Smithsonian Magazine Retina

Boy and dog playing in Chapala Lake. Victor Hugo Casillas...

Tue, 15 May 2012 10:12:26 -0400

Boy and dog playing in Chapala Lake.

Victor Hugo Casillas Romo (Zapopan, Mexico)
Photographed June 2011, Jocotepec, Jalisco, Mexico

Photo of the Day: Travel in Bangkok by the express boat....

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:29:07 -0400

Photo of the Day: Travel in Bangkok by the express boat.

Akkara Naktamna (Bangkok, Thailand )
Photographed May 2010, Bangkok, Thailand

Nature’s Best Photography Part adventurer, part artist,...

Fri, 11 May 2012 17:01:00 -0400

Photo: Robin Moore

Photo: Charles Bergman

Photo: Rolf Nussbaumer

Photo: Jon Cornforth

Photo: Jami Tarris

Photo: Peter Lik

Nature’s Best Photography

Part adventurer, part artist, and part engineer, nature photographers travel the globe to document the beauty and mystery of its farthest reaches. The images they bring home help to broaden our awareness and appreciation of the natural world.

Ed note: The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History has more photos and information on the exhibit.

guardian: A two-day-old baby Asian elephant gets used to his...

Fri, 11 May 2012 16:21:59 -0400

guardian:

A two-day-old baby Asian elephant gets used to his wobbly legs while exploring his enclosure at Tierpark Berlin zoo. The male elephant calf, who does not have a name yet, weighs 102kg and is 91cm tall Photograph: Sean Gallup/Getty Images

Thank You Mom We went around New York City asking real people...

Fri, 11 May 2012 13:46:00 -0400

Thank You Mom

We went around New York City asking real people on the street to say thank you to their mothers.

Video: Michael Marantz

Ed note: After you have thanked your mom, give her one of these unorthodox foods for Mother’s Day.

Otter Family Makes a Splash at the National Zoo As the U.S....

Fri, 11 May 2012 12:30:00 -0400

Lindsay Renick Mayer, National Zoo

Lindsay Renick Mayer, National Zoo

Lindsay Renick Mayer, National Zoo

Jen Zoon, National Zoo

Jen Zoon, National Zoo

Otter Family Makes a Splash at the National Zoo

As the U.S. Olympic Swim Team prepares to go for the gold in London, a new family of Asian small-clawed otters (Amblonyx cinereus) is making quite a splash of their own at the National Zoo. Eleven otters—two parents and nine offspring—will dive into their new digs this Saturday.

Ed note: Need more otter photos? Check out our article on California sea otters.

Photo of the Day: Marooned fish. Photograph by Austin Didio...

Fri, 11 May 2012 10:44:00 -0400

Photo of the Day: Marooned fish.

Photograph by Austin Didio (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), October 2010, Glens Falls, New York

sciencecenter: Scientists announce world’s smallest...

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:04:40 -0400

sciencecenter:

Scientists announce world’s smallest mammoth

Struggling to live up to its namesake, the Mammuthus creticus lived on the island of Crete as recently as 3.5 million years ago. Standing at just a meter tall (3 feet, for the Americans keeping score) at the shoulder, the mammoth would have been dwarfed by a modern baby elephant. The discovery was made when reexamining fossil teeth collected by fossil hunter Dorothea Bate in 1904, which led modern researchers back to Crete and to further archaeological evidence. That a dwarf species existed on an isolated island should not be surprising; dwarfism is a common evolutionary adaptation that large animals undergo in an island setting.

Photo of the Day: Rainy afternoon. Photograph by Christine...

Thu, 10 May 2012 11:59:13 -0400

Photo of the Day: Rainy afternoon.

Photograph by Christine Chisholm (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), September 2011, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The Highest Horse Jump in the World On February 5, 1949, a...

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:30:00 -0400

The Highest Horse Jump in the World

On February 5, 1949, a horse named Huaso jumped 8 feet and 1 inch in Viña del Mar, Chile. The record stands to this day and is one of the longest-running unbroken sports records.

Ed note: African American jockeys once dominated the track. Read about the Kentucky Derby’s forgotten jockeys.

Man Soars Above the New Zealand Coast in a Paramotor Fly...

Wed, 09 May 2012 15:32:27 -0400

Man Soars Above the New Zealand Coast in a Paramotor

Fly alongside Rob Whittall as he soars above New Zealand’s West Coast with his Paramotor, in search of a little sould satisfaction. White Cloud Productions NZ joined forces with Rob to capture stunning images of Raglan and the surrounding area…presenting Surreal Perspectives.

