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Smart News / Smart News Science

A woodpecker prepares to smash its beak against a tree. 

Woodpeckers Don’t Have Shock-Absorbing Skulls

The birds’ small brain size protects them from getting concussions, a new study finds

Footage of the beluga whales is captured by the beluga research vessel, Delphi, which uses two cameras, one underwater and one above deck to observe 55,000 beluga whales migrate to the Hudson Bay's shallow waters.

Watch Thousands of Beluga Whales Migrate From the Arctic

Two webcams give a front-row seat to the whales’ daily activities

The space rock, recovered from the Western Sahara of Africa in 2011, formed 4.5 billion years ago and slammed into Earth after an asteroid impact sent it flying across space five to ten million years ago.

Oldest Martian Meteorite on Earth Traced to Its Origin on the Red Planet

Researchers used machine learning algorithms to determine which crater on Mars the space rock came from

The protein-based Covid-19 vaccine from Maryland biotechnology company Novavax. 

FDA Authorizes Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine for Emergency Use

The shots work similar to the way that vaccines against influenza and shingles work

A green crab, Carcinus maenas

Innovation for Good: Game Changers

New Hampshire Distillery Makes Whiskey Out of Invasive Crabs

Each bottle uses about one pound of green crabs

Well digging behaviors have been observed previously in areas with dry habitats, and researchers only know of three chimpanzee groups in the savannah that do so.

Rainforest Chimpanzees Seen Digging Wells for the First Time

The primates may be burrowing for cleaner water

Park visitors walk along a section of the Great Salt Lake that used to be underwater at the Great Salt Lake State Park near Magna, Utah. 

Utah’s Great Salt Lake Is Drying Out

Water levels, the lowest ever measured, are placing migrating birds, local communities and economic development at high risk

A Long March-3B carrier rocket blasts off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center on October 24, 2021. 

There Is a 10 Percent Chance Someone Will Die From Falling Rocket Debris in the Next Decade

Those in the Global South face an increased risk of getting hit by falling pieces, according to a new study

The gophers spend most of their time underground and only venture to the outside world to forage for food or mate.

Pocket Gophers May Be the First Non-Human Mammal to ‘Farm’

The rodents don’t plant, of course, but they do tend to roots in their tunnels that they then eat

Smoke and flames rise as the forest burns at Yosemite National Park in California on July 10, 2022.

Wildfire Burns in Yosemite National Park, Threatening Giant Sequoia Trees

The Washburn Fire has scorched more than 2,000 acres since it was first reported on Thursday

Brooding requires a significant sacrifice for a mother Bathyteuthis berryi. Though she can't feed or quickly escape from predators while carrying her eggs, she can ensure her young stay in water that has the right temperature, salinity and oxygen levels.

Watch a Deep-Sea Squid Carry Hundreds of Pearl-Like Eggs

Footage taken 56 miles off California’s coast documents rarely-observed brooding behavior

Seals in Bar Harbor, Maine

Seal Strandings in Maine Linked to Bird Flu

Four stranded pinnipeds tested positive for the avian influenza H5N1

The underground pitchers of Nepenthes pudica

This New Species of Carnivorous Pitcher Plant Traps Its Prey Underground

Researchers discovered the new specimen in the rainforests of Borneo

V. boliviana is now the world’s largest known giant waterlily species, with leaves that can grow almost ten feet wide in the wild.

New Species of Giant Waterlily Is the Largest in the World

The discovery of the enormous plant type surprised researchers

A model of an oarfish

Rare Oarfish Caught on Video on Great Barrier Reef

This is the first record of the species on the eastern seaboard of Australia

A Gorgosaurus skeleton measuring 10 feet tall is unveiled at Sothebys in New York, on July 05, 2022.

A Gorgosaurus Skeleton Will Be Privately Auctioned Off for the First Time

The specimen is expected to sell for $5 million to $8 million

Scientists asked participants to record their emotions and hunger levels five times a day for three weeks.

Getting ‘Hangry’ Is Real, Science Suggests

A new study explores the link between hunger and anger in the real world—and finds a connection

The shortlisted images range from showing Earth as blue marble against thousands of twinkling stars, distant nebulae, swirling galaxies, and stunning photos of the solar system.

Good News

View Amazing Shots of Space From the Astronomy Photographer of the Year Contest

Each shortlisted photo is in the running to win the grand prize and will be on display at the National Maritime Museum in London

Helicopters fly above the collapsed section of the Marmolada glacier in Italy.

Glacier Collapse Kills Seven Hikers Amid Record Heat in Italy’s Dolomites

Rescuers are still searching for missing people after the deadly avalanche on Marmolada on Sunday

The female python weighed 215 pounds and measured 18 feet long.

Florida Biologists Capture Record-Breaking 215-Pound Python

Invasive Burmese pythons are wreaking havoc on native wildlife and ecosystems in the Everglades

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