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Smart News / Smart News Ideas & Innovations

The Flying Scotsman in 2003

The ‘Flying Scotsman’ Made Train History When The Speedometer Hit 100

The first locomotive to hit 100 miles per hour was billed as “The Most Famous Train in the World”

Meandering river in Nyingchi, Tibet, China

Trending Today

Watch 32 Years of Our Changing Planet Unfold With Google Timelapse

A satellite-eye’s-view of growing cities and climate change

J. Frank Duryea, left, and race umpire Arthur W. White, right, in the 1895 Duryea during the Chicago Times-Herald race, the first automobile race in the U.S.

The Forgotten Car That Won America’s First Auto Race

The zippy roadster won America’s first automobile race in 1895 with an average speed of 5 mph

This fetus was visualized using new technology that offers a detailed view of a developing fetus using VR.

New Research

New Technology Shows Fetuses From the Inside Using Virtual Reality

It’s a view that could change prenatal care

These bikes won't just make it easier to get around Marrakech—they could also send a message to world leaders about ways to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

Cool Finds

Africa Just Got Its First Bike Share Program

Now you can get around Marrakech on a fleet of bicycles—no air pollution needed

The Birmingham Central Mosque in the United Kingdom.

New Research

How Astronomy Cameras Are Helping British Muslims Schedule Morning Prayers

The cameras would help track exactly when the sun rises

Cool Finds

New Underpass Helps New Zealand Penguins Cross Busy Road

The blue penguin colony in Oamaru can now cross between their nesting area and the ocean without dodging traffic

A U.S. Air Force pilot performs a pre-flight check. Perhaps one day, connecting electrodes to the scalp could be part of that routine.

New Research

U.S. Military Tests Brain Stimulation to Sharpen Mental Skills

Could electrodes one day replace pill bottles in the theatre of war?

A visitor to the Andy Warhol Museum experiences a Warhol print of a Coca-Cola bottle with the help of an audio app and a tactile 3D reproduction.

Cool Finds

Visually Impaired People Can Now Explore Andy Warhol’s Work With Their Ears and Fingers

“Out Loud” adds depth to an artist obsessed with the surface of things

New Research

Spinach: The Superfood That Could Help Detect Bombs

Now more than Popeye’s favorite food, carbon nanotubes are turning the leafy green into a bomb detector

New Research

Chill Ways to Recycle Last Year’s Snow

Let it snow!

Since diamonds are forever, your data could be, too.

New Research

New Method Could Store Massive Amounts of Data in Diamond Defects

Scientists use lasers to probe the gem’s flaws, creating data storage that could potentially last forever

One of the subjects of a new study on how the human nervous system responds to tactile intensity cracks an egg with ease with the help of an experimental prosthetic device.

New Research

How Hacking Neural Networks Can Help Amputees Flawlessly Crack an Egg

By tapping into the body’s nervous system, researchers could create touch-sensitive prosthetics

Tombac, a form of tobacco, grows on a farm in Darfur. The plant could one day be used to create cheaper, better anti-malarial drugs.

New Research

Scientists Hijacked Tobacco Plants to Make Malaria Drugs

A promising new advance could make the world’s best anti-malarial drug more widely available

Cool Finds

How Many Comedy Writers Does It Take to Help A.I. Tell a Funnier Joke?

Jokesters from Pixar and the Onion are on the case to make artificial intelligence seem more human

"The Kiss" Gustav Klimt,

Cool Finds

Reach Out And Touch This Version of Klimt’s “Kiss”

A 3-D printed version of the classic painting lets blind people appreciate the artwork

Human blood contains red blood cells, T-cells (orange) and platelets (green)

New Research

Scientists Are Creating an Atlas of Human Cells

The Human Cell Atlas will boldly go where science, surprisingly, hasn’t gone before

Cool Finds

How Virtual Reality Is Helping Prosecute Nazi War Criminals

A new, detailed 3D simulation of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camp is helping prosecutors build stronger cases against these still-living Nazis

New Research

Coming Soon: Otter-Inspired Wetsuits

A team at MIT has figured out exactly how otter and beaver fur keeps the animals warm in cold water

Who says you can't buy friendship?

Cool Finds

Toyota Hopes This Adorable Robot Will Make Japan Less Lonely

Meet your $390 best friend

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