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Smart News / Smart News Science

An artists rendition of the ancient leviathans.

Why Did Most Massive Bony Fish Behemoths Die Out?

Some researchers suggest metabolism might be to blame, but a new study suggests that’s not the case

It’s True—After Giving Birth, Women’s Voices Temporarily Drop

While anecdotal evidence of the phenomenon has existed for some time, this is the first scientific study to look at women’s voices after pregnancy

The first blue whale ever seen in the Red Sea.

Huge Blue Whale Sighted in the Red Sea for the First Time

The massive mammals typically spend their summers in polar waters, but are known to occasionally migrate further

Megachirella, the mother-of-all-lizards (and snakes).

Cool Finds

Oldest Lizard Fossil Shows These Reptiles Are The Ultimate Survivors

The 250-million-year-old specimen from the Alps suggests that lizards evolved before Earth’s largest mass extinction—and thrived after it

A whale is captured by the Yushin Maru, a Japanese harpoon vessel.

Japan Killed 112 Pregnant Whales in the Name of Scientific Research

The country claims the catch is to obtain a range of data on the creatures

This insect can survive being eaten by birds, researchers have found.

Do Mama Stick Insects Get Eaten to Transport Their Eggs?

This may explain why the insects, who can’t travel far on their own, spread across unconnected lands

Pluto, and its largest moon Charon, as seen from the New Horizons spacecraft.

Is Pluto Actually a Mash-up of a Billion Comets?

Researchers speculate the beloved dwarf planet could actually be a giant comet

Microraptors, dandruff and all.

New Research

Dinosaurs Had Dandruff, Too

Our ancient feathered friends shed skin in a similar way to modern birds and humans

A feral cat photographed by the founder of The Feral Life Cat Blog.

Australia Builds World’s Largest Cat-Proof Fence to Protect Threatened Species

The country’s feral cats have been linked to the extinction of 20 species

Europe’s Oldest Known Tree Discovered in Italy

The Heldreich’s pine is 1,230 years old

Trending Today

DNA Survey of Life in Loch Ness Will Hunt for Its Monster Resident

The goal is to catalog the lake’s diversity of life—including any oversized, prehistoric reptiles

New Research

Humans Make Up Just 1/10,000 of Earth’s Biomass

Plants make up 80 percent, but human activity chopped that number in half over the last 10,000 years

Hammerhead Flatworms Have Been Quietly Invading France for Two Decades

And that could spell trouble for the country’s soils

Large-antlered muntjac

Rare Sighting of Small, Critically Endangered Deer Reported in Vietnam

The camera trap images of two large-antlered muntjacs offer a glimmer of hope for the species

New Research

How a Copper Coin Mummified a Baby’s Hand

The preemie was buried in a jar in an medieval cemetery with a coin to “pay” for passage into heaven

First Yellowstone Grizzly Hunt in 40 Years Will Take Place This Fall

In a controversial move, Wyoming will allow a limited take of the once-endangered species

This house is just 20 micrometers long and features a tiled roof, seven windows, and a chimney.

Scientists Built the World’s Smallest House

Even a mite wouldn’t fit inside this itty-bitty structure

An illustration of GRACE-FO in orbit.

Meet NASA’s New Dynamic Duo: A Pair of Climate Change-Tracking Satellites

The pair will measure changes in Earth’s gravitational field to monitor melting glaciers, rising seas, droughts and more

The oxygen distribution from MACS1149-JD1 appears green in this ALMA image.

New Research

Astronomers Find Signature From the Universe’s Earliest Known Stars

The first lights may have winked to life just 250 million years after the Big Bang

Images of 2015 BZ509 captured by the Large Binocular Telescope Observatory.

New Research

Is This Backwards-Orbiting Asteroid an Interstellar Visitor?

The space rock could have been captured from another star system during the early days of our solar system

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