Smart News: Latest Discoveries & News

A handprint from an eight-year-old boy after he came in from playing outside

Cool Finds

Here’s What Happens When You Culture the Bacteria on an Eight-Year-Old’s Hand

Lots of cooties grow

June 9, 2015

Boxed slices of wedding cakes from British royals are not-so-edible pieces of history

June 9, 2015

Two species of mites make their home in the hair follicles on your face.

Cool Finds

Meet the Mites That Live on Your Face

These microscopic organisms live and die on your face

June 9, 2015

Starting New York Giants catcher John Tortes "Chief" Meyers in an unspecified game against the female team in 1913.

Cool Finds

Amateur Women’s Baseball Teams Existed as Early as 1866

They typically challenged local a men’s teams to play

June 9, 2015

Cool Finds

This is What it Looks Like When a GoPro Falls From Space

SpaceX put a camera in a payload fairing for its Falcon 9 rocket

June 8, 2015

Bermuda

There’s Only One Way to Make a Dark ‘n’ Stormy Without Breaking the Law

The cocktail has a surprising, and litigious history

June 8, 2015

The Cavendish banana is succumbing to a disease that wiped out its predecessor

June 5, 2015

Cool Finds

Visit the Pacific’s Deepest Hydrothermal Vents With Underwater Robots

Researchers spotted the vents nearly 12,500 feet beneath the surface during an expedition mapping the floor of the Pescadero Basin

June 5, 2015

French supermarkets are now required to donate food that might normally be thrown away around its sell-by date.

French Government Plans to Fine Grocery Stores That Throw Away Food

New regulations require that markets donate extra food or face fines

June 5, 2015

Parched regions of India depend on women who take on the time-consuming, inconvenient task of obtaining and carrying water

June 5, 2015

An eight-week old human fetus attached to its placenta

New Research

There’s no Sound Evidence That Placenta Eating is a Good Idea

The scientific literature is skimpy and the organ’s biology indicates there might be reasons to abstain

June 5, 2015

“Fake Willy” nearly drowned on its mission to drive sea lions out of Astoria, Oregon

June 5, 2015

The sun sets on Mars. From June 7 to 21, Mars will be obscured from Earth by the sun, causing a communications blackout.

A conjunction with the sun will cause a two-week pause in commands to NASA Mars missions

June 5, 2015

The little blue pill is nothing like flibanserin, the sexual dysfunction drug for women recently approved by an FDA advisory committee.

As the FDA weighs the merits of a new drug to boost female libido, it’s clear this is not a little blue pill for women

June 5, 2015

Fossils of an ancient mini beaver suggest it may be related to the modern American beaver (Castor canadensis)

Cool Finds

Mini Beavers Once Roamed Oregon

Fossils of a squirrel-sized from in eastern Oregon may be related to modern beavers

June 5, 2015

Cool Finds

There is an Ikea Museum at the Company’s Headquarters in Sweden

The main focus is Ikea’s designs throughout the decades

June 5, 2015

The attack on a female tourist should serve as a reminder that lions are not only wild animals, they're perceptive predators.

Yes, Lions Will Hunt Humans if Given the Chance

The tragic attack at a South AFrican park serves as a reminder that lions are predators and humans are prey

June 5, 2015

An African American soldier is shown cooking at the camp kitchen of 2nd New York Regiment during the Civil War

Cool Finds

The Civil War’s Division of North and South is Reflected in Cookbooks

Naval blockades kept the South starving for salt and other foods, a fact reflected in the recipes of the time

June 4, 2015

New Research

Chimpanzees Can Learn to Cook

Given a microwave-like tool, chimpanzees become chefs

June 4, 2015

Cool Finds

In 1938, the NY Times Wrote About a Weird New Food: The Cheeseburger

Apparently, cheese on meat needed some explanation

June 4, 2015