Smart News

This A.I.-generated illustration shows what some of the undiscovered extinct birds might have looked like.

Humans May Have Driven Twice as Many Bird Species to Extinction as Previously Thought

Statistical modeling of undiscovered extinctions suggests 1,430 bird species have disappeared during modern human history

Aerial view of construction work on the Maya Train on August 31, 2023

First Section of Mexico's Controversial Maya Train Opens

The rail system, built to connect tourist destinations, has been criticized for endangering archaeological and environmental sites

Uranus with its rings and moons, showcasing storms and a polar ice cap on the planet. The new Webb image was produced by combining longer and shorter exposures.

See the James Webb Telescope's Stunning New Image of Uranus With Its Rings and Moons Clearer Than Ever

The gleaming ice giant could soon become a top priority for exploration

Safety fencing at Arlington National Cemetery rings the Confederate memorial.

Federal Judge Allows Removal of Confederate Memorial at Arlington National Cemetery

The Defense Department had mandated that the monument be dismantled by January 1, 2024

This seventh-century Buddha sculpture was among the artifacts.

The Met Will Repatriate 16 Artifacts to Cambodia and Thailand

The looted objects are tied to the notorious art dealer Douglas Latchford

Chimpanzees and bonobos may have the longest social memory of any non-human animal.

Chimpanzees and Bonobos May Remember Faces for More Than 20 Years

The great apes, which are humans' closest living relatives, appeared to recognize photos of their former acquaintances in a study, even decades later

A volcano erupts near the evacuated town of Grindavík in southwestern Iceland.

Volcano Erupts in Iceland After Weeks of Earthquake Activity

On Monday night, plumes of lava and ash blasted more than 330 feet into the air

The 31-inch-tall tree is billed as the "humblest Christmas tree in the world."

103-Year-Old Artificial Christmas Tree Sells for Over $4,000

The tree was originally purchased for 8-year-old Dorothy Grant in 1920

Scientists surveyed nearly 1,000 U.S. parents during the first half of 2023 to estimate melatonin use among kids.

Melatonin Use Is Rising in U.S. Children, Study Finds

Nearly one in five children under 14 are being given melatonin before bed, according to a survey of about 1,000 parents

Maritime archaeologists suspect the wreck is the George L. Newman.

Cool Finds

Father and Daughter Discover 152-Year-Old Shipwreck While Fishing in Green Bay

Tim and Henley Wollak found what is likely the wreck of the "George L. Newman," which sank during the Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871

A woman bought this 13.5-inch-tall Carlo Scarpa vase for just $3.99.

Cool Finds

She Bought a $3.99 Vase at Goodwill. It Just Sold for $107,100

A thrifter in Virginia snagged a rare work from renowned Italian artist Carlo Scarpa

A crane lifts the new golden rooster to the top of Notre-Dame Cathedral's spire on December 16, 2023.

Notre-Dame Gets New Spire and Golden Rooster

The return of these two distinctive features marks a poignant milestone in the cathedral's reconstruction

Cats can fetch—but they prefer to be in control of the playtime.

Like Dogs, Some Cats Will Play Fetch—but Mostly on Their Own Terms

Many felines appear to pick up the playful behavior spontaneously, without any explicit training, a survey of cat owners finds

This year, lookups on Dictionary.com increased for A.I.-related words, including "generative A.I.,” “GPT” and “chatbot.”

'Hallucinate' Is Dictionary.com's Word of the Year for 2023

In the context of artificial intelligence, the word means "to produce false information" and "present it as if true"

An artist's rendering of one of the Voyager spacecrafts.

NASA's Voyager 1 Is Glitching, Sending Nonsense From Interstellar Space

The aging spacecraft, launched in 1977, is transmitting a gibberish pattern of ones and zeros back to Earth

A colored image of an anthrobot. Hairlike structures called cilia enable the bots to move.

Tiny 'Robots' Made From Human Cells Show Wound-Healing Potential

The so-called "anthrobots" can self-assemble and move on their own, and they prompted damaged neurons to regenerate in a recent study

Saturn's moon Enceladus, represented in a composite of several images taken by NASA's Voyager 2 probe

Life-Sparking Gas Strengthens Evidence That Enceladus, a Moon of Saturn, Could Be Habitable

Evidence of hydrogen cyanide in data from the Cassini spacecraft adds to a growing list of molecules that could, in theory, support life on the icy moon

The writer Raymond Chandler in 1954

Cool Finds

Rare Poem by 'Big Sleep' Author Raymond Chandler Found in a Shoebox

A magazine editor rediscovered the work among the papers his family donated to the University of Oxford

The cast of How to Dance in Ohio brings neurodivergent characters to the Broadway stage.

Broadway's 'How to Dance in Ohio' Stars Seven Autistic Actors

The musical is loosely based on a 2015 documentary of the same name

Around 80 percent of pregnant people experience morning sickness, or bouts of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

Why Most Pregnant People Experience Morning Sickness—and How It Could Be Treated

A hormone produced by the fetus may induce nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, a new study finds

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