Smart News

First Death During Cirque du Soleil Performance

For 29 years, Cirque du Soleil had defied death, never seeing a performer die on the job. Until this past weekend

Killer Whales May Be Two Distinct Species

Researchers estimate that up to six or seven different species or sub-species of killer whales may live around the world

A 1963 ad featuring the Postal Service’s Mr. Zip.

Happy 50th Birthday, ZIP Codes

Half a century ago today the U.S. Post Office introduced the ZIP Code

Firefighters stand near the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona over the weekend.

19 Veteran Firefighters Die in Arizona Blaze, the Worst Wildfire Disaster in 80 Years

A fire at Yarnell Hill, Arizona over the weekend killed 19 experienced firefighters

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These Beautiful Maps Show Where All Known Birds, Mammals And Amphibians Live

The maps include data on birds, mammals and amphibians, but not reptiles or fish since not enough is known about those organisms' distribution

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We Can Handle a Hurricane or Tornado, But What About a Mega-Disaster?

Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson in the ISS’ Cupola, where a micrometeorite hit the window last year.

How Do You Shield Astronauts and Satellites From Deadly Micrometeorites?

Supersonic space dust can do a lot of damage. How do astronauts protect against it?

Image Credit:ISS Crew Earth Observations experiment and Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, Johnson Space Center.

Colorado Wildfires Are So Big They Can Be Seen From Space

27 Years Later, Radiation Still Hides Out in Chernobyl’s Trees (Fukushima’s Too)

Trapped in the trees, radiation from Chernobyl could be re-released with a forest fire

Dual Jet Streams

It’s Dueling Dual Jet Streams That Are Causing All This Weird Weather

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The World Is Heading for 11 Billion People This Century

How are we going to feed them all?

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Smoke From More Than 800 Forest Fires in Indonesia Is Blanketing Southeast Asia

Most fires appear to be burning in palm oil plantations and land overseen by paper pulp companies, which are owned by Singaporean and Malaysian families

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Unlooted Royal Tomb Found in Peru

Polish archaeologist Milosz Giersz was terrified that looters would make their way to the site, so he and his colleagues excavated the site in secrecy

Ruins of Leptis Magna

Here Are the Treasures Libyan Violence Is Keeping Archaeologists From

Libya’s civil war might be over, but the aftershocks of the revolution are still reverberating through the country

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Pufferfish’s Deadly Toxin Could Help Chemo Patients

Researchers in New Jersey are working on an experimental drug that they hope will provide pain relief to cancer patients going through chemotherapy

Part of the 700,000-year-old bone fragment used to sequence the DNA.

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

700,000-Year-Old Horse Genome Is Oldest Ever Sequenced by a Factor of 10

The study authors say that the horse genome hints that it may be possible to sequence the genomes of organisms that lived up to 1 million years ago

A Fungus-Like Disease Threatens Europe’s Supply of Gin

This is the first time the disease, which was discovered in Argentina around five years ago, has turned up in Europe

Death Valley is the site of the hottest measured temperature on Earth.

It’s About to Get Dangerously Hot in the Southwest

The southwest US is about to face a strong, and long, heat wave

Not the cloned mouse

Mouse Cloned From Its Parent’s Blood

White blood cells flowing in its parents blood provided the genetic material needed to clone

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Your Choice of Spoon Changes the Taste of Your Food

White yogurt eaten from a white spoon was deemed sweeter, more expensive and denser than a similar yogurt that was dyed pink.

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