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Smart News / Smart News Science

Barbara Hillary shows off the parka she wore on her trip to the North Pole.

Barbara Hillary, a Pioneering African-American Adventurer, Dies at 88

At 75, Hillary became the first black woman to set foot on the North Pole

New Research

Researchers Measure a Wild Blue Whale’s Heart Rate for the First Time

The team found the world’s largest mammal pushes its heart to its limits

William Shakespeare (left) and John Fletcher (right) both contributed to Henry VIII, a new study suggests.

Artificial Intelligence Reveals Second Playwright’s Contributions to Shakespeare’s ‘Henry VIII’

Scholars have long suspected the play, written in 1613, was a collaborative effort. Now, an algorithm has mapped out who wrote what

Communities in Baltimore are getting a look into the future of sea level rise with virtual reality.

City Planners Use Virtual Reality to Show Residents How Climate Change Will Affect Their Neighborhoods

A start-up called Virtual Planet is rolling out demonstrations in coastal cities affected by sea level rise

Jupiter and its Great Red Spot as seen by the Hubble Telescope on June 27, 2019.

New Research

Jupiter’s Great Red Spot May Not Be Dying Out Just Yet

Earlier this year, the spot appeared to be losing big chunks, but new research suggests it was gobbling up a smaller storm

Illegal cannabis operations often use pesticides excessively, but legal growers are not immune to a sizable environmental impact either.

The Cannabis Industry Is Not as Green as You’d Think

Illegal growers are poisoning California’s forests with pesticides, but even legal weed has a carbon footprint

Iman died of cancer on November 23 at a sanctuary in Borneo.

Sumatran Rhinos Are Now Extinct in Malaysia

Iman, a 25-year-old female and the last Sumatran rhino in the country, died on Saturday

Via Getty: "A group of young women in traditional costumes play Galician music with bagpipes, tambourines and drum in the historic center during the San Froilan festivities on October 6, 2019 in Lugo, Galicia, Spain."

Scientists Show Humans May Share a ‘Musical Grammar’

Across 60 cultures, songs sung in similar social contexts have shared musical features

A New Yorker captured this image of a flooded subway entrance on November 20.

How the New York City Subway Is Preparing for Climate Change

“We’re doing this because climate change is real,” the MTA account wrote on Twitter after a local shared a snapshot of a flooded subway entrance

The study authors write: "We posit here that artificial light at night is another important – but often overlooked – bringer of the insect apocalypse."

New Research

The Devastating Role of Light Pollution in the ‘Insect Apocalypse’

A new study shows excess outdoor light is impacting how insects hunt, mate and make them more vulnerable to predators

New Research

Yellowstone Bison Engineer an Endless Spring to Suit Their Grazing Needs

The cycle of grazing and fertilizing prolongs spring-like vegetation in grasslands and makes green-up more intense in following years

City noise can throw off a bat's ability to use echolocation.

Noise Pollution Impacts a Wide Range of Species, Study Finds

From tiny insects to large marine mammals, animals are affected by noise in ways that might threaten their survival

By inducing hypothermia in patients with extreme blood loss, doctors can buy a couple hours to perform surgery.

Doctors Put a Patient in Suspended Animation for the First Time

The process requires stopping a trauma patient’s heart and cooling their body with ice-cold saline

Cool Finds

Researchers Discover Secret Breeding Ground of World’s Most Endangered Crocodile

Over 100 recently-hatched gharials were found deep in Nepal’s Bardia National Park

Why did this cheeky snake have two hind legs?

New Fossils Unlock Evolutionary Secrets of Two-Legged Snakes

Scientists have known about the ancient snake group Najash for years, but were not able to gain a thorough understanding of its skull until now

The feathers were probably dark colored, which was unexpected in a polar region and might mean that the animals changed colors with seasons.

First Fossil Evidence of Feathered Polar Dinosaurs Found in Australia

The ten feathers are the first signs that fluffy dinosaurs lived near the South Pole more than 100 million years ago

New Research

First Global Map of Saturn’s Moon Titan Reveals Secrets of Earth’s ‘Deranged’ Twin

The map showcases the planet’s flat plains, sand dunes, hilly terrain and lakes full of liquid methane

A humpback whale basks in sunlight at the ocean's surface in Atlantic Ocean off the coast of the Dominican Republic.

South Atlantic Humpback Whales Have Rebounded From the Brink of Extinction

A new study estimates that the group’s population has grown from 440 individuals in 1958 to nearly 25,000 today

The study involved 104 Labrador retrievers between four weeks and 16 years old.

New Research

Calculate Your Dog’s Age With This New, Improved Formula

A study of the epigenetic clock in Labradors shows calculating a dog’s age is much more complicated than just multiplying by seven

Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that cause plague, survives on fleas that live on rodents, like rats and rabbits.

Three Cases of Plague Diagnosed in China

Officials say the risk of an outbreak is low, but many are concerned that information about the cases is being restricted

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