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Smart News / Smart News Ideas & Innovations

Enrique Linares: "Zambra Gitana at the Roma Neighborhood in Granada." Postcard, Spain, 1910. RomArchive: fla_00026.

New Archive Reclaims the Narrative of the Roma

RomArchive includes more than 5,000 objects that highlight the creativity and self-agency of the often-maligned group

The map currently features more than 130 entries divided into five categories

Interactive Map Renders Women’s Cultural Contributions to French Capital Visible

The evolving project highlights landmarks in Paris that were “financed, imagined or made by women”

New Research

Chickens Might Lay Your Future Prescriptions

Tests show cancer-fighting and immune-boosting proteins can be produced in the egg whites of genetically-modified cluckers

The first column shows the image being displayed on the LCD screen that the camera couldn't see. The second image is what was reflected onto the white wall, or the scene the camera captured. The third and fourth were produced without knowing the position of the occluded object. The last row, slightly better, shows the image produced with knowledge of the object's location.

Scientists Used an Ordinary Digital Camera to Peer Around a Corner

A team from Boston University recreated an image of an object using its shadow

In trials, the app correctly identified breathing patterns indicative of impending overdose 90 percent of the time

This App Tracks Breathing to Identify Opioid Overdoses Before They Turn Deadly

Second Chance transforms smartphones into sonar systems, tracking users’ breathing and sending for help if a potential overdose is detected

Joseph Lee received a patent for his automated kneading machine in August 1894.

The National Inventors Hall of Fame Announces Its 2019 Inductees

Joseph Lee, inventor of the automatic bread and breadcrumb makers, was posthumously honored alongside 18 other men and women

Market of Eminou Square and New Mosque Yeni Cami, with store signs in Ottoman Turkish, Armenian, Greek and French, 1884–1900, Sébah & Joaillier.

The Getty Digitizes More Than 6,000 Photos From the Ottoman Era

The images date to the 19th and 20th centuries, the waning days of the once-powerful empire

When TrailGuard spots unknown persons or vehicles entering a nature reserve, it immediately alerts nearby rangers

New AI Camera Helps Conservationists Spot Elephant Poachers

TrailGuard AI uses machine learning to sort through images in real-time and identify relevant threats

Cool Finds

Your Christmas Tree May Be Turned Into Mouthwash One Day

A new sustainable chemical process can turn pine needles into a chemical feedstock for paint, food sweeteners, mouthwash and other products

The portal allows users to narrow down search results by "design-specific" terms, as well as geographic, chronological parameters.

Digital Trove of Typographical Artifacts Set to Launch in 2019

The Letterform Archive’s online database features book jackets, posters, brochures and miscellaneous ephemera dating between 1844 and 2016

Trending Today

New Animal Overpass Is Already Protecting Critters in Washington State

The bridge over Interstate 90 will allow animals to cross the busy roadway and connects wildlife in the North and South Cascades

Google Virtual Tour Preserves Collections Destroyed in Brazil Museum Fire

Back in 2016, the tech giant had begun working to digitize the museum’s collections

Egon Schiele, "Self-Portrait with Lowered Head," 1912

New Digital Archive Provides Critical Record of Egon Schiele’s Body of Work

Online catalogue raisonné features over 400 paintings, graphics, sketchbooks and sculptures, with additional drawings, watercolors set to be added in 2019

3D printed model of Pumapunku

Archaeologist Reconstructs Ruins of Tiwanaku Temple in Bolivia Using 3-D Printing Technology

It was like an ‘elaborate lego set,’ says UC Berkeley’s Alexei Vranich

“Nellie Bly: The Virtual Reality Experience” tracks Bly’s travels from Egypt to Sri Lanka, Hong Kong, San Francisco and beyond

VR Experience Lets You Join Nellie Bly on Her 72-Day Trip Around the World

The Newseum, Vive collaboration catalogues the intrepid reporter’s record-breaking journey

Trending Today

By the End of 2018 More Than Half the World Will Be Online

In the past decade, there’s been a huge spike in internet access though that number is beginning to slow down

Claude-Joseph Vernet, "The Storm," 1759

How a New Hampshire Museum Is Using Art to Reach Families Affected by the Opioid Crisis

The ‘Art of Hope’ initiative encourages participants to draw connections between works of art and their own lives

New Research

No, Wait, This Is the Real Ava, a Bronze Age Woman From the Scottish Highlands

New DNA evidence drastically changes the image of the young woman buried in Caithness 4,250 years ago

The virtual museum features seven rooms focused on themes such as correspondence, music and flirtation.

Virtual Travel

Explore Vermeer’s Surviving Paintings, Together After All This Time, in One Virtual Exhibition

The augmented reality “Meet Vermeer” experience details the Dutch Old Master’s artistic style, life and enduring legacy

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