Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Science

The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, one of the radio telescopes used to detect the pulses from pulsars in the new research. The telescope started to fall apart in 2020 and was decommisioned.

Gravitational Waves Create a Constant ‘Hum’ Across the Universe

Breakthrough research suggests the continuous ripples in spacetime could be caused by pairs of supermassive black holes, spiraling toward collisions

Forensic artist Hew Morrison created this rendering based on the skull of the girl.

Forensic Artist Reconstructs the Face of a Teenager Who Lived 1,300 Years Ago

Researchers have spent a decade unraveling the mysteries of the girl’s unusual burial site

Dolphins and humans both change how they communicate when they're around babies.

Dolphins Use Baby Talk When Their Calves Are Around

Like humans, female dolphins make higher-pitched vocalizations when communicating with their young

Scientists observed two separate groups of orangutans making biphonations, or two sounds at once.

Orangutans Can Beatbox, Just Like Humans

The primates can simultaneously make sounds with their mouth and throat, a finding that may shed light on the evolution of human speech

A reddish egret catches a fish.

The Wonderful World of Birds

See 11 Breathtaking Bird Images From the Audubon Photography Awards

The pictures capture the marvelous behaviors of Earth’s feathered species and the habitats they need to survive

A resident and his dog sunbath at Zilker Park on June 27, 2023 in Austin, Texas.

Heat Wave Gripping the Southern U.S. Will Spread This Week

Some areas may face a heat index as high as 120 degrees

An illustration of the Victorian grassland earless dragon, which, until February, had not been seen in the wild since 1969.

Scientists Find the ‘Extinct’ Victorian Earless Dragon, Not Seen Since 1969

Once thought to be gone from the wild, the lizards will now enter a breeding program in an attempt to save them from the brink of extinction

Female Anopheles mosquitoes infected with the parasite that causes malaria can spread the disease to humans through a bite.

Malaria Spread in the U.S. for the First Time Since 2003, CDC Says

Five infections caught locally in Florida and Texas have prompted health alerts from state and federal agencies

The massive sharks known as megalodons ruled the oceans for some 20 million years.

Megalodons Were Warm-Blooded—and It Was a Blessing and a Curse

The giant sharks likely warmed some of their body parts, helping them grow massive but leaving them vulnerable to environmental changes, a new study finds

NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan during a 2020 space walk at the International Space Station. Researchers theorize that the weightlessness astronauts experience on the ISS contributes to immune system dysfunction.

Why Astronauts Have Weaker Immune Systems in Space

Gene activity in white blood cells decreased once astronauts got to space—and it didn’t rebound until they returned, a new study finds

A photo of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcanic eruption taken on December 24, 2021, before the biggest eruption on January 15, 2022. Tsunamis caused by the eruption killed at six people in Tonga and Peru and displaced more than 1,500 people on Tongan islands.

Tonga Volcano Sparked the Most Intense Lightning Storm Ever Recorded

Last year’s eruption produced a raging storm at unprecedented altitudes, with 2,600 lightning flashes per minute at its peak

A recent incident suggests the boat-bashing behavior of orcas in the Strait of Gibraltar might be spreading to other groups.

Orca Rams Into Yacht Near Scotland, Suggesting the Behavior May Be Spreading

The incident occurred roughly 2,000 miles away from the recent encounters near Spain and Portugal

A coral reef in Honolulu, Hawaii. Half of global coral coverage has disappeared since the 1950s.

Coral Reefs Host a Vast Diversity of Microbes

A two-year expedition at sea uncovered more than half a million varieties of microbial life in Pacific reef-dwelling organisms

Tighter curls may dissipate more heat than other types of hair or no hair.

Curly Hair Keeps the Head Coolest

A new study suggests our locks may have evolved to prevent our brain from overheating

The white spots on the edges of a monarch butterfly's wings might give it an advantage while migrating, according to new research.

Monarch Butterflies’ Signature White Spots May Help Them Fly

These long-distance migrants could get a boost from their striking coloration, which may reduce drag by heating and cooling air unevenly

Mormon crickets, present in several states across the U.S., are linked to crop damage and can be a nuisance.

Mormon Crickets Are Creating Havoc in Nevada

In Elko, the insects have caused accidents on roads and problems in town

The Titan submersible. The five people aboard may run out of oxygen on Thursday morning Eastern time.

Crew of Missing Titanic Tourist Submersible Believed to Be Dead

Debris found near the historic shipwreck suggests the Titan experienced a “catastrophic implosion”

A chicken nugget made from cell-cultivated meat. The companies plan to start by selling their product to restaurants. 

USDA Approves First Lab-Grown Chicken in the United States

Two companies have received the green light to produce and sell chicken they have cultivated from cells

A boy looks at a water pump on a street in New York City. Between 1993 and 2010, researchers estimate that humans have pumped over two trillion tons of water out of the ground.

Humans Have Shifted Earth’s Axis by Pumping Lots of Groundwater

Removing water from the ground has led to sea-level rise and caused Earth’s axis to shift by about 2.6 feet between 1993 and 2010, per a new study

A three-to-four-minute exposure captures the light of a drone as it traces the shape of two cones in the sky along California's coast.

This Physicist Uses Drones to Create Giant Light Cones in the Desert

Evoking a key concept in relativity, Elliot McGucken traces out hourglass-like shapes in the sky that stretch as high as a seven-story building

Page 125 of 538