Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Science

The lonely rover is heading through Gale Crater to dig around for hints of microbial life.

See Mars’s Eerie Horizon in New Images From Curiosity Rover

Gale Crater—where the image was captured—was likely covered with lakes and rivers of liquid water around three billion years ago, scientists suggest

New Research

Sunlight-Tracking Polymer, Inspired by Sunflowers, Could Maximize Solar Power

The SunBOTS bend toward light source and could help solar cells capture more direct sunlight all day long

The markings range from letters to shapes, patterns and symbols.

You Can Now Explore a 3-D Model of Cave Covered in Creepy ‘Witches’ Marks’

Visitors spotted hundreds of etchings designed to ward off evil while exploring a cave in England’s Creswell Crags

New Research

These Beautiful Blue Turkey-Like Birds Have Tiny Brains and Huge Social Networks

A new study finds that vulturine guineafowl live in complex societies previously found in primates, elephants and dolphins

Researchers suspect the wreck is all that remains of the U.S.S. Johnston, a naval destroyer sunk during the Battle off Samar in October 1944.

Cool Finds

World’s Deepest Shipwreck Is WWII Destroyer Lost in the Philippine Sea

A private mission found the mangled debris of what is likely the U.S.S. Johnston 20,400 feet under the surface

Way to go, Wandi! Save your species!

Lost Puppy Found in Australia Is Actually Rare Dingo, DNA Test Shows

Wandi is the complete package—adorable and important for his species’ survival

Five chunks of dough in silicone pouches were sent to the space station, awaiting baking.

With a ‘Zero G’ Oven, Astronauts Can Have Their Cookies, but They Can’t Eat Them Too

The experimental Zero G oven will be able to bake one cookie at a time, and it’s possible the treats may come out as cookie balls or cylinders

Goats cleared a fire break around the library just in time to hold the blaze back so firefighters could finish the job.

Hungry Goats Helped Save the Reagan Library From a California Wildfire

Some heroes wear capes, others like to eat flammable weeds

“It’s unfortunate when we lose a treasure such as the Wizard Rock,” says district ranger Sarah Clawson. “These boulders belong to the public, and should be enjoyed by locals and visitors for years to come”

One-Ton Boulder Returned to Arizona National Forest Following Brazen Theft

The thief (or thieves) likely used heavy machinery to commit the crime

This is a European shore crab in the wild. Crabs like this were used in the study to complete mazes.

Crabs Can Learn to Navigate Mazes, Too

A new study highlights the cognitive abilities of an understudied animal

New Research

Double-Sided Tape Inspired by Spiderwebs Could Revolutionize Surgery

The two-sided adhesive instantly dries tissue then creates a strong bond—in just 5 seconds

New Research

Mosses Expand the Story of Ötzi the Iceman’s Final Journey

Seventy-five species of mosses and liverworts found in and around his body suggest he climbed the alps via a difficult gorge

Spoiler alert: No, it wasn't from beer burps.

Hold On to Your Lederhosen: Oktoberfest Produces a Whole Lot of Methane Gas

Incomplete combustion from gas appliances is likely the major culprit

Sometimes the supernatural is more natural than you'd think.

Five Scientific Explanations for Spooky Sensations

What feels like a supernatural presence might actually be vibrations outside of humans’ conscious perception

Babies May Understand Counting Before They Fully Understand Numbers

By tempting an adorable pool of subjects with toys, a new study found that infants associate counting with quantities

Cool Finds

These Newly Discovered Shrimp Call a Whale Shark’s Mouth Home

Found in a whale shark off Okinawa, hundred of amphipods were living it up in the giant fish’s gills

Nash won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 1994

John Nash’s Nobel Prize Sells for $735,000

Best known as the subject of “A Beautiful Mind,” Nash made pioneering advances in the study of game theory

A steppe eagle with an SMS tracker attached.

Trending Today

Text Messages Sent by Roaming Eagles Bankrupt Scientific Study

A steppe eagle named Min spent months out of range before reappearing in Iran and sending hundreds of expensive SMS texts

The sea urchins are causing havoc.

Voracious Purple Sea Urchins Are Ravaging Kelp Forests on the West Coast

The trouble started in 2013, when sea stars, an urchin predator, began to die off

Talk about a rat race.

Scientists Taught Rats to Drive Tiny Cars to Earn Froot Loops

What’s more, driving seemed to relax the rodents

Page 262 of 538