Smart News

The warder is the first of five missing pieces to materialize since the remaining chessmen’s discovery in 1831

Cool Finds

A Medieval Chess Piece Potentially Worth $1.2 Million Languished in a Drawer for Decades

The Lewis warder, part of a larger trove of 12th-century ivory chessmen, was purchased for £5 in 1964

Most of the World’s Macadamias May Have Originated From a Single Australian Tree

But this lack of genetic diversity could put cultivated macadamias at risk

The latest findings suggest that separate groups of early humans invented stone tools on multiple occasions

Cool Finds

Humans May Have Been Crafting Stone Tools for 2.6 Million Years

A new study pushes the origins of early human tool-making back by some 10,000 years earlier than previously believed

New Research

Ancient Fingerprints Show Men and Women Both Made Pottery in the American Southwest

Long thought to be primarily women's work, new analysis of ceramic fragments shows both sexes created pottery at Chaco Canyon

The small, rocky island of St. Michael's Mount is off the coast of Cornwall, England.

Calling All Green Thumbs! A Legendary British Island Is Looking to Hire a Resident Gardener

Applicants will need to be comfortable with rappelling down the battlements of a historic castle

From L to R: Kanlitas rock painting, enhanced version, isolated rendering of markings

Art Meets Science

Rock Art and Footprints Reveal How Ancient Humans Responded to Volcanic Eruption

New study dates the preserved footprints to 4,700 years ago, a full 245,000 years later than previously suggested

Were Saber-Toothed Cat Fangs Strong Enough to Puncture Bone?

Some experts think not, but a new study suggests that holes in two saber-toothed cat skulls were caused by in-fighting

Trending Today

NOAA Is Investigating 70 Gray Whale Deaths Along the West Coast

The whales seem to have died from starvation and washed up on shore from California to Alaska

New Research

New Study Shows Coffee—Even 25 Cups a Day of It—Isn't Bad for Your Heart

Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have found that coffee consumption does not stiffen arteries

Unlike modern beavers, which use their sharp-edged teeth to chop up trees and build dams, mega-sized ones were unable to alter their environment to fit their needs

Why Did These Human-Sized Beavers Go Extinct During the Last Ice Age?

A new study suggests the giant beavers disappeared after their wetland habitats dried up, depriving the species of its aquatic plant-based diet

From left to right: Sylvia Rivera, Marsha P. Johnson, Jane Vercaine, Barbara Deming, Kady Vandeurs, Carol Grosberg and others lead a protest at City Hall

Women Who Shaped History

New York City Monument Will Honor Transgender Activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera

The two women were instrumental in the 1969 Stonewall Uprising and spent their lives advocating for marginalized groups

London's National Gallery Lends a $4.5 Million Masterpiece to a Women’s Prison

It was the latest stop in an unconventional tour that has brought the Artemisia Gentileschi painting to a school, a library and a doctor’s office

One of naked mole rats' claims to fame is their high pain tolerance when in contact with acid or high heat. These tough critters couldn't take the sting of wasabi like their furrier cousins, highveld mole rats, however.

Mole Rats Can't Feel Wasabi's Painful Kick, Hydrochloric Acid Burns or Hardly Any Pain at All

And studying the impervious critters might help scientists figure out new ways to treat pain in humans

Cool Finds

The Oldest Film of a Solar Eclipse Has Been Restored and Released Online

In 1900, magician, astronomer and filmmaker Nevil Maskelyne used a special adapter to film the astronomical event in North Carolina

New Research

A.I. Is Learning Teamwork by Dominating in Multiplayer Video Games

Google's DeepMind labs trained bots play a virtual version of capture the flag, showing them how to work as a unit

Megacities tend to have up to 10 percent more cloud cover than surrounding rural areas

Megacities Like Paris and London Can Produce Their Own Clouds

The phenomenon appears to be linked with the vast amount of heat produced by urban centers

The winning spellers made history with eight co-champions, the most number in the spelling event history.

The National Spelling Bee Ended in an Unprecedented Eight-Way Tie

"We’re basically throwing the dictionary at you," pronouncer Jacques Bailly told the spellers. "[A]nd so far you are showing the dictionary who is boss"

The sixty Starlink satellites before being deployed.

Future of Space Exploration

Astronomers Worry New SpaceX Satellite Constellation Could Impact Research

The first of SpaceX's 12,000 Starlink broadband satellites launched last week, raising fears they could interfere with ground-based telescopes

The 92-second clip that shows the Fab Four playing their song “Paperback Writer.”

Hitting the High Notes: A Smithsonian Year of Music

Lost Footage of One of the Beatles' Last Live Performances Found in Attic

A man filmed the missing 1966 'Top of the Pops' appearance from his TV set

A mated pair of horned puffins nest near Bering Sea.

Why Have Thousands of Puffins and Other Seabirds Died En Masse in the Bering Sea?

The cause of the 2016 die-off, according to a new study, was likely climate change

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