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Smart News

Chimpanzees Remember Things Faster Than You Do

Chimpanzees are several times stronger than us, generally healthier, and research suggests that they might have better memories too

Guess What the Most Abundant Organism on Earth Is?

If you had to guess the most abundant organism on the planet, you might think of ants, or maybe bacteria. But a newly discovered virus might trump them all

Appreciate Weird, Adorable Pangolins Before They’re Gone

Across Asia, a plague of hunting has hit pangolins, though it’s not too late to save these intriguing creatures from extinction

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Newly Approved Retinal Implants Can Help Blind People See

The first retinal implants ever approved for use in the U.S. could help with a certain type of blindness

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The Last Massive Exploding Meteor Hit Earth in 1908, Leveling 800 Square Miles of Forest

In 1908, a meteor exploding in mid-air released the energy equivalent to “185 Hiroshima bombs”

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Ask Smithsonian 2017

Water Never Goes Bad, So Why Does It Need an Expiration Date?

Really, you shouldn’t be worried about the water, but about the bottle.

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Massive Meteor Breaks Up Over Russia, Sends Dozens to Hospital

The mid-air explosion of a 10-ton meteor injured more than 500 people

Zora Ball, the first grader who coded a computer game.

First Grader Codes Her Own Computer Game

The seven-year-old Philadelphia student just became the world’s youngest known person ever to code a computer game

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Opera Fans Have an Advantage in Chemistry Class

Twenty-five different natural and synthetic chemical potions and poisons pop up in 20 different opera’s plots

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The Pentagon’s Newest Medal Rewards Excellence in Drone Combat

Called the Distinguished Warfare Medal, this award will honor drone pilots, hackers and others

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Ockham Never Really Had a Razor

Ockham never really said anything about razors; he was more interested in Scripture

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Why Have So Many of Tibet’s Monks Set Themselves on Fire?

More than 100 Tibetan monks have set themselves aflame in the past four years

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We’re Biased Towards Our Own Relationship Status And Push It Onto Our Friends

People, whether single or partnered up, tend to think their way of romantic life is better for everyone, regardless of how happy they actually are

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Why Football Players Get Away With Everything, Even Doping

The people of the world have spoken: they don’t like cheaters, and they don’t like doping. Unless you’re a football player - in which case no one seems to care

Neuroscientists Have Created Mice That Can’t Sense Cold

The end goal is to help develop drugs that more thoroughly knock out the feeling of pain

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Not Only Can Plants Talk to Each Other, They Listen More Closely to Their Relatives

Plants speak with chemical cues, and they listen more carefully to their close relatives

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Real-Life Turkish Vampire Now Cured

A man just recovered from a condition his doctor called “clinical vampirism”—which was characterized by insatiable cravings for human blood

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In the Middle East, Supplies of Fresh Water Are Dwindling

A 2007 drought, and an over-reliance on groundwater, means the the Middle East’s aquifers are fading

An electron micrograph of the coronavirus.

New SARS-Like Virus Is Spreading—Slowly

A novel coronavirus identified earlier this year is slowly—very slowly—spreading

Mistreated Robots Now Have a Advocacy Group

Someday, the Seattle-based American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Robots may begin to serve disgruntled, nonhuman customers of the AI persuasion

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