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Aerobics for Everyone (1982). Image courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways.

Autumn is upon us, which means we must once again turn our thoughts to the Halloween/Thanksgiving/Christmas triumvirate of culinary evil. No matter how much goodwill you show to your friends, family and neighbors, it won’t save your waistline from the smorgasbord of rich foods that you traditionally encounter this time of year. That said, let’s turn our thoughts to a bygone era, that of the 1980s, that age where you could don shoulder pads large enough to create the illusion of having a slimmer midsection that than what you actually had. Also, it was an age of star-studded aerobic exercise, be it with Jane Fonda in pastel leggings helping you look your Barbarella best or Richard Simmons encouraging you to sweat to the oldies (or start a grass roots Rockette troupe—I could never really tell.) Not to be outdone, Smithsonian Folkways has in its collections a handy dandy workout record of its own from 1982: Aerobics for Everyone. No, you don’t get the benefit of working along with a video and watching someone do the moves with you—although, per the cover, the vocal and included written instructions are easy enough to follow—you do get to drop a stone or two to the tune of world music classics like “Hava Nagila,” “The Mexican Hat Dance” and the “Tarantella.” (If you can work out to the latter while tossing pizza dough, you’re an exercise ace.)

Listen to a few selections from this album. Audio Courtesy of Smithsonian Folkways, the nonprofit record label of the national museum. For CDs or digital downloads please visit folkways.si.edu

The ease of positioning the Flex-Straw made it appealing for hospital use. Joseph B. Friedman Papers, NMAH Archives Center

They are everywhere. Those quirky, bendy straws that make the satisfying crunching sound when flexed. They are in every soft drink, every restaurant… even when we don’t ask for them, those bendable straws magically appear in front of us. They’re one of the most undistinguished of utilitarian items of our time, yet few have surely ever paused to think about how they came to be.

Thankfully, for all those now hung-up on the history of the FlexStraw, the American History Museum has slurped up some straw stats to quench your thirst for knowledge.

The FlexStraw owes its existence to Joseph B. Friedman, (1900 – 1982) an independent American inventor, who came up with numerous interesting ideas that never really succeeded in the marketing world. When he was just 14, his list of inventions included an ice cream dispenser and the “pencilite”—a pencil with a light—creations that eventually granted him nine U.S. patents and even more in Great Britain, Australia and Canada. However, it was while working as a realtor in San Francisco, California in the 1930s, that Friedman experienced his most “prolific patenting period,” according to the museum. Six of his nine U.S. patents were issued then, one proving to be his most successful invention—our friend, the flexible drinking straw.

His “Eureka!” moment came when he was in an ice cream parlor with his young daughter, Judith. The tiny girl was struggling to get some height on a stiff straw while seated at the counter. Friedman had an idea. He began to experiment with an upgrade.

Pencil sketch of flexible drinking straw, no date.

According to the  Archives Center at the American History Museum, Friedman took a paper straight straw, inserted a screw and using dental floss, wrapped the paper into the screw threads, creating corrugations (see drawing at right). After removing the screw, the altered paper straw would bend conveniently over the edge of the glass, allowing small children, including his daughter Judith, to better reach their beverages. A U.S. patent was issued for this new invention under the title “Drinking Tube,” on September 28, 1937. Friedman attempted to sell his straw patent to several existing straw manufacturers beginning in 1937 without success, so after completing his straw machine, he began to produce the straw himself.

Today, from 12 to 12:30, you can see the machine that was used to make the FlexStraw, samples of the straw, and other items from the exhibit, “The Straight Truth About the Flexible Drinking Straw” at the “Meet the Museum” event held most Thursdays at the museum.

The VERITAS telescope is located at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory near Amado, Arizona. Image courtesy of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Shooting through space with the greatest of ease, cosmic rays can careen through the universe at nearly the speed of light. (Cosmic ray is a bit of a misnomer. The term really describes subatomic particles, but using an umbrella term like “cosmic thing” would just be aggravatingly vague.)

But what is the driving force behind these little bits-n-pieces?  Scientists suspected that shock waves from supernovae and massive stars were propelling the superspeedy particles, but they couldn’t prove it in part because they could only observe cosmic rays that hit the Earth’s atmosphere. The VERITAS telescope—which is partially funded by the Smithsonian Institution—however, has allowed scientists to see indirect evidence of cosmic rays much farther away in the universe. While observing the M82 galaxy—which resides about 12 million light-years away from the Earth—VERITAS produced evidence that may shed some light on the matter.

