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Smart News

Britain Will Decide If Badger Culling Is Humane Based on the Noises the Dying Animals Make

The similarities between how the shot badgers thrash about compared to harpooned whales will also be factored in

If You Have a Medical Emergency on a Plane, Chances Are a Fellow Passenger Will Treat You

Only 0.3 percent of people who have a medical emergency on a plane die mid-flight or shortly after landing

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The Ancient Egyptians Had Iron Because They Harvested Fallen Meteors

Modern chemical analysis confirms that ancient Egyptians used iron from meteorites

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The White House And Bill Nye Want You to Come Watch This Huge Asteroid Zip by Earth

The asteroid passes by tomorrow afternoon, and the White House has a pre-game show starting at 2 Eastern

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The Real Reasons Child Stars Lose Their Minds (According to Matilda’s Mara Wilson)

All the odds are stacked against you once you enter showbiz as a kid

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Scientists Just Found a Woolly Mammoth That Still Had Liquid Blood

From a frozen Siberian island, a well-preserved mammoth and some liquid mammoth blood

Manchester United Is No Longer the Most Valuable Football (Sorry, Soccer) Brand

This year, Manchester United was dethroned by a team many Americans probably haven’t heard of: Bayern Munich

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What Happened to the Stromatolites, the Most Ancient Visible Lifeforms on Earth?

Stromatolites, or living layerd rocks, turned into thrombolites, or clotted stones, after a unicellular take-over

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Sloths Are Number One on the List of Illegally Traded Pets from Colombia

While Asian trade mostly stems from a desire for exotic meat and medicinal ingredients, in Colombia the pet trade rules the market

How Companies Use Data To Hire, Fire and Promote

Companies are turning to data to help them hire new workers, and compare how their employees are doing

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Stiffening Arteries May Be at the Heart of ‘Senior Moments’

Stiffening arteries could cause bleeding in the brain

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The Gruesome ‘Atlas of Vertebrate Decay’ Does Have a Practical Purpose

Some of the earliest ancient vertebrates were too squishy to leave easily identifiable remains that lasted through millennia, so researchers are creating a rot look-book

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New Zealand Is in the Midst of a Five-Month-Long Earthquake

It’s a magnitude 7 earthquake, and it’s been rocking New Zealand’s capital since January

An endangered fin whale

Endangered Whales Are Being Sold as Dog Treats to Rich People in Japan

Luckily, it seems that many Tokyoites aren’t buying into the endangered treats, which sell at around $37 for 500 grams

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Ask Smithsonian

Tiger vs. Lion—Who Would Win?

Lions are the king of the plains. Tigers rule the jungle. But face to face, which would win?

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One Ambitious Electric Car Venture Just Tanked, But Zero-Emissions Vehicles Aren’t Dead

Better Place burned through $850 million before crashing and burning, but the profitable Tesla just repaid its government loans nearly 10 years early

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We Fall Back on Habits, Good or Bad, When Stressed

Setting up healthy new habits, not controlling your behavior when stressed, may be the more effective way to cut back on eating or spending sprees

The Clovis people were known for their distinctive stone arrowheads.

How Two Retirees’ Amateur Archaeology Helped Throw Our View of Human History Into Turmoil

Through decades of excavation near their cottage Anton and Maria Chobot unearthed artifacts of the Clovis people

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This Woman Is a Hair-Style Archaeologist

Like a superhero of the coiffe, Janet Stephens spends her days as a regular hair dresser and her nights recreating the hairstyles of ancient Rome

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The Science Behind Teenager Grunts, Ughs and Duhs

A linguist and editor at The Week, turns monosyllabic grunts into long, fancy, science words

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