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Smart News / Smart News Science

Conness Glacier.

New Research

By 2100, Humans Might See a Glacier-Free Sierra Nevada for the First Time Ever

A new study suggests some glaciers have existed on the California mountain range for the entirety of known human history in North America

An illustration of the Wolf 1130ABC triple system, which is composed of a red dwarf star (left), a white dwarf (center) and the brown dwarf where phosphine was detected (right).

Scientists Finally Found Phosphine on a Brown Dwarf. Here’s What That Means for the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

The detection could force astronomers to reconsider their chemical models

Saturn’s E ring contains grains of water ice from the underground ocean on its moon Enceladus.

Decades-Old Data From Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Hints at Favorable Conditions for Life

The Cassini spacecraft flew by the small, icy moon in 2008, collecting information that suggests it shoots out molecules that could enable life

Generations of bearded vultures return to the same nesting sites for centuries, offering archaeologists a glimpse into the past.

Generations of Bearded Vultures Stashed Humans’ Treasures, Including a 650-Year-Old Sandal, in These Bird Nests

Researchers recovered more than 200 human artifacts from historical nests in southern Spain

Smoke from wildfires can cause off-putting, ashy flavors in wine.

Wildfires Are Ruining Your Favorite Wines. These Bacteria Might Be Able to Help

Microbes already growing on grape plants may help neutralize one of the compounds responsible for wildfire-exposed grapes’ off-putting flavors, new research suggests

Large whales can get wrapped up in fishing lines, buoys, nets and other gear, which can lead to injuries and death.

U.S. Whale Entanglements Are on the Rise, New Data Shows

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed 95 large whale entanglement cases last year, a 48 percent increase from 2023

Highlighted engravings at Jebel Misma. 

Cool Finds

Researchers Discover 12,000-Year-Old Life-Size Animal Engravings in Saudi Arabia

The findings address an important gap in the region’s archaeological record and history

New research suggests that the Salmon River in northwest Alaska is full of toxic metals.

Why Is This Remote and Rugged River in Alaska Turning Orange?

New research suggests the Salmon River is full of toxic metals that are likely harming fish and other aquatic creatures

Bear 32, nicknamed Chunk, was crowned the 2025 Fat Bear Week champion.

After Two Years as Runner-Up, Chunk Is Finally Crowned Winner of Fat Bear Week

The brown bear heavyweight persevered through a jaw injury this year that will permanently hinder his ability to fight and hunt

The researchers captured "microlightning" as they bubbled methane and air through water.

What Actually Sparks Will-o’-the-Wisps? A New Study Traces the Science Behind the Mysterious, Wandering Lights

The ghostly phenomenon could be the product of a chemical reaction involving methane, researchers suggest

Left: section of the MIRI image. Right: section of the NIRCam image. 

The James Webb Space Telescope Has Captured Our Galaxy’s Most Productive Star-Forming Region in Stunning Detail

Why Sagittarius B2 produces so many stars in comparison to the rest of the galactic center has remained an enduring mystery

Yunxian 1 (left) and Yunxian 2 (right) are skulls unearthed in China that had been badly crushed. Scientists digitally reconstructed Yunxian 2 (center) and analyzed its relationship to other early human fossils.

Scientists Reconstruct a Million-Year-Old Skull and Suggest It Could Rewrite Our Timeline of Human Evolution

A recent study dramatically pushes back the date for the emergence of our species, though some researchers call for further evidence

A European stonechat with an orange-and-black-patterned Glanville fritillary butterfly in its beak

New Research

To Hide From Predators, Some Animals Camouflage Into Their Surroundings, While Others Display Bright Colors as a Warning. What Keeps Them Safest?

While many circumstances factor into the calculation, researchers found in a new study that local predators, not appearance alone, had the greatest impact on a color strategy’s success

An aerial view of the Amazon rainforest near Manaus, Brazil

New Research

The Amazon’s Trees Might Be More Resilient to Climate Change Than We Thought

A team of nearly 100 researchers found the average tree size in the massive rainforest has increased by more than 3 percent per decade since the 1970s

 Maria Branyas Morera on her 117th birthday

Scientists Studied the Genes of a Woman Who Lived 117 Years. Here’s What They Learned

Maria Branyas Morera, formerly the world’s oldest person, allowed researchers to take a detailed look at her biology before she died last year

Seismic data from marsquakes provide insight into the Red Planet's interior.

How Marsquakes Have Helped Researchers Investigate the Depths of the Red Planet’s Interior

Two recent studies used seismic data from NASA’s retired InSight mission to shed light on what lies beneath Mars’ surface and what it means for the planet’s history

The images, captured with the Event Horizon Telescope, show the magnetic field of the supermassive black hole M87* completely reversing.

Astronomers Watched a Black Hole Unexpectedly Flip Its Magnetic Field, Challenging Theoretical Models

A series of observations between 2017 and 2021 suggest the supermassive structure’s magnetized plasma is more dynamic than thought

The newly identified tektites.

Cool Finds

Researchers Find Evidence of a Mysterious Giant Asteroid Impact, but They Don’t Know Where Its Crater Is

Special shards of glass, known as “tektites,” were hiding in plain sight in a museum collection

An artistic rendering of a Joaquinraptor casali with a croc leg in its mouth.

Cool Finds

Paleontologists Discover Megaraptor Fossil With a Crocodilian’s Leg Still in Its Mouth

The finding in Argentina reveals a new megaraptor species that would have ruled at the same time as North America’s T. rex, shedding light on what it took to be a prehistoric top predator

The first-place winner of the 2025 Nikon Small World in Motion Video Competition captures a self-pollinating flower.

Stunning Microscope Videos Highlight Self-Pollination, Algae and Tumor Cells in the Nikon Small World in Motion Contest

The annual video competition focuses on the tiny wonders of the natural world

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