Smart News: Latest Discoveries & News

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

Crews abandon their ships during the Great Whaling Disaster of 1871.

Cool Finds

Remnants of a Whaling Disaster Have Been Discovered off the Coast of Alaska

A catastrophe wiped out an entire whaling fleet 144 years ago, now researchers have found some of the wrecks’ remains

January 8, 2016

A Brandeis University researcher studied paintings by Edgar Degas and other bummed-out artists to see if grief affected their sale price.

New Research

Grief May Not Make Artists Better

New research shows that bummed-out artists aren’t necessarily better ones

January 8, 2016

A selection of nominees for the 2014 Angouleme Grand Prix lifetime achievement award.

The Angoulême International Comics Festival drops its shortlist for its top award after more than half its nominees withdrew their names in protest

January 7, 2016

Wheels, pyramids and plates—dietary recommendations have come a long way in the last century

January 7, 2016

"Take care of your book — it is the true companion in campaigns and in peaceful work," urges one poster found in the New York Public Library's Russian Civil War poster collection.

Cool Finds

The New York Public Library Just Made More Than 180,000 Items Available Online

Instant gratification for curious minds

January 7, 2016

A First Folio kept at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, U.K.

Cool Finds

Shakespeare’s First Folio Goes on Tour in the U.S.

Rare copies of the tome, containing 36 of the Bard’s plays, will visit every state for the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death

January 7, 2016

Keeper Jessica Jones with Lamas and Alpacas during the annual animal stocktake at ZSL London Zoo, UK.

Ensuring every animal is present and accounted for

January 7, 2016

This monitor lizard is definitely not thinking of eating poisonous toads.

New Research

Scientists Trained Monitor Lizards Not to Chow Down on Poisonous Toads

And they did it by feeding them smaller and less-poisonous toads

January 7, 2016

A women harvests millet in Arunachal Pradesh, India

New Research

This Ancient Grain May Have Helped Humans Become Farmers

Millet’s short growing season and low water needs might also benefit a modern world stressed by climate change

January 7, 2016

The science doesn’t back up the claims that playing memory and attention games can prevent mental decline

January 6, 2016

The first hydrogen bomb was detonated by the United States in a test over the Marshall Islands in 1952.

Why North Korea’s alleged nuclear test is drawing skepticism and fear alike

January 6, 2016

A gold-painted statue of Chairman Mao has been erected in a remote part of central China.

Cool Finds

Chinese Capitalists Built a Gigantic, Golden Statue of Chairman Mao

Like the Chairman’s legacy, this 121-foot statue is hard to ignore

January 6, 2016

The Washington Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that carrying a paring knife is not a protected right under the Second Amendment.

The Washington Supreme Court does consider things like police batons, billy clubs, dirks and switchblades as “arms”

January 6, 2016

A mosquito feeding on a small Northern Bog Orchid (Platanthera obtusata)

New Research

New Street Lamps Lure Mosquitoes With Fake Human Scents

Lighting the way in the fight against mosquitos

January 6, 2016

A nautical-themed hairstyle from the mind of Danny Lewis.

Cool Finds

Create Your Own Delightful, Excessive Version of 18th-Century Women’s Hairstyles

A museum’s interactive tool gives the powdered styles of the French Court of the 1700s some fierce competition

January 6, 2016