Smart News

Joan Baez during the Civil Rights March on Washington, D.C. in 1963.

'We Shall Overcome' Verse Now in the Public Domain

A judge recently struck down the copyright for the first verse of the iconic Civil Rights song

The destruction left in Irma's wake is so widespread it can even be seen from space. These satellite images show Irma's effects on the British and U.S. Virgin Islands before (top) and after (bottom) the storm.

Damage From Hurricane Irma Can Be Seen From Space

Caribbean islands that were once lush and green now appear sickly and brown

Skybolt 2 launch

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Rocket Powered by Recycled Tires and Hope Launches in the U.K.

With a successful test of the Skybolt 2 rocket, Starchaser Industries takes a step towards sending tourists into space

A friendly Nauga.

How the Nauga and its Fictional Friends Helped Make Synthetic Fabric Cuddly

What started out as an advertising ploy turned into a low-key cultural phenomenon

A painting of Claude Monet's wife and son by friend Pierre-Auguste Renoir that he owned

The Art Monet Owned

A new exhibit looks inside the mind of this influential Impressionist through the lens of the works he collected

This 1846 map of the solar system includes Vulcan as the planet closest to the sun.

Why Everyone Went on a Wild Goose Chase Looking for the Planet Vulcan

The idea of a ninth planet in the Solar System would resolve a mathematical conundrum about Mercury–only problem is, it wasn't there

Kangaroo herds dominate Australians ecosystem today, outcompeting other organisms

To Save Australia's Ecosystem, Ecologists Say Eat Kangaroos

With a soaring population, the iconic marsupials are overwhelming other species and may soon run out of food

New Research

Cargo Ships May Double Lightning Strikes in Their Path

Ship exhaust impacts cloud formation, which may influence lightning over busy shipping lanes

Here's What You Need to Know About the Mysterious Voynich Manuscript

The book has been confounding scholars, cryptologists and sleuths for centuries

Cool Finds

New Kingdom Goldsmith's Tomb Discovered in Egypt

The tomb of Amenemhat and his wife Amenhotep includes a statue of the couple, mummies, statues and funerary masks

Family Travel

How a "Snowman" Lasted the Entire Summer In Chicago

The icy Fischli/Weiss art installation on top of the Art Institute survived the swelter of the Windy City and will go on display next in San Francisco

Jenny Lind was massively popular in Europe and England, but she was a virtual unknown in America before 1849.

Why 30,000 People Came Out to See a Swedish Singer Arrive in New York

Most of them had never even heard Jenny Lind sing

This reconstruction of the grave site shows how the woman may have originally looked.

New Research

This High-Ranking Viking Warrior Was a Woman

DNA analysis shows that the elaborate grave of what appears to be a Viking officer was a real-life shieldmaiden

The surprising find was unearthed as part of a community project that invites amateur archeologists to help dig up local history.

Cool Finds

Amateur Archaeologists Find ‘Most Exciting’ Roman Mosaic in Britain

The mosaic tells the story of Bellerophon, a mythical hero who defeats the fearsome Chimera

This is what a touring car looked like in 1915.

Before She Was an Etiquette Authority, Emily Post Was a Road Warrior

Post didn't drive herself, but she laid claim to her own authority on the road in other ways

Unlike Samuel Morse's one-key telegraph, Baudot's used five keys.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Roots of Computer Code Lie in Telegraph Code

Émile Baudot, born a year after the first long-distance telegraph message was sent, helped advance the technology

Monarch butterflies nesting in California in the winters have declined rapidly since 1981

West Coast Monarch Butterflies Flutter Toward Extinction

Since 1981, the butterfly's numbers have declined 97 percent according to a new survey

Bison could soon get grazing space next to a Denver airport

Family Travel

Denver Airport...Where the Bison Might Soon Roam

Flyers through this large airport could be greeted by America's official mammal

New Research

Got Writer's Block? Try Listening to Happy Music

A new study suggests that an upbeat tune can boost creativity

Inostrancevia, devouring a Pareiasaurus, Alexei Petrovich Bystrow, 1933

Cool Finds

Two Centuries of Dinosaur Art Come Alive in This Gorgeous New Book

<i>Paleoart</i> traces historic depictions of T. rex, mastodons and other ancient creatures through an artistic lens

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