Smart News / Smart News Arts & Culture

Cool Finds

The Tooth Fairy Is a Very Recent, Very American Creation

The tooth fairy first appeared around the turn of the 20th century

February 13, 2014

Chocolate Milk Was Invented in Jamaica

As with many things, the European who gets credit for inventing chocolate milk probably did not actually invent it

February 12, 2014

Cool Finds

Send Your Valentine a Secret Message in the Language of Flowers, Updated for Modern Lovers

Certain flowers had well-understood meanings back in Victorian times, and now a London startup is trying to revive floriography for current times

February 11, 2014

Trending Today

After Retiring From Film in 1950, Shirley Temple Was the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana And Czechoslovakia

What did Shirley Temple get up to in the 63 years after her retirement from Hollywood?

February 11, 2014

Trending Today

Come On, Is Starbucks Really That “Dumb”?

People love to hate on Starbucks. But are those sentiments misplaced?

February 10, 2014

Cool Finds

Hollywood Overvalues Older Male Actors And Undervalues Older Women

A female movie star’s salary peaks at age 34, and then drops off the cliff. Men hit their peak earnings at 51, and keep on making money

February 7, 2014

Cool Finds

The Line Between Weirdness And Normalacy Depends Entirely on Your Point of View

In 1956, an anthropologist described Americans as a people with a “pervasive aversion to the natural body”

February 6, 2014

Cool Finds

A Tiny Scrap of Paper Offers a Glimpse Into Jane Austen’s Inspiration

The small scrap of paper transcribes part of a sermon, the theme of which Austen later explored in “Mansfield Park”

February 5, 2014

Cool Finds

Making Paint Out of Goat’s Milk Is an Ancient Idea

And, actually, it works pretty well

January 31, 2014

Cool Finds

When Your Coffee Maker Is Also a Spectrometer

London-based designer Alex Duffner creates dual-purpose lab/kitchen gadgets

January 30, 2014

Cool Finds

A Factory in China Is Slaughtering Endangered Whale Sharks

A Chinese non-profit wildlife organization exposed what they believe to be the largest whale shark-processing factory in the world

January 30, 2014

Cool Finds

Amsterdam Is Feasting on Pigeon Paté

Street birds, not farm-raised squab, are rumored to be the meat of this tasty spread

January 28, 2014

Cool Finds

One Italian Director Animated These Old Masterpieces With New Technology

We can’t decide if these moving paintings are cool or totally creepy

January 21, 2014

Cool Finds

Icelanders Protest a Road That Would Disturb Fairies

Nepal has the Yeti. The South has Bigfoot. Iceland has fairies

January 15, 2014

New Research

Don’t Give Your Kids and Pets Similar Sounding Names, Or You’ll Confuse Them

Your parents don’t actually think you and your sibling are interchangeable

January 15, 2014

Cool Finds

Find Bigfoot, Win $10 Million

Spike TV points out that this is the “LARGEST CASH PRIZE IN TELEVISION HISTORY” [sic]

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

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

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