M82 is a “starburst” galaxy, meaning that it is rich with newborn stars. Although VERITAS cannot observe cosmic rays directly, it can detect gamma rays—a form of radiation that is produced when cosmic rays interact with interstellar gas. It took more than two years of data collection, but VERITAS was ultimately able to detect gamma radiation emanating from M82. “The detection of M82 indicates that the universe is full of natural particle accelerators, and as ground-based gamma-ray observatories continue to improve, further discoveries are inevitable,” said Martin Pohl, a professor of physics at Iowa State University who helped lead the study. This evidence supports the theory that supernovae and massive stars are the universe’s predominant accelerators of cosmic rays.

As the final days of the month draw near, that sugar-seeking holiday is upon us again; the holiday when we indulge our inner monster and make recreation of  horrifying our friends. Now is the season for zombie couture, anything goes so long as it’s bloody, gross, funny or edgy. And if you’ve been invited to a Halloween party and are still searching for a costume with just the right flare, look no further than the Smithsonian. The collection is stocked with creative crunch-time costumes for your trick-or-treating convenience.

Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart in Night At The Museum - Battle of the Smithsonian. Image courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

Amelia Earhart: In Night At the Museum – Battle of the Smithsonian, actress Amy Adams plays this powerful woman accessorized with inspirational tips from the museum’s Air and Space collection. Don a (still stylish) brown leather jacket, coif your hair into a sexy early-20^th century bob, carry a miniature plastic plane and you instantly become the iconic aviatrix.

The Artist Formerly Known As: If you’re feeling a fit of 1980s electro-funk coming on (no, it’s nothing like the symptoms of H1N1) on Halloween night, cue American History’s  “Yellow Cloud,” the guitar formerly owned by the Purple One himself. *Sequin jacket and high heels not provided by the Smithsonian.

Julia Child: It might be a tad difficult to tote around her kitchen, which is housed in its entirety at the National Museum of American History, however, in light of the recent film “Julia & Julia,” grab a wooden spoon, an apron and mimic Meryl Streep’s manicotti mannerisms.

Batman: Artist Mark Newport’s work (knitted superhero costumes) is currently being featured at the Renwick Gallery. The loose and not-at-all-form-fitting costumes question the validity of superheros. Obviously knitting an entire Batman costume would be impossible on our hurried schedule before the party, so ATM blogger Abby Callard suggests a shortcut: buy a Batman costume that is a few sizes too big, throw in a knitted hat or gloves and call yourself “Sloppy Batman.”

With Balloon Boy costumes bound to be this year’s version of 2008’s popular Sarah Palin costume, there’s no place like the National Air and Space Museum for aspiring ballooonists. Get inspired by the curious “Balloon Farm” photo, circa 1892, in our photo gallery. Perhaps a few plastic bags could do the trick, but don’t get offended if people think your costume is full of hot air.

Annie Oakley: If you dress up in a cowgirl outfit and tote around a rifle, you could be Annie Oakley. But you could also wear the same getup, and walk down the sidewalk belting out “You Can’t Get a Man With a Gun,” and your costume becomes Ethel Merman all the way. Take a few tips from Merman’s visage from the collections of the National Postal Museum. Portrait Gallery.

If you and your date are feeling a bit pinched from the recession, and have resorted to scarfing up fountain change to pay for your Starbucks, you could both go as “Loose Change,” picking up tips and ideas from the National Numismatic Collection at the American History Museum, home to 450,000 coins, medals and decorations and 1.1 million pieces of paper money (including the recently acquired “Confederate Treasury horde” of cancelled Confederate paper money).

View our photo gallery of last minute Halloween costume ideas.

A small male spider of a closely related Nephila species lies on top of the giant female showing the extreme difference in size. (Look closely, the male is the light brown thing to the left.) Photo by M. Kuntner.

The largest-ever orb-weaving spider has been discovered by researchers in a remote park in South Africa. Once thought to be extinct, the Nephila komaci was tracked down by Matjaz Kunter, chair of the Institute of Biology of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts and Jonathan Coddington, senior scientist and curator of arachnids and myriapods at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. The duo had made several trips to South Africa specifically to find these species. Until now, N. komaci had successfully evaded the team.

These gold and black arachnids debut just in time for Halloween. But the males get the short stick in this Halloween tale. They’re a boring brown color and tiny, as it turns out, though the scientists are quick to point out that that is the normal size. The females, on the other hand, are giant. Their bodies can measure a whopping 1.5 inches, and their leg span can reach up to 5 inches.

The intricate webs that these creatures weave can measure as much as three feet in diameter—imagine using that as a Halloween decoration.

Be sure to stay tuned for our next Halloween-mystery: Bats in the northeast United States are dying from a peculiar disease that leaves them with white noses. Smithsonian scientists are on a mission to learn why.

Check out the size of that web! Photo by M. Kuntner.

