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Smart News / Smart News Science

Firefighters have observed fire whirls on the north side of the York Fire.

Spinning ‘Fire Whirls’ Tear Through the Mojave Desert Amid California’s Largest Wildfire This Year

The dangerous columns of fire can rapidly change direction and spread embers over long distances

Phoenix, Arizona recorded temperatures of 110 degrees Fahrenheit and above for 31 days in a row.

July Was Likely Earth’s Hottest Month on Record

With El Niño and human-caused climate change expected to bring more heat in the future, scientists say July’s extreme temperatures could soon be surpassed

A sun bear at the Hangzhou Zoo in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, on August 1, 2023.

Sun Bears Are Not Humans in Disguise, but They Deserve to Go Viral Anyway

Learn five reasons the ursines are so amazing, including their ten-inch-long tongues

An artist's interpretation of what Perucetus colossus would have looked like when it lived some 38 million years ago

This Massive Extinct Whale May Be the Heaviest Animal That Ever Lived

The newly discovered behemoth could unseat the blue whale for the title, but scientists can only make educated guesses about its weight

An aerial view of the city's canal system taken in 2012

UNESCO Recommends Adding Venice to List of World Heritage in Danger

Throngs of tourists and rising water levels are threatening to overwhelm the historic city

The family of Henrietta Lacks pose with a statue of Henrietta Lacks and the artist at an unveiling in the United Kingdom in 2021.

Henrietta Lacks’ Family Settles Lawsuit Over the Use of Her Cells Without Consent

Lacks’ endlessly replicating cancer cells, collected without her knowledge in 1951, have enabled major medical breakthroughs

Mountaineers came upon the gear and remains of a hiker missing since 1986 last month.

Melting Swiss Glacier Reveals Remains of Climber Who Disappeared in 1986

As climate change warms the planet, more discoveries of human remains and objects in ice are expected to occur

The meat allergy is linked to bites from the lone star tick, most commonly found in the southeastern, south-central and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.

A Meat Allergy Linked to Tick Bites May Be Increasing in the U.S., CDC Report Finds

As many as 450,000 people may have the potentially life-threatening condition, with thousands of those cases undiagnosed, the agency estimates

A test image taken by Euclid's infrared light instrument showing distant stars and galaxies.

See the First Stunning Test Images From the Euclid Space Telescope

Meant to study the “dark universe,” Europe’s space observatory will eventually peer ten billion years into the past and map more than one-third of the sky

An artist's depiction of one of NASA's Voyager spacecraft entering interstellar space.

NASA Hears ‘Heartbeat’ From Voyager 2 After Losing Touch With the Distant Probe

The space agency has been trying to contact the 46-year-old craft after accidentally causing its antenna to point two degrees away from Earth

Archaeologists uncovered human remains and a mysterious arrangement of boulders at the site in the Shetland Islands.

4,000-Year-Old Cemetery Discovered Beneath Future Rocket Launch Pad in U.K.

Artifacts found at the site will help scientists shed new light on the groups living on the Shetland Islands

Roseate spoonbills typically inhabit Texas, Florida, Central America and South America. The individual pictured here is not the one seen in Wisconsin.

Rare Pink Bird Spotted in Wisconsin for the First Time in 178 Years

A roseate spoonbill ventured far outside of its usual territory to make an appearance near Green Bay, delighting local birdwatchers in the process

Taylor Swift performed at Lumen Field in Seattle on July 22 and 23.

Taylor Swift Concerts Are Generating Seismic Activity

The artist’s two recent shows in Seattle shook the ground so much that they registered on a nearby seismometer

Researchers think that servants maintained the site year round, while royals only came to Machu Picchu during the dry season.

New Research

Servants at Machu Picchu Came From Distant Corners of the Inca Empire

The city’s servant class was a genetically diverse community, according to a new study of ancient DNA

Candida auris

This Fungus Is Quickly Spreading, and Climate Change May Be to Blame

Washington state reported its first case of Candida auris, which can cause illness in people with weakened immune systems

Rats make a high-pitched sound similar to laughter when they're being tickled.

Tickling Rats Reveals a Brain Region Linked to Laughter and Play

This group of neurons could someday inform the treatment of depression and anxiety in humans, scientists say

A woman with long Covid, suffering symptoms including extreme fatigue and brain fog, rests on her couch on February 3, 2022.

Long Covid’s Brain Fog Is Akin to ‘Aging Ten Years,’ Study Finds

Scientists tested the cognitive function of more than 3,000 participants and found those with longer-lasting Covid symptoms had the strongest decline

The Los Angeles thread millipede (Illacme socal)

New 486-Legged Millipede Species Found Near Los Angeles

The discovery by two naturalists demonstrates that unknown creatures can lie “right below our feet”

The grave held a sword, usually buried with men, as well as a mirror, usually buried with women.

New Research

Iron Age Warrior Buried With a Sword and Mirror Was a Woman, Study Says

The unusual burial on a small island off of England sheds new light on women’s role in Iron Age warfare

Permafrost melts into the Kolyma River outside of Zyryanka, Russia, in 2019. The worms in the new study seem to have survived buried deep in the permafrost for tens of thousands of years.

Scientists Revive 46,000-Year-Old Roundworms From Siberian Permafrost

The nematodes had survived in a state of slowed metabolism called cryptobiosis, according to a new paper

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