Latest news with #Smithsonian
New York Post
a day ago
- Politics
- New York Post
New bill would ban wokeness at Smithsonian museums
A new bill would make it against the law for the Smithsonian Institution to peddle wokeness and 'divisive narratives,' its sponsor said Tuesday in a bid to solidify President Trump's executive order. The proposed 'Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History Act,' introduced by Indiana GOP Sen. Jim Banks, directs the Smithsonian to root out 'improper ideology' from its premier national network of major museums. 'It's time to stop letting activists rewrite our past,' Banks said in a statement to The Post. 'This bill puts President Trump's order into law to ensure our national museums celebrate our values, our heroes, and what makes America great.' The bill further prohibits future Smithsonian projects that 'degrade shared American values' and pushes for the reinstatement of National Park Service-backed memorials, statues and monuments that were taken down or altered because of ideological reasons. Banks, who founded the Anti-Woke Caucus during his time in the House, largely pulled from the text of Trump's eponymous executive order back in March to root out 'anti-American' ideology at Smithsonian museums. 3 Indiana GOP Sen. Jim Banks wants Smithsonian museums to promote what he considers American values. CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images 3 The Trump administration has sought to combat liberal influence in the arts. Getty Images That executive order was meant to strike back at years of pressure from lefty forces to pursue racial justice at historical institutions and undercut celebrated American figures who took actions that would be considered egregious by modern standards. In 2020, for example, the National Museum of African American History and Culture infamously released a graphic claiming that 'objective, rational, linear thinking,' 'quantitative emphasis' and 'hard work before play' are white qualities. The National Museum of African American History and Culture is a Smithsonian Institution museum located on the National Mall. Banks specifically singled out recent efforts by the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum to spotlight transgender female athletes. His bill stipulates that the museum can't 'recognize men as women in any respect.' Similar to Trump's March executive order, the bill requires the Smithsonian Board of Regents, which administers the network of museums, to root out 'improper ideology' in them. Vice President JD Vance, who is on the board, is tasked with helping to enforce that policy. 3 President Trump has been critical of efforts to rename or take down monuments for social justice purposes. AP The Smithsonian did not respond to a Post request for comment. Trump has also publicly been critical of campaigns to take down or eliminate Confederate statues and monuments across the country. Over the weekend, the president caused a stir by publicly criticizing the Washington Commanders and Cleveland Guardians for changing their names years ago from the Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians, respectively. 'Times are different now than they were three or four years ago,' Trump recently proclaimed on Truth Social. 'We are a Country of passion and common sense.' Banks' bill comes against the backdrop of a broader effort by Republicans in Congress to codify as many of Trump's executive orders as possible. The senator was first sworn into the upper chamber in January. He previously helmed the House Republican Study Committee.
Gizmodo
a day ago
- Science
- Gizmodo
Neptune Dances in Sync With a Rare Distant Object, Astronomers Find
For lovers of newly identified space objects, July has indeed been an exciting month. Last week, astronomers described Ammonite, a potential dwarf planet beyond Pluto. Yesterday, astronomers announced the existence of BetelBuddy, a small companion star orbiting Betelgeuse. And now we have another exciting discovery to share. In a Planetary Science Journal paper published earlier this month, astronomers with the Large inclination Distant Objects (LiDO) survey reported the discovery of 2020 VN40, a rare distant object that orbits the Sun once for every ten orbits Neptune completes. Astronomers have classified 2020 VN40 as a trans-Neptunian object—a class of small objects and dwarf planets that orbit the Sun at a greater distance than Neptune. The small object sports a peculiar, tilted orbit that places it in orbital resonance with Neptune at a ratio of 10:1. This means the two celestial bodies affect each other's motion, locking them into a clean, neat ratio of orbital periods. 'This is a big step in understanding the outer solar system,' Rosemary Pike, lead researcher from the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, said in a statement. 'It shows that even very distant regions influenced by Neptune can contain objects, and it gives us new clues about how the solar system evolved.' Spotting an oddball object in the solar system is always a cause for celebration, but 2020 VN40 stands out for a couple of reasons. First, it supports the idea that Neptune's gravity can pull distant objects into the inner solar system—something astronomers have documented with other distant objects. What's more, 2020 VN40 features a strange, tilted orbit that brings it closer to the Sun when it's nearest to Neptune—the opposite of how most similar objects behave. This tilt is what's causing the observed orbital sync between Neptune and 2020 VN40, in which the smaller object approaches the Sun once for every ten orbits Neptune completes, according to the study authors. This means that, for 2020 VN, one year is equal to 1,650 Earth years! 'This new motion is like finding a hidden rhythm in a song we thought we knew,' said study co-author Ruth Murray-Clay, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz. 'It could change how we think about the way distant objects move.' 'This is just the beginning,' said Kathryn Volk of the Planetary Science Institute. 'We're opening a new window into the solar system's past.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Science
