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Smart News

Dreaming of Animals Might Augur the Onset of Diseases like Alzheimer’s

Research has shown that sleep disturbance might be one warning sign of neurodegeneration—like insomnia, sleep apnea, drowsiness and animal-packed dreams

Computers at Home Neither Help, Nor Hurt Students

Simply giving kids computers won’t suddenly make them do better in school

Bicycle Helmets Really Do Work, But You Have to Wear Them

Helmets accounted for an 88 percent lower risk of brain injury, but people still aren’t wearing them

Man Finds First-Edition Superman Comic Hidden in His Wall

A man finds a copy of “the most important comic book in the history of comic books” stuffed in the wall of his new fixer-upper

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On the Beach, Men Are More Likely to Approach a Tattooed Woman

Men are more likely to approach a woman with a tattoo, and more likely to expect a date or sex with that woman

Smog in a Beijing neighborhood

China Plans to Regulate Some of Its Carbon Emissions for the First Time Ever

In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the country will implement a carbon trading scheme in seven cities by 2014

Here’s How the Enhanced Fujita Scale Works, and This Is What It Looks Like

The Moore, Oklahoma tornado was upgraded to an EF-5 storm

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The FBI Investigated the Song ‘Louie Louie’ for Two Years

The question apparently had to do with the lyrics of the song - which many find either confusing or simply impossible to understand

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Octogenarians Compete to Set a New Record on Mount Everest

The drama began when 76-year-old Sherchan beat 75-year-old Miura to the summit by a day back in 2008

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Scottish Wildcats Are Interbreeding Themselves Into Extinction

One researcher thinks Scottish wildcats could be gone within two years thanks to hybridization with domestic house cats

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Why a Simple Message—Fat Is Bad—Is Failing

Extra pounds are extra years off your life, we hear. But the science isn’t so sure about that

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Western U.S. Forest Fires Could Double Within 40 Years

In the western U.S., the area burned by forest fires should increase by as much as 100% by 2050

An Aging Mathematician Made a Major Dent in One of Math’s Oldest Problems

Before his breakthrough involving the twin prime conjecture, Yitang Zhang struggled to find work in academia and even took a job at Subway

Aside from both being drugs to encourage sexual activity, female desire drugs have very little in common with drugs like Viagra.

Don’t Call Female Desire Drugs ‘Lady Viagra’

Other than their intended purpose—encouraging sexual activity—female desire drugs and Viagra are completely different things

Dentists Discovered the Tooth-Saving Properties of Fluoride by Accident

This is the fourth time Portland has voted on fluoride, and it certainly won’t be the last

A rhinovirus

Like Your Mother Warned, Chilly Winter Air Does Indeed Promote Colds

Colds proliferate when temperatures drop and cold air chills peoples’ upper respiratory tracts, giving rhinoviruses a chance to strike

The first scanning tunneling microscope ever made.

Heinrich Rohrer, Father of Nanotechnology, Dies at 79

Heinrich Rohrer, winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in Physics, passed away last week at the age of 79

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The Internet Is Still for Porn—And Parents Are Trying to Figure Out How to Handle That

Welcome to the internet, there will be porn, are you ready for it?

China Is Opening Around 100 Museums Every Year

Since 2008, the Chinese have allocated something like $800 million to building new museums, and the country now has over 3,000 of them

Dawww

Bears That Have No Fish to Eat Eat Baby Elk Instead

The illegal introduction of lake trout in Yellowstone’s lakes is having wide-reaching consequences

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