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Smart News / Smart News Science

Filmmaker Taika Waititi will lead celebrities in a virtual reading of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach to raise funds for the fight against COVID-19.

Education During Coronavirus

Join Meryl Streep, Taika Waititi for Roald Dahl Charity Read-Along

Mindy Kaling, Liam and Chris Hemsworth, and Benedict Cumberbatch are among the celebrities collaborating to raise money for COVID-19 relief efforts

Elephants are missing a gene to digest alcohol, which might mean they probably can't handle their liquor.

New Research

Despite Folklore, Elephants Might Be Lightweights When It Comes to Booze

New study finds elephants lack a genetic mutation that allows humans to efficiently break down alcohol

In early March, a blockbuster exhibition marking 500 years since Raphael's death shuttered just three days after opening. In June, visitors returned—with restrictions.

Covid-19

Italy’s Museums Reopen With Vibrating Social-Distancing Necklaces, Limited Admission

A guard will “chaperone” groups of six through the Scuderie del Quirinale’s blockbuster Raphael exhibition

At the center of the swirl, a bright yellow spot is has a characteristic twist that indicates the birth of a new exoplanet.

New Research

This Very Large Telescope Snapped an Exoplanet’s Baby Photos

The fiery swirl looks like a “Doctor Who” title card, but it’s actually a photograph of a planet-in-progress 520 light year away

Invasive mice kill more than 2 million chicks on Gough Island each year, including the chicks of the critically endangered Tristan albatross, pictured here

Covid-19

COVID-19 Stranded Scientists Trying to Save Endangered Birds From Killer Mice

Conservationists from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds had to take a wild, long route home to the United Kingdom

The interstate was empty in San Francisco after stay at home orders were issued in California in early April.

Covid-19

Carbon Emissions Are Decreasing During the Pandemic but Could Bounce Back Fast

At the height of COVID-19 restrictions, daily carbon emissions declined 17 percent compared to 2019

Spot is a four-legged robotic "dog" that is on patrol in Singapore to ensure proper social distancing measures during COVID-19.

Covid-19

Singapore Is Using a Robotic Dog to Enforce Proper Social Distancing During COVID-19

Spot “barks” orders anytime people are standing too close

People in France bike wearing masks down the "Rue de Rivoli."

Covid-19

How Cities Plan to Keep Traffic Out When Lockdowns Lift

Extended bike lanes and wider sidewalks are among solutions to keep car traffic down as people continue to avoid public transit

Mars’ Chryse Planitia region is peppered with small hills topped with craters that might be mud volcanoes.

New Research

Martian Mud Probably Looks Like Lava

Muddy water that drains smoothly on Earth leaves a lumpy trail under Mars-like conditions

Artist's rendering of what ancient saber-toothed anchovies might have looked like, based on a new study published in Royal Society Open Science

Saber-Toothed Anchovies Swam in the Oceans Millions of Years Ago

New research describes two ancient cousins of the modern fish—but they probably wouldn’t have made for great pizza toppings

A lake in the Halema‘uma‘u crater on Hawai’i’s Kīlauea volcano

NASA Photos Reveal a Lake of Water—Not Lava—on Kīlauea Volcano

NASA’s Landsat 8 satellite captured the images, which show water collecting at the summit of Hawai’i’s Kīlauea

With 650 million cubic yards of dirt and stone, the unstable hillside identified by researchers at Barry Arm would possibly lead to one of the largest tsunamis the area has ever endured.

Potential Landslide Could Trigger Destructive Tsunami in Alaska, Scientists Warn

The natural disaster could strike Prince William Sound at any point within the next 20 years

An artist’s rendering of what an elaphrosaur may have looked like.

Rare ‘Light-Footed’ Dinosaur Discovered in Australia for the First Time

A single vertebra spotted by a dig volunteer was identified as a strange, slender-necked dinosaur called an elaphrosaur

Nickelodon's slime in Space in the cupola of the International Space Station.

Astronauts Got Slimed in Space for Science

Nickelodeon teamed up with NASA to send packets of green slime into space to test its behavior in microgravity and to create a virtual field trip for kids

The loudest marching band at the Rose Parade was Southern University and A&M College's "Human Jukebox" from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It was their first performance at the parade in 40 years—talk about a booming comeback!

New Research

Marching Bands Make Seismic Waves at the Rose Parade

A fiber optic cable system for sensing earthquakes also gives marching bands a new source of bragging rights

An artist's rendering of what a moon base might look like

Astronauts Could Use Their Own Pee to Build a Moon Base

A compound in human urine can be used to create ‘lunar concrete,’ new research suggests

Officials uncovered seven slabs of travertine that date to between 27 and 25 B.C.

Sinkhole Outside of the Pantheon Reveals Ancient Roman Paving Stones

Due to COVID-19, the Piazza della Rotunda was virtually empty when the cavity opened up on April 27

New research suggests that humidity is making the painting's yellow cadmium sulfide degrade into white.

Art Meets Science

Humidity Is a Nightmare for ‘The Scream’

Moisture in the air—not light—has made the yellow pigments in Edvard Munch’s masterpiece degrade

Eastern garter snakes in the study stuck to their cliques and had a range of bold and shy personalities

New Research

Cold-Blooded, but Not Cold-Hearted, Garter Snakes Form Friendships

By tracking 40 snakes over eight days, researchers found that the reptiles tended to return to the same groups

Dr. Lucy Asher and her dog, Martha

For Dogs, Puberty Is Pretty Ruff, Too

Like human teenagers, a new study shows that canines exhibit heightened conflict behavior during adolescence

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