Smart News: Latest Discoveries & News

The number of users injecting heroin has skyrocketed across the United States in the last few years, CDC report says.

Heroin Use in the United States Increased 150 Percent Between 2007 and 2013

Cheap sources and painkiller addiction are contributing factors

July 13, 2015

Dorothy Arzner (left) poses with Clara Bow in a publicity shot for The Wild Party.

Cool Finds

Why Was One of Hollywood’s First Female Film Directors, Dorothy Arzner, Forgotten?

Arzner directed 20 feature films

July 13, 2015

Some scientists think that humans have aided the spread of ticks that carry Lyme bacteria in a few different ways.

Lyme Disease is Spreading, and It’s People’s Fault

Thanks to climate change and human population growth, cases have been on the rise for decades

July 13, 2015

Companies like Hallmark are experiencing hard times as social media and ecards gain steam

July 13, 2015

Congress has prohibited funds for research advocating gun control since 1996

July 13, 2015

Cool Finds

Conservationists Want You to Stop Building Rock Piles

Cairns have a long history and purpose, one that newer stacks sometimes subvert

July 13, 2015

Art, fossils and natural beauty

July 13, 2015

Cool Finds

Ever Heard of the Bontebok? It’s an African Animal Humans Nearly Destroyed, Then Saved

Part of this conservation success story relies on the bontebok’s inability to jump

July 10, 2015

Crystalized acetaminophen, the drug in Tylenol

Cool Finds

When This Photographer Got Sick, He Started Taking Beautiful Photos of Painkillers and Tears

The extreme closeups were one way for the photographer to understand what he was taking

July 10, 2015

Does she look like she would enjoy being jabbed with a needle? Conservationists have used assassin bugs to test the blood female Iberian lynx, like the mother picture above with her cubs, for pregnancy.

Cool Finds

How Do You Give an Iberian Lynx a Pregnancy Test? Use an Assassin Bug

Researchers used the insects to keep tabs on population growth in the threatened species

July 10, 2015

New Research

Real-life Vampires Exist, but They Are Scared to Admit Their Practices to Doctors

Even vampires need non-judgmental help sometimes

July 10, 2015

Trending Today

Cannabis is Being Used to Build Homes

“Hempcrete” turns weed into building materials

July 10, 2015

Cool Finds

Here’s How to Make a Record Out of a Tortilla

Yes, it’s edible

July 9, 2015

New Research

How Air Pollution Makes Floods Worse

A better understanding of how aerosols interact with weather could lead to better flood forecasts, fewer floods

July 9, 2015

Visitors at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., can take a trip to the seaside inside.

Urban Explorations

Washington D.C. Just Got a 10,000 Square Foot Ball Pit

A giant ball pit exhibit allows National Building Museum visitors to experience an indoor ocean

July 9, 2015

New Research

Playing Tetris Could Stop Traumatic Memories from Becoming Flashbacks

The visually stimulating game seems to lessen the blow of disturbing events when they are recalled

July 9, 2015

Jacques Cousteau himself, in diving gear

The French explorer and conservationist had a very different take on ocean life

July 9, 2015

Researchers found pieces of dinosaur egg shells at a possible nesting site in Kamitaki, Japan.

New Research

Researchers Just Found a Surprising Stash of Dinosaur Eggshells in Japan

The eggs belonged to a slew of different species and represent the first nesting site discovered in Japan

July 9, 2015

Cool Finds

Here’s What the Sun Looks Like Through an X-Ray Telescope

All of the wonder of Earth’s closest star, none of the retinal damage

July 9, 2015

A rash of injuries while taking selfies prompted the new campaign

July 9, 2015