- Yahoo
US team discovers winged reptile that took powered flight with early dinosaurs
In a remote bonebed in Arizona, a Smithsonian team unearthed the oldest pterosaur on record and an entire ecosystem of fossils—over 200 million years old. While looking for prehistoric precursors to mammals in Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona, a Smithsonian-led team of researchers stumbled upon an unexpected site: a remote bonebed that contained an entire Triassic ecosystem. Along with 1,200 individual fossils, they recovered a new pterosaur species that lived 209 million years ago. The recently identified Eotephradactylus mcintireae is the oldest pterosaur ever found in North America. Its teeth, preserved in the bone, gave paleontologists stunning insights into how the earliest pterosaurs lived. Oldest pterosaur in North America was about the size of a seagull Eotephradactylus mcintireae would have been small enough to perch on person's shoulder comfortably. It might not be be the largest pterosaur on record, but its impact might extend far beyond any discovered before it as the most ancient in North America. Its name, 'ash-winged dawn goddess,' refers to the site's volcanic ash, the animals' position near the base of the pterosaur evolutionary tree, and the woman who unearthed it. Suzanne McIntire knew the tooth-studded jaw would make the animal easier to identify. As the teeth were worn down, the team deduced the pterosaur likely fed on the site's fish, as they found many in the fossil bed encased in armor-like scales. In fact, the team led by paleontologist Ben Kligman found so much more than the world's oldest pterosaur on site. After braving the Petrified Forest's rugged badlands, home to rattlesnakes and wild horses, they uncovered a bonebed that gave them a vivid snapshot of the dynamic ecosystem, including giant amphibians, armored crocodile relatives, evolutionary upstarts like frogs, and even the world's oldest turtle fossils. 'The site captures the transition to more modern terrestrial vertebrate communities where we start seeing groups that thrive later in the Mesozoic living alongside these older animals that don't make it past the Triassic,' Kligman said. 'Fossil beds like these enable us to establish that all of these animals actually lived together.' A snapshot of end-Triassic extinction The new site filled a gap in the fossil record: the end-Triassic extinction (ETE). Around 201.5 million years ago, volcanic eruptions broke Pangaea and wiped out 75% of the planet's species, making way for the dinosaurs to rise and dominate the Earth. This new bonebed captured this critical moment in the planet's evolution. This pterosaur would have been among the first to take flight in history. Though incredibly old, these rocks on Owl Rock Member, the park's geologic outcrops, are the youngest in the park. They are the least studied as they lurk in the park's most remote areas, but they might contain new species. The fossil bed Smithsonian researchers just uncovered did. They believe a flood had most likely buried the creatures, as so many fossils were packed into the site. Excavating it was practically impossible. They encased large pieces of the surrounding sediment in plaster and brought them back to the lab, according to the press release. In total, the team picked up more than a thousand individual fossils of bones, teeth, fish scales, and coprolites, or fossilized poop. In all, this impressive assemblage contained 16 different groups of vertebrate animals. The pterosaur would have flown over a rich and diverse ecosystem of braided rivers filled with fish like freshwater sharks, coelacanths, and ancient amphibians, some of which grew up to 6 feet long. The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Solve the daily Crossword
CNN
4 days ago
- Politics
- CNN
Live updates on Trump's presidency: Administration seeks release of Epstein testimony
Update: Date: 11 min ago Title: Reporting roundup: Read some of CNN's latest stories on the Trump administration Content: While many of last week's headlines surrounded President Donald Trump's handling of documents from the Jeffrey Epstein case, it was a busy week elsewhere in the nation's capital. Catch up on some of our latest stories as we head into a new week: • School resources slashed: The Trump administration is seeking to dismantle the Education Department, with mass layoffs underway and severe funding cuts under consideration. The squeeze is already forcing summer programs to scramble to stay open as schools brace for deeper impacts in the fall. • Venezuela prison swap: Ten US nationals have been freed by Venezuela in exchange for 252 Venezuelans who had been deported and imprisoned in El Salvador. Relatives of several deportees spoke to CNN. • Gabbard's threat: Trump's spy chief, Tulsi Gabbard, has threatened to refer former Obama administration officials to the Justice Department over their assessment of Russia's 2016 election interference. • Sculpture under fire: An art exhibition about race at the Smithsonian museum will go on display in the face of a Trump executive order to cut government spending on art unaligned with the administration's agenda. Update: Date: 26 min ago Title: More than half of Americans say Trump has gone too far with deportations, CNN poll finds Content: Americans largely oppose recent efforts by Donald Trump's administration to scale up its deportation program, a new CNN poll conducted by SSRS finds. In the latest survey, 55% say the president has gone too far when it comes to deporting immigrants