Smart News

On July 13, Barnum's American Museum was the site of a disastrous fire.

Cool Finds

150 Years Ago, a Fire in P.T. Barnum's Museum Boiled Two Whales Alive

Attracting tourists and locals alike, the museum mixed freakshow performers with educational collections

New Research

What Makes Some Screams Scarier Than Others?

Shrieks of fear share sound qualities with car alarms

Cool Finds

One Man Packed and Shipped Over 700 Pounds of Boston Snow This Year

But they refused to ship snow to anyone in Massachusetts

Silly humans, Pluto is a dog, not a planet.

Of Course Some People Think NASA's Pluto Pictures Are Fake

Or at least doctored to exclude evidence of alien life.

Scripps oceanographer Eric Terrill and BentProp founder Pat Scannon investigate the main fuselage of a TBM Avenger lost 70 years ago during a bombing mission near Palau.

Cool Finds

Divers Turn to Robots for Help Scouring the Pacific for Long-Lost WWII Soldiers

An ongoing effort to recover those missing in action teams military historians, volunteers and scientists

Visitors to a hot springs resort in Japan enjoy a wine bath.

Cool Finds

What’s the Deal With Wine Baths?

Chemists investigate the science behind the hype

A treasure trove of tiny gold spirals from Boeslunde, Denmark

Cool Finds

Archeologists Have Found 2,000 Ancient Golden Spirals and They Have No Idea What They Are

The meaning or purpose behind the spirals is unclear, but they probably were part of a ritual

An artist's rendering of what a pentaquark structure might look like.

New Research

What Is a Pentaquark and Why Are Physicists so Excited About It?

For fifty years scientists have thought they existed, and now they finally have proof

Fungus has been infecting snakes like this adorable baby garter snake

New Research

A Deadly Fungus is Eating the Scales off Snakes in the Eastern U.S.

Researchers are still not sure why the fungus, usually content to live on dead animals, is now infecting living snakes

Workmen constructing the Statue of Liberty in Bartholdi's Parisian warehouse workshop in the winter of 1882.

Cool Finds

The Statue of Liberty Arrived in New York in 350 Pieces

Luckily, she also came with an instruction manual

New Research

In Some Ways, Human Hands Are More Primitive Than Chimp Hands

Study suggests our common ancestor had humanlike hands

New Research

These Worms Hitchhike in the Belly of Slugs To Get Around

New study shows that worm their way into slug guts and feces to travel long distances

A young black-footed ferret learns to hunt prairie dogs at the National Black-footed Ferret Conservation Center

New Research

How Feeding Prairie Dogs Peanut Butter Could Help Save Ferrets from the Plague

The recovery of black-footed ferrets is threatened by plague

Trending Today

Public Drinking Fountains Are Disappearing, and That's a Bad Thing

Bottling water divorces people from caring about keeping public water supply clean

Trending Today

Australians Are Building a Skyscraper Inspired by Beyoncé

Architects envision a rippling structure that takes a page from the singer’s famous look

What Makes Day Old Water Taste Funny?

It might be full of microbes and carbon dioxide, but a leftover glass of water is still (probably) safe to drink

Cool Finds

Explore This Map of 13 Centuries' Worth of English Metaphors

How long ago did English speakers start linking chickens with fearfulness?

Michael Fraley, a Vice President with Yulex Corporation, cuts a guayule plant that can be used to make natural rubber, in 2008

Cool Finds

Could This Shrub Overthrow the Mighty Rubber Tree?

Researchers are working to make a shrub found in southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico a viable natural rubber alternative

Cool Finds

Here’s Why Some People Have More Bellybutton Lint Than Others

The secret is on your stomach

Trending Today

There’s Now Wifi on Mount Fuji

Hiking boots. Water bottle. Laptop?

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