Smart News Science

Arborists gather around the "Big Tree" last year to remove soil that had built up around its base.

Trending Today

Despite Harvey's Wrath, This 1,000-Year Old Tree Still Stands Tall

The Big Tree has survived at least 40 hurricanes

A Scopali's shearwater skims the water's surface.

New Research

Seabirds Use Their Sense of Smell to Navigate Open Water

A new study suggests shearwaters follow their nose home

One of the stinky blooms at the U.S. Botanic Garden just starting to open last year.

Cool Finds

A Triplet of Corpse Flowers Will Soon Release Their Stench in D.C.

If you can't make it to D.C., you can still catch the action (smell free) via live stream

A small group of floating fire ants

Trending Today

Another Danger of the Harvey Flood: Floating Fire Ants

The stinging insects are floating around Texas floodwaters in giant mats

The cloud was first reported at Birling Gap, located about 70 miles from central London.

A Mysterious Chemical Cloud Descended on the British Coast

150 people were treated for stinging eyes, irritated throats and vomiting

New Research

Watch Gentoo Penguins Hunting From a Bird's Eye View

New footage is helping researchers untangle the meaning behind these tuxedo-clad birds' calls

This clay tablet written around the year 1800 B.C.E. may represent the oldest known use of trigonometry

New Research

Ancient Babylonian Tablet May Hold Earliest Examples of Trigonometry

If true, it would mean the ancient culture figured out this mathematical field more than a millennia before its known creation

Philo T. Farnsworth got his big idea while plowing a field. He was 14, by the way.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Farmboy Who Invented Television

The inventor of television’s career presages many of the good and bad things about Silicon Valley

The Indus Valley, north of Besham, Pakistan

In Pakistan, Arsenic-Laced Groundwater Puts 60 Million People at Risk

Most live in the Indus River Valley

New Research

Why Horses and Their Ilk Are the Only One-Toed Animals Still Standing

Early horses had 15 toes, but life on the plains led to a stronger center toe, leading to life on four hooves

Brr.

The Father of Modern Chemistry Proved Respiration Occurred by Freezing a Guinea Pig

Where he got the guinea pig from remains a mystery

Tropical Storm Harvey as seen the morning of August 24, 2017 by NOAA's GOES-16 satellite.

Why Amateur Radio Operators Are Watching Hurricane Harvey

Ham radio underwent a resurgence in the United States after Hurricane Katrina

The image of Antares captures by VLTI

New Research

This Is the Best Image of a Star Beyond Our Solar System (Yet)

A detailed convection map of the red supergiant Antares is spectacular, but it also shows we don't know everything that's going on

Salmon aquaculture often uses large nets like this one in a Salmon farm in Norway.

Thousands of Invasive Salmon Escape From Farm in Pacific Northwest

Officials are urging fishers to catch the salmon in the waters off Washington

Astronauts traveling to Mars may be able to pack a little lighter with microbes that could make nutrients and the building blocks of plastic.

New Research

Could Astronauts Harvest Nutrients From Their Waste?

A new study suggests that modified yeast feeding on human waste can make useful byproducts for long missions in space

Australian Zoo Asks For Help Naming Rare White Koala

Among the suggestions thus far are “Tofu” and “Daenerys”

Woman Wins $417 Million in Lawsuit Tying Baby Powder to Ovarian Cancer

But the association between talc and cancer continues to be debated by the scientific community

Before Fannie Farmer, recipes were more like estimates. She standardized measurements and insisted on "scientific" cookery.

Fannie Farmer Was the Original Rachael Ray

Farmer was the first prominent figure to advocate scientific cookery. Her cookbook remains in print to this day

New Research

This Enzyme Is Why Onions Make You Cry

Figuring out the how the tear-inducing fumes form could give surprising insights into our own human proteins

The Sun is seen setting through the Martian atmosphere by the Curiosity rover. Nighttime can bring turbulent snowstorms in the planet's atmosphere

Violent Snowstorms May Rack the Martian Night

Simulations show how the water snow falling on Mars may fall much differently than we're used to here on Earth

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