Black cats –and really just cats in general—have been revered as magical spirits, specters, and even gods throughout human ...

The best films of 2025 (so far, at least) include inventive docs, brutal body horror, slacker baseball, unloved Looney Tunes, ...

White smoke poured from the Sistine Chapel chimney of Vatican City, signalling a pope has been elected to lead the Catholic Church. The White Smoke means the winner secured at least 89 votes of ...

Vatican City: White smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel on Thursday and the bells of St. Peter's rang out, signalling that cardinals have elected a new pope to succeed Pope Francis and take charge ...

Black smoke means a new pope has not been elected. White smoke means there is a new pope. So where does this tradition come from – and how do they achieve the different coloured smoke? Sending ...

White smoke was seen pouring out of the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaling the College of Cardinals has chosen a successor to Pope Francis.

Conclave: How white smoke is made, and what it means Here’s what’s in the smoke that signalled the election of a new Pope ...

On Thursday, May 8, white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel's chimney, signaling to the world that the 267th pope has been determined A new pope has been elected. On the afternoon of Thursday ...

With white smoke now billowing from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel on Thursday evening, the cardinals conclave has been concluded, and a successor to Pope ...

Footage from the Vatican live feed of the conclave shows white smoke, indicating the new pope has been elected.

Historically, the white smoke was created by burning the ballots together with dry straw. The black smoke was made from the ballots, wet straw, and with the addition of pitch to darken the color.

Here's how the conclave creates black and white smoke and why the Catholic Church began using them to signal whether a new pope has been elected.