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Smart News / Smart News Ideas & Innovations

Chris Buck at work in a kitchen lab

This Scientist Brewed and Drank His Own ‘Vaccine Beer’ to Combat a Dangerous Virus. It Seems to Have Worked

Blood tests revealed that the beverage elicited an immune response, according to preliminary research. But far more safety and efficacy testing would be needed before this vaccine could become available

Lab-made cosmic dust on a chip

Physicists Create Homemade Cosmic Dust, Which Could Help Them Figure Out How the Building Blocks of Life First Reached Earth

Cosmic dust normally comes from dying stars. The recipe for a lab-made version includes a few gases, vacuum tubes and electricity

Infrared scans suggest that the artist reworked their composition to prominently feature Anne's hands clasping a rose. “By clearly displaying five digits on each hand, the portrait acts as a visual rebuttal to hostile rumors and as a defense of Anne Boleyn—and, by extension, of her daughter Elizabeth’s legitimacy,” says curator Owen Emmerson.

Rumors Suggested That Anne Boleyn Was a Witch With Six Fingers. Did This Elizabethan Artist Rework a Portrait of the Tudor Queen to Debunk the Gossip?

A new analysis of the Hever Rose portrait suggests that the painter deliberately modified an existing template to showcase Anne’s hands—with no extra digits—holding a delicate rose

Though still in early stages, some experts say that A.I.-supported screenings could help save patients' health, time and money.

A.I. Could Help Doctors Spot Hard-to-Detect Signs of Breast Cancer During Routine Screenings, a Clinical Trial Suggests

Standard testing can miss some tumors, which are later diagnosed and called interval cancers. They’re often more aggressive than screening-detected disease

Researchers are using an instrument at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to uncover the original text of reused parchments.

Medieval Monks Wrote Over a Copy of an Ancient Star Catalog. Now, a Particle Accelerator Is Revealing the Long-Lost Original Text

The parchments initially contained references to a star catalog and maps created during the second century B.C.E.

Surgeons removed the patient's failing lungs and temporarily replaced them with an artificial version, saving his life.

Artificial Lungs Kept a Dying Man Alive For 48 Hours—Until He Was Well Enough to Receive an Organ Transplant

The patient is faring well nearly three years later, thanks to the life-saving device

The human genome is made up of about three billion pairs of DNA units called nucleotides.

Google Researchers Say Their New A.I. Tool AlphaGenome Can Help Decode the Human Genetic Instruction Book

The computer model might help scientists better understand the biological impacts of typos in DNA

Shenzhou-15 spacecraft debris streaked across the sky above California in April 2024. 

Sonic Booms and Earthquake Sensors Can Help Researchers Track Space Junk as It Plummets to Earth

Falling debris can travel at about 30 times the speed of sound, creating sonic booms that shake the ground

A six-fingered version of the robotic hand

This Detachable Robotic Hand Can Scurry Around and Grasp Objects Just Like Thing From the Addams Family

With up to six fingers that can bend in multiple directions, the innovative tool could one day be used to carry out tasks in tight spaces

ChatGPT Health is a new function designed to provide users with personalized medical insights based on medical records and health data uploaded by users. 

OpenAI Says ChatGPT Health Can Understand Users’ Medical Data and Provide Personalized Answers to Their Questions

The new feature can give tailored responses based on medical records and wellness app data, according to ChatGPT’s maker. But some experts are concerned about privacy and worry that people may over-trust the chatbot

Some octopuses have incredible camouflaging abilities. 

Inspired by Octopus Skin, This Synthetic Material Can Change Color and Texture on Demand

The animals’ camouflaging capabilities have long inspired humans. The new material could one day help researchers improve robotics or electronic screens

A humpback whale off the coast of Iceland

By Collecting Whale Breath, Researchers Detected a Deadly Virus in the Arctic for the First Time

Flying a drone with Petri dishes above exhaling whales helped scientists identify a dangerous pathogen that can damage the animals’ respiratory, immune and nervous systems

Nanoflowers, which look white, can help healthy cells, colored yellow, deliver mitochondria, colored red, to nearby cells. 

A New Way to Boost the Powerhouses of the Cell Might Combat Aging and Degenerative Diseases, Lab Study Suggests

Creating mini mitochondria factories helped recharge damaged cells in a dish, providing proof-of-concept work that could pave the way to new regenerative medicine therapies

Adult male magnificent riflebirds have ultrablack feathers covering most of their bodies.

Inspired by Bird Feathers, This New ‘Ultrablack’ Fabric Absorbs Nearly All the Light That Hits It

Researchers took inspiration from the magnificent riflebird while developing a textile that reflects only about 0.13 percent of visible light, making it the darkest fabric ever reported

Oliver and his father, Ricky

This Toddler Was the First Person to Receive a Test Treatment for a Rare Genetic Disorder. Nine Months Later, His Progress Is Inspiring Hope

Oliver Chu is one of five kids participating in a clinical trial investigating a gene therapy for Hunter syndrome, a disorder with symptoms akin to childhood dementia that limits life expectancy

Researchers used more than 400 samples of materials, such as this carbon-rich substance, to train and test the new A.I. system. 

Cool Finds

A.I. Reveals Signs of Early Life in 3.3-Billion-Year-Old Rocks. Next, It Could Continue the Search in Space

The new approach looks at the distribution of molecular fragments in material, allowing for broad surveys in degraded specimens

The moss spores germinated after enduring space outside of the ISS.

Moss Spores Survived Nine Months Outside the International Space Station. Then, They Grew Normally on Earth

While lunar gardens are still out of reach, the study sheds more light on terrestrial biology that may not be limited to our planet’s surface

Researchers have developed a promising new antivenom effective against more than a dozen venemous snake species, according to trials in mice.

Researchers Create a New Antivenom That Can Combat Bites From 17 Snake Species, Trials in Mice Suggest

Snakebites are among the deadliest neglected tropical diseases, and scientists have long been searching for more effective ways to prevent their devastating effects

The conference billed itself as the first to feature all A.I.-generated research.

A New Conference Presented Scientific Papers Written and Reviewed by A.I. as an Experiment. Here’s What Happened

While some researchers note the models made tasks more efficient, many scientists remain skeptical about using A.I. to author scientific work

Tim Andrews and his wife leave the hospital after he received the pig kidney transplant about nine months ago.

Pig Kidney Transplant Removed From Patient After a Record-Breaking 271 Days

Tim Andrews was the fourth patient in the United States to receive a pig kidney transplant. He will now return to dialysis and wait for a kidney from a human donor

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