Latest stories
For some, ABBA; for others, Mamma Mia!
From “Waterloo” and “The Winner Takes It All” to a mother and daughter singing in Mamma Mia!: nearly forty years passed before ABBA made a new album, while their songs kept finding other voices and stages.
Latest stories
A satellite measuring river width and water level together
SWOT records water height and width to help examine stretches of river between ground stations.
City maps that recorded how fire might spread
Sanborn fire insurance maps used colors and symbols to record construction materials as well as addresses and streets.
What specimens go into a zoo’s freezer?
The Smithsonian’s cryopreservation work keeps biological specimens alongside efforts to care for living animals.
What happens when a drinks can photographs the Sun for six months?
Photographic paper inside a pinhole camera can capture the Sun’s changing seasonal paths in one image.
Listening to old records without lowering a needle
The Library of Congress’s IRENE project reconstructs sound by imaging record grooves.
How NOAA’s Coast Survey puts nautical charts back on paper
Electronic chart data lets mariners choose the waters they need and create a chart to print.
Gaia’s map keeps taking shape after its last starlight
ESA’s Gaia repeatedly measured the positions of stars. Turning those observations into a map continues after observing has ended.
The Library of Congress adds Doom’s music to its preservation registry
Doom’s soundtrack joined the US National Recording Registry in 2026. Its selection offers a way to consider how music becomes part of our memories of games.