For the first time ever, researchers observed a cricket as a pollinator for a flower

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.

You might think twice about picking that chip off the carpet and putting it into your mouth.

Mineralogist Bob Hazen talks about what he loves about walking along the coast of the Chesapeake Bay, hunting for fossils and shark teeth hidden in the sand

Fossils found in Colombia indicate that a giant snake may have roamed the earth 60 million years ago

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/

Director of the African American History and Culture Museum Lonnie Bunch looks at the forces that brought about the January 1, 1863 order.

Watch Masai Mara hyenas in their natural habitat

You can describe what a journalist does in any number of ways. One definition that’s as accurate as any is that a journalist is someone who liked having homework back when they were in school so much that they decided to keep doing homework for a career. That certainly describes the team here at Smithsonian magazine. We’re all big readers. So we thought that before our brief winter hiatus—a time when many of us are trying to think of gift ideas to please the empathetic, curious people in our lives—we’d poll the staff of Smithsonian on their favorite books they read this year. Because we’re primarily a history and science magazine, we tried to steer them toward nonfiction published in 2023, but as you’ll hear, we weren’t sticklers for either criterion. We thought it better to let you hear from our staff about the books they were most genuinely excited to share. You’ll recognize some of these voices if you’re an avid listener, but this episode also provides the chance to hear from some of the talented staffers we haven’t been able to feature on the show before now. 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.

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

Hours after the Titanic sank, news organizations latched onto a telegraph message that seemed to say that the ship and all its passengers had been rescued. It would turn out to be a tragic case of fake news.

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)

When plasma falls to the surface it results in a dazzling display known as coronal rain

The newly discovered Lllacme plenipes has up to 750 legs, more than any other known creature

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

At age 23, the former chairman of SNCC stepped up to the podium to deliver a powerful speech to thousands on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

The Smithsonian National Zoos Snore & Roar program gives visitors a behind the scenes look (Video and Reporting by Megan Gambino and Ryan Reese). Read more at http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2008/09/sleep-over-party-at-the-zoo/

Take an animated tour of the future Giant Magellan Telescope

Two of the preeminent researchers of gene therapy hope to improve their patients' sight in an experimental operation (Stephen Voss/WPN)

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.

Learn more about color blindness: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ask-smithsonian-how-does-world-look-the-color-blind-180960415/ Have a question in mind? It's your turn to Ask Smithsonian: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ask-smithsonian/ask-form/

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

New technologies helped marine archaeologists recover the H.L. Hunley, a Civil War submarine

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

Yacouba Sawadogo, a farmer from Burkina Faso, has become a pioneer in the fight against desertification – succeeding where many international agencies have failed

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...

http://j.mp/196BLpQ From her salon in Maryland, Camille Reed sees more black women embracing natural hair

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/

After arriving at the zoo obese, Nikki the Bear was put on a strict diet by the zoo nutritionists with great results (Video by: Ryan R. Reed). Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/nikki-the-bear-lost-110-pounds-on-the-national-zoo-diet-46145236/

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

Historically feared by humans, brown bears were once aggressively hunted in the contiguous U.S. Because of this, 95% of these majestic creatures live in Alaska.

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.

The naked stone is on exhibit at the Natural History museum through next spring

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

More on The Music Box: http://j.mp/KX15yK The artists behind the most eccentric place in New Orleans present their wacky homemade instruments

The cheetah cubs will be named after the fastest male and female American Olympic athletes in the 100-meter dash at the London Olympics.

The classic American tale of a woman who grew up poor, became queen of the stage and even owned the Hope Diamond

In the Virunga National Forest, the mountain gorilla population sits in the middle of a war zone in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as forest rangers track and keep a watchful eye on the threatened primates Music: Kevin MacLeod

The Chesapeake Bay watershed is the winter home for a broad variety of birds, and avid bird watchers flock to the region to find the rarest species (Meredith Bragg)

Over the course of 50 years, John Marshall filmed the African tribe, tracking how their nomadic culture slowly died out

Thomas Edison's 1902 trick film, "Hindoo Fakir," depicts an Indian fakir-yogi performing a magic act.

In between trips to archaeology digs around the world, scientist Bruno Frohlich uses 3-D imaging to uncover what makes a great stringed instrument. Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/scanning-a-stradivarius-13807009/