Description: It can be so frustrating to put great effort into something, and then to have your work and achievements called into question. I can't begin to imagine how frustrated Samuel Pierpont Langley was in 1903. By that time, he had spent over forty years studying astrophysics and aerodynamics. His work on astronomically-derived time measurement in the late 1860's is the heart of the
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_arc_287602,size=250,left]As a child in England in the 1930s, Oliver Sacks enjoyed playing with his Uncle Abe’s spinthariscope. It was, he would later recall, “a beautifully simple instrument, consisting of a fluorescent screen and a magnifying eyepiece, and inside, an infinitesimal speck of radium.We take a look at the spinthariscope at the Smithsonian.
Description: If the Smithsonian Institution had a hall of fame for Volunteers, then Zoe Martindale would certainly be in line for induction. Martindale started volunteering at the Smithsonian Institution Archives in 1997 immediately after she retired. This past February, Martindale retired again, this time from her volunteer position at the Archvies after over twenty years of service.
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_arc_383399,size=180,right]Vicarious research is one of the great joys of the reference desk at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. From our front-row (well, only-row) seat outside the reading room, we catch tantalizing glimpses of our patrons’ manifold research topics.The reference team fields around 6,000 queries per year. Ask us what people have been
Description: [edan-image:id=siris_sic_8825,size=300,left]It is once again time to come together for a day of Wikipedia! Join Smithsonian and U.S. National Archives staff, as well as local Wikipedian volunteers, for a Women's History Month/Museum Day Live! edit-a-thon on Saturday March 19th, 10am-3pm, at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Sign up for a wikipedia
Description: In honor of the anniversary of the discovery of x-rays, a look inside the Foucault pendulum that used to hang at the National Museum of American History.
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="324" caption="Stereo Images (Precipitating Snow) obtained using a Low Temperature Scanning Electron Microscope (LT-SEM) that is located in the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center in the Electron Microscopy Unit, Beltsville Maryland, Courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture."][/caption] We have old-school photos of snow at the
Description: Marines are investigating a possible case of mistaken identity in the iconic WWII Iwo Jima photo. [via NPR]The little known history behind Cinco de Mayo. [via Smithsonian Magazine]A short film on the Smithsonian's incredible whale skeleton collection. [via Hakai Magazine]The Prelinger Archives has published 6600 public domain films to the Internet Archive! [via Open Culture]A
Description: Congratulations to the main Smithsonian website, which has been nominated for a Webby Award in the category of Best Cultural Institution website! (Please go and vote.) Mark your calendars! The Library of Congress will be hosting the free public event, Pass it On: Personal Archiving Day, on Saturday, April 30, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m to provide the public with information about
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