Articles

Yves Klein produced controversial and boundary-breaking single-color paintings, elemental canvases of fire, water and air, and even galleries emptied of all artworks.

Simple Pleasures

To prevent young birds from imprinting on humans, flock manager Jane Chandler dons a white gown and a mask. She uses a puppet to teach them survival skills.

A Call to Save the Whooping Crane

Smithsonian researchers join an international effort to bring the five-foot-tall bird back from the brink of extinction

The PT-13D prepared Tuskegee Airmen for war.

Breaking Ground

The Tuskegee Airmen Plane's Last Flight

The final voyage of a World War II biplane evokes the exploits of the legendary fighting force

In 1939, Diosa Costello became the first Latina on Broadway.

Q and A With Diosa Costello

The first Latina on Broadway dishes on her career and how she got her breakout role in South Pacific

Experience the life cycles of stars and galaxies, such as Centaurus A galaxy, shown here, through January 2012 at the National Museum of Natural History.

What's Up

George Catlin's c. 1827 fusion of art and cartography, A Bird's Eye View of Niagara Falls, likely struck 19th-century viewers as highly imaginative.

America's 19th Century Highway: The River

A new exhibition of American wonders underscores the debt our country owes to its waterways

After sitting down for a meal at a restaurant alone, the writer overhears an intriguing story.

Guess Who Came to Dinner

A table for one can be the best seat in the house

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Comings and Goings

To every thing there is a season

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November Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

George McClellan, with Abraham Lincoln at Antietam in 1862, took command of the Union armies but let the president wait.

November 1861: Flare Ups in the Chain of Command

As Union generals came and left, personalities clashed and Southern farmers set fire to their fields

This past March, the J. Paul Getty Museum repatriated the 2,400-year-old statue—the most recent of more than 40 objects at the museum that Italy said had been illegally removed.

The Goddess Goes Home

Following years of haggling over its provenance, a celebrated statue once identified as Aphrodite, has returned to Italy

Francesco Rutelli, then Italy's culture minister, examines vases repatriated to Rome in 2007.

Acquisition Guidelines

Although the potato is now associated with industrial-scale monoculture, the International Potato Center in Peru has preserved almost 5,000 varieties.

How the Potato Changed the World

Brought to Europe from the New World by Spanish explorers, the lowly potato gave rise to modern industrial agriculture

In primates, brain size correlates with group size.

Humans Evolved Big Brains to Be Social?

Some scientists think humans and other primates evolved big brains in response to the social challenges of living in large groups

What causes fear?

Where Fear Lives

Scientists are testing innovative ways to keep frightening memories from controlling people's lives

Pumpkin curry

Inviting Writing: Making Peace with Pumpkin

Mostly I used my sister as a means to escape unwanted food by shoving it onto her plate when nobody was looking

For the past century, carnivorous dinosaurs like Allosaurus—seen here at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County—have been made-to-order movie monsters.

Cinema’s Spookiest Dinosaur Scenes

Dinosaurs have been movie monsters for a century. Here's a short countdown of some of their scariest moments in film.

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October 31, 1926: Death Proves Inescapable for Even Houdini

Magician Harry Houdini, who could seemingly escape anything, couldn't escape a punch to the gut and appendicitis

Anyone dressing up as a mad scientist today?

Five Last-Minute Science-Themed Halloween Costume Ideas

No one else will be dressed like dark energy

Learn about destinations in Chile, such as Torres del Paine National Park.

Events Oct. 31-Nov. 3: Spooky Storytelling, Explore Chile, Lunder Conservation Center, and Sounds of the Dragon

This week, visit a Halloween story session, learn about Chile, get an up-close look at museum conservation, and enjoy a fusion of classical music

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