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Smart News / Smart News Science

Researchers are developing A.I.-based facial recognition tools to identify individual bears.

How Do Researchers Identify Individual Bears in the Wild? They Could Soon Do It Through A.I. Facial Recognition Technology

Such tools could help scientists track population sizes or recognize aggressive animals that have attacked humans

Intermittent fasting involves cycling between periods of eating normally and fasting

Intermittent Fasting Might Not Live Up to the Hype When It Comes to Weight Loss, New Research Suggests

The popular eating strategy is about as effective as doing nothing to lose weight, according to a review of several clinical trials

Couples kissed beneath the arch for luck, according to local legend.

Couples Have Been Kissing Under the Lovers’ Arch in Italy for Years. On Valentine’s Day, It Collapsed Into the Sea

The iconic rock formation crumbled after days of raging storms. Local officials are calling for new initiatives to help slow coastal erosion in the region

An artistic rendering of the 'inside out' solar system

Astronomers Discover an Exoplanet in the Wrong Place, Hinting at a Planetary System That Was Born ‘Inside Out’

A rocky planet was found orbiting its host star in an unusual location

Chacma baboons (Papio ursinus) get jealous of their siblings' grooming sessions. 

Like Humans, Baboons Get Jealous of Their Siblings

A new study found that young baboons try to interrupt their mother when she is grooming a sibling

Chins are a uniquely human feature.

Why Do Humans Have Chins? They Might Be an Evolutionary Accident, New Research Suggests

The bony facial protrusion might be an evolutionary byproduct that resulted from changes to other parts of the skull, according to a new study

The greater Bermuda land snail

Scientists Once Thought This Snail Was Extinct. But a Surprising Discovery and Decade-Long Conservation Effort Revived the Species

Conservationists have bred and released more than 100,000 greater Bermuda land snails

An artist's rendition of an imploding star, surrounded by expelled gas and dust shown in red

A Star Suddenly Brightened, Then Faded Into Darkness. Astronomers Say It May Have Turned Into a Black Hole

If confirmed, this disappearing act might provide the closest and best observational evidence for the birth of a black hole

Researchers developed a tiny fart-measuring device that snaps into underwear. 

How Often Do You Fart? This ‘Smart Underwear’ Can Keep Track, Because Figuring Out a Baseline Is Important for Science

Researchers have launched a study to find a typical range for flatulence, which has been harder to measure than you might expect

European robins normally live in western Eurasia and parts of North Africa, but this one somehow ended up in Canada.

Bird-Watchers Flock to Montreal to Catch a Glimpse of Canada’s First Known European Robin

Experts don’t know how the little songbird traveled across the Atlantic Ocean

An elephant has about 1,000 whiskers on its trunk.

An Elephant’s Trunk Is Covered in Whiskers—and They’re Unlike Those on Any Other Animal, a New Study Suggests

Hundreds of the specialized hairs help the poor-sighted creatures navigate the world

Desert sunflowers blooming in Death Valley National Park in 2016

Will a Dazzling Display of Wildflowers Spread Across California This Spring?

Superblooms are rare events that occur when conditions perfectly align. Officials hope that visitors will be able to see brightly colored landscapes in the weeks ahead

Earth's core is mostly made of the metals iron and nickel, but it also contains lighter elements like hydrogen, oxygen and silicon. 

Earth’s Core Might Hold Dozens of Oceans Worth of Hydrogen, Hinting at the Origins of the Planet’s Vast Water Supply

Scientists have long debated whether most of Earth’s vital liquid was delivered via icy comets or was homemade

Seabird poop, along with food waste, feathers and carcasses, accumulates as guano, which is prized as a nutrient-rich fertilizer.

Seabird Poop May Have Fueled This Pre-Inca Kingdom’s Rise to Power in South America

The Chincha Kingdom used nutrient-rich seabird guano as fertilizer for maize, according to a new study

The waved albatross.

Why a Marine Ecologist Was Thrilled to See a Critically Endangered Bird Very Far From Home

The farthest north the waved albatross had been seen was Costa Rica, so what was it doing off the coast of California?

Researchers found the remains of ten individuals in a burial pit near Cambridge, England.

Archaeology Students Unearth an Early Medieval Burial Pit During a Training Dig in England

Likely related to clashes between the kingdoms of Mercia and East Anglia, the site included the remains of a 6-foot-5 man who had undergone brain surgery

An artistic representation of T. heberti snacking on some greens.

Cool Finds

A Football-Size Creature That Lived 307 Million Years Ago May Have Been One of the First Land Vertebrates to Eat Plants

“Hebert’s tyrant digger” had teeth built for grinding tough veggies, a new study suggests

Rhesus macaques at the Oregon National Primate Research Center

A Massive Monkey Research Center Might Turn Into a Primate Sanctuary. Animal Activists Rejoice, While Scientists Worry

The Oregon National Primate Research Center will explore a potentially federally supported transition with the National Institutes of Health

Luna 9's landing was a pivotal moment in history.

Scientists Say They May Have Found a Long-Lost Lunar Lander—the First to Successfully Touch Down on the Moon 60 Years Ago

Data from a NASA lunar orbiter has helped researchers deduce two potential locations for a defunct Soviet spacecraft called Luna 9

The 244-pound fish was the 27th halibut caught this season.

Ice Fishermen Catch Record-Breaking 244-Pound Atlantic Halibut After Hours-Long Struggle

Six men spent more than two hours tugging the massive flatfish from a frozen fjord in Quebec as part of a research project studying halibut populations in the region

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