Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Smart News / Smart News Science

Early felines spread out across the world in two distinct waves

Cats Have Actually Grown Larger Over Time—Unlike Most Domesticated Species

Between the Viking Age and modern times, felines increased in size by 16 percent

Dispatch from 2018

Chicken Bones May Be the Legacy of Our Time

A new study argues that the sheer abundance of chicken consumption, coupled with the strange skeletons of modern chickens, will leave a unique fingerprint

New Research

Arctic Ice Is Retreating and Reindeer Are Going With It

Herds in Canada, the U.S. and Russia have dropped by over half in 20 years—and some may not recover

The artist installed 24 blocks of Greelandic ice outside of London's Tate Modern

Straight From a Greenland Fjord, London Installation Sends Dire Message on Climate Change

Olafur Eliasson’s ‘Ice Watch’ aims to bring viewers into direct confrontation with the devastation wrought by global warming

Volcanic Lightning Could Help Geologists Monitor Eruptions

New study suggests spikes in lightning activity mark key changes during early stages of eruptions

New Research

A City Frog’s Love Song Attracts More Mates Than Countryside Croaks

Fewer predators and heightened competition for mates allowed urban tungara frogs to add more notes and frills to their calls, with big results Read more: h

The so-called "Great Dying" depleted ocean oxygen levels, effectively suffocating nearly all of the planet's marine life

How Did the ‘Great Dying’ Kill 96 Percent of Earth’s Ocean-Dwelling Creatures?

Researchers say the prehistoric mass extinction event could mirror contemporary—and future—devastation sparked by global warming

The resin-based 3D printer layers ink much like the chocolate and wafer combination seen in Kit-Kat bars

Art Meets Science

This New Technique Could Revolutionize the Future of Art Reproduction

RePaint renders reproductions in color four times closer to the original than the next-best tool

Trending Today

Researchers Create First-Ever Honey Bee Vaccine

The compound protects against the American foulbrood disease, but the same technique could lead to protection against other major pathogens

The blue-fronted Amazon parrot lives up to 66 years in the wild.

Parrot Genes Reveal Why the Birds Are So Clever, Long-Lived

Researchers say the avian creatures are as genetically distant from other birds as humans are from other primates

A Geminid meteor shower in 2012.

How to Spot This Year’s Spectacular Geminids Meteor Shower

A beautiful celestial display is due to take place starting on the night of December 13

New Butterfly Species Named After 17th-Century Female Naturalist

Maria Sibylla Merian documented the lifecycles of moths and butterflies with unprecedented accuracy

Cool Finds

Fruit Flies First Began Feeding on Our Fresh Produce About 10,000 Years Ago

It turns out the insects love marula fruit found in south-central Africa, which attracted them to human caves

When healthy DNA is added to gold particle-laden (and therefore pink) water, it turns blue, but when cancerous DNA is added, the water remains pink

Researchers Say They’ve Created Universal Cancer Test That Detects Mutating Cells in Just 10 Minutes

The tool, which is still in early stages of development, can’t identify the specific type of cancer present or gauge the severity of the disease

New Research

Satellite Data Detects Hundreds of New Sources of Ammonia Pollution

Detailed data shows livestock operations and fertilizers plants are major sources of the pollutant

Wisdom and her egg on Midway Atoll in 2018.

This 68-Year-Old Bird Has Laid Yet Another Egg

Wisdom the Laysan albatross is believed to be around 68 years old, and she has raised as many as 35 chicks

At the time of the study's writing, the then seven-month-old baby girl was developing normally and appeared to be the picture of health

Woman With Womb Transplanted From Deceased Donor Successfully Gives Birth

Recipient was born without a womb, but thanks to uterine transplant, she was able to deliver a healthy baby girl in December 2017

Cool Finds

Newly Discovered Cave Could Be Among Canada’s Largest

The “Sarlacc Pit,” as its been informally dubbed, was discovered last spring during a caribou survey in British Columbia’s Wells Gray Provincial Park

Excessive Vitamin D in Pet Food May Be Making Dogs Sick

A number of brands, including Nutrisca and Natural Life, have issued recalls of certain products

Trending Today

Crab Fishermen Sue Energy Companies Over Climate Change

The suit alleges that oil firms are responsible for climate change driven algae blooms, which have delayed and shortened recent crab-harvesting seasons

Page 304 of 545