Smart News

Cool Finds

This Fake Gulag Will Let You Pretend the Soviets Are Still in Power

Barking dogs, harsh guards and brutal imprisonment in a bunker where the USSR never fell

February 5, 2015

New Research

North America’s Trees Create Some of the World’s Hottest Forest Fires

What makes certain forest fires especially destructive?

February 5, 2015

New Research

A Green Sea Slug Steals Power From Algae

The discovery makes this a true plant-animal hybrid

February 4, 2015

Cool Finds

Thomas Jefferson Conducted Early Smallpox Vaccine Trials

When an English doctor discovered a safer kind of immunity, someone had to spread the word to America

February 4, 2015

Cool Finds

Wisconsin is Too Warm for a 66-Foot Ice Tower to Survive

Weather conditions likely played a big factor in the crashing demise of a giant ice sculpture intended to last through the winter

February 4, 2015

New Research

1 in 3 Would Rather Die Early Than Take a Daily Pill

New research shows a third of people would trade years of their life to avoid taking daily meds

February 4, 2015

Trending Today

Why One Nonprofit Wants You to Sell Them Your Poop

A qualified candidate could make thousands of dollars a year selling their waste to an organization preparing fecal transplants for the ill

February 4, 2015

New Research

Cockroaches Have Personalities, Too

Feel guilty the next time you crush a cockroach

February 4, 2015

New Research

The Great Barrier Reef Is Doing So Badly, Scientist Are Testing Genetic Modification to Help It Survive

As the health of the Great Barrier Reef declines, scientists are hoping “assisted evolution” might keep its coral alive

February 4, 2015

New Research

Scientists Identify a “DNA Clock” That May Help Predict Mortality

New studies on changes to DNA that occur over a lifetime offer insight into an individual’s likelihood of early death

February 3, 2015

New Research

The Taj Mahal Gardens Have a Special Relationship to the Solstice

On the day the sun climbs the highest in the sky, careful alignments within the gardens and buildings of the beautiful mausoleum appear

February 3, 2015

Trending Today

Harper Lee is Releasing A Sequel to “To Kill A Mockingbird” in July

The novel was written before her prize-winning book and tells the story of Scout as an adult, returned to her hometown from New York

February 3, 2015

New Research

These Birds Take Turns So No One Gets Too Tired Flying in Formation

“Reciprocal altruism” in a migrating flock of birds means that the more exhausting lead position is deliberately and equally shared

February 3, 2015

New Research

Scientists Discover “Reset” Button for Circadian Rhythm

Could a simple reboot turn exhaustion into a thing of the past?

February 3, 2015

Cool Finds

This Music Is Made of Embroidery

Here’s what happens when you feed historical cross-stitch through a music box

February 3, 2015

New Research

Two of the Vatican’s “Ancient” Egyptian Mummies Are 19th Century Fakes

Specimens once thought to be the remains of children or animals are likely a product of the 1800’s “mummy mania”

February 3, 2015

Cool Finds

Visit 1940s Chicago With a Film Discovered at a Garage Sale

The film, produced in around 1945, offers a thorough, fact-filled tour of the city

February 2, 2015

Trending Today

There Aren’t Enough Patients for Ebola Drug’s First Clinical Trial

The developer called a halt after fewer than 10 people had been treated in the trial’s first month

February 2, 2015

New Research

New Research May Solve a Mystery Behind Shakespeare’s Sonnets

The first printing of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets was dedicated to a “Mr. WH”—has a scholar finally identified him?

February 2, 2015

New Research

These Dolphins Mourn Their Dead

A new study looks into a sad ritual at sea

February 2, 2015