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Smart News / Smart News Science

Large homes in Maine, Wisconsin and Vermont, like this one, were found to have the largest carbon footprints due to use of heat in cold winters.

Rich Americans’ Homes Have 25% Larger Carbon Footprints Than Low-Income Households

The researchers calculated the carbon emissions of 93 million U.S. homes during the year 2015 and analyzed the results by income and location

An MTA worker in New York sprays disinfectant in a subway car in May.

Will Mass Transit Recover From the Pandemic?

Financial losses from low ridership and unexpectedly low sales tax revenue threaten the future of public transportation

All grizzly bears in the United States are considered "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act and cannot be hunted, a federal appeals court ruled this month.

Protections for Grizzlies in the Greater Yellowstone Area Upheld in Court

For over a decade, the protected status of grizzly bears under the Endangered Species Act has been under fire

Frans Snyders' Fruit Stall features a vast spread of produce from the 17th century.

Art Meets Science

Centuries-Old Paintings Help Researchers Track Food Evolution

Art inadvertently documents the domestication of carrots, wheat, watermelon and other culinary delights

A 3D model of Venus' surface featuring two coronae, which are ring-shaped geological structures associated with volcanic activity. Venus' volcanoes were once thought to be dormant but new research found that at least 37 coronae, including one named Aramaiti which is on the left in this image, are active volcanoes.

New Research

Researchers Discover What May Be 37 Active Volcanoes on Venus

Scientists had long assumed Venus’ volcanoes were dormant, but a new study suggests the inhospitable planet has 37 active volcanoes

NASA and the European Space Agency released the closest pictures of the sun ever taken last week.

See Our Sun’s Surface in Unprecedented Detail

NASA and the European Space Agency released the closest images ever taken of our sun

The top fish is a Russian sturgeon and the bottom is an American paddlefish. In between, two varieties of hybrid 'sturddlefish' created by accident.

New Research

Scientists Accidentally Bred a School of ‘Sturddlefish’

Researchers mixed paddlefish sperm with sturgeon eggs because the fish seemed too dissimilar to form a hybrid

Yosemite Valley seen from the Tunnel View lookout point in the Yosemite National Park, California on July 08, 2020. The park's sewage has now tested positive for the presence of the novel coronavirus, suggesting that some of its visitors over the Fourth of July weekend were infected.

Yosemite Sewage Tests Positive for Coronavirus

Test results suggest there were dozens of visitors carrying the novel coronavirus in the park over the Fourth of July weekend

A farmer distributes lime over a field in the UK. A new climate solution would use a similar technique to spread rock dust.

Rock Dust Could Be Farming’s Next Climate Solution

The process, called enhanced weathering, could remove 2 billion tons of CO2 from the air while fertilizing soil

A visual representation of global methane from January 26, 2018. Red areas indicate higher concentrations of methane swirling in the atmosphere.

New Research

World Methane Emissions Hit New High

Agriculture and fossil fuels drive a surge in global emissions of the powerful greenhouse gas

A Pinacate beetle explores the UW campus with a camera on its back.

Beetles Wearing Tiny, Robotic Camera Backpacks Give Bugs-Eye View of the World

The wireless, lightweight and steerable device expands the possibilities for miniature cameras

At 33 pounds, Andean condors are the heaviest soaring birds on Earth, but a new study finds they can stay airborne for up to five hours at a time without flapping at all.

New Research

The Andean Condor Can Soar 100 Miles Without Flapping

The impressively efficient flight was recorded during a new study of the giant scavenger’s aerial prowess

Doritos are cake.

Why It’s Unsettling That Anything Could Be Cake, According to Science

Psychologists explain why the disconnect between expectations and reality is both amusing and uncomfortable

According to Getty: Photographed in July 2018, this view looking south at Herbert Lake, Banff National Park, Alberta, shows the Milky Way over Mount Temple and the peaks of the Continental Divide. To the left in the clouds, Mars is hiding. Then Jupiter flanks the Milky Way on the right, while Saturn sits within the Milky Way.

How to See Five Planets in the Night Sky This Weekend

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn will be visible during the early morning hours on July 19

Llamas, alpacas and other camelids produce a special kind of antibody called nanobodies, which may be used to treat and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Covid-19

Llama Cells Could Help Scientists Create a COVID-19 Treatment

Scientists are re-engineering llama antibodies to neutralize the virus

That's a lot of hot dogs!

How Many Hot Dogs Can a Person Eat in Ten Minutes?

83 hot dogs might be the human limit—but only after specific training to stretch the stomach

Together, COVID-19 cases in California, Florida and Texas accounted for one-fifth of new cases in the world and one-third of new cases in the United States on Monday, July 13.

California, Texas and Florida Emerge as COVID-19 Hotspots

Combined, the three states accounted for nearly 20 percent of the world’s new cases on earlier this week

This beluga whale was spotted off the coast of San Diego, California in late June. The sighting was the farthest south the normally polar species has ever been seen.

In a Rare Sighting, Wayward Beluga Spotted Off San Diego

The whale was seen thousands of miles south of its usual habitat, the farthest south the species has ever been seen

A North Atlantic right whale off the coast of Cape Cod in 2015

North Atlantic Right Whales Now Listed as ‘Critically Endangered’

Just about 400 of the whales survive in the wild, and they continue to die at an alarming rate

A European bison in the Netherlands, which has also sought to reintroduce the herbivores.

Wild Bison to Roam Britain for First Time in Thousands of Years

A small herd of four European bison will be released into a woodland in southeastern England in spring 2022

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