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Smart News / Smart News Science

Archaeologists discovered the tomb in southern Siberia in 2017.

Humans May Have Been Getting High on Weed 2,800 Years Ago. Cannabis Seeds and Hair With Traces of THC Were Found in an Ancient Tomb

A tomb discovered in Siberia and associated with Scythians—a nomadic, horse-riding people that once roamed the Eurasian steppe—might provide the earliest direct evidence of cannabis use

Researchers examined intake of four micronutrients, and iodine was the most sensitive to the swap to vegan alternatives.

Even Replacing Some of Your Dietary Dairy With Plant-Based Alternatives Can Lead to Nutrient Deficiencies, Study Suggests

More people are swapping animal products with vegan milks, yogurts and cheeses, so scientists wanted to investigate the potential public health effects. Their findings hint that consumers should look for items with extra nutrients added, called fortified foods

The Altar Stone lies flat on the ground, sunk into the grass beneath the collapsed upright of the Great Trilithon and its lintel.

New Research

Where Did Stonehenge’s Mysterious, Six-Ton Altar Stone Really Come From? Geologists Rule Out the Scottish Hypothesis as the Search Deepens

A comprehensive investigation of the sandstone megalith’s “geological fingerprint” suggests it did not originate in northeast Scotland, as a surprising study concluded in 2024, sending scientists back into the field to track down the enigmatic slab’s origins

The gas may have been spewed from cracks at the edges of the shield volcano Alba Mons.

Strange Gas in Mars’ Atmosphere Hints the Red Planet Is Still Volcanically Active—and Points to Places to Search for Alien Life

Cracks along a giant Martian volcano, possibly above a magma chamber, might be spewing magmatic gases into the atmosphere, according to a new study. The fissures might host environments akin to Earth’s hydrothermal vents, where life on our planet may have emerged

The black-belted hawkmoth (Megacorma obliqua) is one of the species that produces ultrasound.

These Moths Use Their Genitals to Fend Off Bats—but Not in the Way You Think. They Emit Ultrasound to Scramble the Predators’ Sonar

New research suggests male hawkmoths have three distinct anti-bat, ultrasound-producing systems. These may have evolved independently up to seven times between 5 million and 30 million years ago

Polar vortex in 2019

The Arctic Polar Vortex Is Collapsing Earlier in the Season Than Ever Documented—but We Don’t Know How It’ll Affect Global Weather

A previous polar vortex disruption contributed to the Great Texas Freeze in 2021. This time, the ongoing “super” El Niño might offset some of the collapse’s influence

China announced plans for landing humans on the moon with a crewed spacecraft and lunar lander. At the left, a model of the Lanyue lander is seen at the National Museum of China.

China Announces a Plan to Put Astronauts on the Moon by 2030, Revealing Details of Four Upcoming Missions

The country intends to launch three uncrewed test missions followed by a human lunar landing within the next few years. NASA hopes to send humans to the moon in 2028, though some experts have expressed doubt about that timeline

Achille the bull and Patroclo the male donkey

This Bull and Male Donkey Have a Surprisingly Sexual Relationship, Providing Insights Into Interspecies and Same-Sex Bonds

The ungulates, dubbed Achille and Patroclo, chose each other repeatedly and showed affection before and after each rendezvous. Same-sex sexual encounters are common among animals of the same species, but less so between different ones

Infernogallus jamesi was about the size of a turkey.

This Ancient ‘Hell Chicken’ Might Be the First Known Fruit-Loving Dinosaur, Revealing a Whole New Cretaceous Lifestyle

Infernogallus jamesi had beak and mouth adaptations that hint it could mash soft foods, like today’s frugivorous birds. The dinosaur probably munched on fruits resembling modern-day cherries and peaches, and may have helped spread seeds via its poop

Manx shearwaters are medium-sized seabirds that breed on islands off the western coasts of the United Kingdom.

