Snowball the cockatoo bobs his head and lifts his leg to the beats of the Backstreet Boys' "Everbody"

To soar over Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire is to be transported back in time to the age of William Shakespeare, a man born in humble circumstances who would go on to become the most celebrated writer of all time.

Pastry artist Zilly Rosen renders Presidents Lincoln and Obama in cupcake form at the Smithsonian American Art Museum (Meredith Bragg). Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/Inauguration-2009.html

What are freckles, and how do they form? In this one-minute video, our Ask Smithsonian host, Eric Schulze, shines a light on the subject.

See the process involved when a massive specimen arrives at the Smithsonian

In this one-minute video, our Ask Smithsonian host, Eric Schulze, explains what causes wind. The answer might blow you away.

Much more than you’d think – and it’s whirling around at dangerously high speeds

The answer depends on how you feel about cluster headaches

It depends on which variety of boomerang you're using. Our host Eric Schulze has more

Watch to get the answer that surprised the heck out of us

Our host explains why you should never say ‘no’ to a hungry pregnant woman

The science behind earworms and why they won’t leave us alone

In a conversation with architect David Rockwell, the philanthropic chef urges an invested effort to create technology that could collect water from the clouds

Take a calming breath, then watch this video to find out

Visitors to Nantucket were able to ski through wide strips of slushy ice left on the beach in February 2015.

Smithsonian.com's puzzle master and your gaming adventure guide

Chef Darin Nesbit demonstrates how to cook cricket-crusted redfish. (Still Image: Natthanan Chumphookaew/iStock)

How many of your questions can our host, Eric Schulze, answer in 45 seconds?

After mapping the movement of stars for years, astronomers believe they have found a black hole at the center of the Milky Way

http://smithsonian.com/ask Now it's your turn to ask the Institution's experts your questions about science, history, art or culture

A London blacksmith has perfected a technique known as pattern welding to create elaborately-designed replica Saxon swords and knives. He demonstrates his technique on camera.

Cocktail historians differ on the birthplace of the word "cocktail," but they cherish America' invention of drinks like the mint julep (Meredith Bragg)

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma talks with the founder of the Girls Computing League about the promise of her generation

Our skin is an endlessly complex organ. Luckily, in this one-minute video, our Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze is here to explain exactly what happens after you get a scrape.

Coffee - it's a staple of American life, and inside the vaults of the National Museum of American History, they know the secret to its wide spread success: packaging

In this trailer, experts discuss the importance of sharks to the health of coral reefs. Marine ecologist Enric Sala of Scripps Institution of Oceanography talks about the role of sharks as top predators in ocean ecosystems. Peter Knight, executive director of WildAid, and Sonja Fordham of the Ocean Conservancy detail the decline of shark populations worldwide as a result of fishing pressure

More on Kathleen Turner and her show at Arena Stage: http://j.mp/T0IkkZ Before taking the stage in "Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins," Academy Award nominee Kathleen Turner discusses the woman who inspired the show.

"Be prepared” might not cover it when it comes to super storms.

Kennedy Center president Deborah Rutter interviews the co-founder of MIT’s Little Devices Lab about democratizing health technology

In the jungles of Cambodia, villagers travel along abandoned railway tracks on a norry, a rickety transport of spare lumber with a speedy (and loud) motor attached Video, Photographs and Narration by Russ Juskalian

The Black Death of 1348 was a devastating event, wiping out half the population of Britain. And in churches like this one, drawings on the wall provide a haunting visual record of the scale of the tragedy.

Artist Michael Kirby spent four days painting an image from "Falnama: The Book of Omens" in front of the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/muralist-uses-the-sidewalk-outside-the-sackler-gallery-as-canvas-20678724/

Our host, Eric Schulze explains how 1 + 1 = 0 when it comes to sound

In March 1895, Boston and New York City began an epic and highly competitive race to become the first American city with a working subway system.

When did we start getting cuddly with cats? And have those tabbies really been tamed? In this one-minute video, Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze investigates the surprising history and science behind today’s house cat.

Kenneth Morris is the great-great-great-grandson of the heralded abolitionist and helped compile an illustrated biography of his ancestor. (Credit: Drew Gardner)

The water torture cell escape was arguably Houdini’s most memorable stunt. So much so that many people wrongly assume it killed him–a myth invented by the 1953 movie about his life starring Tony Curtis.

A massive lava stream from Kilauea Volcano flows into the ocean from a lava tube at the Kamokuna ocean entry on the southeast side of the Big Island at sunrise. Credit Elyse Butler

So what exactly factors into how we end up being right or left-handed? In this one-minute video, Ask Smithsonian host Eric Schulze breaks down the science of being a southpaw.

For the first time ever, researchers observed a cricket as a pollinator for a flower

Credit: Ken Catania, PNAS, 2016

You might think twice about picking that chip off the carpet and putting it into your mouth.

Fossils found in Colombia indicate that a giant snake may have roamed the earth 60 million years ago

Host Eric Schulze digs into the science behind these depressions.

Koshik, an elephant in a South Korean zoo, learned to say five different Korean words (Still: iStock/ROMAOSLO)

Interpretive exhibits coordinator Steven Madewells demonstrates a few experiments at Spark!Lab, an interactive exhibit at the National Museum of American History. Read more at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/theres-nothing-like-a-sparklab-to-ignite-the-imagination-1-180949007/

You can describe what a journalist does in any number of ways. One definition that’s as accurate as any is that a journalist is someone who liked having homework back when they were in school so much that they decided to keep doing homework for a career. That certainly describes the team here at Smithsonian magazine. We’re all big readers. So we thought that before our brief winter hiatus—a time when many of us are trying to think of gift ideas to please the empathetic, curious people in our lives—we’d poll the staff of Smithsonian on their favorite books they read this year. Because we’re primarily a history and science magazine, we tried to steer them toward nonfiction published in 2023, but as you’ll hear, we weren’t sticklers for either criterion. We thought it better to let you hear from our staff about the books they were most genuinely excited to share. You’ll recognize some of these voices if you’re an avid listener, but this episode also provides the chance to hear from some of the talented staffers we haven’t been able to feature on the show before now. Find prior episodes of our show here (https://www.smithsonianmag.com/podcast/) . There’s More to That is a production of Smithsonian magazine and PRX Productions. From the magazine, our team is Chris Klimek, Debra Rosenberg and Brian Wolly. From PRX, our team is Jessica Miller, Adriana Rosas Rivera, Genevieve Sponsler, Rye Dorsey, and Edwin Ochoa. The Executive Producer of PRX Productions is Jocelyn Gonzales. Fact-checking by Stephanie Abramson. Episode artwork by Emily Lankiewicz. Music by APM Music.

Saber toothed cats, temperature and things that go bump in the night, Eric Schulze explains

Author Harold Holzer discusses Abraham Lincoln's presidency and the President's lasting impact on modern American politics and nostalgia (Meredith Bragg). Read more at http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/life-of-lincoln.html

To find out, we need to get down to the basics. Eric Schulze explains