A slowed-down recording, made as part of a scientific study, shows one dog quickly mimicking another canine's expression during playtime in a park in Palermo. (Video courtesy Elisabetta Palagi)

At age 23, the former chairman of SNCC stepped up to the podium to deliver a powerful speech to thousands on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

The Smithsonian National Zoos Snore & Roar program gives visitors a behind the scenes look (Video and Reporting by Megan Gambino and Ryan Reese). Read more at http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2008/09/sleep-over-party-at-the-zoo/

Watch a course video excerpt from Rise of the Superheroes: The legendary Stan Lee, creator of the Avengers, Spiderman and Iron Man, has partnered with the Smithsonian National Museum of American History to launch the first global online course about superheroes to fans around the world.

Five categories (People, Arts, Nature, Travel and Mobile) and a grand prize of $2,000.

Two of the preeminent researchers of gene therapy hope to improve their patients' sight in an experimental operation (Stephen Voss/WPN)

Hear audio of mouse lemurs and pied babblers (Note: Lemur calls have been slowed down to one-tenth their speed so that scientists can analyze their differences.)

Our giant of a host, Eric Schulze, explains why size mattered in prehistory.

Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Inauguration-2009.html Two curators from the American History Museum show the highlights of the archives of inauguration relics.

In 1619, George Yeardley, the newly appointed governor of Jamestown, made history: He convened 22 elected members of a burgeoning commonwealth, creating the first democratic assembly in America.

A. Aubrey Bodine's daughter reflects on her father's trained eye toward capturing the people of Charm City. Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/photographing-baltimores-working-class-9338157/

Around the Mall bloggers sit down and talk with a few old friends from Sesame Street (Narration and Video by Megan Gambino / Anika Gupta as Intrepid Reporter / Beth Py-Lieberman as the voice of Big Bird / Script by Jesse Rhodes / Jesse Rhodes as the voice of Cookie Monster and Oscar). Read more at http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/aroundthemall/2008/10/sesame-street-redux/

Re-enactors relive the Battle of Baltimore and celebrate the flag that inspired our national anthem (Ryan R. Reed). Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/star-spangled-banner-back-on-display-83229098/

Learn more about color blindness: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ask-smithsonian-how-does-world-look-the-color-blind-180960415/ Have a question in mind? It's your turn to Ask Smithsonian: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/ask-smithsonian/ask-form/

Credit: Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum

The first coffin Marcus Daly built was for his own child. Now, he has mastered the art of creating a final resting place for so many

Watch how a mother rhesus makes funny faces to her infant child to grab its attention

Credit: Carlos Jaramillo, German Bayona and Edward Duarte, using Gplates and VideoPad by NCHsoftware

Yacouba Sawadogo, a farmer from Burkina Faso, has become a pioneer in the fight against desertification – succeeding where many international agencies have failed

We asked visitors to the National Mall what they thought should be in the Smithsonian collections in 2050. The consensus? Lady Gaga and much more...

Selected by Reza for our special issue, this up-and-coming photographer discusses her work

http://j.mp/196BLpQ From her salon in Maryland, Camille Reed sees more black women embracing natural hair

Have you ever wondered if the Leaning Tower of Pisa is a catastrophe waiting to happen? In this one-minute video, Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze explains how architects and engineers spent the last eight hundred years or so making things go from bad to worse, bringing the gravity-defying tower to the brink of disaster

After arriving at the zoo obese, Nikki the Bear was put on a strict diet by the zoo nutritionists with great results (Video by: Ryan R. Reed). Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/nikki-the-bear-lost-110-pounds-on-the-national-zoo-diet-46145236/

Jeff Bezos | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winner for Technology The Princeton-educated Amazon founder, Washington Post owner and new-economy pioneer also helms an innovative spaceflight company, Blue Origin, which he founded in 2000. This year it became the first aerospace manufacturer to launch, land and relaunch a rocket into space—an essential leap toward our extraterrestrial future. Bezos aims to revolutionize travel and work in space by making spaceflight so inexpensive that entrepreneurs will rush to create new businesses that have not even been imagined yet. Blue Origin’s achievement has been described as comparable to the shift from the sail to the steam engine. Read more about Bezos’ work: http://smithmag.co/GICDO2 | #IngenuityAwards And more about the American Ingenuity Awards: http://smithmag.co/77xPqy

What makes human and orangutan brains different? Researchers at the National Zoo hope to find out by playing customized computer games with the savvy primates.

