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Smart News / Smart News Ideas & Innovations

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on January 15, carrying two lunar landers built independently by private companies Firefly Aerospace and Ispace.

Two Private Landers Launch on a SpaceX Rocket, Aiming to Touch Down on the Moon

Built by Firefly Aerospace and Ispace, the pair of spacecraft will land separately in the moon’s northern latitudes, conduct science experiments and test new technology

A visitor examines a watch crafted by Abraham-Louis Breguet for Marie Antoinette.

These Fascinating Objects Show How the Palace of Versailles Drove Surprising Scientific Advances in the 17th and 18th Centuries

Titled “Versailles: Science and Splendor,” a new exhibition illustrates how the royal court encouraged innovation during the reigns of Louis XIV, Louis XV and Louis XVI

Researchers tracked 71 common noctule bats (Nyctalus noctula) to parse their migration patterns.

Bats Hitch a Ride on Storm Fronts When Migrating, Saving Energy by ‘Surfing’ Through the Sky, Study Finds

Researchers tracking female bats in central Europe found they migrated much farther in a single night than previously thought. The findings could help protect bats from wind turbine collisions

View of the Apple iTunes Music Store, which launched in April 2003, two years after the release of iTunes in January 2001

On This Day in History

The Way We Listen to Music Changed Forever When Apple Launched iTunes in 2001

The digital jukebox enjoyed a two-decade reign as the dominant program for storing audio files

A Goodyear Blimp hovering above the Rose Bowl game in Pasadena, California, in 1978, when the Washington Huskies faced off against the Michigan Wolverines

A Brief History of the Goodyear Blimp, Which Celebrates Its 100th Anniversary This Year

The tire company’s iconic “lighter-than-air” craft debuted in 1925 and began providing aerial coverage of events across the country in 1955

The construction of the Golden Gate Bridge was an immense project with an immense cost.

On This Day in History

The Golden Gate Bridge Was a Dream That Turned Into a Depression-Era Nightmare for the 11 Men Who Died During Its Construction

The building of the iconic “industry orange” landmark began on this day in 1933

The R46 trains started running in the subway system during the 1970s.

New York City Is Getting Rid of Its Iconic Orange and Yellow Subway Cars

Many New Yorkers feel attached to the instantly recognizable R46s, which debuted in the summer of 1975. Officials say their replacements will arrive by 2027

Charlotte, an injured turtle, wears his custom-made, 3D-printed harness that helps him swim straight.

Sea Turtle With ‘Bubble Butt Syndrome’ Gets Another Chance at Floating Straight, Thanks to a 3D-Printed Harness

Named Charlotte, the animal was hit by a boat years ago, causing him to develop an affliction that traps air bubbles at the back of his shell

An illustration of the Parker Solar Probe approaching the sun

A NASA Spacecraft Will ‘Touch’ the Sun on Christmas Eve, Flying Closer to the Star Than Any Probe Before

The Parker Solar Probe will endure scorching temperatures of 1,700 degrees Fahrenheit as it performs the closest solar flyby of any human-made object in history

The wasp species known as the "velvet ant" has a pattern of white and ultra-black coloration.

Meet the Brazilian Velvet Ant, a Rare ‘Ultra-Black’ Wasp That’s So Dark It Absorbs Almost All Visible Light

While the distinctive coloration is thought to be a warning to predators, it also has intriguing implications for designing man-made materials

Towana Looney's surgery at NYU Langone Health lasted seven hours and involved dozens of medical professionals.

An Alabama Woman Got a Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Transplant. Three Weeks Later, She Has ‘Never Felt Better’

On November 25, 53-year-old Towana Looney became just the third living person to receive a pig kidney in an experimental procedure

A collection of Nokia mobile handsets, including unseen prototypes

If You’re Nostalgic for Nokia, See the Devices That Defined ’90s Cellphone Design in a New Online Archive

The iconic brand’s mobile phones were pop culture mainstays. Soon, a new online archive will bring together thousands of documents, early models and design concepts

DNA on Earth is built from sugars with a property known as right-handedness. Though left-handed sugars aren't used by any known life, scientists can create them—but now, researchers say they shouldn't.

Scientists Warn of an ‘Unprecedented Risk’ From Synthetic ‘Mirror Life,’ Built With a Reverse Version of Natural Proteins and Sugars

So-called mirror cells could rampage through our ecosystems, food supply and immune systems, experts say, potentially without existing barriers to protect against them

Lightning strikes over the countryside near Potsdam, Germany, on July 10, 2024, following a period of high temperatures.

Google Reveals New A.I. Model That Predicts Weather Better Than the Best Traditional Forecasts

Instead of crunching mathematical calculations, GenCast was trained on four decades of historical weather data to produce an array of 15-day forecasts

Grazing cows produce more methane than feedlot cows because of the fiber content of the grass they consume.

Eating Seaweed Could Make Cows Less Gassy, Slashing Methane Emissions From Grazing by Nearly 40 Percent

A new study finds that feeding seaweed pellets to grazing beef cattle dramatically reduces their greenhouse gas emissions

Scientists created a spear using tar they produced from a makeshift hearth to test whether Neanderthals might have used similar methods to obtain tar.

New Research

A 65,000-Year-Old Hearth Reveals Evidence That Neanderthals Produced Tar for Stone Tools in Iberia

While Neanderthals have been found to create glue-like substances with other materials, this finding, if confirmed, would be the first sign of Neanderthals burning the rockrose plant to make tar

The York Theatre Royal says Richard III has been given a voice so he can finally "speak for himself."

Listen to the Resurrected Voice of Richard III—Who Speaks With an Unexpected Accent

A team of experts has created a digital avatar of the maligned monarch, who speaks with a Yorkshire accent. The 15th-century king was born in Northampton, but he spent much of his life in northern England

The yellow powder is a type of compound known as a “covalent organic framework,” or COF.

This New, Yellow Powder Quickly Pulls Carbon Dioxide From the Air, and Researchers Say ‘There’s Nothing Like It’

Scientists say just 200 grams of the material could capture 44 pounds of the greenhouse gas per year—the same as a large tree

The BYU research team at Boca Chica Beach, Texas.

Here’s What a SpaceX Starship Rocket Launch Sounds Like, According to New, Detailed Data

Just six miles away from the mega-rocket’s fifth test flight, the noise level was equivalent to a rock concert, researchers found

The 3D bioprinter at the Collins BioMicrosystems Laboratory at the University of Melbourne.

New 3D Bioprinter Could Build Replicas of Human Organs, Offering a Boost for Drug Discovery

The invention uses light, sound and bubbles to quickly create copies of soft tissue that might one day support testing individualized therapies for cancer and other diseases

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