Smart News

Plastics can take hundreds of years to naturally degrade in the environment, something this new combination of enzymes can accomplish in a matter of days.

New Research

Engineered 'Super Enzyme' Breaks Down Plastic

The new enzyme could allow for infinite recycling of common PET plastic used in water bottles and clothing

These frames may have been the first pair of iconic round glasses worn by John Lennon.

Fifty Years After the Beatles Broke Up, Trove of Memorabilia Goes on Auction

Sotheby's sale includes records, posters and a high school detention sheet decrying John Lennon's "continuous silly behaviour in class"

A 15-year study of scans taken in 2004 revealed unseen details, including a hairpin.

Art Meets Science

Is There a Hidden Drawing Beneath the 'Mona Lisa'?

Newly detailed high-resolution scans show traces of a charcoal underdrawing

Researchers test out Curly, an AI-powered curling robot, in 2018.

Curly the Curling Robot Can Beat the Pros at Their Own Game

An AI-powered robot was able to beat professional curling teams 3-out-of-4 times, a new study shows

When human men mated with Neanderthal women a hundred thousand years ago, Neanderthals inherited the human Y chromosome.

How Human Y Chromosomes Replaced Those of Neanderthals in a Quiet Genetic Takeover

When the two early human species mated, their genomes changed forever

City officials removed the stone, which commemorates a site where enslavers sold African Americans into slavery, on June 5, 2020.

Fredericksburg's Slave Auction Block Will Be Moved to a Museum

Curators plan on preserving graffiti added by Black Lives Matter protesters

The fact that Mars' south pole holds many underground lakes suggests that they might be the last remnants of the planet's ancient oceans.

New Research

Briny Underground Lakes May Be All That Remain of Martian Ocean

New data confirm the 2018 discovery of a lake under Mars' south pole and point to three smaller water features around it

The results of a new study suggest crows are aware of their own sensory perceptions, a hallmark of what's called primary or sensory consciousness.

New Research

Do Crows Possess a Form of Consciousness?

New study suggests the corvids may join humans and some primates as one of the rare animals capable of having subjective experiences

A page from Pierce's 1932 Book of Wood, designed as an aid for preaching the Bible, features scenes titled Entry into Jerusalem, Zacchaeus Watches, Sun and Sower, Behold I Am the Door, and Christ Teaches Humility.

Wood Carvings Document Faith, Injustice and Hope in 20th-Century America

A new exhibition centered on self-taught black artist Elijah Pierce is now on view in Philadelphia

Dionysus is the Greco-Roman god of wine, ecstasy and theater.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Turkey Unearth 2,400-Year-Old Dionysus Mask

The terracotta likeness was likely used in rituals associated with winemaking

The projected path for 2020 SO, a space object that astronomers predict will become Earth's mini-moon in October, possibly staying until May 2021. The blue object in the center of the circle is Earth.

Earth May Soon Get Another Mini-Moon, but It's Probably Just a Piece of Space Trash

It could be an asteroid—or, as one astronomer suggests, it could be a rocket booster from the 1960s

Many of Philip Guston's later works, including Riding Around (1969), depict distorted, cartoon-like figures performing everyday activities while wearing Ku Klux Klan robes.

Understanding the Controversy Over Postponed Exhibition Featuring KKK Imagery

A major Philip Guston retrospective scheduled to travel to D.C., London, Houston and Boston will now take place in 2024

On Earth, most people are familiar with ultraviolet radiation’s harmful effects on our skin, but in space, astronauts are also subjected to galactic cosmic rays, accelerated solar particles, neutrons and gamma rays.

New Research

Moonwalking Humans Get Blasted With 200 Times the Radiation Experienced on Earth

The new findings will inform how much shielding future astronauts will need to safely explore the moon

Photographer Jak Wonderly’s photo, titled “Caught by Cats,” visualizes the deadly effect cats can wreak on their natural surroundings.

Portrait Displays Hundreds of Animals Killed by House Cats

Jak Wonderly's 'Caught by Cats' aims to increase awareness of domestic cats' deadly effects on wildlife.

Caption via Getty: "The coronavirus sniffer dogs named Kössi (L) and Miina cuddle with trainer Susanna Paavilainen at the Helsinki airport in Vantaa, Finland where they are trained to detect the Covid-19 from the arriving passengers, on September 22, 2020."

Helsinki Airport Employs Dogs to Sniff Out Signs of Covid-19 in Travelers’ Sweat

Four dogs began work at Helsinki Airport on September 22, and six more may join them soon

Elephants Kelly Ann and Mable are eligible to move to the White Oak Conservation Center north of Jacksonville, Florida.

Retired Circus Elephants to Move to 2,500-Acre Wildlife Refuge Next Year

Since 2016, about 30 elephants have lived in a 200-acre enclosure managed by Ringling Bros. circus

The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam will open its depot next year, making 151,000 artworks that would otherwise be in storage accessible to the public.

A Dutch Museum Will Display All 150,000 Objects in Its Collections

The Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen's unique storage facility is slated to open in fall 2021

Artist's interpretation of a toothy Spinosaurus.

Cool Finds

Fossil Teeth Bolster Notion That Spinosaurus Was a ‘River Monster’

A selection of some 1,200 teeth found in ancient riverbeds was dominated by Spinosaurus, suggesting they made their home in the water

Jerzy Kalina's Poisoned Well is on view at the National Museum in Warsaw.

Why a New Sculpture of Pope John Paul II Is So Controversial

Artist Jerzy Kalina says his "strongman" is a call to resist "multiplying forms of red revolution"

Hundreds of pilot whales are stranded on a sand bar on September 21, 2020 off the west coast of Tasmania.

Hundreds of Whales Die in Mass Stranding in Australia

Nearly 500 pilot whales were stranded off the coast of Tasmania last week, in what officials say is the largest mass stranding event in Australian history

Page 288 of 983