Smart News Science

The dodo, now extinct, weighed about 50 pounds, had blue and grey feathers and couldn't fly.

This Company Wants to Bring the Dodo Back From Extinction

Colossal Biosciences plans to de-extinct the dodo, but some scientists question whether it’s ethical—or even plausible

An artistic illustration of Egyptian embalmers in the underground embalming workshop at Saqqara

The Surprising Substances Ancient Egyptians Used to Mummify the Dead

An analysis of 2,500-year-old embalming ingredients suggests some of them came from far-off places

Northern quolls are the smallest of Australia's four quoll species.

Too Much Sex and Too Little Sleep Can Kill These Endangered Marsupials

A study finds male northern quolls forgo rest to travel up to 6.5 miles in one night in search of a mate—the equivalent of a human walking 25 miles

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie with some of the sample tubes it left on the Red Planet's surface using the camera at the end of its robotic arm.

Perseverance Rover Completes Depot of Mars Rock Samples

The collection is a failsafe for the Mars Sample Return project, which aims to deliver Martian rocks to Earth

A dolphin giving a cue to a fisher in Laguna, Brazil.

Dolphins and Humans Work Together to Catch Fish in Brazil

The partnership has endured for some 150 years, and it benefits both species, a new study finds

The Tongass National Forest is home to a variety of wildlife, including bald eagles, salmon, brown bears and wolves.

Alaska

U.S. Restores Protections for Alaska’s Tongass National Forest

A new federal rule restricts road construction and logging in the country’s largest national forest

Members of Western Australia's Department of Fire and Emergency Services search an 870-mile stretch of highway for a radioactive capsule believed to have fallen off a truck.

A Radioactive Capsule Is Lost in Western Australia's Desert

Exposure to the substance could cause burns and radiation sickness, authorities say

Blood donations have dropped around the United States during the Covid-19 pandemic.

More Gay and Bisexual Men Could Soon Donate Blood

Since 1985, federal blood donor restrictions have barred many men who have sex with men from participating

A bear in Colorado took a liking to a wildlife camera, capturing hundreds of selfies.

This Black Bear Took Hundreds of ‘Selfies’ on a Wildlife Camera

Of the 580 images captured by the camera in November, about 400 were of the bear

The crack called Chasm-1 had been dormant for decades until 2012. Now, it has created a new iceberg.

Iceberg Twice the Size of New York City Breaks off From Antarctica

The event was expected and not linked to climate change, researchers say

The eugenics movement formed the basis for policies in Nazi Germany and discrimination against Black people based on sickle cell disease in the United States.

Genetics Society Issues Apology for Ties to Eugenics and Racism

In a new report, the American Society of Human Genetics details its failures to address false and unjust uses of the field

A person-shaped robot liquifies to escape a cage, then cools back into its original shape in a mold placed in the ground outside the bars.

This Shape-Shifting Robot Can Liquefy Itself and Reform

The technology could one day assemble and repair hard-to-reach circuits, act as a universal screw or retrieve foreign objects from a body, researchers say

A portrait of Anne d’Alégre, a 17th-century French noblewoman who masked her poor dentition with gold wire and an elephant ivory false tooth

What Secrets Lie Beneath This 17th-Century French Aristocrat's Smile?

New research suggests noblewoman Anne d’Alégre used gold wire to keep her decaying teeth in place

An orbital diagram shows that 2023 BU's trajectory (in red) passed closer to Earth on January 26, 2023 than the orbits of geosynchronous satellites (in green). 

An Asteroid Just Passed Very Close to Earth

The truck-sized space rock came within 2,200 miles of our planet, closer than some satellites

Concept art for the final form of NASA's experimental X-57 Maxwell electric plane. The plane is not expected to ever reach this phase, as the program's time and funds are running out.

NASA’s Electric Plane Will Take Flight This Year—but Its Future Is Uncertain

The X-57 Maxwell has removed some barriers to electric flight, but its funding expires soon

Some fungi can take over ants' minds, killing the host and using its body to spread spores to other victims.

The Real Zombie Fungus That Inspired HBO's 'The Last of Us'

Humans will probably never face a fungal apocalypse, but in the insect world, mind-controlling fungi can pose a serious threat

Wolves on Pleasant Island are actively hunting and eating sea otters.

Alaska

In Alaska, Hungry Wolves Have Started Eating Sea Otters

After devouring their island's deer, these canines may be the first land predators to rely on sea otters as a main food source

The first traffic court case to use a "robot lawyer" is set for February 22.

The First 'A.I. Lawyer' Will Help Defendants Fight Speeding Tickets

Two people equipped with Bluetooth earpieces will repeat to a judge what the robot tells them

Ants don't have noses, but they detect scents using antennae atop their heads.

These Ants Were Trained to Sniff Out Cancer

In just ten minutes, an ant could learn to identify urine from mice with cancerous tumors, a new study finds

An artist's rendition of a cross-section of Earth. The innermost layer, the inner core, is a 1,500-mile-wide ball of iron.

The Spin of Earth's Inner Core May Be Changing, Scientists Say

A new study finds our planet's iron center shifts between spinning slightly faster and slightly slower than the surface—but not all experts agree

loading icon