Smithsonian Channel Pick of the Week

Smithsonian Channel Pick of the Week

The latest in science, culture, and history from Smithsonian Channel.

Episodes

Why the Fastest Male Grizzlies Get the Girl

May 11, 2020 • 2 mins
Bear courtship in Yellowstone National Park happens at breakneck speed - literally. The male grizzly sets off after the female, who tries to outrun him reaching speeds of up to 35 miles an hour.
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A Former Soviet Agent Becomes a Notorious Weapons Dealer

May 11, 2020 • 3 mins
After 1991, former Soviet agent Viktor Bout set about carving a new career for himself as an arms dealer. His exploits would earn him the nickname the ‘Merchant of Death’.
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This FBI Agent Sold Secrets to the KGB for Years

May 4, 2020 • 3 mins
In 1985, an American FBI agent began to sell intelligence to the Russians, under the alias of Ramon Garcia. It would be another 16 years before he was finally arrested by the FBI.
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Why Vervet Monkeys Love Zambezi Fig Trees

May 4, 2020 • 2 mins
Vervet monkeys find the figs of the Zambezi fig tree to be completely irresistible. And because vervets rarely stay in one place for too long, they spread the tree’s seeds far and wide.
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A Shy Orangutan Shares Her Breakfast with a Friend

April 27, 2020 • 1 min
A shy orangutan makes great strides by confidently securing her share of breakfast. But she’s not above sharing her bounty of turnips with another orangutan, whom she’s befriended.
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A Navy Warship Goes Down Weeks Before the End of WWII

April 27, 2020 • 1 min
In the final days of WWII, Eagle 56 was on a routine assignment in the Gulf of Maine. In an instant, the ship found itself ripped in half, with most of her crew dead – but what happened?
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This Gun Was One of the Very First Machine Guns

April 20, 2020 • 2 mins
In 1866, Hiram Maxim, an American engineer, tried out a rifle for the first time and found himself wondering how he could make it better. The result was the Maxim gun – the word’s first recoil-operated machine gun.
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This Salt Lick Doubles as a Reunion Spot for Elephants

April 20, 2020 • 2 mins
A herd of migrating elephants are acquiring necessary minerals like calcium and potassium from a burnt wood clearing. It’s also an impromptu reunion spot for all traveling elephant herds.
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Orangutan Creates an Umbrella Hat to Stay Dry

April 13, 2020 • 2 mins
Orangutans are adept at improvising and using tools – this experienced female has learnt to make a makeshift umbrella hat – useful in a storm.
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The FBI Investigates Soviet Deep-Cover Spies in America

April 13, 2020 • 3 mins
Over the course of a decade, deep-cover Russian spies embedded in America collected intelligence and passed it onto their handlers. The FBI investigation into them became known as Operation Ghost Stories.
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Orangutans Need to Learn to Fear Snakes

April 6, 2020 • 2 mins
In primates, recognition of snakes is instinctive, but fear of snakes is learned. Today, caretakers of the jungle school set about teaching them.
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British Intelligence Uncovers a Deadly Al-Qaeda Terror Plot

April 6, 2020 • 1 min
In 2006, British Intelligence were convinced that two people they were surveilling were part of an active Al-Qaeda terror cell. They were about to discover the scale of their plotting.
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The C-5 Galaxy Had a Catastrophic Design Flaw

March 23, 2020 • 3 mins
The C-5 Galaxy is a true giant among USAF cargo planes – but its development was not without problems. Just four years after it made its debut, a serious design flaw threatened the future of the entire line.
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How Lizards are Turning Our Knowledge of Evolution Upside Down

March 23, 2020 • 3 mins
Lizard biologists in the Caribbean have observed a fascinating phenomenon: different lizard species across different islands appear to share specific physical traits. But how, if they've never been in contact?
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This Fighter Plane Landing Has Never Been Attempted

March 16, 2020 • 3 mins
The F-35B is designed to stop in midair before landing vertically on an aircraft carrier, using immense downward thrust. What’s never been attempted before is a shipborne rolling vertical landing – until now.
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Not All Baboon Babies Are Treated Nicely

March 16, 2020 • 2 mins
Baboons love babies – you can see it in the way the mothers carry their newborns around like royalty. But the cold reality is that their rank at birth will always determine how well they're treated within the troop.
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The Different Teams Involved in Testing the F-35B Lightning

March 9, 2020 • 3 mins
Testing the F-35B Lightning involves three different groups of people aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth: British Royal Navy aircraft hands, civilian scientists and American maintainers from the Integrated Task Force.
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A Happy Event Offers Promise for the Survival of Cheetahs

March 9, 2020 • 2 mins
From a breeding perspective, cheetahs are one of the hardest animals to work with. That’s why the birth of two litters at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute is a huge coup for the species.
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Aircraft Carrier Crew Face a Myriad of Risks Below Deck

March 2, 2020 • 3 mins
Life for the crew of the HMS Queen Elizabeth is a challenging combination of cabin fever and high alertness: often confined to below deck, surrounded by potentially dangerous stockpiles of fuel and ammunition.
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This Rabbit Never Saw It Coming

March 2, 2020 • 3 mins
A python’s heat sense receptors have picked up a rabbit, feeding on some cabbage. It’s the perfect sized meal for an expectant mom with a clutch of eggs inside her.
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