Smart News Ideas & Innovations

A screenshot of Lynn Hill climbing El Capitan in Street View.

Cool Finds

Scale El Capitan From Your Couch Using Google Street View

The latest expansion of the Maps project takes users up Yosemite’s iconic climb

The U.K.'s National Health Service plans to test artificial blood in a clinical trial in 2017.

The First Human Clinical Trial of Synthetic Blood Will Begin Soon

People could receive artificial blood transfusions as early as 2017

Trending Today

Norway Is Building a Highway for Bees

The "superhighway" sends Oslo bee traffic from east to west

Cool Finds

In Sweden the Blood Bank Will Text You When Your Blood is Used

Stockholm’s blood bank uses text messages and Facebook posts to remind donors to give again

A cownose ray caught as bycatch off the coast of Virginia

Trending Today

Catch and Release: This Device Could Help Accidentally Caught Fish Survive

The SeaQualizer returns fish safely to the depths of the ocean

Evidence (some anecdotal and some clinical) suggests that hookworms could suppress the immune response in people with allergies and other inflammatory diseases.

Cool Finds

Can Hookworms Cure Hayfever?

Maybe. But we need to learn a lot more about them before they hit pharmacy shelves

Sand Mining on the banks of the Sita River near Mabukala bridge in Brahmavar, India

Cool Finds

The Demand for Sand is so High There are Illegal Sand Mining Operations

Only certain kinds of sand can be used in construction and mining it causes problems

A stained tissue sample from 1967 reveals the presence of  Chlamydia psittaci bacteria.

New Research

The Mystery of the Failed Chlamydia Vaccine

In the 1960s, a vaccine for chlamydia made patients more susceptible to chlamydia. Now scientists know why

A screenshot of the new visualization from Pitch Interactive and Google News Lab

Cool Finds

Here’s What People Are Asking Google About Climate Change

The visualization reveals what people want to know about the environment

New Research

How Elephant Poop is Helping Nab Ivory Poachers

Scientists match DNA in seized tusks to elephant dung to map where poaching is taking place

Lithium ion battery used in a laptop computer

New Research

Researchers Have Finally Figured Out How to Stop Lithium Batteries from Spontaneously Combusting

Unexpected fires have kept experts cautious about the potential of lightweight batteries

Trending Today

Every Year, Norway Hosts an Oil Cleanup Drill

The annual release of offshore oil is no accident — it’s a chance to train, test, and prepare for the possibility of a catastrophic oil spill

The algorithm ranked the "The Scream" by Edvard Munch as a highly creative work of its time.

New Research

History’s Most Creative Paintings, As Picked by a Computer

Some masters got snubbed

Trending Today

U.S. Grants Captive Chimpanzees Endangered Species Status, Prohibiting Most Research on Them

Captive chimps now have the same protections as wild ones

A concept illustration of the Hyperloop

Trending Today

Elon Musk’s Futuristic Hyperloop is Coming to California Next Year

The project isn’t the enormous high-speed rail alternative that Elon Musk orginialy proposed, but it is close

Trending Today

Excess Embryos: Families Are Now Adopting Unused Embryos Leftover from IVF Treatments

The practice is relatively new and touches on complicated legal and ethical issues

Cool Finds

In California, Smart Water Meters Tattle on Wasteful Ways

The internet-connected meters provide nearly real-time feedback on water use

Team WPI-CMU’s robot climbs over cinder blocks during the finals of the DARPA Robotic Challenge

Trending Today

Worried About the Robot Takeover? Here’s a Video of Robots Falling Over

It’s like humanoid robots have ended adolescence — awkward clumsiness abounds

Fear the claw. More often than no, claw machines are likely rigged for you to lose.

Cool Finds

Here's How Claw Machines Are Rigged to Make Sure You Lose

That's why simply grabbing a prize is so deceptively difficult

Though still in development, Google's Im2Calorie program can compute the number of calories in a glamor shot of your food.

Google is Trying to Count Calories in Food Porn

All you need is an Instagram photo and an algorithm

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