Smart News

Ruth Pfau in 2004

Trending Today

Ruth Pfau, "Mother of Leprosy Patients," Has Died

Over five decades, the German-born physician and nun treated thousand of patients and got the leprosy epidemic under control in Pakistan

Almost since ballooning was invented, people were talking about trans-Atlantic crossings, but it took until 1978 for a crossing to be successful.

A Brief History of Trans-Atlantic Balloon Crossings

Fifteenth time’s the charm, evidently

Two ‘Lost’ Alberto Giacometti Drawings Found in Antique Dealer’s Collection

The works were “buried under piles of dust-covered antiques, paintings and drawings”

Alcatraz Island as it looks today.

Alcatraz Wasn't Always 'Uncle Sam's Devil's Island'

Though it was a prison for more than a century, it didn't become the famous maximum-security penitentiary until 1934

This 1962 photo shows author Flannery O'Connor in the driveway at Andalusia in Georgia.

Georgia College Gifted Farm Where Flannery O'Connor Composed Southern Gothic

The author's alma mater will take over and maintain the Savannah-born author's final home

This is no ordinary origami paper, it's made out of organ tissues and could eventually become a high-tech band aid.

New Research

This "Tissue" Paper Is Made From Real Tissue

Made from powdered organs, the flexible paper could be used as a sophisticated bandage during surgery

Nyanzapithecus alesi skull

New Research

Is This Baby Animal the Last Common Ancestor of Humans and Apes?

The 13-million-year-old skull found in Kenya combines early ape and gibbon-like features

Maiopatagium furculiferum fossil found in China

New Research

Exceptional Fossils Show Ancient Winged Mammals May Have Glided Above the Dinosaurs

The discovery of two flying squirrel-like fossils suggest mammal diversity began earlier than previously thought

The engraved bones found in Gough's Cave

New Research

New Analysis Indicates Early Britons Engaged in Ritualistic Cannibalism

A zigzag pattern on an arm bone indicates around 15,000 years ago, humans in Britain may have consumed others as part of a funeral rite

A meteor from the Perseids is seen falling over the Very Large Telescope array in Chile.

Catch the Perseid Meteor Shower's Fiery Show

Though the moon will partially obscure the normally dazzling sight, the shower's peak is still worth a peek

An acrylic painting by Laura Collins recreates a 2006 photo of stars Lindsay Lohan, Britney Spears and Paris Hilton

New Art Exhibit Remembers Trashy Tabloid Culture of 2000s

The Brooklyn show highlights art inspired by the age when celebrity scandals and gossip reigned supreme

Amedeo Modigliani, "Jeanne Hébuterne," 1918

Tate Modern’s Modigliani Exhibition Ventures Into Virtual Reality

The upcoming retrospective couples works by the famed modernist with the museum's first VR experience

Soldier’s Patchwork with Incredible Border, artist unidentified, India, 1855 (pre-1881)

Cool Finds

The Centuries-Old Tradition of Military Quilting Is Getting Its First Exhibition in the U.S.

The display celebrates the art and craft of soldiers at war and offers insight into life in the military

'Vasa' can be visited today at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Bizarre Story of 'Vasa,' the Ship That Keeps On Giving

'Vasa' sunk in front of horrified onlookers on this day in 1628, claiming 30 lives

The Louvre Pyramid was completed in 1989 and is part of the entrance to the modern Louvre art gallery.

Three Things to Know About the Louvre's History

The home of the Mona Lisa has a history that's almost 1000 years long

Salicylic acid, the main ingredient in aspriin, is found in a number of plants, including jasmine, beans, peas and clover as well as willow trees.

Aspirin's Four-Thousand-Year History

It's 2000 B.C. and you have a headache. Grab the willow bark

Americans have started feeding their pets an abundance of high-quality meats, suitable for human consumption. But fido doesn't need filet mignon.

New Research

America's Fancy Pet Food Addiction Is a Big Problem for the Environment

American pets have been increasingly served up prime cuts of meat, but this food comes at a cost

Asteroid 2014 MU69 may be composed of two spheres

Cool Finds

New Horizon's Next Target Is an Oddly Shaped Asteroid

New data shows that MU69 is less than 20 miles long and may actually be two asteroids orbiting one another

An unlit church in Sweden

New Research

Lights Are Driving Bats From Their Belfries

The trend of pointing floodlights at churches in Sweden has driven some long-eared bat colonies out of their historic roosts

Students of the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania.

U.S. Army To Return Remains of Three Native Boys Who Died at Assimilation School

The Carlisle Indian Industrial School was founded by a military officer who wanted to “kill the Indian … [and] save the man in him”

Page 518 of 983