsonian collections in 2050. The consensus? Lady Gaga and much more...

Have you ever wondered if the Leaning Tower of Pisa is a catastrophe waiting to happen? In this one-minute video, Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze explains how architects and engineers spent the last eight hundred years or so making things go from bad to worse, bringing the gravity-defying tower to the brink of disaster

Vice president of engineering and chief evangelist at Google on the connected world in 2050. Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/vinton-cerf-on-where-the-internet-will-take-us-1128826/

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

After a dog digs up a rabbit's nest and leaves a litter exposed, the team at the Toronto Wildlife Center must rehabilitate the malnourished babies before they can be released back into the wild.

In Vietnam's capital city, pho restaurants dot the streets and fill them with the aromas of the flavorful soup. Read more at http://Smithsonian.com/pho

Are you the kind of person who needs to know what keeps satellites from plummeting to the Earth in a big, fiery ball? Then you need to watch this one-minute video, where Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze gives us the lowdown on what-in-the-name-of-science makes those satellites stay up.

Fifteen-year-old Esteban, a clarinetist from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, uses music to survive his chaotic environment Reporting by Dominic Bracco II / Prime and Susana Seijas