living in the US illegally, up 10 points since February. Opposition among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents has risen in that time from widespread to nearly universal. Ninety percent of Democratic-aligned adults now say Trump's deportation policy has gone too far, while just 15% of Republican-aligned adults say the same. Read more about the other findings of the survey here. Update: Date: 59 min ago Title: Testimony sought by the Trump administration is just a fraction of the Epstein grand jury file, analyst says Content: As CNN has reported, President Donald Trump said on Friday he had asked the Justice Department to release all grand jury testimony in the Jeffrey Epstein case. But any such testimony made behind closed doors is a 'minuscule fraction of the entire file,' CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig said Friday, shortly after a federal judge was asked to make it public. 'It would not include phone records, flight records, video surveillance, anything that you seized by a search warrant, anything you got by a wiretap, bank records, financial records,' Honig said. It is typically more common for witnesses to testify outside of a grand jury, to prosecutors or the FBI, for example, Honig explained. Grand jury information is secret and contains confidential information. The government will have to argue to the judge that it qualifies for an exception to make it public. Paula Reid, CNN's chief legal affairs correspondent, said the DOJ is arguing that this is an effort toward transparency and that releasing files on the disgraced financier is in the public interest. 'This is a long shot. The judge is going to have to take some time here, will likely have other stakeholders — victims, accusers — weigh in on the potential impact of this,' Reid said. Keep in mind: The Justice Department moved to get the testimony released Friday after days of pressure, with the president's base agitated over his administration's chaotic handling of files related to the Epstein case. Update: Date: 1 hr 29 min ago Title: Trump says "nothing will be good enough" for those demanding more information on Epstein case Content: President Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post yesterday that 'nothing will be good enough' for those he deems 'troublemakers' and 'radical left lunatics' demanding more information on the Jeffrey Epstein case. Trump's post came after days of turmoil surrounding his administration's handling of documents related to the disgraced financier, including rare criticism from the president's MAGA base. The Justice Department on Friday asked a judge to release years-old grand jury testimony made against Epstein, the convicted sex offender who faced sex trafficking and conspiracy charges before his 2019 death in jail. 'I have asked the Justice Department to release all Grand Jury testimony with respect to Jeffrey Epstein, subject only to Court Approval. With that being said, and even if the Court gave its full and unwavering approval, nothing will be good enough for the troublemakers and radical left lunatics making the request. It will always be more, more, more,' Trump wrote yesterday morning. In the Justice Department filing, Attorney General Pam Bondi said unsealing the transcripts would be justified by the public's 'longstanding and legitimate interest.' But it's ultimately up to a federal judge to decide. Trump's weekend: The president is expected to remain in the Washington, DC, area and does not have public events scheduled this weekend. He took private meetings yesterday afternoon at his Trump National Golf Club in Sterling, Virginia, a White House official said. The official declined to share any details about the meetings. CNN's Aleena Fayaz contributed to this report. Update: Date: 1 hr 29 min ago Title: Catch up on a chaotic week in the Trump administration's handling of the Epstein files Content: The Justice Department has asked a federal judge to release years-old grand jury testimony made against convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, as President Donald Trump fumes on social media over public demands to release the so-called Epstein files. If you're just catching up on the saga, here's what to know: • How we got here: The DOJ's move came after a week of outcry from the president's MAGA base over the administration's perceived backtracking on promises of maximum transparency regarding Epstein. The pressure campaign had been ramping up since the Justice Department said in a memo earlier this month that it wouldn't be releasing further documents on the case. • Putting the request in context: Grand jury testimony made behind closed doors is a 'minuscule fraction of the entire file' from Epstein's case, according to CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig. And while Attorney General Pam Bondi argued in her request that releasing the material is in the public interest, it's ultimately the court's decision. • Trump sues newspaper: Trump also announced Friday that he is suing the publisher of The Wall Street Journal and two reporters who wrote a story about a collection of letters gifted to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003, including a note bearing Trump's name and an outline of a naked woman. The Journal report seemed to unite a set of skeptical MAGA influencers in defense of the president after the week's turmoil. • More on the doodle: The president has emphatically denied writing the note and said he doesn't draw pictures. But a charity director told CNN she received two doodles from him in 2004 for an auction in Ohio. • Read CNN analysis: With the renewed scrutiny surround Trump's relationship with Epstein, CNN identified five key questions that remain unanswered.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Can you mount an art exhibition about race in the age of Trump?
