Smart News Science

Longer days signal to birds when they should breed and lay their new clutch of eggs, and they match up their timing so that their chicks are born when the springtime's bounty is at its peak.

Light Pollution Is Causing Birds to Nest Earlier, Mitigating Some Effects of Climate Change

But two wrongs don't make a right, as both problems are altering the birds' biology

The flower of a newly discovered orchid species from Madagascar called Gastrodia agnicellus. It's looks are, shall we say, unconventional.

Behold the World's Ugliest Orchid, According to Botanists

Surprisingly, the plant’s fleshy, brown flowers don't smell so bad

America's eastern monarch population has fallen by about 80 percent, and the western population by 99 percent, but the Fish and Wildlife Service doesn't grant endangered status to specific populations of invertebrate species.

Why Monarch Butterflies Aren't Getting Endangered Species Status

Monarch butterflies qualify for protections, but 161 other species have higher priority

Though several animal species like chimps, crows and elephants have been documented using tools, it's pretty rare in the insect world.

New Research

To Compete With the Big Guys, Tiny Crickets Fashion Leafy Megaphones to Blast Their Mating Calls

Using leaves can make male crickets' calls three times louder, upping their chances of attracting a female

The researchers planted some peppers alone in pots, and others about four inches away from a second plant.

New Research

How Pepper Plants Pick the Perfect Path for Putting Down Roots

Two plants in the same pot must find a way to share the water and nutrients in the soil

Two sequential photos showing a kangaroo alternating its gaze between a box full of food it can't open and a human.

New Research

Kangaroos Communicate With Humans Like Dogs in Experiments

The study suggests people may have previously underestimated the communication abilities of other non-domesticated species

InSight was sent on a mission to answer questions about the Red Planet's crust, mantle and core, known as the "inner space."

Mars InSight Lander Offers a Sneak Peek at the Red Planet's Inner Layers

The robotic explorer was sent to Mars to study its formation—and the data is now making its way back to Earth

The photograph shows an area about 10,000 miles wide, a small portion of the Sun which is 864,000 miles wide

Brilliant Sunspot Photo Captures the Beginning of a New Solar Cycle

The Inouye Solar Telescope captured the unprecedentedly detailed image of a 3,700-mile-wide sunspot on January 28

An artist's rendering of Ubirajara jubatus, a newly described dinosaur species featuring two sets of rods sticking out of its shoulders and a mane of fluffy proto-feathers.

New Research

With a Mane and Strange Shoulder Rods, This New Dinosaur Was Quite a 'Little Show-Off'

The chicken-sized carnivore was found in Brazil and researchers say it may have been quite colorful

The survey did not conclude how the wild mink became infected with the virus, but it’s not unusual for captive minks to escape fur farms. (Infected mink not pictured.)

First Case of Covid-19 in a Wild Animal Found in a Utah Mink

The U.S. Department of Agriculture detected the infection while testing wild animals around a mink farm with a Covid-19 outbreak

Whales are especially vulnerable during the calving season since the mother-calf pairs float at the surface, raising their chances of encountering boats.

Biologists Celebrate the Births of Two Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale Calves

With a population of around 366 whales, 'every individual counts' in coming back from the brink of extinction

An artist's illustration of a newly described species of ichthyosaur called Thalassodraco etchesi swimming in the Late Jurassic seas off the coast of England.

New Research

Amateur Fossil Hunter Discovers New 'Sea Dragon' Species on British Beach

Researchers think the new species may have been a deep diving specialist, due to its cavernous ribcage and enlarged eyes

The pterosaurs were flying reptiles that lived in the age of the dinosaurs. This is an artist's illustration of a member of the genus Pteranodon, which included some of the largest known flying reptiles. .

New Research

Study Reveals Humble Origins of Flying Pterosaurs

Tiny, flightless reptiles called lagerpetids may have given rise to the largest flying animal ever to have lived on Earth

A team of scientists hand-raised eight ravens and tested their cognitive abilities every four months since they hatched.

Four-Month-Old Ravens Rival Adult Great Apes in a Battle of the Brains

In a series of cognitive tests, the corvids surprised scientists with their ability to interact with each other and with the world around them

The vaccination effort underway is the biggest in United States history.

Distribution Begins for First Covid-19 Vaccine Authorized in the United States

Pfizer-BioNTech’s vaccine received emergency use authorization from the FDA last week

Tasmanian devils nip at each other's faces while eating carcasses and during mating season, providing opportunities for infectious face cancer to spread.

New Research

Study Offers Hope for Tasmanian Devils, Once Thought Doomed by Infectious Cancer

In the late 1990s, one affected devil infected an average of 3.5 others, but now each only infects about one

Arctic ground squirrels are such adept hibernators that they can remain in their slumber for up to eight months by slowing their metabolic system down so greatly that they only need to breathe once per minute.

What Hibernating Squirrels Can Teach Astronauts About Preventing Muscle Loss

The Arctic ground squirrel recycles nutrients in its body, allowing it to slumber for up to eight months and wake up unscathed

This is the all-sky map created by the eROSITA X-ray telescope, represented in false color (red for energies 0.3-0.6 keV, green for 0.6-1.0 keV, blue for 1.0-2.3 keV). The original image was smoothed in order to generate the above picture.

New Research

An X-Ray Hourglass Is Emerging From the Middle of the Milky Way

Astronomers spotted the two gargantuan bubbles of charged particles ballooning out from the middle of our home galaxy

Concrete, a building block of our cities and towns, accounted for the most mass, followed by steel, gravel, brick and asphalt.

Human-Made Materials Now Weigh More Than All Life on Earth Combined

People produce 30 billion tons of material annually, making our built environment heavier than the planet's biomass

A small hike in the water temperature triggers corals to dispel the algae, causing them to bleach and turn a ghostly shade of white.

Some Corals Can Survive Through Relentless Heat Waves, Surprising Scientists

The organisms can recover during a heat wave instead of afterwards, and scientists call it a 'game changer' for conservation of the species

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