Smart News: Latest Discoveries & News

A fresco uncovered in a tavern in Pompeii shows patrons playing a game. Similar scenes probably took place in a Roman tavern recently unearthed in Lattara, an ancient port city in southern France

Cool Finds

2,100-Year-Old Roman Tavern Unearthed, Empty Cups and All

The proposed ancient bar and grill in southern France could shed light on the spread of Roman culture

March 14, 2016

Cool Finds

These Mountains Are Made of Books

An interdisciplinary artist creates landscapes out of encyclopedias

March 14, 2016

Walt Whitman spent much of the Civil War in hospitals, cheering up wounded soldiers and writing letters on their behalf.

Cool Finds

A Rare Walt Whitman Letter Was Found in the National Archives

The poet wrote the letter on behalf of a dying soldier

March 11, 2016

Cool Finds

Recently Discovered Spider Is Named After Physicist Brian Greene

About the size of the human palm, the “Brian” spider can swim and hunt fish

March 11, 2016

The northern lights glow over Castle Sands in Saint Andrews, Scotland at 10 P.M. Sunday, March 6, 2016. Captured by Aurorasaurus participant Alex Thompson

New Research

With Breathtaking Pictures, Citizen Scientists Help Map Auroras

Social media users help scientists figure out how to accurately forecast geomagnetic events

March 11, 2016

"Meditation and Minou," 1980, by Will Barnet.

Cool Finds

The Worcester Art Museum’s New Exhibit Is All Cats, All the Time

New art exhibit will trace humans’ captivation with cats throughout history

March 11, 2016

Elephants in Kenya's Tana River, Morgan's home territory

Meet Morgan, whose 3-week trek shows anti-poaching efforts could be working

March 11, 2016

A worker sorts plastic in a recycling plant in Bangladesh. A new bacteria could make her job obsolete

New Research

Could Plastic-Gobbling Bacteria Save the Environment?

Japanese scientists discovered a microbe that digests one of the most common plastics

March 11, 2016

Peter Strien was 21 years old when he was wounded at the battle of Fort Steadman.

Cool Finds

These Eerie Civil War Photos Changed How the U.S. Saw Veterans

Reed Bontecou’s groundbreaking photography used a new medium to bring attention to the wounds of war

March 11, 2016

Bristol Old Vic artistic director Tom Morris with the thunder run.

Cool Finds

A New Production of “King Lear” Features 18th-Century Special Effects

The Bristol Old Vic’s thunder run hasn’t been used since 1942

March 11, 2016

Each year, FLAP lays out birds collected by volunteers in a bid to raise awareness about the dangers of bird/building collisions.

It’s all part of a bid to raise awareness of the plight of birds that crash into city buildings

March 10, 2016

An illustration of galaxy superclusters and cosmic voids, similar to the structure of the BOSS Great Wall

Cool Finds

Meet the BOSS, the Largest Structure in the Universe (So Far)

Astronomers recently discovered a wall of galaxies 1 billion light years across, larger than anything else yet identified in the cosmos

March 10, 2016

NASA's InSight lander inside a clean room at Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Originally scheduled for this month, NASA now plans to launch the probe in 2018

March 10, 2016

Scientists studied Hydra vulgaris to determine how the animal opens its mouth

New Research

How Hydra Rip Open New Mouths at Every Meal

Scientists finally figured out how the tiny aquatic creature opens its mouth to eat

March 10, 2016

The palace is surrounded by old-growth forest that seems to contain the oldest trees in Europe.

Found: The Biggest Collection of Ancient Oaks in Europe

The massive, old trees were hiding in plain sight in the woods of a spectacular mansion

March 10, 2016

Student protests upended another on-campus symbol of racism and forced labor

March 10, 2016

Despite the positive intentions behind relocation, conservationists worry that it will hurt the tortoises more than it helps

March 10, 2016

You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love #TheShirt

Cool Finds

Mr. Darcy’s Wet Shirt is Coming to the United States

It’s the costume that launched an entire generation of Jane Austen lovers

March 10, 2016

Crops certainly can be grown in the popular Hollywood stand-in for Mars, the valley Wadi Rum in southern Jordan.

New Research

Move Over Matt Damon: Scientists Grow Ten Crops In Faux Martian Soil

A new experiment shows that with a little help, soil on Mars could readily support agriculture

March 9, 2016

Cool Finds

Today’s Google Doodle Celebrates Electronic Music Pioneer Clara Rockmore

The theremin virtuosa would have been 105 years old today

March 9, 2016