It is one of the most evocative works from the American Civil War: A sculpture of a Black man who had escaped from slavery helping an injured White Union soldier lost in hostile territory. When it was unveiled in 1864, John Rogers' 'The Wounded Scout, a Friend in the Swamp,' was celebrated for its anti-slavery message and patriotic tone. But in 2025, a Smithsonian exhibition, 'The Shape of Power: Stories of Race and American Sculpture,' asked visitors to reconsider the message behind the piece. On display, the sculpture is paired with a description that prompts viewers to consider how the work, and others by Rogers 'reinforced the long-standing racist social order,' despite its pro-Union and emancipation sentiment. The exhibition's efforts to challenge enduring ideas about race and American sculpture became a subject of President Donald Trump's ire earlier this year. In an executive order, he condemned the exhibition for stating that 'sculpture has been a powerful tool in promoting scientific racism,' that 'race is a human invention' and that the United States has used race 'to establish and maintain systems of power, privilege, and disenfranchisement.' 'Museums in our Nation's capital should be places where individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to divisive narratives,' the executive order said. Trump has championed a cultural agenda built around celebrating, as the executive order put it, 'shared American values' and 'unmatched record of advancing liberty, prosperity, and human flourishing,' and he has put Vice President JD Vance, who serves on the Smithsonian's Board of Regents, in charge of stopping government spending on exhibits that don't align with that agenda. That has forced the Smithsonian into an awkward position. In June, the Smithsonian began a review of content in its museums. The institution has repeatedly said it is committed to being 'free from political or partisan influence' – but the review has raised serious questions over whether the world's largest museum complex will curb candid discussions about the country's past, beginning with exhibits like 'The Shape of Power.' Sasa Aakil, a young artist who helped with 'The Shape of Power,' said that it would be 'catastrophic' if the Smithsonian were to change many of its exhibits. 'America has never been good at truth. That's why so many people are doing the work that they're doing. That's why this exhibition exists.' Humbler displays, notable reactions For the amount of attention it garnered from the president, the exhibition at the Smithsonian's American Art Museum has a surprisingly humble, intimate feel. Tucked away on the third floor of a sprawling neo-classical building shared with the National Portrait Gallery in downtown Washington, the exhibit holds 82 sculptures dating from 1792 to 2023. The pieces are arranged according to a series of topics with prompts asking visitors to consider how they encounter the pieces. A large passage of text on the wall at the exhibition entrance says: 'Stories anchor this exhibition,' and that through it, visitors can discover how artists used sculpture to 'tell fuller stories about how race and racism shape the ways we understand ourselves.' The stated goal of for the exhibit is 'to encourage visitors to feel invited into a transparent and honest dialogue about the histories of race, racism, and the role of sculpture, art history and museums in shaping these stories,' its curators have written. Ferdinand Pettrich's 'The Dying Tecumseh,' for example, portrays a Shawnee warrior's death during the War of 1812. Completed in 1856, he is shown in a relaxed pose, reclining as if asleep. In reality, he died in battle and his body was mutilated by American soldiers. Pettrich, according to the exhibit, made the sculpture as political propaganda for Vice President Richard Mentor Johnson, who had claimed he killed Tecumseh and made the alleged act part of his campaign slogan. It also reinforced racist ideas about Native Americans during a time when the United States was rapidly expanding westward, the exhibit said. Yards away from Hiram Powers' 'Greek Slave,' a famous 19th century sculpture, is Julia Kwon's 'Fetishization,' a 2016 work featuring a hollow, female torso wrapped with a vibrant patchwork of silk bojagi, Korean object-wrapping cloth. The intention, Kwon told CNN, is to comment 'on the gravity and absurdity of the objectification of Asian female bodies.' Asked about its objections to the exhibit, Lindsey Halligan, a White House official who Trump has tasked with helping to root out 'improper ideology' at the Smithsonian, told CNN in a statement: 'The Shape of Power exhibit claims that 'sculpture has been a powerful tool in promoting scientific racism,' a statement that ultimately serves to create division rather than unity.' 