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Smart News / Smart News Science

Neronian points found in Grotte Mandrin

Discovery of Ancient Baby Tooth Places Humans in Western Europe 10,000 Years Earlier Than Previously Thought

The archeologists also uncovered a number of Neanderthal artifacts suggesting the two species coexisted in the area

Though current variants don't appear to jump from deer to humans, monitoring how the virus spreads through deer populations could be critical for public health.

Discovery of Omicron in New York Deer Raises Concern Over Possible New Variants

White-tailed deer could become a reservoir for Covid-19, putting people and animals at risk

Scientists examined two Kunpengopterus sinensis specimens. The green arrows indicate the pellets and the yellow arrows indicate the isolated fish scales.

Like Owls, Some Prehistoric Flying Reptiles May Have Regurgitated Pellets

The discovery of vomited projectiles from two pterosaurs provides new clues about the its diet and digestive system

A partial woolly rhinoceros mandible with several teeth still attached.

Cool Finds

Dozens of Extinct Ice Age Animal Remains Found During Construction of a New Town in England

Archeologists found bones from a woolly mammoth, woolly rhinoceros, wolf, hyena, horse, reindeer, mountain hare, red fox and various small mammals

After years of being paralyzed from the waist down, Michel Roccati can now walk again with the aid of nerve-stimulation devices.

Good News

Spinal Stimulation Device Helps Paralyzed Patients Walk, Cycle and Swim

Within days of their implants being activated, all three men were able to walk with support

The Junction Butte Pack photographed from plane during wolf study in 2019.

Hunters Have Killed 24 Yellowstone Gray Wolves So Far This Season—the Most in Over 25 Years

An entire pack may have been ‘eliminated’ near the park’s vulnerable border in Montana, where hunting restrictions were gutted last year

Dusty, the author's cat, lies on a catnip patch on a supervised visit outside. She has a smaller brain than her ancestors.

Your Pet Cat Has a Smaller Brain Than Its Wild Ancestors

The researchers replicated experiments done in the ‘60s and ‘70s with updated knowledge of feline lineage

Over the span of 15 months, scientists cataloged 76 instances of chimps using insects on their wounds and the wounds of others. 

Chimpanzees Appear to Use Insects to Treat Their Wounds

In a first, chimps in Gabon were seen applying insects to sores on themselves—and others, a possible show of empathy

Gentoo penguins may become more numerous in parts of Antarctica that were once too icy for the temperate birds. 

New Antarctic Penguin Colonies Discovered Farther South Than Normal

As the climate warms, gentoo penguins are expanding to habitats that were previously too icy for them to raise chicks

The ice giants appear blue because of the methane in their atmospheres. Methane reflects blue light and absorbs red light. Pictured: Uranus on the left and Neptune on the right.

Why Twin-Like Ice Giants Uranus and Neptune Are Different Shades of Blue

A whiteish layer of haze forms where methane reacts with sunlight

Archeologists have found that the Ohio Hopewell collected the meteorites and forged jewelry and pan flutes out of them. Other astonishing evidence that ties in the comet include a comet-shaped earthwork called Milford Earthworks that the Hopewell people constructed near the airburst's epicenter.

Scientists Find ‘Chemical Fingerprint’ of Comet Airburst That May Have Ignited the Decline of Hopewell Culture

Many Indigenous groups documented the cosmic event with oral histories and other records, including earthworks

Scientists identified an odor receptor that detects a synthetic musk used in fragrances, and another that detects underarm odor.

Humans’ Sense of Smell May Be Worse Than Our Primate Ancestors’

The recent study also identified two new scent receptors for musk and body odor

Primrose in Iver, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. Primroses sometimes open as early as December and are native to the U.K. 

Plants Are Blossoming a Month Early in the U.K. Because of Climate Change

Earlier bloom dates could disrupt relationships between wildlife and cause species to collapse if they can’t adapt quickly enough, researchers warn

A pod of orcas surfaces in Alaska's Frederick Sound

Scientists Witness Orcas Kill Blue Whale for the First Time

A series of filmed attacks confirm that killer whales will attack the biggest animals on Earth

Although Jonathan is now blind and has lost his sense of smell, he continues to engage in his favorite pastimes: sun-bathing, sleeping, eating, and mating.

At 190, Jonathan the Tortoise Is the World’s Oldest

He will likely celebrate with some of his favorite activities: sunbathing, sleeping, eating, and mating

More than 200 preserved footprints trek across the canyon's limestone surface and give clues about what life was like millions of years ago.

Construction Trucks May Have Damaged 112-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Tracks at Mill Canyon in Utah

Nearly 30 percent of the site’s irreplaceable paleontological resources may have been impacted

The football field-length International Space Station photographed by Expedition 56 crew members on Oct. 4, 2018.

NASA Plans to Crash the International Space Station Into the Ocean in 2031

The ISS will join other decommissioned spacecraft on the seafloor at Point Nemo, the farthest point from land in the Pacific

Tc’ih-Léh-Dûñ is a 523-acre property donated to the InterTribal Sinkyone Wilderness Council.

More Than 500 Acres of Redwood Forest Returned to Indigenous Tribes

The land is home to 200 acres of old-growth trees and federally threatened animals such as the northern spotted owl and the marbled murrelet

The celestial bodies are known as NGC 7764A and reside in the Phoenix constellation 425 million light-years away from Earth.

Hubble Space Telescope Snaps Stunning Photo of a Faraway Galactic Trio

Some of the galaxies in the image resemble Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise

Scientists used satellites to get a birds-eye view of the jaw-dropping bolts.

Intense Lightning ‘Megaflashes’ Stretched Almost 500 Miles Across Three U.S. States

The bolts, which occurred in 2020, broke records for distance and duration

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