Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

Cool Finds

Grave Robbers Once Held Charlie Chaplin’s Body For Ransom

Months after his death, thieves stole the actor’s body in hopes of a $600,000 payout; it didn’t turn out as they had hoped

March 2, 2015

Cool Finds

Someone Found Chris Hadfield’s Flight Suit in a Thrift Store

The astronaut isn’t sure how his suit made its way to a Toronto second-hand shop

March 2, 2015

New Research

Popular Music Changed the Most in 1964

Scientists use genomic data to show how pop music evolves

March 2, 2015

Cool Finds

Victor Hugo Also Created Dramatic Pen and Ink Drawings

The sketches, many done with pen and ink, are almost modern and surreal

February 27, 2015

Cool Finds

The Great Goldfish Swallowing Craze of 1939 Never Really Ended

A Harvard undergrad’s $10 bet set off a sensation among college students that still echoes on the Internet today

February 27, 2015

Trending Today

Adultery Is Now Legal in South Korea

62 years after the passage of a morality law, spouses can’t be prosecuted for extramarital affairs

February 26, 2015

Cool Finds

This Is How New Words Enter the Vernacular of ASL

Selfie, photobomb and five-second rule all have signs in progress

February 26, 2015

Cool Finds

Found: One Lost Sherlock Holmes Story

It was in the attic, my dear Watson

February 23, 2015

Cool Finds

These Glass Sculptures Were Inspired By the New York City Ballet

The artist wanted to convey that “all of your memories are stuck inside your bone marrow” and make them visible

February 19, 2015

Cool Finds

See the Swoops of Seagulls’ Flight Patterns

Special video effects shows more than an hours worth of seagull flight as curling paths

February 18, 2015

Cool Finds

A Computer Can Tell Real Jackson Pollocks From Fakes

Genuine Pollacks really are distinguishable from random splatters of paint—there’s now software to prove it

February 17, 2015

Cool Finds

The Inventor Who Has Developed a Sweet-Smelling “Fart Pill”

One eccentric French man wants to take the guilt out of gas with a tablet designed to make farts smell like flowers, ginger or chocolate

February 17, 2015

Cool Finds

Men Care More About Having Fancy Kitchens Than Women Do

A survey of prospective homebuyers reverses certain stereotypes about gendered desires

February 13, 2015

New Research

Technology from ‘Interstellar’ Could Be Useful to Scientists, Too

The movie’s visual effects are now being used for scientific research

February 13, 2015

Trending Today

Can Antiquities Looting in Syria Be Stopped?

The Islamic State is selling antiquities to fund their fight, now a secretive group is trying to protect those cultural treasures

February 12, 2015

Cool Finds

Hypnotize Yourself With a Record-Breaking Traditional Dance

This synchronized dance won a group of 5,211 Indian women a Guinness World Record

February 12, 2015

Cool Finds

A Scientist And a Slime Mold Are Set To Play a Duet

The blob-like creatures’ movements inspired a composer to create a way for slime mold to play the piano

February 11, 2015

Cool Finds

Nothing Says ‘I Love You’ Like a Bit of Pocket Change

Victorians seduced their sweeties with “love tokens”

February 11, 2015

Cool Finds

These Bells Play Seismic Shifts

Watch as UC Berkeley’s bells play the earth’s “natural frequencies”

February 10, 2015

Trending Today

Here’s The Most Expensive Painting Ever Sold

A Gauguin painting broke the price record this week, selling for nearly $300 million

February 9, 2015