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Smart News / Smart News Ideas & Innovations

Riley, future bug-cop.

Trending Today

Meet Riley, the Puppy Training to Sniff Out Bugs in Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts

The Weimaraner will inspect incoming artwork for beetles, moths and other critters that can damage museum collections

New Research

This Is the Largest Known Prime Number Yet

The newly discovered prime is 23 million digits long

Drummers in Benin

New Research

Big Data Traces the World’s Most Distinctive Musical Traditions

An analysis of 8,200 recordings from 137 nations shows nations in sub-Saharan Africa have the most unique rhythms and melodies

Madame Pompadour, by Francois Boucher

Madame de Pompadour Was Far More Than a ‘Mistress’

Even though she was a keen politicker and influential patron, she’s been historically overlooked

A 2013 Romanian stamp features Cochran and her dishwasher.

This Time-Saving Patent Paved the Way for the Modern Dishwasher

Josephine Cochran just wanted to stop having broken dishes

Women dynamite workers at one of Alfred Nobel's factories in the 1880s.

The True Story of Mrs. Alford’s Nitroglycerin Factory

Mary Alford remains the only woman known to own a dynamite and nitroglycerin factory

Before the 1840s, women had no choice but to deliver children without anesthetic.

It Didn’t Take Very Long For Anesthesia to Change Childbirth

The unprecedented idea of a painless delivery changed women’s lives

How 21st-Century Technology Is Shedding Light on a 2nd-Century Egyptian Painting

Researchers at UCLA and the National Gallery of Art have pioneered a technology that goes behind the scenes of a centuries-old artistic process

Turing standing next to the Mark I

Cool Finds

Listen to Alan Turing’s First Computer-Generated Christmas Carols

In 1951, the BBC played two carols from Turing’s computer, which have now been recreated by New Zealand researchers

Stay cozy!

Marshmallow-Topped Hot Chocolate Will Keep You Warm This Long Solstice Night

Marshmallows and hot chocolate each have a long history, but their union only dates back about a century

An image from the Slater Mill Historic Site in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

How Industrial Espionage Started America’s Cotton Revolution

To the British, Samuel Slater was ‘Slater the traitor,’ but to the Americans, he was the father of the American industrial revolution

Pearls have been a symbol of extreme wealth for thousands of years.

Here’s Why Pearls No Longer Cost a Fortune

Coming up with ways to lower the price of pearls—either through culturing or by out-right fakery—took centuries

You Don’t Have to Have Synesthesia to “Hear” This Silent Gif

How we perceive the world is the result of the complex intertwining of illusion, synesthesia, and suggestion

For the 1960s, Coach's sporty, practical styling was unique.

A Paper Bag Was the Inspiration for the First Coach Purse

Lillian Cahn reached back to her childhood experiences to design the ‘leather shopping bag’ that was the company’s first purse

This is not what the world's first industrial robot looked like.

How Robots Left the Lab and Started Helping Humans

Computers were the size of refrigerators—or larger—but robots were on their way

In this Dec. 21, 2012 file photo, people gather in front of the Kukulkan temple in Chichen Itza, Mexico. Mexican experts said Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2016 they have discovered what may be the original structure at the pyramid of Kukulkan at the Mayan ruins of Chichen Itza.

Ancient Maya Heritage Comes Alive…With Some Help From Google and the British Museum

Victorian explorer Alfred Maudslay’s images are now available online for all to see

Winter recreationists circa 1975.

The Snowmobile Changed How Americans Did Winter

As the cold comes in, snowbound communities are tuning up their vehicles and recreationists are making speedy winter plans

A family of four buying gas at a service station.

A Short Picture History of Gas Stations

Gas stations have evolved a lot from their humble roots

Spandex, under the brand name Lycra, quickly took off after it was introduced in 1962. This ad was published in Good Housekeeping in October of that year.

Thank(?) Joseph Shivers For Spandex

From Spanx to space suits, spandex has shaped modern garments

Janelle Shane's neural network needs a lot of first lines before it can teach itself to write good ones.

This Neural Network Can (Maybe) Start a Novel Better Than You

As the end of NaNoWriMo draws near, take a look at one researcher’s effort to help find that perfect first line

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