Smart News

Cheers!

Nobody Is Sure Why they Call It a ‘Martini’

Tastes just as good, though

Tasty Art Installation Lets Visitors Pick Their Own Fruit

At the Stoneview Nature Center in Los Angeles, fruit trees are arranged according to the colors of the rainbow

A family practicing the art of sauntering on a Sunday in 1942 in Greenbelt, Maryland.

On World Sauntering Day, Take a Walk

It's good for you

Oregon Becomes First State to Issue Gender Non-Binary ID Cards

Those who do not identify as male or female will be able to select “X” for non-specified gender when applying for IDs

Traditional Polynesian Vessel to Complete Round-the-World Journey

The Hōkūleʻa’s crew did not use any modern navigational devices, instead relying on the stars, waves, and clouds to guide them

Thomas Lincoln made this cherry day bed around 1810.

Cool Finds

This Father’s Day, Check Out Furniture Made by Abraham Lincoln’s Much-Maligned Dad

Thomas Lincoln was a master craftsman—and a man history has misrepresented

Thank tiny phytoplankton for this brilliant bloom.

Cool Finds

The Strait That Separates Europe and Asia Turned a Brilliant Turquoise

The Bosphorus and Black Sea are even more beautiful thanks to phytoplankton

Jerrie Cobb stands before a Project Mercury space capsule in heels and gloves. What you can't see: inside the capsule, a male mannequin lies in the place where an astronaut eventually would. The FLATs were never seriously considered for astronaut positions.

Meet the Rogue Women Astronauts of the 1960s Who Never Flew

But they passed the same tests the male astronauts did—and, yes, in high heels

Research shows: dads are important, and so is understanding their role in kids' lives.

Three New Things Science Says About Dads

Fathers can have a significant effect on their children

A statue "is the most efficient and courteous way yet discovered of ensuring a lasting oblivion of the deceased," Joyce said in 1907. Hardly the words of someone who wanted to be remembered long after his death.

Happy Bloomsday! Too Bad James Joyce Would Have Hated This

Joyce infamously disliked the idea of being memorialized

Canada

Canada's New Two-Dollar Coins Glow in the Dark

The two-dollar coins celebrate the nation's 150th anniversary and include a scene with Northern Lights that really glow

Soon, this island will become a cultural treasure.

Trending Today

San Francisco Is Creating Its Own Governors Island

Treasure Island will turn into a major cultural destination under new, multi-billion dollar plan

Cool Finds

Rare Two-Headed Porpoise Found in North Sea

Only nine other cases of conjoined cetacean twins have ever been documented

Ainu people wearing traditional clothes at the Ainu Museum, City of Shiraoi, Hokkaido, Japan.

Australia to Return Remains of Japan's Indigenous Ainu People

In the early 20th century, an anthropologist excavated the remains and sent them overseas

Presumably laughing at a LOLcats meme.

Cool Finds

Why the Library of Congress Thinks Your Favorite Meme Is Worth Preserving

Webcomics and Web Cultures Archives are documenting online culture

Nesting space is at a premium as humans tear down natural habitats.

New Research

The Early Birds Might Be Crowding Out the Bees

As humans expand, nesting space contracts—and competition heats up

Cool Finds

Endangered Balkan Lynx Kitten Photographed for the First Time in a Decade

There are less than 50 of these critically endangered cats left in the wild

Although scientific discoveries about blood started happening in the seventeeth century, blood transfusions are (mostly) a twentieth-century thing.

350 Years Ago, A Doctor Performed the First Human Blood Transfusion. A Sheep Was Involved

Early scientists thought that the perceived qualities of an animal—a lamb’s purity, for instance—could be transmitted to humans in blood form

One concern about wind turbines is that they are noisy, but the Department of Energy notes that at a distance of 750 feet, they make about as much noise as a household fridge.

Two Myths and One Truth About Wind Turbines

From the cost of turbines to one U.S. senator's suggestion that "wind is a finite resource"

The American Lobster, 'Homarus americanus,' found on the northern area of the Atlantic coast of America.

Climate Change, and Cod, Are Causing One Heck of a Lobster Boom in Maine

The complex relationships between humans, lobster, and cod are creating boom times--for now

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