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Smart News / Smart News Ideas & Innovations

Researchers at the Allen Institute for Brain Science averaged the structures of 1,625 mouse brains to create a standard model.

New Research

Researchers Created a 3-D Map of 100 Million Cells in the Mouse Brain

Neuroscientists have been using the tool since 2017 to pinpoint where exactly their data are coming from

The Sturminster Newton Mill has stood on the banks of the River Stour in Dorset County since 1016.

Covid-19

One-Thousand-Year-Old Mill Resumes Production to Supply Flour Amid Pandemic

In April alone, the Sturminster Newton Mill ground more than one ton of wheat

Will your pet be the star of the show?

Covid-19

Quarantine Cat Film Fest Will Raise Funds for Independent Theaters Closed by COVID-19

The quarantined felines of the world are coming for your screens

The game's art dealer, a cunning fox named Redd, sells Arnold Böcklin's Island of the Dead under the name Mysterious Painting.

Education During Coronavirus

Can You Spot Animal Crossing’s Art Forgeries?

Gamers are brushing up on their art history knowledge to spot Redd’s counterfeit creations

A tourist visits Mousa Broch, the tallest known Iron Age broch and one of Europe's best-preserved prehistoric buildings

Why Scottish Archaeologists Are Building a Replica of an Iron Age Stone Tower

By building a new broch, the project aims to better understand how and why the original structures were constructed

Evidence suggests “[t]he piles outside the walls weren’t material that’s been dumped to get rid of it,” says archaeologist Allison Emmerson. “They’re outside the walls being collected and sorted to be resold inside the walls.”

Analysis of Pompeii’s Garbage Suggests the Ancient Romans Recycled, Too

The city’s residents sorted waste materials for reuse in future projects, according to new research

Follow the #WrightVirtualVisits hashtag to see tours of historic sites like Fallingwater, a Pennsylvania home originally built as a private weekend residence.

Virtual Travel

Enjoy Free Video Tours of Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings Across America

The 20th-century architect defined a uniquely American style that used nature-inspired motifs and horizontal lines

Folium was used to illustrate illuminated manuscripts—and color the rind of a popular Dutch cheese.

Art Meets Science

Researchers Follow a 15th-Century Recipe to Recreate Medieval Blue Ink

The purplish-blue pigment, derived from a Portuguese fruit, fell out of use by the 19th century

"Occupy White Walls" features hundreds of architectural elements. Users are represented by avatars resembling common reference mannequins.

Education During Coronavirus

This Free Game Lets Users Build Their Own Virtual Art Museums

“Occupy White Walls” allows players to design their own art galleries—and explore others’ out-of-the-box creations

Health care workers at Stanford and the University of Massachusetts who have placed smiling portraits of themselves on the outside of their protective gear

Covid-19

Portrait Project Reveals the Faces Behind Health Care Workers’ Protective Gear

Doctors and nurses are attaching smiling photos of themselves to the outside of their protective gear to maintain connections with patients

This week's feature is a 2012 adaptation of Jesus Christ Superstar starring Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm as Mary Magdalene and Ben Forster as Jesus.

Covid-19

The Show Must Go On(line): Watch Free Broadway Musicals Every Friday

Select Andrew Lloyd Webber productions will stream on YouTube for 48 hours at a time

Artist Shing Yin Khor is recreating famous works of art, including Marina Abramovic's The Artist Is Present, in "Animal Crossing."

Virtual Travel

Meet the Artist Behind Animal Crossing’s Art Museum Island

The art within Shing Yin Khor’s virtual world represents a sassy response to the game’s built-in natural history museum

Patrick Stewart attends the 90th Annual Academy Awards.

Education During Coronavirus

Hear Daily Shakespeare Sonnets Recited by Patrick Stewart

The classically trained actor is reading a sonnet a day on Instagram

Once fish were captured in watercourts, they were likely harvested with nets or speared.

New Research

In Ancient Florida, the Calusa Built an Empire Out of Shells and Fish

New research suggests the civilization used huge enclosures to trap and stockpile live fish to support its complex society

Britain's weather can be fickle, but digitizing past data could help researchers forecast the future.

Education During Coronavirus

Bored at Home? Help Great Britain ‘Rescue’ Its Old Rainfall Records

Precious data points logged on paper are in dire need of a hero. Could it be you?

Education titles are doing particularly well, with sales of children’s nonfiction education, reference and language arts books up 12 percent from the same period last year.

Education During Coronavirus

Children’s Educational Books See Uptick in Sales Amid COVID-19 School Closures

Titles related to “home-life” subjects—like preserving and canning—have also experienced a boost in sales

Vergenoegd Löw Wine Estate's Indian runner ducks, which patrol the vineyard for pests

An Army of Hungry Ducks Keeps This Historic South African Vineyard Pest-Free

The vineyard deploys a daily bird-based battalion to pluck snails and insects off their plants

A stained glass window designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany is one of many artworks available for your perusal.

Virtual Travel

68 Cultural, Historical and Scientific Collections You Can Explore Online

Tour world-class museums, read historic cookbooks, browse interactive maps and more

The Vatican Museums (pictured here), the Anne Frank House and the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City are among the many cultural institutions with online offerings.

Virtual Travel

Ten Museums You Can Virtually Visit

Museums are closing their doors amid the coronavirus crisis, but many offer digital exhibitions visitors can browse from the comfort of home

Florence Nightingale in bed at South Street in 1906, aged 86

Celebrate Florence Nightingale’s 200th Birthday With Exhibit Featuring Her Famed Lamp, Pet Owl

The Florence Nightingale Museum in London seeks to illuminate the “full story” of the pioneering healthcare reformer

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