Smithsonian
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The motor that powered Virgin Galactic's VSS unity into space has been donated to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, where it will be exhibited as part of its new "Future of Spaceflight" commercial space flight gallery.
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In the distant past, all whales had teeth. Now, some feed using baleen instead. A new analysis of previously-discovered fossils has provided a fresh insight into the evolution of that baleen, suggesting that for a while, some whales simply sucked down their food.
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We hear a lot about the toll that large-scale fishing operations are taking on wild fish populations, but when you add them all together, small-scale fisheries can have quite an effect, too. A new fish-body-shape analysis system could help keep them in check.
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The spectacular winners of the 15th annual Smithsonian Photo Contest have just been revealed. After shortlisting 60 finalists from 48,000 submissions, the top seven photographs were selected by a panel of judges from The Smithsonian, while an extra Readers' Choice winner was voted on by the public.
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The blue whale may be the largest animal ever, but new research has found it only claimed the title relatively recently. By comparing the bones of modern whales to fossils, a team of scientists has traced the growth spurt to about 4.5 million years ago, when climate change increased the food supply.
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This year, one of the most important artifacts of the Space Age, the Columbia command module of the Apollo 11 mission, will leave its home at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum for the first time in almost 50 years as the centerpiece of an exhibition traveling to museums across the US.
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ScienceAn underwater expedition to study flaming reef lobsters in the Caribbean has led to a chance encounter with another kind of colorful crustacean: the newly discovered candy striped hermit crab, named so for its candy cane-colored legs.
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The University of Arizona is helping to build a virtual radio telescope the size of the Earth with a resolution a thousand times greater than Hubble. Researchers intend to use it to peer at the event horizon of the supermassive black hole thought to be at the center of our Milky Way galaxy.
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For the first time in its 168 year history, the Smithsonian Institution may leaving the United States. Plans have been unveiled for a new culture and arts center to be built at London’s Olympic Park site in the UK.
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Astronomers looking for exoplanets are using a fine-toothed comb – a fine-toothed astro-comb, to be precise. And just to make sure it works, the first planet they’ll be looking for is Venus.
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With the aid of NASA's Kepler spacecraft, a team of astronomers, including members from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, has discovered an exoplanet with the longest yearly cycle ever recorded.
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This Italian triple-barrel revolver is a challenger for most unusual handgun we've seen.
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