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The U.S. Once Wanted To Use Nuclear Bombs as a Construction Tool

From digging a harbor to expanding the Panama Canal, how couldn’t nuclear bombs be used?

Horse Meat Turned Up in Irish And British Burger Meat

Hamburger meat is never the healthiest option, but it does come with a few basic assumption—like that it’s made from cows

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Brits Are Allowed To Insult Each Other Once More

For the past 27 years, it’s been against the law for Brits to insult each other

Chimps Have an Innate Sense of Fairness

Human ideals about fairness may not be so human after all

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To Understand the Largest Structure Ever Found, We Need to Rethink the Basic Principles of the Universe

These 73 quasars—massive, extremely remote celestial objects—stretch for about 4 billion light years

Is It Too Late To Forgive Lance Armstrong?

How To Send Secret Messages With Skype

And now that you know you can—don’t you want to?

Did ancient Australians witness a similar scene?

Indians Made It to Australia More Than 4,000 Years Before the British

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Round Three: Drills vs. Insanely Thick Antarctic Ice. Fight!

The hunt for microbial life in Antarctic subglacial lakes continues. Now it’s the American’s turn

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More Soldiers Die From Suicide Than Fall in Combat

In 2012, 349 active-duty servicemembers took their own lives

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Romans Did All Sorts of Weird Things in The Public Baths—Like Getting Their Teeth Cleaned

For ancient Romans enjoying a day at the bathhouse, the list of items lost to drains includes jewelry, scalpels, teeth, needles and plates

Monopoly Tokens Are Being Updated, And Your Favorite One Could Get the Ax

On February 5, players may have a Monopoly identity crisis as one of the classic Monopoly pieces is sent to jail for good

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Ask Smithsonian 2017

Why Are Chimpanzees Stronger Than Humans?

Chimps are far stronger than we are - but why?

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Doomed Satellite’s Final Act Was To Film the Moon’s Surface From Just 30,000 Feet Above

Get a jet airliner’s view of the surface of the Moon

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Cardboard Cockroach Is the Fastest, Creepiest Robot in the World

The cardboard cockroach can sprint up to 7 miles per hour on its spindly little legs, using them much as an actual cockroach does

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Texas’ New Library Won’t Have Any Books

In San Antonio, an entirely bookless library system

Brazilian Waxes Could Make Pubic Lice Go Extinct

Without pubic hair, people are that much safer from pubic lice

Can You Make Tea Out of Coffee?

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Scientists Finally Figure Out How Squids Mate

There are all sorts of animals that we actually have never seen get it on. Squid used to be one of them

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One Man’s Seven-Year March Along Ancient Migration Routes

This past Sunday, journalist Paul Salopek began his walk from Ethiopia to Patagonia

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