All eyes will be on a small chimney on the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel today as the Catholic Church’s most senior leaders meet ...

The papal conclave smoke signal has evolved from an incidental byproduct of burning ballots into a carefully engineered communication tool ...

The result is a mixture of steam and white or light gray smoke that contrasts sharply with the dark, carbon-rich black smoke. Over the years, the papal conclave smoke signal has evolved from an ...

The use of chemicals to ensure either black or white smoke was introduced after the 1958 conclave when damp straw added to papers from an unsuccessful ballot did not ignite at first. White smoke ...

A new pontiff has been selected on the second day of the conclave. The signal was met with an eruption of cheers from the ...

The papal conclave is the means through which this decision is made, with a gathering of the College of Cardinals who will ...

For white smoke, a compound of the chemicals potassium chlorate, lactose, and rosin (also known as Greek pitch) is used, ...

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

As the conclave to elect a successor to Pope Francis begins, cardinals will be voting multiple times per day until a ...

The same goes for the afternoon voting – if there is a two-thirds consensus after the first round of balloting in the ...

At the end of each voting round, black smoke means a new pope has not yet to be selected, while white smoke indicates a new ...