Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Science

The rechargeable and reusable system is controlled by a sensor that analyzes the location of the rider and backpack 1,100 times per second. If it detects a fall, an electric igniter automatically deploys the airbags before the wearer makes impact.

New Backpack Deploys Airbags to Protect Bicycle Riders in Accidents

Electronic sensors detect fall from bike and inflate football-style shoulder pads for upper-torso protection

Heavy metal-fortified mandibles help leafcutter ants save energy and muscle mass.

Heavy Metals Give Ants a Powerful Bite

A combination of metal atoms and natural proteins is the secret behind the super-strong jaws, claws and stingers of some tiny animals

New research suggests that clouds affected by wildfire smoke hold more water droplets but are tiny and less likely drop as rain.

Smoky Clouds That Form Over Wildfires Produce Less Rain

Particles from the smoke create tiny droplets too small to fall to Earth

Environmental scientist Alexandra Ordoñez Alvarez from the University of Queensland collects data in Far Northern Great Barrier Reef on Ashmore Bank.

Scientists Complete the First Map of the World’s Coral Reefs

Nearly 100,000 square miles of the organism have been charted in high detail to create a tool for conservationists to help save them

When comparing the genomes, the team found that the birds of Stewart Island had less genetic diversity than the mainland birds and had half as many mutations as the birds that dwelled on the mainland.

Thousands of Years of Inbreeding May Have Saved This Flightless Parrot From Extinction

The Kākāpō had fewer mutations in its genome despite a small genetic pool and long history of isolation due to a previous near-extinction event

T. gainesi was enormous compared to other ocean creatures living during the Cambrian era, measuring almost 2 feet or half a meter long when most other species measured about the size of a pinky finger.

Ancient Predator With Massive Helmet-Like Shell Unearthed in Canada

The creature was one of the earliest known large predators on Earth

Musk ducks join an elite group of non-human animals that can mimic speech.

Listen to Ripper the Duck Say ‘You Bloody Fool!’

New research highlights the rare trait of vocal learning among animals with examples of musk ducks imitating human speech and other noises

Orca will be able to capture the equivalent of the annual emissions made by 790 cars.

Innovation for Good

World’s Largest Carbon Capture Plant Opens in Iceland

‘Orca’ will use geothermal energy to pull thousands of metric tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and pump it underground

Perseverance drilled into a briefcase-sized Martian boulder named Rochette. The rock is located in the Citadelle location within the Jezero Crater.

NASA’s Perseverance Rover Successfully Obtains First Martian Rock Sample

The sample is stored inside an airtight titanium tube that will be sent back to Earth in a future mission in the early 2030s

An Israeli study finds that Covid-19 immunity is significantly improved by a third Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination.

New Research

Israeli Study Finds Third Shot Provides Significant Boost in Covid-19 Immunity

Israeli study finds infection rate drops dramatically with third Pfizer-BioNTech vaccination

Hammerhead sharks have are considered critically endangered.

More Than a Third of Shark Species Are Now Threatened With Extinction

Overfishing, habitat loss and climate change are behind the ‘desperate’ decline

Scientists suspect that the vultures have expanded into Indiana in the past few decades because of climate change and changes in land use.

Federally Protected Black Vultures May Be ‘Eating Cows Alive’ in the Midwest

Farmers are seeking permits to cull any raptors harming their livestock, but experts say reports of vicious attacks are exaggerated

Once fall armyworms attack, lawns can go from green to brown in less than 48 hours.

Trending Today

Fall Armyworms Are Attacking Lawns and Crops on ‘Unprecedented’ Scale

These bug battalions turn grass yards from green to brown in less than 48 hours

The snail darter, a small fish that stopped construction of a federal dam project, is no longer threatened with extinction and can come off the Endangered Species List, wildlife officials say.

Trending Today

This Tiny, Endangered Fish Stopped Construction of a Federal Dam in 1975. Now, the Species Has Finally Recovered

The snail darter is no longer in threat of extinction and can be removed from the Endangered Species List

Tardigrades use their claws like grappling hooks and pull their bodies forward to move.

Scientists Discover Tiny Tardigrades Trot Around Like Insects

The microscopic organism’s gait may have evolved to adapt to unpredictable terrains

Antibacterial resistance--considered a major health threat--has been discovered on the teeth of wild brown bears in Sweden.

New Research

Antibiotic Resistance Found Deep in Forests of Scandinavia

A DNA analysis of wild brown bear teeth shows that the global health threat has spread to remote areas of Sweden

The yet-to-be-named island was likely formed when ice bulldozed seabed mud up above the water's surface during a storm.

Scientists Discover What May Be the World’s Northernmost Island

Researchers thought they had set foot on a known island, but island hunters pointed out that reported coordinates revealed a special find

Scientists recreated the famous beef, which is prized for its fat marbling, or sashi.

Innovation for Good

Scientists Create First 3-D Printed Wagyu Beef

The cultured cut matches the texture and marbling of the famous Japanese meat

Though considered a whale, Phiomicetus anubis had legs with webbed feet to pursue prey on both land and sea with its powerful jaws and sharp teeth 43 million years ago.

New Research

‘God of Death’ Whale Was Scourge of Land and Sea 43 Million Years Ago

The prehistoric mammal possessed a powerful jaw and likely had a raptor-like feeding style

Around 20 percent of female white-necked jacobins have evolved to share the vibrant plumage characteristic of males.

Female Hummingbirds Masquerade as Males to Avoid Harassment

One-fifth of female white-necked jacobins sport flashy male-like plumage, which may help them access more food

Page 190 of 538