It’s Not Just You: Some Fast-Flying Birds Also Get Jet Lag

A new study finds that Manx shearwaters fly so fast that their internal clocks get out of sync with local time. These jet lag-like time shifts confuse their sun-based compasses, causing them to become a bit disoriented and fly slightly off course

Measles virus particle.

New York Had Its First Measles Death in 30 Years. Here’s What to Know

Cases are still surging across the country amidst dropping vaccination rates

The fossil was discovered in a mine in northeastern Brazil in 2008.

Scientists Say They’ve Found Preserved Dinosaur Blood in a 115-Million-Year-Old Fossil, but Not Everyone Is Convinced

Soft tissues like blood generally break down relatively quickly after death. Environmental factors can also produce red blood cell look-alikes, so many outside researchers are cautious about the new study’s claims

A facial reconstruction of a man whose decapitated skeleton was found in Musselburgh, Scotland, in 2010

New Research

Archaeologists in Scotland Discovered the Skeleton of a Roman-Era Man Who Was Decapitated Nearly 2,000 Years Ago. Now, You Can See What He Might Have Looked Like During His Lifetime

A digital facial reconstruction of the man, whose head was severed after his death, will soon go on view in Edinburgh. It depicts an individual in his early 50s, with graying hair and brown eyes

Simulation of gas structures as electrons were removed from helium by radiation emitted by early stars and black holes.

See a Stunning Simulation of the Early Universe, Which Will Help Astronomers Shed Light on the Cosmic Dark Ages

The model, created by researchers at the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, and other institutions, captures how the first stars and black holes gradually illuminated the universe after millions of years of darkness

Native Hawaiians dancing at Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park.

Hawaii and Easter Island Are 4,400 Miles Apart. But the Same Group of ‘Ultravoyagers’ Settled Both Centuries Ago, Genetic Study Suggests

Researchers studied DNA from more than 1,000 modern-day Polynesians and found that Native Hawaiians and Easter Islanders were most closely related. The findings help trace the epic settlement of the Polynesian islands while also revealing genetic vulnerabilities among their communities

Over the past couple of years, Swift had been falling out of orbit faster than expected.

After Observing the Sky for 22 Years, a Beloved NASA Space Telescope Is Expected to Meet a Fiery Death This Week

The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory launched in 2004 and detected thousands of astrophysical phenomena, leading to some huge discoveries. Earlier this year, experts attempted a first-of-its-kind rescue mission to save the falling telescope, but it failed

Dozens of Bangka slow lorises have been rescued and re-released on Bangka Island in recent years.

Scientists Feared This Cute but Venomous Primate Had Gone Extinct Nearly 100 Years Ago. It Was Hiding in Plain Sight All Along

The Bangka slow loris is still close to extinction, but new research suggests it continues to survive on a tropical Indonesian island. Conservationists are calling for stronger habitat protections and a breeding program, among other measures

 Portia fimbriata sleeps upside-down beneath a silk web.

Do Spiders Dream? These Arachnids Twitch, Curl Their Legs and Move Their Eyes When Asleep, Hinting at a Complex Brain State

A species of jumping spider appears to enter a deep sleep phase that resembles rapid eye movement (REM) in humans, the stage in which we typically dream

An artist's illustration of Invictibellatrix amberina on what's now the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, around 120 million years ago.

After Sitting in a London Museum Since 1924, This Dinosaur Fossil Was Named a New Predatory Species—an ‘Unconquered Female Warrior’

Invictibellatrix amberina was a long-clawed, tiger-size dinosaur that lived around 120 million years ago. It’s helping scientists piece together the global spread of megaraptors, which later became apex predators

A flying fox in Madagascar

Madagascar’s Giant Bats Seem to Be Shrinking. After Measuring 121 Specimens, Scientists Suggest Hunting by Humans Is to Blame

In a new study, researchers looked at museum specimens of the island’s flying foxes, spanning 150 years of history. They found a significant decline in size—right when commercial hunting ramped up

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