Historically feared by humans, brown bears were once aggressively hunted in the contiguous U.S. Because of this, 95% of these majestic creatures live in Alaska.

Researchers from South Korea have discovered a unconventional way to produce gasoline.

DC chef Erik Bruner-Yang interviews Jill-of-all-trades Kaitlyn Hova about her plan to infuse STEM education with open source, 3D printable instruments.

The city famous for blues and barbecue is a little “ragged around the edges” according to tour guide Tad Pierson, who drives tourists around in his pink 1955 Cadillac by Lucian Perkins

After a dog digs up a rabbit's nest and leaves a litter exposed, the team at the Toronto Wildlife Center must rehabilitate the malnourished babies before they can be released back into the wild.

Ever the media gadfly himself, the pop artist was fascinated by newspapers, especially the tabloids, as explored in a new exhibit at the National Gallery of Art. Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Bringing-Andy-Warhols-Shadows-to-the-Hirshhorn.html

Watch as researchers study the paradise tree snake that is capable of launching itself as far as 330 feet

In Vietnam's capital city, pho restaurants dot the streets and fill them with the aromas of the flavorful soup. Read more at http://Smithsonian.com/pho

Are you the kind of person who needs to know what keeps satellites from plummeting to the Earth in a big, fiery ball? Then you need to watch this one-minute video, where Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze gives us the lowdown on what-in-the-name-of-science makes those satellites stay up.

The naked stone is on exhibit at the Natural History museum through next spring

Venture into Virunga National Park with Smithsonian writer Paul Raffaele as he examines the threats facing mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Can quicksand really swallow you up, or does that just happen in the movies? Host Eric Schulze dives in to separate science fact from science fiction."

Primatologist Tetsuro Matsuzawa studies chimps in hopes of uncovering how they learn and communicate

In a workshop at the University of Michigan, composer Laura Karpman oversees a rehearsal of Ask Your Mama, a musical rendition of the Langston Hughes epic poem, with George Manahan conducting

A step-by-step tour of the renovation of the National Museum of American History (Narration by Beth Py-Lieberman / Edited by Ryan Reed and Brian Wolly)

Aziz Ansari | Smithsonian Magazine’s 2016 American Ingenuity Award Winner for Performing Arts The actor, comedian and author is being honored for his starring role as Dev Shah in “Master of None,” the Netflix series that he created with Alan Yang. Like the character he plays, Ansari is the son of Indian immigrant parents, and his smart, surprising take on life, love, technology and cultural identity in the United States has helped make the show “the year’s best comedy straight out of the gate,” as the New York Times put it. Among Ansari’s other accomplishments are his unforgettable portrayal of the loopy Tom Haverford on NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” his best-selling book about dating in the internet age, Modern Romance (co-authored with Eric Klinenberg), and his blockbuster stand-up act that sold out Madison Square Garden. Read more about Ansari’s work: http://smithmag.co/jvdAaL | #IngenuityAwards And more about the American Ingenuity Awards: http://smithmag.co/77xPqy

Credit: Herbert Hoover Presidential Library-Museum

Selected by Bruce Weber for our special issue, this up-and-coming photographer discusses his work

The cheetah cubs will be named after the fastest male and female American Olympic athletes in the 100-meter dash at the London Olympics.

The classic American tale of a woman who grew up poor, became queen of the stage and even owned the Hope Diamond