The Smithsonian's Board of Regents has elected Dr. David J. Skorton, president of Cornell University and a board-certified cardiologist, as the 13th Secretary of the Smithsonian, effective July 2015. “David Skorton has demonstrated keen vision and skilled leadership as the president of two great American universities,” said John G. Roberts, Jr., Smithsonian Chancellor and Chief Justice of the United States. “His character, experience, and talents are an ideal match for the Smithsonian’s broad and dynamic range of interests, endeavors, and aspirations.”

The Smithsonian Craft Show’s annual online auction gives collectors a chance to “Bid on the Best” of contemporary American sculptural objects and design. This year’s bidding begins April 7 and closes April 22 at 9 p.m. The auction catalog includes more than 125 items in a variety of media, ranging from basketry and ceramics to jewelry, wearable art, and wood. The 2014 Smithsonian Craft Show takes place at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., April 10–13.

APRIL EXHIBITIONS

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• Visions from the Forests: The Art of Liberia and Sierra Leone (African Art Museum)

I was found in 1988 by Kathy Wankel, a rancher from Angela, Montana, on federal land near the Fort Peck Reservoir in eastern Montana. There are few as complete as me in the world, and I hold the distinction of being the most famous. I have been on display in Montana for the past 21 years, but I am on my way to D.C., my new home for the next 50 years.

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Almost 14 billion years ago, the universe we inhabit burst into existence in an extraordinary event that initiated the Big Bang. All this, of course, was just theory. Researchers from the BICEP2 collaboration, led by John Kovac of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, announced the first direct evidence for this cosmic inflation. "Detecting this signal is one of the most important goals in cosmology today." said Kovac.

Mass strandings of whales that happened millions of years ago are hard to analyze—frequently leaving their cause a mystery. A team of Smithsonian and Chilean scientists recently examined a large fossil site of ancient marine mammal skeletons in Northern Chile—the first definitive example of repeated mass strandings of marine mammals in the fossil record. The site reflected four distinct strandings over time, indicating a repeated and similar cause: toxic algae.

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Download "Easy as ABC" from the new album 123s and ABCs by the “first lady of children’s music” Ella Jenkins. Enter code ENEWSABC and save 20% on this CD or album download through April 30 at folkways.si.edu.

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