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Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

3-D forensic facial reconstruction of a shíshálh Chief who lived nearly 4,000 years ago.

High-Status Indigenous Family Brought Back to Life With Digital Reconstruction

Some 3,700 years ago, the relatives were given elaborate burials along the coast of British Columbia

Utahns will once again be allowed to see this view when they order a drink.

Trending Today

Utah Just Did Away With Liquor-Hiding “Curtains”

As liquor laws loosen, the “Zion Curtain” may become a thing of the past

France’s Simone Veil Will Become the Fifth Woman Buried in the Panthéon

It is an exceptional honor reserved for esteemed French citizens

This 1540 painting by Titian has had 11 owners.

Cool Finds

New Website Tracks Paintings Provenance from Brush to Gallery Wall

Mapping Paintings makes it easier to figure out an artwork’s chain of ownership

Chicago Library Seeks Help Transcribing Magical Manuscripts

Three texts dealing with charms, spirits, and all other manners of magical practice are now accessible online

All of these images were created by the neural networks

New Research

AI Project Produces New Styles of Art

Researchers let two neural networks critique each other to create the images

Art Meets Science

Is Jupiter the “Star” in Lord Byron’s Famous Poem?

According to astronomer Donald Olson, the brilliant star described in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage is actually a planet

Sony Will Start Pressing Vinyl Records After a 28-Year Hiatus

The company stopped producing vinyl records in 1989

Cheers To This Spanish Town’s Annual Wine Battle

The boozy event has its roots in a 13th century land dispute

Once Upon a Place brings phone booths back to Times Square to tell immigrant stories.

Cool Finds

Phone Booths Are Back in Times Square—And This Time, They’re Telling Immigrant Stories

Once Upon a Place features the oral histories of 70 immigrants

The Bourse de Commerce building will soon transition to a modern art museum.

Former Paris Stock Exchange To Be Transformed into Art Museum

The renovation will be so remarkable, according to the lead architect, it will cure Brexit-induced malaise

Thank the boy wizard for an uptick in owl demand.

New Research

Harry Potter Sparks Illegal Owl Trade in Indonesia

Hedwig made quite the impression—but her popularity is hurting real-life birds

In traditional British cuisine, chicken would be far more likely to be boiled than fried.

The First Printed Fried Chicken Recipe in America

A white Virginian woman named Mary Randolph was the first to publish it, but fried chicken’s Southern history is deeper than ‘The Virginia Housewife’

Michael Bond, Creator of Paddington Bear, Dies at 91

The author’s stories about a plucky, marmalade-loving bear sold more than 35 million copies worldwide

Americans went nuts for Queen Victoria less than 60 years after the American Revolution drew to a close.

Americans Caught ‘Victoria Fever’ For The British Queen’s 1838 Coronation

Such delicacies as ‘Victoria soap’ could be bought in America as a souvenir of the occasion

The new monument designed by Anthony Goicolea will honor the LGBT community and victims of the Orlando massacre.

NYC Unveils Design for New Monument to the LGBT Community

The monument will be built in the Hudson River Park, a historic LGBT site

A Broadway production of "1984" is so graphic, it has audience members fainting and vomiting.

A Broadway Production of ‘1984’ Is Making Audiences Faint and Vomit

Blood spatter, electrocution and strobe lights are all part of the experience

Artists like Van Gogh took full advantage of the new blue pigments invented in the 18th and 19th centuries, which some art scholars say revolutionized painting.

Creating a Full Palette of Blues

How the discovery of a new metal helped to change painting forever

Lock Dating to Revolutionary War Period Found at Michigan Fort

The 250-year-old lock was unearthed in a fur trader’s house at Michilimackinac Fort

President John F. Kennedy sits in the Oval Office with West Berlin's Mayor Willy Brandt in 1961. The Berlin Wall would be erected only a few months later.

Where the Myth of JFK’s ‘Jelly Donut’ Mistake Came From

The misinterpretation didn’t arise until years after his death

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