Smart News Science

On April 24, 1991—a year after it was launched into space—Hubble snapped a shot of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, a relic of a star that exploded in a massive cataclysm about 15,000 years ago.

Education During Coronavirus

This NASA Website Shows What the Hubble Telescope Saw on Your Birthday

The snazzy search is part of the telescope’s 30th anniversary celebration

An ongoing study by the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center has found a 35 percent increase in dream recall and a 15 percent increase in negative dreams.

Covid-19

Insomnia and Vivid Dreams on the Rise With COVID-19 Anxiety

Fears around the pandemic are causing sleep patterns to change and strange dreams to linger in people’s memories

Some rough-skinned newts host bacteria on their skin that produce the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin to keep predators at bay.

New Research

Toxic Newts Use Bacteria to Become Deadly Prey

Scientists discover neurotoxin-producing bacteria living on the skin of rough-skinned newts

An artist's illustration depicting the collision of two 125-mile-wide asteroids orbiting the star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years away.

'Disappearing' Exoplanet Might Not Have Been a Planet After All

Study suggests alleged exoplanet may have been a cloud of asteroid debris

Researchers have discovered an unexpected way that larger bits of plastic are transformed into microplastics in the sea: lobsters. (The study involved Norway lobsters, pictured here.)

Norway Lobsters Crush Ocean Plastic Into Even Smaller Pieces—and That's Bad

The crustaceans' guts pulverize plastics into tiny bits that can be consumed by even smaller creatures at the base of the ocean food chain

Cricosaurus suevicus is an ancient relative of modern crocodiles that spent its life in the ocean.

New Research

Like Dolphins and Whales, Ancient Crocodiles Evolved to Spend Their Time at Sea

Researchers tracked changes in the crocodilian creatures’ inner ears to learn how they moved into the sea

Bald Eagles Found Nesting in Arizona Saguaro Cactus for First Time in Decades

The prickly perch is an exciting sign of success for the birds, which came off the endangered species list in 2007

Folium was used to illustrate illuminated manuscripts—and color the rind of a popular Dutch cheese.

Art Meets Science

Researchers Follow a 15th-Century Recipe to Recreate Medieval Blue Ink

The purplish-blue pigment, derived from a Portuguese fruit, fell out of use by the 19th century

Researchers staged fights using recreated Bronze Age weapons to better understand how they might have been used in ancient fighting.

New Research

Scientists Stage Sword Fights to Study Bronze Age Warfare

Research suggests bronze blades, thought by some to be too fragile for combat, were deadly weapons across ancient Europe

7,000-year-old dog feces from China's Anhui province

Artificial Intelligence Gives Researchers the Scoop on Ancient Poop

The computer program can identify canine versus human feces based on DNA sequences in samples

A male lemur with clearly visible scent glands on its wrists.

For Male Lemurs, Love Stinks—and Scientists Now Know Why

A newly identified trio of chemicals may help the primates find a mate

As scientists stay home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, crucial weather and climate data aren't being collected.

How COVID-19 Interferes With Weather Forecasts and Climate Research

'The break in the scientific record is probably unprecedented,' one ecologist says

The unique scent of rain may actually be a chemical signal used by bacteria to attract this tiny arthropod, called a springtail.

New Research

How Rain Evolved Its Distinct Scent—and Why Animals and Humans Love It

New research reveals the ancient symbiotic relationship behind geosmin, the chemical compound responsible for the scent of fresh rain

A conceptual diagram, showing the installation of a telescope in a crater on the far (dark) side of the moon.

The Far Side of the Moon May Someday Have Its Own Telescope, Thanks to NASA Funding

The project hasn’t yet been greenlit, but a proposal just got major funding to explore the potential for the lunar observatory

Farm workers loading apples onto a truck in an orchard, circa 1965.

Cool Finds

Ten Apple Varieties Once Thought Extinct Rediscovered in Pacific Northwest

The "lost" apples will help restore genetic, culinary diversity to a crop North America once produced in astonishing variety

Delicate blossoms might get knocked down, but they get up again.

New Research

How Flowers Marvelously Evolved Resilience

Blossoms contort and twist back into optimal pollination position after getting bumped and battered

MLB employees, including players, executives and stadium workers, are participating voluntarily and their results will be anonymous—so this research will not expedite the return of baseball season.

Major League Baseball Players Pitch In for a Major COVID-19 Study

Major League Baseball players and team employees to participate in 10,000-person COVID-19 study

Flamingos mingle in a small group at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust at Slimbridge in England.

New Research

Flamingos in Captivity Pick Favorite Friends Among the Flock

These cliques wear pink every day of the week

An image of the April 2012 Lyrid meteor shower raining down on Earth, taken from the International Space Station.

How To Watch April’s Lyrid Meteor Shower From Home

Though not as plentiful as the Perseids in summer, the Lyrids can serve up some serious fireballs

Health care workers at Stanford and the University of Massachusetts who have placed smiling portraits of themselves on the outside of their protective gear

Covid-19

Portrait Project Reveals the Faces Behind Health Care Workers' Protective Gear

Doctors and nurses are attaching smiling photos of themselves to the outside of their protective gear to maintain connections with patients

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