Smart News

New Research

What’s the Real Effect of “16 and Pregnant”?

Don’t make major life choices based on something you saw on TV

January 13, 2014

Cool Finds

What Happens When a Teacher Forgets How to Read?

She searches for another way to enjoy books

January 13, 2014

New Research

A Lesson from History: When Assembling an Army of War Elephants, Don’t Pick Inbred Ones

Even though African elephants usually trump Asian elephants for might and aggression, in 217 B.C. Ptolemy made the crucial mistake of choosing inbred ones

January 13, 2014

New Research

This Stone Age Mural Might Be the Oldest Map Ever

But before it can be crowned oldest map, archaeologists have to figure out whether it is a map at all

January 13, 2014

Cool Finds

These Non-Gear Shaped Gears Work Better Than You’d Expect

These are the manic pixie dream gears you’ve been waiting for

January 13, 2014

Trending Today

The Cold Snap Wasn’t Actually That Extreme, Global Warming Has Just Made Us Wimpy

The recent cold snap wouldn’t have been so unusual in the past

January 10, 2014

Cool Finds

Ultramarathoners Get Better With Age

Unlike sprinters or gymnasts, ultramarathoners are like a fine wine, getting better—or at least more durable—with age

January 10, 2014

New Research

These Slave-Making Ants Use Stealth, Not Force, to Take Prisoners

Chemical camouflage allow these tiny ants to sneak past enemies’ defenses and steal their babies

January 10, 2014

New Research

Washing Old Money Could Save Billions of Dollars

A simple carbon dioxide wash could clean human “sebum” off old money, making those bills good as new

January 10, 2014

New Research

The More Fires Firefighters Are Exposed to, the More Heat Resistant They Become

As firefighters are exposed to more and more fires, their bodies evolve a tolerance for those inhospitable environments

January 10, 2014

Trending Today

International Space Station to Get a Four Year Life Extension

Then, in 2024, it has to crash into the ocean

January 10, 2014

New Research

Emperor Penguins Have Some Tricks to Help Cope with Climate Change

Some penguin colonies live off the ice

January 10, 2014

New Research

This Drug Turns Back Time in Your Brain, Until, Like a Kid, You Can Learn New Skills

By increasing neural plasticity, this drug could open your mind to new abilities

January 10, 2014

Cool Finds

Astronomers Find What May Be a Star Within a Star

The best candidate yet for an elusive Thorne-Żytkow Object

January 10, 2014

Cool Finds

Just in Time for His Birthday, a Photo Gives a Glimpse, Possibly, of Elvis’s Teen Years

Elvis has been gone for nearly 40 years, but a newly published photo shows the King at age 13

January 10, 2014

Cool Finds

Iceland Is Making Beer Out of Dead Whales

Unsurprisingly, whale lovers do not love this idea

January 10, 2014

New Research

Readability Scores on Kids’ Books Are Bogus

Most books come with an indication of how hard they are, and those estimates are mostly wrong

January 10, 2014

Forty Years Ago, Women Had a Hard Time Getting Credit Cards

Despite the law, a report from 2012 found that women still pay more for credit cards

January 8, 2014

Being the Victim of Racism Seems to Accelerate Aging

This study brings further evidence to the scientific belief that “social toxins” such as racism have a very real impact on people’s lives and health

January 8, 2014

Expose Wounds to the Right Kind of Sounds, And They Heal Faster

Treatment with low-intensity ultrasound could help chronic wounds to heal

January 8, 2014