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Smart News

How to Learn a Language in Less Than 24 Hours

A new company called Memrise says their app can teach you an entire language within hours

Are Humans Getting Intellectually And Emotionally Stupid?

Evolution no longer places intelligence-selecting demands on us, researchers argue, meaning we are slowly but surely regressing intellectually

Since cloning won’t work, maybe we can dress up cats and just pretend.

Endangered Or Extinct Animals Won’t Be Saved By Cloning

Cloning might seem like a panacea solution. Take one animal and make millions! But it’s not that simple

Climate Change May Obliterate Pandas

Panda bears are climate change’s latest potential victims, which threatens to destroy their bamboo forests

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Superstorms Can Benefit Bird-Watchers

The strong winds and wide areal extent of hurricane Sandy brought birds from all over to the northeast US

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Why Do People Hate Dissonant Music? (And What Does It Say About Those Who Don’t?)

Scientists unlock a clue as to why some musical notes make you feel so uneasy

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The Last Letters From Scott’s South Pole Team Are Heart Breaking

To mark the 100 year anniversary of their deaths, the letters of Scott’s team have been published in a book

A Flourishing Microbial Community Dwells Within Your Belly Button

A team of researchers dug into 60 different people’s belly buttons and found bacterial diversity and microbial mystery

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State Department Takes On Illegal Wildlife Trade

Hillary Clinton aims to create an international coalition to stop illegal wildlife trafficking

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Happy Birthday Rodin, Sculptor And Breaker of Women’s Hearts

Rodin’s contribution to society lives on in his artistic works, but he wrecked a few lives in his time

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These Scientists Want The Election To Go On Even Longer

If these computer scientists have their dastardly way, the election season will be extended by a whole week - all for voting

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Report: Climate Change Threatens National Security

A new reports suggests that the U.S. military is not prepared for a world morphed by climate change

Identical Twins Aren’t So Identical – Which Makes Twin Studies Harder

As twins grow and develop, each will acquire his or her own set of mutations - which could throw a wrench into twin studies

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Watch Five Years of the Sun’s Explosions

A camera on the Hinode spacecraft has recorded the sun’s X-rays for five years

A predator drone hangs in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington.

‘Dronestagram’ Shares Photos of Drone-Strike Targets Online

By sharing satellite photos and brief descriptions, writer hopes to make drone strikes seem less remote

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The Science Behind These Amazing Photographs of the Human Eye

What makes our eye look like a desert landscape?

Mother Birds Teach Their Eggs a Secret ‘Feed Me!’ Password

Australian female fairy-wrens don’t even wait until their young are hatched before starting to teach them life skills

Daniel Craig plays James Bond in Skyfall

Bond Villains’ Evil Plans Could Have Worked Out in the Real World

There have been a range of ridiculous evil plans throughout the years. But which are the least ridiculous?

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Crocodile And Alligator Jaws Are More Sensitive Than Human Fingertips

Human fingertips are exquisitely sensitive to texture and touch, but they’ve got nothing on crocodilian jaws

A LEGO rover (not the one used in the experiment.)

NASA Uses Interplanetary Internet to Control Robot in Germany

We’re not going to say these are the tools of the robot apocalypse. But, they’re probably the tools of the robot apocalypse

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