Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Science

Philip Kahn, pictured on his 100th birthday with his grandson, Warren Zysman, and great-grandson

Covid-19

One Hundred Years After Influenza Killed His Twin Brother, WWII Veteran Dies of COVID-19

In the days before his death, the New York man spoke often of his lost twin and the lessons humanity seemed not to have learned

This fresco by Jacopo Ripanda depicts Hannibal crossing the Alps in 218 B.C. New research claims to have located the site of the general's first major victory in Spain.

Cool Finds

The Ancient Battlefield That Launched the Legend of Hannibal

Two years before the Carthaginian general crossed the Alps, he won a decisive victory at the Battle of the Tagus

Despite Their Differences, Dogs and Horses Find Common Ground in Play

Canine-equid pairs can mimic each other’s facial expressions during play, which has never been seen between animals of different species

For Earth Day, NASA and Lego challenged families to build models of planets as a way to learn through play.

Education During Coronavirus

NASA and Lego Host ‘Build a Planet’ Challenge

The event was part of the company’s week of #LetsBuildTogether challenges

Young leatherback sea turtles.

Covid-19

COVID-19 Restrictions May Boost Leatherback Sea Turtle Nesting

Beaches in Florida and Thailand have tentatively reported increases in nests, due to decreased human presence. But the trend won’t necessarily persist

An artist's rendering of two early hominins hunting waterfowl on the Schöningen lakeshore with throwing sticks

Cool Finds

300,000-Year-Old Stick Suggests Human Ancestors Were Skilled Hunters

The ancient throwing stick may have been used by Neanderthals or an even earlier hominin

Prickles, a barefaced merino sheep who went unshorn for seven years after fleeing her home in Tasmania during a spate of 2013 bushfires

Prickles the Sheep Returns Home After Seven Years on the Lam(b)

After missing years of shears, the voluminous creature had ballooned to about five times the size of a typical sheep

On April 24, 1991—a year after it was launched into space—Hubble snapped a shot of the Cygnus Loop supernova remnant, a relic of a star that exploded in a massive cataclysm about 15,000 years ago.

Education During Coronavirus

This NASA Website Shows What the Hubble Telescope Saw on Your Birthday

The snazzy search is part of the telescope’s 30th anniversary celebration

An ongoing study by the Lyon Neuroscience Research Center has found a 35 percent increase in dream recall and a 15 percent increase in negative dreams.

Covid-19

Insomnia and Vivid Dreams on the Rise With COVID-19 Anxiety

Fears around the pandemic are causing sleep patterns to change and strange dreams to linger in people’s memories

Some rough-skinned newts host bacteria on their skin that produce the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin to keep predators at bay.

New Research

Toxic Newts Use Bacteria to Become Deadly Prey

Scientists discover neurotoxin-producing bacteria living on the skin of rough-skinned newts

An artist's illustration depicting the collision of two 125-mile-wide asteroids orbiting the star Fomalhaut, located 25 light-years away.

‘Disappearing’ Exoplanet Might Not Have Been a Planet After All

Study suggests alleged exoplanet may have been a cloud of asteroid debris

Researchers have discovered an unexpected way that larger bits of plastic are transformed into microplastics in the sea: lobsters. (The study involved Norway lobsters, pictured here.)

Norway Lobsters Crush Ocean Plastic Into Even Smaller Pieces—and That’s Bad

The crustaceans’ guts pulverize plastics into tiny bits that can be consumed by even smaller creatures at the base of the ocean food chain

Cricosaurus suevicus is an ancient relative of modern crocodiles that spent its life in the ocean.

New Research

Like Dolphins and Whales, Ancient Crocodiles Evolved to Spend Their Time at Sea

Researchers tracked changes in the crocodilian creatures’ inner ears to learn how they moved into the sea

Bald Eagles Found Nesting in Arizona Saguaro Cactus for First Time in Decades

The prickly perch is an exciting sign of success for the birds, which came off the endangered species list in 2007

Folium was used to illustrate illuminated manuscripts—and color the rind of a popular Dutch cheese.

Art Meets Science

Researchers Follow a 15th-Century Recipe to Recreate Medieval Blue Ink

The purplish-blue pigment, derived from a Portuguese fruit, fell out of use by the 19th century

Researchers staged fights using recreated Bronze Age weapons to better understand how they might have been used in ancient fighting.

New Research

Scientists Stage Sword Fights to Study Bronze Age Warfare

Research suggests bronze blades, thought by some to be too fragile for combat, were deadly weapons across ancient Europe

7,000-year-old dog feces from China's Anhui province

Artificial Intelligence Gives Researchers the Scoop on Ancient Poop

The computer program can identify canine versus human feces based on DNA sequences in samples

A male lemur with clearly visible scent glands on its wrists.

For Male Lemurs, Love Stinks—and Scientists Now Know Why

A newly identified trio of chemicals may help the primates find a mate

As scientists stay home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, crucial weather and climate data aren't being collected.

How COVID-19 Interferes With Weather Forecasts and Climate Research

‘The break in the scientific record is probably unprecedented,’ one ecologist says

The unique scent of rain may actually be a chemical signal used by bacteria to attract this tiny arthropod, called a springtail.

New Research

How Rain Evolved Its Distinct Scent—and Why Animals and Humans Love It

New research reveals the ancient symbiotic relationship behind geosmin, the chemical compound responsible for the scent of fresh rain

Page 250 of 545