Smart News

Volunteers from the John Cage Organ Foundation conducting an earlier chord change in October 2013

This Organ Is Playing a 639-Year-Long Song. It Just Changed Chords for the First Time in Two Years

The instrument has been playing composer John Cage's "ASLSP" since 2001—and it's scheduled to conclude in 2640

People watch Thursday's volcanic eruption in Iceland. The Icelandic Meteorological Office said Friday afternoon local time that there were no more signs of eruptive activity.

Iceland Volcano Erupts Again, Cutting Off Hot Water From Towns and Spewing Fountains of Lava

This marks the third eruption since December in a region that, prior to 2021, hadn't seen volcanic activity for centuries

Eve, Marc Chagall, 1971

Stolen Chagall Print Recovered Months After Thieves Stuffed It Into a 1996 Honda and Sped Away

Detectives have arrested two suspects involved in the dramatic heist at a New York City gallery

An artist’s illustration of Glikmanius careforum swimming beneath Troglocladodus trimblei in ancient waters.

Paleontologists Discover Two New Shark Species From Fossils in Mammoth Cave National Park

The "active predators" prowled the oceans more than 325 million years ago, before the time of Pangea

Saturn's moon Mimas has a giant impact crater, named Hershel, that stretches across a third of its surface and makes it resemble the "Death Star" from Star Wars.

An Icy Moon of Saturn May Be Hiding a Vast Ocean Under Its Crust, Surprising Astronomers

Researchers suggest a global ocean lies 15 miles beneath the surface of Saturn's "Death Star" moon, Mimas—a shocking discovery that could redefine what a habitable world looks like

A house in the Beverly Crest neighborhood of Los Angeles was pushed off its foundation by a mudslide on Monday morning. No one was in the house when the mudslide occurred. Recent storms caused at least 475 mudslides in the Los Angeles area.

California Hammered by Heavy Rains, Mudslides in Devastating Atmospheric River Storms

Some areas received as much as 13 to 15 inches of rain over a five-day period as storms felled trees, destroyed homes and killed nine people

The First Supper (Galaxy Black), Tavares Strachan, 2023

Monumental Sculpture Reimagines 'The Last Supper' With Black Historical Figures

Tavares Strachan's "The First Supper" took four years to sculpt and is now on display at an exhibition in London

An image of an archaeologist excavating the wooden funerary bed and a reconstruction of the artifact (top right)

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover Rare Roman Funerary Bed Buried Beneath London

The wooden bed was likely dismantled IKEA-style before being buried alongside a high-status individual

Dry and cracked ground at the La Vinuela reservoir near Málaga, Spain, last year. Reservoirs in the country's Catalonia region have fallen to 16 percent capacity amid years of drought and extreme heat.

Earth Clocks Hottest January on Record, Marking 12 Months Above 1.5 Degree Celsius Warming Threshold

Though the world has not officially breached the Paris Agreement, the historic heat on land and at sea is a "significant milestone"

An aerial view of the freshly graffitied Oceanwide Plaza skyscraper development in downtown Los Angeles

Graffiti Artists Tag 27 Floors of Abandoned Skyscraper in Los Angeles

The street art brought new attention to a $1 billion project that's been stalled since 2019

The last total solar eclipse visible from the United States took place on August 21, 2017.

How to Watch the Spectacular Total Solar Eclipse in April 2024

The moon will appear to completely block the sun's light across parts of Mexico, the United States and Canada on April 8—here's how to make the most of this rare celestial phenomenon

The lavish first-century C.E. villa was located in the Roman military port city of Misenum.

Cool Finds

Was This Villa Pliny the Elder’s Front-Row Seat to Mount Vesuvius' Eruption?

Researchers are wondering whether a newly discovered villa in southern Italy could be linked to the celebrated scholar

A gold Asante necklace was among the items turned over to British forces in 1874.

Los Angeles Museum Returns Artifacts to Ghana That Were Taken by British Forces in 1874

Museum officials traveled to the city of Kumasi to return the objects on the 150th anniversary of their seizure

People march in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2021, after police in Louisville, Kentucky, killed Breonna Taylor, a Black woman, the year before. Tawanna Gordon, Taylor's cousin, leads the march.

After Police Kill Unarmed Black People, Black Americans Lose Sleep, Study Finds

New research draws a link between unequal exposure to police violence and lack of sleep for Black adults

Io, Jupiter's third-largest moon, photographed by NASA's Juno spacecraft.

See Detailed New Images of Io From Another NASA Flyby of the Solar System's Most Volcanic World

The stunning views show lava flows and volcanic plumes, as scientists seek to learn what causes such volatile conditions on the moon of Jupiter

A man exits the Euclid Avenue stop in Brooklyn.

These Photos Capture Every First and Last Subway Stop in New York City

Photographer Rita Nannini traveled across 665 miles of track and snapped some 8,000 images

The rows of shallow pits were carved into a rock ledge in what is now the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy in central Kenya.

Cool Finds

These Pits Carved Into Rocks in Kenya Might Be Ancient Game Boards

An archaeologist thinks the small, carved holes were used by herders for games of mancala up to 5,000 years ago

Orange elephant ear sponge, in the Gulf of Mexico.

Ocean Sponge Skeletons Suggest a More Significant History of Global Warming Than Originally Thought

Analysis of the sea creatures’ skeletal chemistry suggests the world’s temperatures have increased by 1.7 degrees Celsius since pre-industrial times

Researchers excavated Bellaghy Bog after a civilian reported seeing bones sticking out of the peat in October.

Police Find Ancient Teenager’s Body, Preserved in Irish Bog for 2,500 Years

Nicknamed the "Bellaghy Boy," he was likely between 13 and 17 when he died around 500 B.C.E.

An entire neighborhood in Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines, destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. More than 6,500 people died during the storm, which had maximum sustained winds of 195 miles per hour. Winds of those speeds would be above the threshold for a hypothetical Category 6 for tropical cyclones proposed by researchers.

Do We Need a Category 6 Designation for Hurricanes?

Global warming is leading to more intense storms well above the threshold for Category 5 hurricanes, scientists write in a new paper

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