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Smart News / Smart News Science

A horsehair worm seen in its adult state, in which it lives only to breed

Cool Finds

This Jumble of Writhing Sticks Is Actually a Bizarre Parasite

Observed flailing around in Taiwan, this so-called ‘alien’ turns out to be a horsehair worm

Jennifer Zetlan who plays Rhoda in "Rhoda and the Fossil Hunt"

Family Travel

Watch a Dinosaur Opera at New York’s American Museum of Natural History

Sink your teeth into the family friendly “Rhoda and the Fossil Hunt”

Guillaume Rondelet was an early anatomist who founded his own dissecting theater, which was a thing people did in the sixteenth century.

A Sixteenth-Century Hot Date Might Include a Trip to the Dissecting Theater

Anatomy theaters were an early site for science as spectacle

Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is a more modern form of IVF.

In Vitro Fertilization Was Once As Controversial As Gene Editing is Today

The scientists who pioneered it were regarded as pariahs, even within their own universities

Easter Island's famed statues could be remnants of a populous civilization

Lots of Sweet Potatoes Could’ve Made Easter Island a Bustling Place

A new agricultural analysis of the island finds that the crop could have supported more than 17,000 people

NASA Dedicates New Facility to Katherine Johnson, the Pioneering Mathematician of ‘Hidden Figures’

‘I think they’re crazy,’ the 99-year-old jokingly said of the honor

Artist's impression of 288P

New Research

Hubble Spots Strange Pair of Space Rocks in the Night Sky

The duo, dubbed 288P, may help scientists better understand asteroid evolution

Family Travel

Check Out This Awesome Trilobite Corn Maze

The elaborate Wisconsin maze honors the state’s geologic history

An illustration envisioning how the satellite OSIRIS-REx will collect rocks from the asteroid Bennu

How a Satellite Just Used Earth Like a Slingshot

On its way to study an asteroid for clues about the origins of life, OSIRIS-REx got a little boost from Earth’s gravity

"You're talking about little me?!"

Four Incredible Facts About Sea Otters

We thought you otter know these

A woolly rhinoceros painted by a prehistoric artist on the wall of Chauvet cave in France

New Research

Why Some Woolly Rhinos Grew Ribs on Their Necks

These misplaced ribs don’t grow unless something unusual is going on in the gene pool

The wings of a normal and CRISPR-edited Sara Longwing butterfly show how disabling a single gene can change the patterns

New Research

Scientists Identify the Genes That Paint Butterfly Wings

Using genetic editing, scientists isolated just two genes that play a major role in making butterfly wings as pretty as they are

Oxpeckers hang out with large ungulates–animals with hoofs like rhinos, giraffes and water buffalo.

Those Little Birds On The Backs Of Rhinos Actually Drink Blood

You think that’s ticks they’re eating?

"Endangered, you say?"

Five Fascinating Facts About the Amazing Cassowary

They may look pretty scary, but they’re actually pretty cool

A hawksbill sea turtle poses for its close up.

New Research

New Study Offers Glimmer of Hope for Sea Turtles

Turtle numbers are on the rise in many areas of the globe, but the endangered species still needs help

A European bison, also referred to as a wisent

A Wild Bison Was Spotted in Germany for the First Time in Two Centuries. Then It Was Shot

As conservationists work to restore the once mighty European bison, they must face misunderstandings from concerned citizens

Cassiopea jellyfish resting "upside-down" in their tank

New Research

Even Without a Brain, Jellyfish Still Need to Sleep

These simple, ancient creatures show just how deeply rooted sleep may be in the animal kingdom

Kathy Niakan at work in the lab

New Research

Gene Editing of Embryos Gives Insight Into Basic Human Biology

A genetic tool allows researchers to disable a gene key to human development in a closely regulated experiment

Cheers!

Cool Finds

Did Lager Beer Originate In South America?

Residue from 1,000-year-old pots suggests people in Patagonia were fermenting beverages with lager yeast well before the Bavarians

A record-breaking gathering of Waldo (known across the pond as 'Wally') impersonators in Dublin, Ireland, in 2011.

The Science Behind Our Search for Waldo

‘Where’s Waldo’ was first published on this day in 1987

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