Smart News: Latest Discoveries & News

A red pigment reference from the Forbes Pigment Collection helped prove that a supposed Jackson Pollock painting was a fake.

This Could Be the World’s Most Colorful Library

Harvard’s Forbes Pigment Collection preserves some of history’s most precious colors—and helps conserve the world’s greatest art

March 24, 2016

"The Last Communion of Joan of Arc" by Charles Henri Michel

After buying a ring purportedly owned by Joan of Arc, a French history park owner defies UK demands

March 24, 2016

This 12,000-year-old city could soon be inundated thanks to a hydroelectric dam.

Unless things change, these historic sites could disappear from the map forever

March 24, 2016

Tom Randle plays Macheath, or “Mack the Knife,” in a production of Benjamin Britten’s The Beggar’s Opera.

Cool Finds

The Strange Career of “Mack the Knife”

As old Macheath is inducted into the National Recording Registry, here’s a look back at his long musical life

March 24, 2016

The bright spots of Occator Crater are shown in enhanced color in this view from NASA's Dawn spacecraft.

New Research

New NASA Images Shed Light on Ceres’ Bright Spots

Yet the dwarf planet serves up fresh mysteries

March 23, 2016

A cruise ship in Alaska, similar to the one that will cross the Northwest Passage in August

Crystal Cruises will sail a ship with over 1,000 passengers through the legendary—and deadly—Arctic route

March 23, 2016

New Research

Prairie Dogs: The Fiercest Killers in the West

New study reveals white-tailed prairie dogs attack and kill ground squirrels with no provocation

March 23, 2016

Each year, thousands of California sea lions flock to the docks at Oregon's Port of Astoria.

Cool Finds

An Oregon Port Is Using Inflatable Air Dancers to Scare Off Pesky Sea Lions

The car dealership staple is now a marine mammal scarecrow

March 22, 2016

Some of the coral bleaching near Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef

Age of Humans

Massive Bleaching Event Hits the Great Barrier Reef

Warm ocean temperatures have impacted large swaths of the Great Barrier Reef in the last month, part of a worldwide coral die-off

March 22, 2016

New Research

NASA Spies a Supernova’s First Shockwave

Astronomers spot the first flash of a distant supernova in visible light

March 22, 2016

Cool Finds

Rare Crucifix Suggests Christianity May Have Come Earlier to the Vikings

The 10th-century Aunslev Crucifix is currently being analyzed by the Viking Museum at Ladby

March 22, 2016

Cool Finds

A Saturated Snapshot of This Year’s Holi Celebrations

Revelers are already soaking in shades of the spring festival

March 22, 2016

New Research

Climate Change Makes For Tastier Wine

Global warming + wine grapes = true love…for now

March 22, 2016

Cool Finds

Visit Richard III’s Gravesite With This Bone Chilling 3D Model

The ruler’s final resting spot is now publicly available for exploration online

March 22, 2016

The U.S. government is battling a private company for the rights to historic names

March 22, 2016

A room decorated with animal art was designed to look like a forest.

Cool Finds

This Polish Museum Exhibit Was Completely Curated By Kids

“Anything Goes” took six months and 69 children to create

March 22, 2016

The brown bear patella researchers dated to 12,500 years ago

New Research

Bear Bone Adds 2,500 Years to History of Humans in Ireland

Carbon dating of a bear bone covered in cut marks pushes human habitation of Ireland back into the Paleolithic Era

March 21, 2016

Cool Finds

This News Website Is a Lakota-Speaker’s “Dream”

Woihanble.com could help preserve a threatened language

March 21, 2016

Cool Finds

Roald Dahl’s Iconic Illustrator Inspired This New Font

Quentin Blake’s handwriting has elements of spontaneity and joy

March 21, 2016

Perhaps Magnolia rzedowskiana should be renamed Magnolia interneta.

Cool Finds

Two New Flower Species Were Discovered Online

These naturalists didn’t know one another—but that didn’t keep them from discovering two new magnolias together

March 21, 2016