Your feedback on the First Continental Congress, Douglas MacArthur and England's tangled history

Riders--who will descend in inflatable rafts of four rather than alone--will reach speeds of more than 65 miles per hour

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

Sometimes, in fact, nature is stranger than fiction

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.

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

From This Object in History, aired on @SmithsonianChannel

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)

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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

Discover evidence of natural selection and evolution at the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum (Meredith Bragg)

A series of remarkably well-preserved human remains in a remote cave in Scotland has archaeologists grappling with a staggering question: were these bodies brought here during the Bronze Age to be mummified?

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.

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma talks with the founder of the Girls Computing League about the promise of her generation

A blue-throated side-blotched lizard defending his territory against an orange-throated side-blotched lizard

More on Kathleen Turner and her show at Arena Stage: http://j.mp/T0IkkZ Before taking the stage in "Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins," Academy Award nominee Kathleen Turner discusses the woman who inspired the show.

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?

In 1967, a horrific fire broke out during a routine pre-launch test for the Apollo 1 mission at Cape Kennedy, Florida. It would claim the lives of three NASA astronauts

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.

Our host, Eric Schulze explains how 1 + 1 = 0 when it comes to sound

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.

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.

Bonnie, the subject of a recently published paper, is the Smithsonian National Zoo’s famous whistling orangutan

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

The water torture cell escape was arguably Houdini’s most memorable stunt. So much so that many people wrongly assume it killed him–a myth invented by the 1953 movie about his life starring Tony Curtis.

Watch a video on the restoration of Gorongosa Park. The video was originally featured on Foreign Exchange with Fareed Zakaria and produced by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.

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

This video from the Illustris project simulates 13 billion years of the universe in just two minutes

Koshik, an elephant in a South Korean zoo, learned to say five different Korean words (Still: iStock/ROMAOSLO)

Megan Leftwich, an engineering professor at George Washington University, is building a robotic flipper based on her observations of sea lions

Author Harold Holzer discusses Abraham Lincoln's presidency and the President's lasting impact on modern American politics and nostalgia (Meredith Bragg). Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/life-of-lincoln.html

To find out, we need to get down to the basics. Eric Schulze explains

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)

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

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.

Our giant of a host, Eric Schulze, explains why size mattered in prehistory.

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