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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION
In 1998, a war photographer inherited a cattle ranch stripped of its rainforest; over the next 20 years, he and his wife planted 2 million trees by hand, brought back the dried-up springs, and turned it into a protected nature reservePhotographer Sebastião Salgado and his wife restored a barren family farm in Brazil. They planted over two million trees, transforming the ...
In 1968, an American scientist built a perfect "mouse utopia" with unlimited food, water, and shelter, but overcrowding shattered the mice's social bonds until the entire population died outA 1968 mouse experiment explored societal collapse in a resource-rich environment. The population exploded initially, then slowed dramatica...
Before leading Trump's UFO panel, Israeli-American Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb proposed these 5 splashy theories about alien lifeHarvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb, known for his controversial extraterrestrial theories, is now leading a new Trump administration panel on ...
On This Day in History, July 1: Terminator 2 premiers, Dominion of Canada is formed, Bretton Woods Conference opens, Hong Kong returns to China, Sony Walkman debuts, Princess Diana is born and other key eventsOn This Day in History, July 1 marks a date shaped by major military campaigns, nation-building, scientific breakthroughs and cultural mile...
Someone buried a curse 1,800 years ago to destroy an enemy using Egyptian magic; archaeologists have just found itA small lead tablet unearthed in the Netherlands is revolutionizing our understanding of ancient Egyptian magic's reach within the Roman Em...
Deep inside the Mexican jungle, archaeologists found what could be the Mayan civilization’s missing puzzle pieceDeep within the Mexican jungle, archaeologists have unearthed a remarkably intact Maya city, named Minanbé, hidden for over a millennium. T...
Fish take naps, follow sleep schedules, and may be more human than we thoughtFish sleep like humans study explained: A research reveals zebrafish exhibit complex sleep patterns, mirroring human behavior. These fish e...
9 animal dads who put human fathers to shame this Father's DayAnimal fathers display some of the most fascinating parenting behaviors in nature. From seahorses where males carry pregnancies, to giant w...
Scientists found a tropical butterfly that appears to slow its own aging, and one species can live for 348 days as a resultScientists have discovered tropical butterflies, Heliconius, that live much longer and age slower than their relatives. These butterflies, ...
In 1929, a young archaeologist in China uncovered skullcap, 'Peking Man' inside a cold cave and changed human history foreverA 1929 discovery in China changed human evolution studies. Pei Wenzhong found the Peking Man skullcap. This fossil proved early humans live...
In 1929, archaeologist Pei Wenzhong uncovered a skullcap in a cave near Beijing: Peking Man forced the world to take Asia’s deep human past seriouslyIn 1929, the unearthing of Peking Man in China dramatically altered the landscape of human evolutionary studies. This pivotal Homo erectus ...
In 1839, an artist opened a chemical cabinet: And a hidden image helped launch photographA groundbreaking invention in 1839 by Louis Daguerre changed photography forever. His method captured invisible images on a silver plate. T...
In the 1860s, an inventor chased an ivory substitute and helped push celluloid into historyIn the 1860s, a billiard ball competition ignited a quest for substitutes for ivory. John Wesley Hyatt's groundbreaking research culminated...
Ancient DNA from forgotten colonial graveyard just linked 1.3 million living Americans to Maryland's earliest settlersResearchers have used ancient DNA to connect over 1.3 million living Americans to forgotten 17th-century English and Irish settlers of St. ...
In 1965, a chemist expected a routine polymer solution and got a bizarre cloudy liquid instead: It became KevlarIn 1965, the world of materials science was forever changed by scientist Stephanie Kwolek, who stumbled upon a peculiar cloudy polymer mixt...
In 1953, a chemist spilled an experimental polymer on a shoe and found that one patch refused to get dirty: This led to the foundation of ScotchgardFor many adults, revisiting beloved shows serves as a soothing balm during turbulent times. This practice isn't simply a means to escape bo...
In 1938, a patent clerk rubbed sulfur onto a metal plate and copied a few words in a borrowed lab: It led to the foundation of xerographyChester Carlson invented xerography in 1938. This innovation allowed for quick document copying without retyping. Major corporations initia...
In 1982, Lonnie Johnson was testing a heat pump when one surprise blast sparked the invention of the Super Soaker that reshaped water fightsAerospace engineer Lonnie Johnson's accidental discovery of a powerful water jet during heat pump testing in 1982 led to the invention of t...
In 1905, an 11-year-old forgot a drink outside overnight, and the mistake later became one of America’s most famous treatsAn eleven-year-old boy named Frank Epperson accidentally left his lemonade outside overnight in 1905, resulting in a frozen treat on a stic...
A simple astronomy program led two U.S. high school students to help discover four exoplanetsIn an inspiring display of youthful ingenuity, two American high school students have teamed up to publish a groundbreaking scientific pape...