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Smart News / Smart News Science

Rosalind Franklin's work with X-ray imaging played an important part in the discovery of DNA's structure.

Women Who Shaped History

What We’re Still Learning About Rosalind Franklin’s Unheralded Brilliance

Using new historical evidence, two scientists argue the female chemist was more involved in discovering DNA’s structure than she got credit for

In a recent study, researchers examined 40 videos of great apes spinning on ropes and calculated their average rotational velocity.

Great Apes Love to Spin Around—Here’s Why

A recent study suggests that apes, like humans, seek out altered mental states

Aurora borealis captured in northern Minnesota on April 23.

Widespread Auroras That Lit Skies This Week Are Getting More Common

The stunning colors that dazzled viewers on Sunday will appear again as the sun’s activity builds to a peak in 2025

The bone fragment from four different angles, with a white scale bar representing one centimeter. The flat side of the bone contains puncture marks that suggest it was a punch board used for tailoring hides.

This 39,600-Year-Old Bone May Have Been Used by Prehistoric Tailors

New research suggests early Homo sapiens punched holes in leather hides to create seams for clothing

The lioness, photographed by a trail camera in February, is likely around five years old.

First Lion Spotted in Chad National Park in 20 Years Is ‘Beautiful’ and ‘Healthy’

A trail camera snapped a photograph of the lounging big cat, giving wildlife officials renewed hope about the species’ recovery in West and Central Africa

Hawaiian monk seal Kaiwi and her pup lie face-to-face in the sand on Kaimana Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, on April 20.

Newborn Monk Seal Pup and Mother Get 24/7 Police Protection

Wildlife officials closed down a popular Hawaiian beach to protect the pair of endangered mammals

Park-goers hoping to catch a glimpse of the synchronized flashing of fireflies can soon enter a lottery.

How You Can See Tens of Thousands of Fireflies Flash in Unison

The lottery for viewing these bioluminescent bugs at Great Smoky Mountains National Park opens Friday

Mars and Deimos in a high-resolution composite image captured by the United Arab Emirates' Hope probe

See the First Detailed Close-Ups of Mars’ Moon Deimos

A United Arab Emirates spacecraft took a high-resolution look at the mysterious moon and uncovered new evidence about its origin

A drone made from a taxidermy bird.

Scientists Are Making Drones From Taxidermy Birds

They want to use the devices for less disruptive wildlife monitoring and to learn more about avian flight

Huge quantities of plastics make their way into oceans and other bodies of water.

The Pacific Garbage Patch Is Home to Coastal Species—in the Middle of the Ocean

These out-of-place organisms are thriving on floating trash, but they may compete with open-water species

Sleeping northern elephant seals on the beach at Año Nuevo State Park, California.

Elephant Seals Take Extreme Power Naps in the Open Ocean

While foraging on deep dives, the marine mammals sleep for about two hours per day in short, ten-minute bursts

The submersible Alvin collects samples from rocky outcrop in the newly discovered coral reef.

See the Pristine Coral Reefs Found off the Galápagos Islands

These ancient deep-sea reefs have barely been affected by humans and can provide a way to measure the impact of climate change on corals

Ellie, an 11-year-old Goffin’s cockatoo, video chats with a friend.

Scientists Taught Pet Parrots to Video Call Each Other—and the Birds Loved It

Wild parrots tend to fly in flocks, but when kept as single pets, they may become lonely and bored

The New York City Fire Department's robotic dog

Robot Dog Surveys Collapsed New York Parking Garage

With the city’s police department also using the four-legged technology, residents are raising questions about the robot’s place in public safety

Sarracenia pitcher plants typically live in bogs in the southeastern United States.

Carnivorous Plants May Lure Insects With Specially Tailored Scents

Pitcher plants appear to use different odor cocktails to attract bees, moths, ants and other bugs into their death traps

Murphy with his new charge

Eagle Who Thought Rock Was an Egg Finally Gets to Be a Dad

A lucky coincidence has given Murphy the opportunity to nurture an eaglet of his own

One of the animal coffins, topped with a part-eel, part-cobra, human-headed figure

Lizard Remains Found Inside 2,500-Year-Old Coffins from Ancient Egypt

Researchers at the British Museum used neutron tomography to get a look inside the still-sealed metal boxes without damaging the artifacts

A medical illustration of the right half of a human brain from 1876.

Scientists Update Map of How Our Brains Control Movement

The traditional diagram showed brain regions linked to specific body parts, but we might also have areas connected to whole-body control

A guanaco successfully retrieves food from a cup with a lid.

Outsider Animals May Be the Best at Solving Problems

Researchers tested whether hoofed mammals could retrieve food from a lidded cup, and those lower in the pecking order were the most successful

Electric cars from Tesla, photographed in 2018

EPA Proposes Tightest-Ever Emissions Limits for Cars

If approved, the rules could lead to electric vehicles comprising 67 percent of new car sales by 2032

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