Smart News

A jackal in Yarkon Park, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Scientists Propose a New Name for Nature in the Time of COVID-19: The 'Anthropause'

Human travel came to a halt during COVID-19, and scientists argue that this worldwide 'pause' presents a rare opportunity to study our impact on animals

Lightning flashes over Sao Paulo, Brazil in 2014. On October 31, 2018, the longest lightning bolt ever recorded struck in Brazil, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Record-Breaking Lightning Bolts Spark Excitement

Officials confirmed two 'megaflash' lightning bolts in Brazil and Argentina that struck down previous world records

Between 70 and 80 percent of the individuals interred at the site were children.

Archaeologists Unearth 16th-Century Children's Cemetery in Poland

Some of the deceased were buried with coins in their mouths as payment for Charon, ferryman of the underworld

Researchers used these five replica clay pipes to "smoke" tobacco and other native plants.

Early Residents of the Pacific Northwest Smoked Smooth Sumac

Researchers used a new technique to detect the chemical fingerprints of specific plant species in a 1,400-year-old pipe's residue

This 1846 daguerreotype is likely the oldest surviving photograph of a Māori person.

Newly Discovered Portrait May Be Oldest Known Image of Māori Person

The photo depicts Hemi Pomara, who was kidnapped and "exhibited" by British colonialists in London during the 1840s

Watch Colorful Sunsets on Distant Planets in This NASA Simulation

New models from a NASA scientist show what the sun’s setting might look like on Venus, Uranus and Mars

Facial reconstruction of a Scandinavian hunter-gatherer who was buried with a wooden stake at the base of his skull

Art Meets Science

See the Face of a Man Whose Skull Was Mounted on a Stake 8,000 Years Ago

A forensic artist used 3-D scans of the hunter-gatherer's cranium to envision what he may have looked like in life

A newly discovered species of velvet spider with bold red and white coloration was named after actor Joaquin Phoenix who portrayed the comic book villain the Joker in the 2019 film of the same name. Researchers thought the spider's pattern resembled the Jokers face paint.

'Joker' Spider Named After Joaquin Phoenix

Loureedia phoenixi’s bold red and white abdomen inspired the researchers’ homage

The circular ovens may have been used to bake bricks or pottery.

Roman-Era Structures Found Near Sphinx-Lined Egyptian Avenue

Excavations at Kebbash Road revealed circular ovens, a mud-brick wall and a sandstone wall

More than 500 people guillotined during the French Revolution may have been buried in the walls of this 19th-century chapel.

Remains Discovered in Parisian Chapel May Belong to Guillotined Aristocrats

New research suggests the bodies of nearly 500 nobles beheaded during the Reign of Terror are buried in Chapelle Expiatoire

A painting that imagines what a living Mukupirna nambensis and its surrounding environment would have looked like some 25 million years ago near Lake Pinpa, Australia.

Cool Finds

300-Pound, Wombat-Like Creature Once Roamed Australia

Paleontologists describe a new species of extinct Australian marsupial that is most closely related to modern wombats but was the size of a black bear

A new computer model gives insight into how Europa's ocean formed, and how life could use its chemical energy to survive.

New Research

Heat in Jupiter’s Moon Europa Might Have Made Its Oceans Habitable

An upcoming NASA mission will get a closer look at the ocean moon

A new study presents evidence that a massive eruption in Alaska may have influenced the rise of the Roman Empire.

New Research

How an Alaskan Volcano Is Linked to the Decline of the Roman Republic

New research suggests Mount Okmok's eruption in 43 B.C. sparked extreme weather halfway across the world

An archival photo of the main street in the Frog's Hollow neighborhood of Brisbane, Australia

Archaeologists Unearth Trove of Artifacts From 19th-Century Australian Chinatown

Chinese immigrants created a community in the Frog's Hollow neighborhood of Brisbane

A Roman lead ingot recently unearthed in Wales

Cool Finds

Local Man Finds 2,000-Year-Old Roman Lead Ingot in Welsh Field

Rob Jones' discovery adds a tangible piece of evidence to the history of mining in Roman Britain

An artist’s rendering of the mysterious object, which has a mass about 2.6 times that of the sun and was consumed by a black hole some 23 times the mass of the sun. Astronomers say it's less massive than any known black hole and more massive than any known collapsed star, called a neutron star.

Distant Black Hole Collides With a Mysterious Object

Scientists detect what is either the heaviest known neutron star or the least massive black hole ever recorded

Louisa May Alcott wrote "Aunt Nellie's Diary" in 1849, almost 20 years prior to the publication of Little Women.

Early Short Story by Louisa May Alcott Published for the First Time

The "Little Women" author wrote "Aunt Nellie's Diary" in 1849, when she was 17 years old

Mary Jackson was the first African American woman engineer at NASA. She worked at the agency from 1951 to 1985.

NASA Names D.C. Headquarters for 'Hidden Figure' and Engineer Mary Jackson

Jackson may have been the only African American woman aeronautical engineer in the 1950s

This map shows a heat wave, from March 19 to June 20, that has been blistering the Arctic region in recent days, alarming scientists and residents of the region alike.

Temperatures Hit a Sweltering 100.4 Degrees Fahrenheit in Arctic Town

The likely record-setting day is the latest development in a blistering heat wave that’s been warming the region and exacerbating wildfires

A 1967 funeral program for Mrs. Julia Burton

New Digital Archive Explores 133 Years of African American Funeral Programs

The online resource offers a veritable treasure trove of information for historians and genealogists

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