Smart News

Wikipedia Wants to Archive Famous People's Voices

If you have a Wikipedia profile, the Wikipedia Voice Intro Project wants to hear you

February 5, 2014

Excessive heat and drought in England currently is a relatively rare and mild occurrence, but it's predicted to get much worse in the coming decades.

In the Next 40 Years, Heat-Related Deaths Could More Than Double in the U.K.

As the world warms up, the number of heat-related deaths will likely increase across the board

February 5, 2014

This Terrifying Parasite Bears an Uncanny Resemblance to the Queen in "Aliens"

Phronima hollow out their prey and ride around in their corpse

February 5, 2014

A Tiny Scrap of Paper Offers a Glimpse Into Jane Austen's Inspiration

The small scrap of paper transcribes part of a sermon, the theme of which Austen later explored in "Mansfield Park"

February 5, 2014

Sperm from the Aedes aegypti mosquito, magnified 50 times.

Mosquitoes' Sperm Can Detect Smells

Mosquitoes' individual sperm have scent-detecting sensors

February 5, 2014

Everybody is listening, but nobody is learning.

When Are We Going to Stop Making Famous People Argue About Evolution?

From the Scopes trial to last night's Nye/Ham face-off, Americans love pointless creationism debates

February 5, 2014

Human Faces Might Only Express Four Basic Emotions

How many faces can you make? Offhand, you might guess ten, or twenty, but researchers now say...it's really only four

February 4, 2014

The Hasselblad EDC, the custom camera designed for use on the Moon.

At Auction: One of the Only Cameras to Ever Make it Back From the Moon

James Irwin's custom Hasselblad was one of the only cameras to make it back from the Moon... or was it?

February 4, 2014

Welcome to South Korea, please turn around.

Korea Is Using a Kinect to Monitor Its Border

The Microsoft Kinect is at the center of a lively community that includes hackers, artists and, now, South Korea's border patrol

February 4, 2014

Shopping Carts Are Way More Dangerous Than You Might Expect

There are a lot of things to fear in this world. Allow us to add another thing to that list: shopping carts

February 4, 2014

What Was the Internet Like the Day Facebook Was Born?

The web was already 15 years old. What else were we up to when The Facebook was born?

February 4, 2014

A nurse training program at the Central State Hospital.

Psychiatric Records for African American Patients Are Rare, And This Hospital Has a Century's Worth

Researchers are attempting to digitize and preserve the tens of thousands of patient records from the Central State Hospital

February 4, 2014

Third-Hand Smoke Is Dangerous, Too

Like a Virus, Nicotine Can Stick to Clothes And Surfaces for Days

February 4, 2014

The Hetch Hetchy reservoir is one of California's crucial reservoirs.

California's Crucial Reservoirs Are Running Low, And That's Even Worse Than It Sounds

An ongoing drought has drained California dry

February 3, 2014

It Takes Just Five Seconds to Find Out If You’re a Good Liar

But maybe don't read too much into this test

February 3, 2014

No One Knows Why Ancient Egyptians Built This 4,600-Year-Old Pyramid

The new pyramid joins the list of other mysterious step pyramids built before the Great Pyramid at Giza

February 3, 2014

These people's ears are probably not happy right now.

The People Who Went to the Super Bowl Are Now a Little Bit More Deaf

Major sports games are loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss

February 3, 2014