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Smart News / Smart News Science

Many friendly foxes carried a version of a gene that differed from their feral counterparts.

New Research

What the Fox Genome Tells Us About Domestication

After only a few decades of domestic breeding, friendly foxes have social behavior woven into their genes

These ephemeral puddles are the birthplace, home and grave of the killifish.

New Research

Meet the Fish That Grows Up in Just 14 Days

The turquoise killifish, which lives in ephemeral pools in Mozambique, progresses from embryo to sexual maturity faster than any other vertebrate

Blood-Sucking Invasive Tick Species Spreading Across United States

The Asian long-horned tick has not yet been found to harbor deadly pathogens, but it poses serious risks to animals

Hospital Superbug May Be Developing Tolerance to Hand Sanitizers

Australian researchers have found that a strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is able to survive after being exposed to alcohol solutions

Dog urine conveys an array of information, including its owner's sex, age and reproductive status

Why Small Dogs Go Above and Beyond to Mark Their Territory

Tinier males tend to lift their legs at higher angles, perhaps to exaggerate size and competitive ability

Trending Today

CO2 Levels Reached an 800,000-year High in 2017

That’s just one of many sobering facts about our changing world in the “State of the Climate in 2017” report released late last week

New Research

Birds Can Learn “Foreign” Languages to Stay Safe

The superb fairywren was able to learn a new alarm call just by listening to the warnings of other species

This science is poppin’

Popcorn-Powered Robots? Get ‘Em While They’re Hot!

In an attempt to harness the power of pop, researchers went against the grain to push the boundaries of this staple starch

Researchers studied the cremated remains of between 10 and 25 individuals interred at Stonehenge

Why Did the Welsh Bury Their Dead at Stonehenge?

Study suggests cremated remains found at the site belong to outsiders who may have brought stones from Welsh quarry, aided monument’s construction

After Being Stolen in Baby Stroller, Miss Helen the Shark Is Back at San Antonio Aquarium

Two men and one woman are suspected of swiping Miss Helen in a planned heist

New Research

Did George Orwell Pick Up TB During the Spanish Civil War?

A new technique was able to pull tuberculosis bacteria and morphine residue from a letter the author sent in 1938, ten years befor his diagnosis

An Australian City Beats Dengue Fever Using Special Mosquitoes

There has not been a case of the disease in Townsville for four years after the release of insects carrying a naturally occurring bacteria

The New Zealand Tomtit is one of the island-dwelling species included in the study

Why Island Birds Have Bigger Brains Than Their Mainland Counterparts

Researchers measured the brain sizes of 11,554 birds, including representatives of 110 island-dwelling species and 1,821 continental species

Fields Medal recipients, from L to R: Caucher Birkar, Alessio Figalli, Akshay Venkatesh, Peter Scholze

Trending Today

This Year’s Fields Medal Winners Include a Kurdish Refugee and a 30-Year-Old Professor

Peter Scholze, Caucher Birkar, Alessio Figalli and Akshay Venkatesh named recipients of award often described as the Nobel Prize for mathematics

This critter soaks in the heat of a 112 degrees Fahrenheit day in Death Valley.

Death Valley Scorches Its Own Record for the Hottest Month in History

Temperatures averaged a blistering 108.1 degrees Fahrenheit for the month of July

McCartney has long claimed that he wrote the melody to "In My Life," but Lennon stated that his songwriting partner had only contributed to the middle section of the tune. This study suggests they were both wrong

Statistics Offer Answer to Decades-Long Dispute Over Authorship of Beatles Hit

Researchers say there is less than a one in 50 chance that Paul McCartney composed the melody of “In My Life”

Trending Today

The Science Behind California’s “Fire Tornado”

The spinning mass of smoke filmed near Redding, California, is much taller, wider and lasted longer than average fire whirls

Balding on the lemurs' lower backs indicated frequent itching and scratching associated with rashes caused by a common pesky parasite.

Lemurs Smear Bugs on Their Privates to Ward Off Infection

Lathering up with orange goo from millipede guts might relieve infections, expel parasites in lemurs

New Research

New Map Chronicles Three Decades of Surface Mining in Central Appalachia

The data shows about 1.5 million acres of forest have been affected by surface and mountaintop mining since the 1970s

A new chemical analysis showed that the clothes the mummies were buried in were dyed with cinnabar, a toxic pigment.

These Chilean Mummies Were Buried in Mercury-Laced Red Clothing

The Cerro Esmeralda site, where two human sacrifices were buried, shows traces of cinnabar, a toxic pigment

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