Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Science

One in five kids don't drink any water.

Kids Who Don’t Drink Water Consume More Sweetened Beverages

A new study found that one in five children reported not drinking any water on a given day

Cool Finds

North Carolina’s Famed Shipwrecks Are Now Home to a Shark Conservation Research Study

Unwitting citizen-scientists discovered evidence that vulnerable species return to the same ships, which could help in their recovery

Yum?

Cool Finds

This 1,500-Year-Old Chunk of Fossilized Human Poop Contains Remains of a Whole Rattlesnake

Researchers believe an ancient hunter-gatherer consumed the reptile whole as part of a ceremonial or ritualistic event

New Research

The Rich Get Richer Under Climate Change, 50 Years of Data Shows

According to a new study, rising temperatures have reduced the GDP of many poor nations and boosted economic output of wealthier countries

Meal Kit Delivery May Not Actually Be That Bad for the Environment

Services like Blue Apron have come under fire for using excessive packaging, but a new study found that pre-portioned meals cut down on food waste

The insects do not have lungs, so smoke does not pose the same risk as it does to some other animals.

Honey Bees on Notre-Dame’s Roof Survived the Fire

The three hives are located on a roof above the sacristy—around 100 feet below the cathedral’s damaged main roof

Orcas kill great white sharks, then eat their calorie-dense livers.

New Research

Great White Sharks Are Completely Terrified of Orcas

A new study shows the apex predators will flee their hunting grounds and won’t return for up to a year when killer whales pass by

An artist's rendering of the extinct hypercarnivore

This Toothy Carnivore Was Bigger Than a Polar Bear

Some 22 million years ago, the apex predator ruled the forests of Africa and dined on the ancestors of hippopotamuses and elephants

Elusive River Dolphins Caught Chatting Up a Storm

Researchers previously thought the acoustic repertoire of Araguaian river dolphins was relatively limited

Lead author Tal Dvir says, "Maybe, in ten years, there will be organ printers in the finest hospitals around the world, and these procedures will be conducted routinely"

Scientists Used Human Tissue to 3-D Print a Tiny Heart

The technique could eventually be adapted to create full-sized organs personalized to each patient

Image of planetary nebula NGC 7027 with illustration of helium hydride molecules. In this planetary nebula, SOFIA detected helium hydride, a combination of helium (red) and hydrogen (blue), which was the first type of molecule to ever form in the early universe. This is the first time helium hydride has been found in the modern universe.

Future of Space Exploration

NASA’s Flying Telescope Spots Oldest Type of Molecule in the Universe

An infrared telescope mounted in a Boeing 747 has detected the first type of molecule to form after the big bang

New Research

Scientists Revived Cells in Dead Pig Brains

The accomplishment challenges how we ethically, legally and philosophically define death

Over the past month, scientists have made more than 20 unsuccessful attempts to extract viable cells from the foal's tissue

Cool Finds

Scientists Extracted Liquid Blood From 42,000-Year-Old Foal Found in Siberian Permafrost

The team hopes to grow viable cells out of the foal’s tissue, paving the way for further experimentation aimed at cloning the extinct horse

NASA astronaut Christina Koch conducts botany research aboard the International Space Station, where she’s been living and working since March 14, 2019. Her mission has been extended, and she will remain at the station until February 2020.

Future of Space Exploration

Christina Koch Is Scheduled to Spend 328 Days in Space—a Record for Women Astronauts

‘It feels awesome,’ Koch said of the milestone

The team's findings support the theory that agriculture emerged in multiple places simultaneously

Ancient Urine Reveals Timeline of Turkey’s Agricultural Revolution

Researchers studied urine salt deposits to map out the history of animal domestication at Turkey’s Aşıklı Höyük settlement

Trending Today

Watch Live as a Rare Bald Eagle ‘Throuple’ Raises Their New Trio of Chicks

Starr, Valor I and Valor II are taking care of three eaglets seven years after their dramatic story began

Harvard astronomers theorize that a meteor that struck Earth's atmosphere in 2014 could have been from another solar system, judging by what scientists know about 'Oumuamua, an interstellar object that zipped through our solar system in 2017. (An artist's depiction of 'Oumuamua is seen here.)

An Interstellar Meteor May Have Collided With Earth in 2014

Researchers have identified an object that, they theorize, was traveling too fast to have originated within our solar system

A Neolithic woman was buried with her arms bound behind her head and her amputated feet placed on either side of her body

Cool Finds

U.K. Construction Finds Neolithic Skeletons That May Have Been Victims of Human Sacrifice

Archaeologists have recovered 26 sets of human remains, as well as artifacts including pottery and a decorative comb

Avebury stands some 25 miles north of Stonehenge and is large enough to fit two Stonehenge-sized circles.

Stone Circles at Avebury May Have Surrounded House for Neolithic ‘One Percent’

Researchers theorize that the monument, near Stonehenge, was erected to commemorate the site of later generations’ ancestral home

An average of 365 plastic particles fell each day on a square meter collector at the Bernadouze meteorological station over the course of five months.

Microplastics Found in Remote Region of France’s Pyrenees

A new study shows just how far the pollutants can travel–and suggests that it is not only city dwellers who are at risk of exposure

Page 290 of 545