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Smart News / Smart News Science

U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón wrote a poem that will be brought to Jupiter's moon Europa.

Read the Poem NASA Will Send to Jupiter’s Moon Europa

Alongside Ada Limón’s words, you can add your name to the spacecraft that will search for life on the icy moon

A shark swims near two paddle boarders off California's coast.

Great White Sharks Come Much Closer to Swimmers Than Thought in Southern California

Juvenile white sharks and humans overlap 97 percent of the time in some warm Pacific waters, a new study finds

Three of the 24 parrots that were rescued after being smuggled out of Central America

Found Hatching in a Suitcase, Rescued Parrots Begin New Life

The 24 chicks are growing up at a conservation facility after being seized from a smuggler’s carry-on

Members of the Quelcanca community in Peru return from planting trees in the mountains, hoisting their country's flag.

These Stunning Photography Projects Tell Stories of Conservation

A new grant from Vital Impacts funds long-term efforts to document environmental solutions in the photographers’ own communities

The Classis museum of Ravenna in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna became a shelter for those displaced by last month's severe flooding.

Italy Raises Museum Prices to Help Fund Flood Relief

Recent storms damaged museum collections and turned some cultural institutions into shelters

A close-up of an urchin found on the deep-sea expeditions in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone

These Mysterious Deep-Sea Creatures Live in a Potential Mining Zone

Scientists documented more than 5,500 animal species at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, but thousands more might remain undiscovered

The mastodon tooth was discovered on Rio Del Mar State Beach in California.

Cool Finds

Woman Finds Mastodon Tooth on California Beach

The photos she shared set off a search for the fossil, which she had left behind. Now, scientists have the tooth, just the third of its kind found locally

The wolverine sighting in Yosemite National Park

Rare Wolverine Spotted in California—the Second in 101 Years

The elusive creatures disappeared from the Golden State in 1922

The toilet discovered at the House of Ahiel

New Research

Iron Age Residents of Jerusalem Suffered From Dysentery

A new analysis of 2,500-year-old toilets has found early evidence of a harmful parasite

Stronger policies around ill workers could improve food safety, the CDC says.

Sick Workers Connected to 41 Percent of Food Poisoning Outbreaks, CDC Reports

Paid sick leave policies could reduce the risk of spreading disease, notes the agency

The National Genealogical Society, based in Falls Church, Virginia, is one of the nation's oldest groups dedicated to ancestry.

National Genealogical Society Apologizes for ‘Racist and Discriminatory’ Past Actions

In a new report, the group reckons with its long history of racism and eugenicist beliefs

By 2030, demand for fuel made from animal byproducts is expected to triple, per a new report.

Using Pig Fat as Airplane Fuel Could Hurt the Environment, Study Says

Though it’s generally seen as sustainable, using animal fat to power planes could force other industries to rely on more harmful palm oil

Paleontologists discovered Oda's remarkably intact fossilized skeleton in Svalbard in 2008.

Unraveling the Mysteries of Oda the Ichthyosaur

Paleontologists used X-rays to identify the 240-million-year-old creature’s flattened and fossilized remains

Expedition tents at Everest Base Camp in the Mount Everest region of Solukhumbu District

Nepal Won’t Move the Mount Everest Base Camp for Now, Despite Risks

The camp is growing more dangerous with climate change and human activity, but it’s an ideal location for keeping hikers safe from falling ice

Rosalind Franklin's work was vital to the discovery of the structure of DNA, but her role went largely unrecognized at the time. 

Art Meets Science

New Musical Spotlights Rosalind Franklin’s DNA Discoveries

“Double Helix,” a fictionalized account of Franklin’s groundbreaking work, premieres this week

The Charterhouse Warren site in Somerset, England, in 1972. Researchers detected the DNA of plague-causing bacteria in the 4,000-year-old remains of two people found there.

4,000-Year-Old DNA Is the Oldest Evidence of Plague in Britain

Scientists found DNA of the plague-causing bacteria in the teeth of three Bronze Age people buried at two different sites

After eight months of hibernation, Arctic ground squirrels emerge in the spring hungry and ready to mate.

Climate Change Is a Wake-Up Call for Hibernating Squirrels

As spring arrives sooner, female Arctic ground squirrels are emerging from their burrows earlier, according to a new study

An image of stem cells on a computer screen from 2010. Stem cells have the potential to develop into various types of cells.

Scientists Create ‘Synthetic Embryos’ From Monkey Cells

By studying lab-grown stem cells, scientists hope to shed light on miscarriages and birth defects

Raffie the echidna, roaming through Australian rocks.

See the Rare Albino Echidna Spotted in Australia

Dubbed Raffie, the egg-laying mammal is an unusual color and “beautiful”

Blister packs of Ketamine lozenges

Could Ketamine Treat Severe Depression?

Research suggests the anesthetic is at least as effective as electroconvulsive therapy, the current standard for treatment-resistant depression

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