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Smart News / Smart News Ideas & Innovations

New Research

Too Many Classroom Decorations Can Distract Young Students

Elementary students perform better when walls are left relatively bare

A house in Detroit is demolished in 1992

40,000 of Detroit’s Buildings Could Be Torn Down

Detroit’s Blight Removal Task Force is urging the city to tear down thousands of vacant buildings

New Research

Listen to Your Coffee Beans—It’ll Perfect Your Roasting Skills

Coffee beans make different noises depending on how toasted they are

Cool Finds

Can Free Crack Pipe Kits—Like Free Heroin Needles—Reduce Disease Transmission?

A group in San Francisco plans to hand out free crack pipes, but the city is not convinced it’ll help reduce the spread of HIV and Hep C

Cool Finds

In 2015, an Ad for a Sports Drink Will Land on the Moon

One giant leap for advertising

Cool Finds

This Facebook Page Allows Iranian Women to Share Selfies Sans Hijab

The anonymous photos are meant to inspire change

Cool Finds

This Farmer Grew Four Times As Much Rice in the Same Amount of Land

His controversial farming method has long been dismissed by experts

Trending Today

This City in California Voted in Favor of Making Bullying a Crime

Bullying can seriously harm kids, for years. But should it really be punished by law?

Cool Finds

These Are All the Places in the United States Where Nobody Lives

There are still plenty of empty census blocks out West

A protester at the Bring Back Our Girls rally in New York City, which took place last week.

Trending Today

The U.S. Is Going to Help Try to Find the Still-Missing Nigerian School Girls

President Obama pledges immediate, on-the-ground support

Cool Finds

Maple Syrup Farmers Can Now Vacuum Sap Out of Trees

A new technology helps sugarmakers get every last drop

Cool Finds

Mosquitoes Kill More Humans Than Human Murderers Do

From a human perspective, this makes them the deadliest animal in the world by far

New Research

In a More Rational World, 4.1 Percent of People Sentenced to Death Would Be Exonerated

People whose sentences are downgraded to life in prison are less likely to be exonerated than those on death row

Cool Finds

How Fast Can You Print Out a Building?

A company in China says it can print out 10 buildings a day

Cool Finds

Engineers Are Constructing a Giant Steel Lid to Contain Chernobyl’s Radioactive Core

The arch-shaped lid will protect against radioactive dust should Chernobyl’s decaying facilities collapse

A bowl of shark fin soup, which is sometimes made with meat from protected species of sharks

Cool Finds

People Caught Eating Rare Animals in China Might Soon Face Jail Time

Eating endangered species was never kosher, but now legitimate punishments can finally be dished out for this crime

Cool Finds

These Look Like Ordinary Bikes, But If You Steal One, You Will Definitely Get Caught

From San Francisco to Wisconsin, bait bike are two-wheeled victims in disguise

Elevator shaft

Trending Today

China’s About to Have the World’s Fastest Elevator

The elevator will ascend 95 floors in 43 seconds

Trending Today

Sound Experts Want to Record One Full Day of Human Noise From All Over the Earth

The project could help scientists better understand the human soundscape and quantify how it changes over time

Schools Ban Chocolate Milk; Kids Just Stop Drinking Milk Altogether

Kids wind up consuming less protein and wasting more milk when skim is all that’s on the shelves

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