Video: White Cloud Productions NZ

Ed note: Check out these amazing photographs by George Steinmetz as he flew over Africa in a paraglider.

The World’s Rarest Gorilla Caught on Film For the first...

Wed, 09 May 2012 10:39:37 -0400

The World’s Rarest Gorilla Caught on Film

For the first time ever, conservationists have captured video footage of Cross River gorillas in their natural environment thanks to a camera trap secreted in a forest in Cameroon. The elusive gorillas are some of the most elusive animals on Earth.

Video: Wildlife Conservation Society

Ed note: To make matters even worse, it appears that humans pass on deadly infections to endangered mountain gorillas.

Photo of the Day: Two barbers at South End Barber Shop cut hair....

Wed, 09 May 2012 10:27:00 -0400

Photo of the Day: Two barbers at South End Barber Shop cut hair. Everyone talks about high school football and local hunting spots.

Photograph by Aaron Cress (Salisbury, North Carolina), January 2011, China Grove, North Carolina

theatlantic: In Focus: 75 Years Since The Hindenburg...

Tue, 08 May 2012 15:21:33 -0400

theatlantic:

In Focus: 75 Years Since The Hindenburg Disaster

Last Sunday, May 6, marked the 75th anniversary of the 1937 Hindenburg disaster. The massive German airship caught fire while attempting to land near Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 35 people aboard, plus one ground crew member. Of the 97 passengers and crew members on board, 62 managed to survive. The horrifying incident was captured by reporters and photographers and replayed on radio broadcasts, in newsprint, and on newsreels. News of the disaster led to a public loss of confidence in airship travel, ending an era.

Top: The Hindenburg floats past the Empire State Building over Manhattan on August 8, 1936, en route to Lakehurst, New Jersey, from Germany.

Bottom: As the lifting Hydrogen gas burned and escaped from the rear of the Hindenburg, the tail dropped to the ground, sending a burst of flame punching through the nose. Ground crew below scatter to flee the inferno.

See the rest. [Images: AP]

Photographs of the Rarest Bird James T. Tanner’s...

Tue, 08 May 2012 13:12:00 -0400

Photographs of the Rarest Bird

James T. Tanner’s photographs of the ivory-billed woodpecker were believed to be the only pictures of a living nestling. Check out Smithsonian.com for the story and more photos.

Photo: James T. Tanner

Ed note: Now that you have seen the rarest bird, meet the most common bird in the world.

Photo of the Day: The rolling fog over the North Tower of the...

Tue, 08 May 2012 11:48:06 -0400

Photo of the Day: The rolling fog over the North Tower of the Golden Gate Bridge

Photograph by Javier Acosta (San Jose, California), January 2010, Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, California

An Aerial View of D-Day A panoramic view of the Omaha...

Mon, 07 May 2012 16:43:00 -0400

An Aerial View of D-Day

A panoramic view of the Omaha beachhead after it was secured, sometime around mid-June 1944, at low tide.

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard Collection in the U.S. National Archives

Ed note: Have you heard of the monocled World War II interrogator?

From the Archives: Weegee’s Day at the Beach Weegee...

Mon, 07 May 2012 14:28:00 -0400

From the Archives: Weegee’s Day at the Beach

Weegee danced and screamed to get the beach crowd’s attention. The masked man called himself Spider. Continue reading at Smithsonian.com

Photo: Weegee (Arthur Fellig) / International Centre of Photography / Getty Images

Ed note: “From the Archives” is a new category here on Retina. We’ll be posting past content with fascinating imagery that you may have missed.

The Gruesome History of Eating Corpses as Medicine Thomas...

Mon, 07 May 2012 13:42:00 -0400

The Gruesome History of Eating Corpses as Medicine

Thomas Willis, a 17th-century pioneer of brain science, brewed a drink for apoplexy, or bleeding, that mingled powdered human skull and chocolate. And King Charles II of England sipped “The King’s Drops,” his personal tincture, containing human skull in alcohol.

Illustration: Bettmann / Corbis

Ed note: Continue reading this gross, yet fascinating article at Smithsonian.com.

Photo of the Day: Local Malays playing cane ball on Mount...

Mon, 07 May 2012 12:41:31 -0400

Photo of the Day: Local Malays playing cane ball on Mount Kinabalu

Photograph by Ana Chow (El Dorado Hills, California), February 2010, Mount Kinabalu, Borneo