'While it's important to confront history with honesty, framing an entire medium of art through such a narrow and accusatory lens overshadows its broader cultural, aesthetic, and educational value,' Halligan said in a statement. 'Instead of fostering dialogue or deeper understanding, the Shape of Power exhibit's approach alienates audiences and reduces complex artistic legacies to a single, controversial narrative. After all, it's hard to imagine Michelangelo thinking about racism as he chiseled David's abs – he was in the relentless pursuit of artistic perfection, not pushing a political agenda.' (Michelangelo's work is not part of the exhibit.) Some see value in the president's push to reshape the museums. Mike Gonzalez, a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, expressed optimism about the Smithsonian's review, arguing that the institution should not mount exhibitions that examine the US through 'a prism of the oppressed and the oppressor.' 'I think, you know, you have to tell the whole story, not a small part of the story that is designed to make people feel grievances against their own country,' he said. But critics say the administration's review has the potential to undermine the nation's ability to understand its complicated history through art. Examining art from the past has the potential to hit at the core of how Americans understand their country, Northwestern University art history professor Rebecca Zorach told CNN, and that's the value of exhibitions like 'The Shape of Power.' 'Art provides ways to process these issues. I think some people are afraid of what it means to kind of have that opportunity,' Zorach said. The administration's claims of a 'divisive, race-centered ideology' are a 'real caricature' of what museums and other cultural institutions are trying to do, she said. It was also 'astonishing' that the administration would dispute a scientifically accepted view that race is a construct, she added. Probing questions Sasa Aakil, a 22-year-old artist who was a student collaborator on 'The Shape of Power', told CNN the exhibition was not designed to make people feel resentment towards their country, but to consider the broader context of the art. She recalled the first time she saw 'The Dying Tecumseh.' It unnerved her, she said, especially as she learned more about the distorted version of the history the artwork relayed. For Aakil, the statue is a reminder that museums have always made some people uncomfortable. 'Many of these sculptures were always problematic, were always painful and were always very violent. And this exhibition is forcing people to see that, as opposed to allowing people to live in a fantasy,' she said. Another piece, 'DNA Study Revisited' by Philadelphia artist Roberto Lugo, is intended to push back against the ways sculpture has been used to bolster ideas about racial classifications. In a self-portrait, Lugo uses different patterns that correspond to parts of his ancestry, drawing from Spanish, African, Portuguese and indigenous peoples of the Caribbean. Lugo told CNN that he believes art is 'a way for us to understand the world through someone else's experiences.' 'Through exhibitions like this, I hope we can begin to normalize storytelling from diverse communities,' he added. 'Every story matters, and art gives us a voice in a world where we have too often been silenced.' While it's unclear what changes, if any, the Smithsonian will make to 'The Shape of Power,' the institution has changed exhibits that have drawn controversy in the past. In 1978, religious groups sued over an evolution exhibition that they alleged violated the First Amendment, but a court sided with the Smithsonian, and the National Museum of Natural History kept the exhibit up. But in 1995, the Smithsonian reduced the size and scope of an exhibit on Enola Gay, the B-29 bomber that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, after veterans' groups and lawmakers complained about what it said about World War II. And in 2011, the National Portrait Gallery, which shares the same building as the American Art Museum, debuted 'Hide/Seek,' the first major museum exhibition on gender and sexual identity at the Smithsonian. The show featured the video 'A Fire in My Belly' by the late artist David Wojnarowicz, which includes a scene where ants crawl over a crucifix, prompting uproar from the Catholic League and conservative members of the House of Representatives. It was quickly removed, but not without criticism from those that argued that the Smithsonian was capitulating to homophobic censorship. The planned run for the 'The Shape of Power' exhibition began November 8, 2024, and is to continue through September 14. The Smithsonian did not respond to multiple requests for comment for this story. Solve the daily Crossword
