Description: Did you know April is Records and Information Management Month? Did you also know that the Smithsonian Institution has over 154 million objects, 10 million digital records, and 156,830 cubic feet of archival materials in its collections? It is mostly thanks to amazing record keeping that we are able to locate, care, and give access to millions of fascinating objects.We look at
Description: On the evening of October 1, 1847, while using a small telescope on the roof of the family home, Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) spotted a comet where one had not been before. Word of this achievement spread quickly through the scientific community. The American Journal of Science declared her “the first American entitled to the honor of the original discovery of a comet.” Some
Description: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="311" caption="IC 4970 and NGC 6872: Galaxy Collision Switches on Black Hole, X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO/M.Machacek; Optical: ESO/VLT; Infrared: NASA/JPL/Caltech."][/caption] I’m sure you’re familiar with beauties, like the one above, from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Well, apparently, with “a basic understanding of astronomy data & image
Description: In 1872, at the young age of twenty-five, Mori Arinori (1847-1889) traveled to America as the first Charge d’Affaires from the Meiji government. His trip included a visit to the Smithsonian where he established a close relationship with Smithsonian Secretary Joseph Henry.
Description: You can help the Smithsonian produce a 9 CD Hip Hop & Rap Anthology in a newly launched Kickstarter, and if you kick in $100 or more, you'll get a digital-only track! The material in the anthology was produced with an advisory board comprised of members of the hip-hop community including artists Chuck D, MC Lyte, Questlove and 9th Wonder. [via billboard]The Smithsonian
Description: Volunteers have been an integral part of the Smithsonian since the beginning. As our historian Pamela Henson likes to say, we have always relied on the kindness of strangers. A blog post in honor of Volunteer Appreciation Month 2015. Includes a list of Smithsonian crowdsourcing projects that volunteers can participate in.