Smart News

Animal furs on display at Grand Portage National Monument

New Research

The 18th Century Fur Trade Polluted Lake Superior's Shore With Mercury That's Never Gone Away

The area’s elevated mercury levels aren’t healthy for fish, birds or humans

The blue whale is the biggest animal on the planet - and would have massively outsized the ocean's largest species 500 million years ago.

New Research

The World’s Sea Creatures Have Gotten Bigger

A new study reveals evolution in the ocean appears to favor larger animals

New Research

Save the Birds By Embarrassing Your Cat

Outfitting cats in colorful collars may be one key to preventing them from effectively preying on birds and other small animals

Cool Finds

Found: One Lost Sherlock Holmes Story

It was in the attic, my dear Watson

Trending Today

See the Winter of Our Discontent…From Space

NASA photo of the eastern United States confirms it’s really, really cold out there

Jackie Kennedy Onassis, New York Harbor in 1976

Cool Finds

For the Kennedys' Virginia Home, Jackie Had Ideas About Every Detail, Down to the Guest Room Ashtrays

She drew inspiration from French magazines and colors from Colonial America

A 19th century engraving of King John signing the Magna Carta

Cool Finds

Legend Says the Ankerwycke Yew Witnessed the Magna Carta's Signing

The tree on the bank of the River Thames may be 2,000 years old

New Research

Neanderthals Divvied Up Chores by Sex

New research on Neanderthal teeth shows differing gender roles

Trending Today

Should You Speculate in Flower Bulbs?

Move over, real estate—there’s a new bubble in snowdrop bulbs

A lithograph depicting an ancient Egyptian physician treating a patient for lockjaw. In the village of Deir el-Medina, this man may have still been paid while missing work.

Cool Finds

Some Ancient Egyptians Had State-Sponsored Healthcare

Craftsmen who built royal tombs enjoyed sick days, designated physicians and rationed medicine—all paid by the state

Russian ice breaker Kapitan Khlebnikov breaks through pack ice in the Southern Ocean

Trending Today

Antarctic Sea Ice Sets A New Record, But the Climate is Still Changing

Climate change deniers, sit back down

Row houses in the historic Pullman neighborhood of Chicago

Trending Today

President Obama Announces a Trio of New National Monuments

The sites include a historic neighborhood in Chicago, a former internment camp in Hawaii and a canyon in Colorado

A surgeon using an endoscope, similar to the device involved in the UCLA outbreak

Trending Today

Contaminated Doctors’ Scopes May Have Spread a Superbug to Almost 180 Patients

A drug-resistant bacteria usually found in the gut has infected seven people and contributed to two deaths

New Research

Fat Is a Texture, Not a Taste…For Now

Scientists predict fat will join the other primary tastes within ten years

Trending Today

2014 Was National Parks’ Most-Visited Year Ever

Last year broke records with over 292 million visits

Climbers in the Khumbu Icefall on Mount Everest.

Trending Today

Everest Climbers Now Prohibited From Taking One Deadly Route

Nepal announces that the Khumbu Icefall, where 16 sherpa were killed last year, is now off-limits

New Research

Is That Pill a Placebo? This Program Can Tell, Even If You Can't

A new algorithm could make it faster and less expensive to develop new painkillers

Cool Finds

These Glass Sculptures Were Inspired By the New York City Ballet

The artist wanted to convey that "all of your memories are stuck inside your bone marrow" and make them visible

A black garden ant.

New Research

Ants Have Designated Toilet Areas in Their Nests

A new study shows that black garden ants have a relatively meticulous protocol for when nature calls

Cool Finds

Divers Discover Graveyard Filled With Giant Lemur Skeletons

A Madagascar cave is packed with the bones of extinct species

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