Smart News: Latest Discoveries & News

The Chateau d'Ussé has connections with Sleeping Beauty...and contains a slightly creepy surprise.

Cool Finds

The French Castle That May Have Inspired “Sleeping Beauty” Is Filled With Creepy Mannequins

In honor of Charles Perrault’s birthday, explore the Chateau d’Usse

January 2016

The official seal of the village of Whitesboro, New York.

It’s a story that might as well have been ripped from a plotline on “Parks and Recreation”

January 12, 2016

Cool Finds

Watch 100 Drones Dance Their Way to a World Record

The swarm recently took to the skies to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony

January 12, 2016

Library patrons will soon be able to check out ukuleles in libraries across Pennsylvania.

Cool Finds

Pennsylvania Libraries Will Let You Check Out a Ukulele

Read, strum, repeat

January 12, 2016

From “Space Oddity” to “Lazarus,” Bowie gave voice to the anxiety of science fiction

January 11, 2016

A piebald horse is usually called a pinto or paint in the U.S.

New Research

Geneticists Figured Out How Animals Get Their White Spots

The answer could help people with certain genetic conditions and diseases

January 11, 2016

An artist's impression of Philae's landing on Comet 67P. Philae is the small craft beneath the Rosetta orbiter. It detached from Rosetta and landed on the comet on November 12, 2014. Now it may be out of contact forever.

As Comet 67P hurtles further and further away, it’s taking the ‘little lander that could’ along with it

January 11, 2016

People view a painting at the Altes Museum in Germany. As populations age and address various health challenges, museums are increasingly tailoring their programming to better serve their patrons.

Cool Finds

How Museums Are Helping People With Memory Loss

Serving the community means changing museum offerings for guests with Alzheimer’s

January 11, 2016

New Research

Microbe Cells Don’t Outnumber Your Own

For years people have cited the ten-to-one ratio, with microbes dominating human cells, but that number is probably wrong, according to recent research

January 11, 2016

A blue bead uncovered at the Iron Age village archeological site in Norway.

Cool Finds

There’s a 1,500-Year-Old Farming Village Beneath a Norwegian Airport

An airport expansion gives archaeologists the chance to dig for historical treasures in a pre-Viking settlement

January 11, 2016

Turns out the discovery of the Palace of Knossos is just the beginning—the ancient city is three times the size archaeologists suspected.

Cool Finds

This Ancient City Was Three Times Bigger Than Archaeologists Suspected

Will Crete’s tourist boom threaten the archaeological treasures of Knossos?

January 11, 2016

New Research

Thank Neanderthals for Your Immune System

Genes inherited from our ancient cousins may have helped fight off disease

January 8, 2016

A trial at the Destrehan Plantation sentenced 45 men from the uprising to death or to go to New Orleans for future trials.

More than 500 slaves fought for their freedom in this oft-overlooked rebellion

January 8, 2016

Mumbai's gigantic Dharavi slum will soon be home to a mobile museum.

But is a museum showcasing objects created by slum residents ethical or exploitative?

January 8, 2016

Wrecking balls remain ubiquitous in popular culture today, despite their dwindling use at construction sites.

Cool Finds

The Rise and Fall of the Wrecking Ball

The instrument of destruction was popular in the 1950s and ‘60s but is now a rare creature on the demolition site

January 8, 2016

Cool Finds

What’s Inside this Artistic Capsule Headed to the Moon?

See how these artists captured a portrait of humanity in just six ounces

January 8, 2016

A meteorite discovered in the Australian ouback on New Year's Eve.

Cool Finds

4.5 Billion-Year-Old Meteorite Found in the Australian Desert

This 3.7 pound rock could help scientists learn about Earth’s origins

January 8, 2016

University of Colorado Denver researcher Martin Lockley (right) and Ken Cart pose beside large a dinosaur scrape they discovered in Western Colorado.

New Research

Dinosaurs May Have Dug Trenches to Woo Mates

Ancient grooves discovered in Colorado suggest dinos had bird-like mating rituals

January 8, 2016

New Research

Old, Dense Star Clusters Might Be the Place to Look for Complex Alien Life

The age and density of globular star clusters could give alien life both the time and resources necessary to brew complex society

January 8, 2016

Cool Finds

Instead of Cheesy Pickup Lines, 19th-Century Americans Gave Out Calling Cards

Consider it the Victorian-era version of OKCupid

January 8, 2016