A painting by Jon Fjeldsa depicts H. zusii with its close relatives. (Clockwise from top left: Aglaiocercus kingi, Aglaiocercus coelestis, H. Zusii and Taphrolesbia griseiventris)

Scientists, including the Smithsonian’s Gary Graves, recently used nearly microscopic fragments of tissue to identify a presumably extinct hummingbird. Even more amazing, the specimen from which the tissue was taken is 100 years old.

The Heliangelus zusii hummingbird specimen was originally purchased by Brother Nicéforo María in Bogotá, Columbia in 1909. Nearly four decades later, in 1947, he sold the specimen to Rodolphe Meyer de Schauensee of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (ANSP). Meyer de Schauensee couldn’t identify the bird and enlisted help from experts worldwide including the Smithsonian’s Secretary at the time, and renowned ornithologist, Alexander Wetmore who wrote, “I have never seen a bird like it.” No conclusion was ever reached.

In 1993, Graves analyzed the feathers and compared the bird to every hummingbird specimen found in the ANSP and the Natural Museum of Natural History. He concluded that the specimen represented the only-known example of a unique hummingbird species, and he named it after Richard L. Zusi, an expert on hummingbirds and the curator of birds at the Natural History Museum. But the experts were still skeptical.

Scientists used this 100-year-old hummingbird specimen to confirm that Heliangelus zusii is a unique species.

In 2009, Graves, Jeremy Kirchman of New York State Museum, Albany, Christopher Witt from the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque and Jimmy McGuire at the University of California, Berkeley analyzed data from fragments of mitochondrial genes to confirm that H. zusii is in fact a unique species. Unfortunately, the tiny bird has never been seen in the wild and is presumed extinct. But, the tiny creature will go down in the history books as a species in his own right. However, the more important discovery here is that scientists can use nearly microscopic tissue samples to classify previously unknown species, no matter how old they might be, and quite possibly discover the taxonomy of dozens of other birds that are known only by the single specimens housed in museum or research collections.

Google has been busily snapping street-view photographs all across the country to add to Google Maps. As a result, many landmarks are just a click away. You can now take a virtual drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and spin around in Times Square.

But just imagine if Google were to go off-roading. That’s just what Daniel Ratner, a Senior Mechanical Engineers on the Street View team, did in his 20 percent time, the one day a week Google encourages their employees to work on something not necessarily in their job descriptions. He built a tricycle with a street-view camera mounted on it and took to California’s bike routes and pedestrian paths, to start. So far, Google Maps has documented LEGOLAND California, Arastradero Open Preserve, San Diego State University, the Monterey coastal bike path and the Santa Monica Pier.

Now, Google is polling the public. Where should the Street View Trike go next? They’ve invited people to nominate places in six categories: trails, university campuses (think: prospective students could take tours!), theme parks and zoos, pedestrian malls (ie: oudoor shopping areas, boardwalks), landmarks and sports venues.

Will you join us in nominating the National Mall? After all, it is America’s backyard! It would be great to see the trike circle the four-mile path from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and back.

Nominations will be open until tomorrow, October 28, and can be submitted at www.google.com/trike. (To make our campaign more successful, it might be smart if we all enter the National Mall in the landmarks category.) Google will then decide on a short-list of locations to vote on in mid-November.

A Colombian accordion player featured in Smithsonian Network's " The Accordion Kings" focuses intently. Photo courtesy of Smithsonian Networks.

As part of the Latin American Film Showcase, “The Accordion Kings: The Story of Colombian Vallenato Music,” a Smithsonian Networks film, will be shown at the Georgetown Business School – Lohrfink Auditorium tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. The film captures an annual festival of accordion music that takes place in the Colombian coastal town of Valledupar.

In 2008, Smithsonian magazine’s Kenny Fletcher wrote about the making of the film. The documentary focuses on the competition among accordion masters to be crowned the “vallenato king” at the festival. Vallenato is similar to country music in the United States, relating the everyday stories of love and love lost. “Wearing straw cowboy hats and jeans,” Fletcher wrote, “the hopefuls are covered in sweat, eyes closed, bodies rocking, fingers blurring as they fly across the accordion’s keys. The competition’s nationally televised finale has the drama and fanfare of “American Idol.”

As the genre becomes mainstream, festival organizers say the competition, which promotes the traditional form of vallenato, preserves their musical heritage. “It’s a way of linking you to the land, to your ancestors, your traditions,” says Gabriela Febres-Cordero, the honorary president of the 40-year-old festival.”

Vallenato is an essential part of Colombian culture. The rhythm of vallenato was first documented in the late 1800s. Gabriel García Márquez is said to have described his novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, as a 400-page vallenato.

The Latin American Film Showcase this year features more than 30 films from from almost 20 countries. The offerings include contemporary classics as well as films released just this year.