Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Ideas & Innovations

None

Neuroscientists Wire Two Rats’ Brains Together And Watch Them Trade Thoughts

One rat, presented with a task, completes it using only the thoughts transmitted from another rat’s brain

In China, most electricity comes from coal power plants. A turn to natural gas could help limit carbon dioxide emissions.

Natural Gas Fracking May Be the Only Industry in China That’s Developing Slowly

It has the largest shale gas reserves in the world, but China is slow to push for fracking

Google Glasses Might Go Hipster With Warby Parker

What if the nerdy Google Glasses were put into an acceptably nerdy frame? Like, say, a pair of Warby Parkers?

Neuroscientists Have Created Mice That Can’t Sense Cold

The end goal is to help develop drugs that more thoroughly knock out the feeling of pain

Landsat 8 sits in a United Launch Alliance Atlas-V rocket last night, ready for its 1:00 pm EST launch.

NASA Has Been Recording Earth’s Surface for 40 Years, and Today Is Its Last Chance to Keep That Going

The beginning of the largest prime number ever discovered.

How Do You Discover a 17 Million Digit Prime Number?

The 48th Mersenne prime was recently discovered on the computer of a man named Dr. Curtis Cooper, and it’s 17 million digits long

An illustration of the potential new treatment.

Medics May Be Able to Save Soldiers by Injecting Foam Into Gut Wounds

Internal bleeding on the battlefield proves deadly for soldiers hit by bullets or shrapnel, but a foam injected into soldiers’ abdomens could save lives

A camera passes down through the borehole.

First Signs of Life Found in Antarctica’s Subglacial Lakes

Preliminary tests from subglacial Lake Willard have shown signs of life

After Eleven Years, the DSM-5 Is Finally Finished

After eleven years, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has updated the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

Digital Mannequins Are Replacing Human Models in Clothing Catalogs

Now, fashion retailers are skipping the flesh and bones, and putting their clothes on digitally rendered mannequins

Experimental ‘Alcoholism Vaccine’ Gives Drinkers an Instant Hangover

Mercury is a liquid in its pure form.

After Millennia of Heavy Use, Mercury Gets the Boot

From an Elixir of Life to the Philosopher’s Stone, mercury’s long legacy is coming close to an end

Geneticist Does Not Seek Woman to Give Birth to Cloned Caveman Baby

Geneticist says he’s extracted enough DNA from Neanderthal fossils to create an embryo, but lacking a uterus himself he needs to find the right lady

The NASA team assembling Curiosity back in 2011.

NASA’s Curiosity Team Gives Us a Geeky Reason To Go to the Inauguration Parade

Although the rover itself could not make the trip from Mars, a full-size model will roll in the parade alongside the real-life crew

How To Send Secret Messages With Skype

And now that you know you can—don’t you want to?

An artist’s conception of what an asteroid-catcher might look like.

NASA Wants to Drag an Asteroid Into Orbit Around the Moon

If going to an asteroid is hard, maybe bringing an asteroid to us is easier?

New Years resolutions from all around the world

A World of New Year’s Resolutions, Mapped by Google

What do people all around the world want to change this year?

Google Gives Millions To Build Poacher-Hunting Drones

Google has joined Hillary Clinton, basketball star Yao Ming and countless wildlife organizations in the battle against illegal wildlife trade

Help a Scientist By Playing This Word Association Game

If you like playing games on the internet, you can help one of those psychologists out by playing a word association game online

In New Zealand, Dogs Are Being Taught How To Drive Cars

Because people didn’t think dogs were awesome enough

Page 97 of 101