Any Castle worth its sandstone has to be at least a little bit haunted. Our own Castle has seen more than its fair share of sudden death, apparitions and things that go bump in the night. Continue reading Haunted by tragedy…or eccentricity?
“Suspended Animation,” now on view at the Hirshhorn, is an unsettling journey into the digitization of the human experience. Continue reading Take a trip to the Uncanny Valley
You may have heard that an asteroid annihilated the dinosaurs a while back. Do you know what happened next? We know you’re busy, but let Dr. Kirk Johnson, Sant director of the National Museum of Natural History, explain the history of life (and death) on Earth in just three minutes. Continue reading The History of Life on Earth in Three Minutes
A vein on the left side of Esperanza’s neck pulses; the fabric of her dress accordions faintly out and in with each breath; her finger twitches and grains of mascara ride eyelids that halfway conceal two smiling eyes. Welcome to the intimacy of slow and the close-up video portraiture of Bo Gehring on view in the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery exhibition “Eye Pop: The Celebrity Gaze.” Continue reading Up close and extremely personal: The video portraiture of Bo Gehring
Every child knows that the “Tyrant Lizard King” was the biggest, baddest dinosaur of them all. But how did Tyrannosaurus rex and its close relatives become such fearsome predators? The fossilized remains of a newly discovered horse-sized dinosaur reveal the answer. Continue reading Just how DO you get to the top of the food chain?
The Smithsonian is a massive organization–the largest museum and research complex in the world. In his first several months on the job, Secretary David Skorton has made several changes to the management structure of the Smithsonian in order to improve efficiency, transparency and collaboration. The Torch recently sat down with Dr. Skorton to talk about these changes and their impact on staff. Continue reading Streamlining the Smithsonian
Sometimes you just can’t find a notepad handy when you need one. A new 3D digitization effort by the Air and Space Museum shows that even astronauts will scribble notes on the wall. Continue reading Graffiti in Space
New Secretary, new panda cub, new museum (well, new renovation, anyway)–the Smithsonian rang in the new throughout 2015. Here are the highlights. Continue reading Taking a last look at 2015 as the Smithsonian rings in its 170th new year
Erin Blasco takes a look back at readers’ favorite blog posts from the American History Museum’s blog, O Say Can You See? and offers a few of her own. Continue reading Making history: 2015’s top ten blog posts
Drum roll, please! The winner of the first ever, inaugural, annual Smithsonian winter card contest is announced. When we said the competition was open to the entire Smithsonian community, we meant it! Continue reading Season’s greetings!
Vote now for the Autumn 2025 Windows Lock Screen. Voting ends Sunday, September 21st! Continue reading Vote now for the Autumn 2025 Windows Lock Screen
(Ed. note: We should note that it's never wise to stand behind a cow, even a buttery one. Cow pies never win blue ribbons.) Continue reading Behind the Butter Cow: A Look at the Renwick’s new State Fair exhibition
More than $2.5 million in grants has been awarded to fund projects ranging from exposing little kids to nature, the link between movement and emotional wellbeing and building a robotic telescope. Continue reading 2025 Together we Thrive
Melanie Adams will serve as interim director beginning August 26. Continue reading Director of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum is stepping down
