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Smart News / Smart News Science

Here an octopus—not Heidi—swims in a tank.

Heidi the Snoozing Octopus May Not Be Dreaming After All

A video of the octopus’ in-sleep color changes are fascinating, but it doesn’t tell us much

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North America’s Rarest Warbler Comes Off the Endangered List

Habitat restoration and invasive species trapping have helped Kirtland’s recover in its central Michigan home

Deer bone marrow after six weeks of storage.

Prehistoric Deer Bones May Offer the Earliest Evidence of Ancient Food Storage

The inhabitants of Qesem Cave in Israel seem to have been saving bone marrow for a later date

John B. Goodenough, M. Stanley Whittingham and Akira Yoshino

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Development of the Lithium-Ion Battery Earns Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The award honors three scientists whose contributions led to the rechargeable battery that makes our modern world possible

James Peebles, Michael Mayor and Didier Queloz

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Three Win Physics Nobel for Showing Our Place in the Cosmos

Half goes to cosmologist James Peebles for work on cosmic background and dark matter and half goes to the team that discovered the first exoplanet

Let the battle of the bulge commence

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Holly Cow! Fattest Bear of Them All Claims Coveted Title

For #FatBearWeek2019, the furever fabulous 435 Holly reigns triumphant

Cool Finds

Researchers Discovered 20 Tiny New Moons Circling Saturn

The ringed planet now takes Jupiter’s title for the planet with the most moons

Fur seal pups on Bogoslof Island.

On an Active Volcano, a Northern Fur Seal Population Is Booming

Scientists estimate that there were 36,000 pups on Bogoslof Island this year—up from around 28,000 in 2015

This interactive map predicts fall foliage changes across the U.S.

This Interactive Map Shows Fall Foliage Predictions Across the U.S.

The tool will help cross-country travelers in search of colorful leaves

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Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to Scientists Who Revealed How Cells Respond to Different Oxygen Levels

Three medical scientists will share the award for further explaining how the body responds to oxygen abundance

Two surviving elephants were trapped on a small cliff at the waterfall at Khao Yai National Park in central Thailand.

Six Elephants Die After Plummeting Down a Waterfall in Thailand

It is believed that five adults lost their lives while trying to save a calf

Photo shows seized pangolin scales and elephant ivory in Singapore this July

New Report Finds at Least One in Five Terrestrial Vertebrate Species Are Traded Globally

The research team also predicts increased trade going forward

Ming at Noah's Lost Ark, Inc., a non-profit exotic animal sanctuary in Ohio.

A Farewell to Ming, the Siberian-Bengal Tiger Who Spent Three Years in a Harlem Apartment

Antoine Yates, Ming’s owner, once said that the tiger was his ‘only friend, really’

Cool Finds

New Organic Compounds Found in Plumes From Saturn’s Icy Moon Enceladus

Analysis of data from the late, great Cassini spacecraft reveals the moon is spurting oxygen and nitrogen-bearing organic compounds into space

Artists reconstruction of Phoebodus sharks.

Cool Finds

This Ancient Shark Looked Like an Eel and Swallowed Its Prey Whole

Scans of a rare 360-million-year-old shark skeleton shows the beasts used hunting techniques similar to modern sharks and fish

How Drones Are Helping Scientists Figure Out Whales’ Weight

Because it is so difficult to weigh the huge marine mammals, whale body mass is often not included in studies

Did a 1964 Earthquake Bring a Dangerous Fungus to the Pacific Northwest?

A new study posits that tsunamis triggered by the Great Alaska Earthquake washed Cryptococcus gattii onto the shore

Dolphins and their calves enjoying a summer day in the lower Potomac River.

Cool Finds

Dolphins Are Finally Living and Breeding in the Potomac River Again

About 1,000 bottlenose dolphins have been recorded in the lower reaches of the recovering river, including one that gave birth in August

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Record-Breaking Storm Dumps Four Feet of Snow on Parts of Montana

The September storm broke snowfall and temperature records across several states

The researchers write, "These results [indicate] … nonhuman animals have a theory of mind and do not simply rely on behavior rules to interpret and anticipate others’ actions"

Great Apes May Use Their Own Experience to Guess What Others Will Do

New research suggests primates possess ‘theory of mind’, an ability once thought to be unique to humans

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