Articles

Before long, artificial intelligence will stop looking to humans for upgrades and start seeking improvements on their own.

What Happens When Artificial Intelligence Turns On Us?

In a new book, James Barrat warns that artificial intelligence will one day outsmart humans, and there is no guarantee that it will be benevolent

Cool Finds

Virgin Galactic Started Selling Tickets to Space Before Getting Permission to Take People There

The private spaceflight company is missing a crucial FAA permit

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Cool Finds

One Italian Director Animated These Old Masterpieces With New Technology

We can't decide if these moving paintings are cool or totally creepy

Clouds of haze rise above China, largely the result of the country's massive manufacturing industry.

Air Pollution in China Is Spreading Across the Pacific to the U.S.

China is sending detectable levels of pollution to the U.S., but a significant fraction of it results from manufacturing products for American customers

Beautiful, beautiful vaporized dirt.

New Research

Vaporized Dirt Might Be the Mysterious Cause of Ball Lightning

An analysis of one ball's contents found silicon, iron and calcium—the main components of dirt

Not the best place to get diarrhea.

New Research

What Does Space Do To Your Microbiome?

Nobody wants E. coli on a trip to Mars

Halal meat is, usually, free of pork.

New Research

Study Finds that Halal Meat in Iran is Contaminated With Pork

Halal meat is supposed to adhere to strict religious rules, but a new study suggests it isn’t quite so spotless

A memory-weakening drug has shown promise in mice. Could Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind someday be a reality?

A New Drug Could Help You Forget Long-Term Traumatic Memories

The drug has allowed mice to replace old anxiety-filled memories with new, harmless ones

Cool Finds

How Much Do You Actually Know About What You're Putting in Your Mouth?

A little background in food science can turn you into a next-level foodie

Alise Ojay claims that a series of routine vocalizations, performed 20 minutes a day over the course of less than a month, can reduce snoring significantly.

The Cure For Snoring Is...Singing?

Choir director Alise Ojay's vocal exercises have been shown to work throat muscles that help silence the snorer within

New Research

Two Pints of Water Can Contain the DNA of Thousands of Fish

Two pints of water from a 1.2 million gallon tank were all that was needed to identify 13,000 fish

Sculpting the eyes that will stare into your soul.

Cool Finds

This Is How Giant Animal Statues Get Made

Who do you go to when you need a giant crocodile statue? This guy

An elephant seal from the Kerguelen islands with a logger device attached to his head, just before his departure back to sea.

Seals Are Scientists' Little Helpers for Collecting Ocean Data

For the past 10 years, hundreds of seals equipped with special headgear have collected crucial data on ocean temperature and salinity for scientists

Cool Finds

The Short History of the Invention of Writing

Writing was invented, but by whom?

Cool Finds

Conservationist Are Resorting to Branding Endangered Tortoises

If the tortoises' shells are marred with numbers and letters, they'll be less appealing to poachers

Cool Finds

Fresh From 1849: The First Animated Gif of the Moon

A series of exposures shows the oldest surviving photo of the Moon

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. After one of King's closest friends, Mahalia Jackson, called out "Tell them about the dream, Martin. Tell them about the dream," King decided to stop what he had prepared and gave his famous "I Have a Dream" speech to a crowd of more than 250,000.

Photos: Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Iconic images of Dr. King from the Smithsonian collection

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Egypt Just Unearthed a Previously Unknown Pharaoh's Tomb

Ancient Egypt's King Senebkay just arose after a 3,650 year slumber

New Research

School Really Should Start Later

Pushing start times back just 25 minutes can increase how much sleep teens get and how productive they are

Hiroshi Nagashima and Hiromitsu Nakauchi aim to genetically engineer pigs that grow human organs.

Will Japanese Researchers Grow Human Organs Inside Pigs?

A controversial technique to develop body parts from stem cells may someday save countless lives, but will society allow it?

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