Smart News

Benjamin Franklin's portrait on the 2009 design of the hundred dollar bill.

Benjamin Franklin Was a Middle-Aged Widow Named Silence Dogood (And a Few Other Women)

The founding father wrote letters in the voice of female pseudonyms throughout his life

The White Spy and Black Spy have inspired video games, action figures, and an animated TV series.

This Cuban Cartoonist Drew the Cold War for MAD Magazine

The Black Spy and the White Spy have been chasing each other around in <i>MAD</i> Magazine for 56 years

It can get much, much colder than this.

New Research

Scientists Make the Coldest Object on Earth

Researchers cooled a tiny aluminum drum almost to absolute zero and think they can go even further

The Saalfelden hermitage

Austria

Austrian Town Seeks Professional Hermit

The beautiful locale makes up for the spartan lifestyle expected of successful applicants

A special fish tank designed for experiments aboard the International Space Station.

New Research

Fish Don’t Do So Well in Space

The International Space Station’s resident fish shed light on life in microgravity

Trending Today

SpaceX Gets Back in Orbit: Watch Its Latest Rocket's Remarkable Landing

After successfully deploying ten satellites into orbit, the rocket's first stage adeptly landed on a floating platform

Awwwww.

Trending Today

Japan Tries (and Fails) to Launch a Tiny Rocket

Sending teensy satellites into space isn’t just an experiment in cute—it's an effort to reduce the cost of sending tech into space

This pendant is thought to have been owned by Karoline Cohn, who was born in the same city in the same year as Anne Frank.

Trending Today

Necklace Similar to One Owned by Anne Frank Found at Nazi Death Camp

Researchers say the remarkable find likely belonged to another victim who may have known Frank and her family

The Javan myna is critically endangered in its natural Indonesian habitat, but exploding populations in Singapore have made it a nuisance there.

New Research

How Escaped Exotic Pet Birds Could Help Save Threatened Species

Though usually seen as a threat to local populations, these escapees could also help in the recovery of creatures in trouble

An early B-52.

In 1957, The U.S. Flew a Jet Around the World to Prove it Could Drop a Nuclear Bomb Anywhere

The B-52 bomber that made the flight was part of a new bomber class that was still proving its worth

Some states still celebrate the birthdays of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general, and Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the same day.

Some States Celebrate MLK Day and Robert E. Lee’s Birthday on the Same Day

Martin Luther King, Jr. has been celebrated on the third Monday in January since the federal holiday was first observed in 1986

Skeleton of the Trojan woman

New Research

Remains From 800-Year-Old "Trojan Woman" Record Early Maternal Infection

Bacterial nodes on the skeleton and DNA from her fetus show the woman likely died from an infection of her placenta

When it comes to representation, this coin is more than worth its weight in 24-karat gold.

Cool Finds

New $100 Coin Features First-Ever African-American Lady Liberty

She'll put a new face on a familiar allegory

A ruby seadragon, Phyllopteryx dewysea that washed up on the Point Culver cliffs in Western Australia.

Cool Finds

Watch the First Footage of the Rare Ruby Seadragon Alive in the Wild

The sneaky critter has never been seen in its natural habitat before

Scarce resources could push killer whales into menopause.

New Research

Orca Moms Might Go Into Menopause Because of Their Daughters

Competition could explain this evolutionary mystery

Cool Finds

Austin Is Looking for Its First Artist-in-Residence

Winning artists will be embeded in city agencies to help bring in new eyes to reconsider old problems

Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden with Guest Librarian Daliyah Marie Arana

Trending Today

A Four-Year-Old Bibliophile Is the Library of Congress' Latest Guest Librarian

Daliyah Maria Arana has read more than 1,000 books

Civil Rights-era freedom riders are just one of the groups whose history is honored in three new national monuments.

Trending Today

New National Monuments Highlight Reconstruction and Civil Rights History

President Obama designated three Southern sites critical to sharing that story

The Heinkel He-280, the world's first jet fighter, was developed in Nazi Germany during World War II.

Since First Successfully Used More Than 75 Years Ago, Ejection Seats Have Saved Thousands

The faster an airplane is moving, the harder it is to get out of: that's why ejection seats are so important

Album cover for the Live At Folsom Prison album.

This 1951 Prison B-Movie Inspired “Folsom Prison Blues”

Johnny Cash's live prison concert made him the voice for rehabilitation over punishment

Page 584 of 989