Smart News

A new vaccine is ready for action in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Democratic Republic of Congo Approves Ebola Vaccine

It’s the newest tool in health workers’ arsenal against the contagious virus

This brave little craft will face blinding temperatures near the sun.

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NASA Hopes to "Touch the Sun" With a Newly Named Probe

The craft will travel within 4 million miles of the sun's surface

Major Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker in flying gear in 1933. Blacker, a former fighter pilot, shot the first aerial footage of Mount Everest.

Footage of Early 20th-Century Explorations Now Available Online

The UK’s Royal Geographical Society has digitized its archival footage of historic expeditions

President Truman receives a birthday cake in the Oval Office in 1951. Six years earlier, his birthday coincided with V-E Day.

No U.S. President Has Ever Died in May and Other Weird Trivia About Presidential Lives

Presidential lives are scrutinized for meaning, even when none is readily apparent

Edith Wharton circa 1900. Her play "The Shadow of a Doubt" didn't make it to the stage in 1901—but has finally been rediscovered by scholars.

Cool Finds

Scholars Rediscover Forgotten Edith Wharton Play

“The Shadow of a Doubt” had been overshadowed by over 100 years of history

Protestors stand in front of the Walker Sculpture Garden's construction fence on Saturday, May 27, 2017.

Amid Controversy, Minneapolis Museum Removes Sculpture Based on Execution of 38 Dakota Men

Members of the Dakota community say that the sculpture trivializes a painful chapter of their history

The flag of North Carolina includes the dates traditionally associated with the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence and the 1776 Declaration of Independence.

The First Declaration of Independence Drafted in the 13 Colonies Was (Probably) a Hoax

Although some are still very invested in the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, the scholarly community maintains it was never real

"Oh, hello. I didn't see you there. I was just catching up on my latest diary entry."

Samuel Pepys Was England's First Blogger

The famed blogger—okay, diarist—told historians so much about 17th-century daily life in England, but he could have told us so much more

Jeremy the snail, with the baby of his unrequited lovers.

A Lonely Snail With an Unusual Shell Strikes Out in Love

Researchers brought Jeremy two potential partners who went on to mate with each other

Surprise!

Cool Finds

Watch a Partial Solar Eclipse From Space

It's a preview of even more spectacular things to come

Cool Finds

These Sustainable Sneakers Are Made Using Algae

The shoes’ manufacturers harvest harmful algal blooms and turn the goo into footwear

A cyanotype photogram from "Photographs of British Algae."

How the First Female Photographer Changed the Way the World Sees Algae

The groundbreaking photo book by Anna Atkins, a 19th-century British botanist, is going on display in the Netherlands

This library will no longer charge late fees for books.

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Late Fees No Longer Exist at Salt Lake City Libraries

If you kept a book longer than you should have, you're in luck

America's most famous nuclear power plant will close in 2019.

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Three Mile Island to Shutter Its Doors in 2019

It’s been nearly 40 years since the nuclear power plant partially melted down

Manuel Noriega is escorted onto a U.S. Air Force aircraft by agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in 1990.

Former Panamanian Dictator Manuel Noriega Dies at 83

He had been serving a 20-year prison sentence for corruption and murder

This is cowpea seed beetle penis, not a weapon from Game of Thrones

New Research

Why Seed Beetles Are Caught in a "Sexual Arms Race"

The strange spiky penis of the cowpea beetle seems to drive the evolution of both male and female beetles

Each pole is 20 feet high and weighs over 2,000 pounds.

Cool Finds

The Powerful Story Behind Glacier Bay National Park's New Totem Poles

They're 20-foot-tall symbols of a slowly healing rift

A Tiny Church Sits On Britain's Oldest Site of Continuous Worship

When a 4,000-year-old wooden post was found near the church, it suggested that area was used for ritual purposes since the late Neolithic period

Anything for a snack.

New Research

Monkeys in Bali Swipe Tourists’ Belongings and Barter Them for Snacks

The behavior seems to have become a “cultural tradition” among local group of long-tailed macaques

Seven men tried to kill Queen Victoria during her almost 64-year reign. She wasn't amused by any of them.

The Eight Assassination Attempts on Queen Victoria Just Made Her More Powerful

People kept trying to kill Queen Victoria. She kept looking better and better

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