Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Science

Monk parrots are among the species that successfully breed in the wild.

Escaped Pet Parrots Are Doing Great in the Wild

A new study has found that 25 non-native parrots species are breeding in 23 American states

Scientists have been tracking Mauna Loa's carbon dioxide levels since 1958

Carbon Dioxide Levels Reach Highest Point in Human History

Last Friday, carbon concentrations at Hawaii’s Mauna Loa Observatory topped 415 ppm

Tastier Tomatoes May Be Making a Comeback Thanks to Genetics

A new analysis found that a flavor-making gene variant absent in most older variations of the fruit is increasing in frequency

The Lee Lincoln Scarp, one of the potentially active faults on the Moon.

New Research

The Moon Is Slowly Shrinking, Which May Be Causing ‘Moonquakes’ on Its Surface

Analysis of seismic data collected on the Apollo missions shows the moon is probably tectonically active

The study's authors outline three possible scenarios for the unusual fossil's formation

Cool Finds

This 100-Million-Year-Old Squid Relative Was Entrapped in Amber

The ancient ammonite was preserved alongside the remains of at least 40 other marine and terrestrial creatures

White-throated rail.

How Evolution Brought a Flightless Bird Back From Extinction

Fossil remains offer rare evidence of a phenomenon known as ‘iterative evolution’

New Research

North Carolina’s Offshore Shipwrecks Have Surprising New Tenants—Tropical Fish

As species are pushed north by climate change, the reefs may serve as a refuge for tropical and sub-tropical fish

Over the next 80 years, one-third of panda territory will become too hot to support bamboo growth

China’s National Panda Park Will Be Three Times the Size of Yellowstone

The vast space will connect China’s fragmented panda populations, enabling the land giants to better find mates and diversify their species’ gene pool

Bengal Tigers May Lose a Vital Habitat by 2070

A recent study predicted a complete loss of viable habitat in the Sundarbans mangrove forest due to climate change and sea level rise

New Research

The Key to Biodiversity in Antarctica Is Penguin Poop

A new study shows nitrogen from penguin and elephant seal dung powers a diversity of arthropods and nematodes in surrounding areas

Moving forward, the researchers hope to study how paper wasps use transitive inference in social interactions

Wasps Are the First Invertebrates to Pass This Basic Logic Test

New research suggests paper wasps are capable of transitive inference, a form of logic used to infer unknown relationships on the basis of known ones

Left: Half-restored version of Vermeer's "Girl Reading a Letter at an Open Window" / Right: Unrestored version

Cool Finds

Restoration Reveals Long-Lost Cupid Painted Over After Vermeer’s Death

In an unusual move, the Dresden gallery has opted to display the half-restored painting prior to concluding conservation efforts

Horrific conditions of captive bred lions on a captive lion breeding farm in South Africa. Photos provided to Humane Society International by an anonymous source.

108 Neglected Lions Found on South African Breeding Farm

The animals’ plight highlights existing concerns about a controversial wildlife industry

C.D.C. Says More Than Half of the U.S.’ Pregnancy-Related Deaths Are Preventable

African-American, Native American and Alaska Native women are around three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related issues than white women

Haze at Joshua Tree National Park.

New Research

Signficant Air Pollution Plagues Almost All U.S. National Parks

Ozone and other pollutants are obscuring views, hurting plants and causing health concerns for visitors at 96 percent of parks

Nine Gray Whales Have Washed Up Dead in the San Francisco Bay Area

Some were hit by ships, but others died of malnourishment—a sign that the whales’ Arctic food sources may have been disrupted

To some, beets' soil-like smell is so strong that eating the vegetable holds the same appeal as dining on a chunk of dirt.

New Research

New Study Reveals How One Person’s ‘Smellscape’ Can Differ From Another’s

A single genetic mutation could determine whether you perceive beets’ soil-like smell, whiskey’s smokiness and lily of the valley’s sweetness

New Research

This New Plastic Can Be Endlessly Recycled

The new material, dubbed PDK, can be deconstructed down to the molecular level

Max Peintner, "The Unbroken Attraction of Nature," 1970-71, handcolored by Klaus Littmann in 2018

Art Meets Science

Curator Will Plant 299 Trees in a Stadium to Make Statement on Climate Change

After the installation closes, the makeshift forest will be relocated to a public space, where it will remain accessible as a ‘living forest sculpture’

Participants use magnetic landscape tiles to build a perfect planet

This Board Game Asks Players to Craft a Perfect Planet

In ‘Planet’, players compete to create worlds capable of sustaining the highest possible level of biodiversity

Page 280 of 537