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Smart News

Many Animals, Including the Platypus, Lost Their Stomachs

Not only did those animals toss their stomachs out with the evolutionary garbage, they burned the genetic instructions, too

Guadalupe White Shark

Great White Sharks Are Being Killed Before They Can Become Truly Gigantic

Sharks aren’t shrinking, they’re just being hunted and inadvertently killed by fishing nets so often that they’re no longer living long enough to grow up

This Group Knows You’ve Committed a Crime And Wants to Hear All About It

Have you ever committed a crime? Stop lying, you definitely have

What’s the Air Force’s Secretive Space Drone Been Doing in Orbit for the Past Year?

The Air Force’s experimental space drone has been in orbit for a year, and no one really knows why

Fingerbreaking

Breakdance Competitions Are Adding Fingerbreaking to Their Lineup

This is not a bad-cop interrogation method, but rather a newly recognized form of dance

Freezing fog is reflected in great patterns on this Kaibab Limestone at the Grand Canyon.

This Awesome Atmospheric Anomaly Filled the Grand Canyon With Fog

Visitors to Grand Canyon National Park in recent days were treated to a special sight as a rare atmospheric behavior filled the canyon

(A to L) 3D estimates of front views and lateral views rendered as point clouds overlaid with reflectivity data.

This Camera Capture Images in the Dark, Using Just a Few Particles of Light

The most obvious application for this camera is for spying and surveillance, but it may also be used for remote sensing or to study microscopic structures

Baby Mice Can Inherit Fear of Certain Smells From Their Parents

But researchers are far from pinning down the mechanism by which this may be possible, or what specific roles epigenetics plays in human disease

Smaller Hands Need Smarter Designs for Smart Phones

No more thumb cramps or having to use your other fingers to press buttons!

No no no, Guurr, put the mammoth tusk over there, it helps balance the energy.

Neanderthals May Have Practiced the Ancient Art of Interior Design

Excavations showed that Neanderthals may have designed their homes with purpose

Image: William Zeitler

Benjamin Franklin Invented a Glass Harp

Here you can hear a man play the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairies on the armonica - which looks a lot like a man massaging a stack of plastic cups

Eligible bachelors

Your Online Dating Profile Picture Should Be With Other People

Skip the shirtless bathroom selfie and go with a group shot for your next online dating profile

Koala

Why Koalas’ Mating Bellows Sound More Like a Choking Tiger, Less Like a Small, Cuddly Herbivore

Koalas use a special pair of “fleshy lips” located outside of their larynx to produce these deep grunts

Which Is the Most Lucrative “12 Days of Christmas” Career?

Of the iconic Christmas gifts, which would give you the best career prospects?

Baikal Ice

Siberian Musicians Used the Frozen Surface of the World’s Largest Lake as a Drum

Siberians by chance discovered that Lake Baikal’s frozen waves created an unexpectedly bright sound when one of them fell and thunked the ice with her hand

Pregnant Silhouette

Can Babies Be Born Addicted to Junk Food?

The tastes you grew up with, tend to stick with you

Cats Recognize Their Owner’s Voice But Choose to Ignore It

Researchers think cats’ dismissive attitudes are a product of their evolutionary history over the past 9,000 years

Every Time You Curse, You’re Participating in a Weirdly Complex Cultural History

The words we consider naughty are a reflection of how we see ourselves as a culture

Strategy for pumping while seated.

What’s the Best Way to Swing a Playground Swing?

There is physics everywhere, including on the playground

Many public schools currently serve lunch on one-use-only foam trays.

Six Public School Systems Are Trying to Replace Foam Lunch Trays With Compostable Ones

Healthier food and less wasteful utensils and packaging are next on the school lunch reform list

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