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Smart News / Smart News Science

New Research

Researchers Find 98-Million-Year-Old Horned Vampire Ant Encased in Amber

A newly described species of Hell Ant impaled its tiny victims on its reinforced horn and may have slurped up their bug blood

New Research

Tattoo Ink May Stain Your Lymph Nodes

But more research is needed to determine whether this is actually a bad thing

This illustration shows NASA's Cassini Spacecraft above Saturn's northern hemisphere.

Trending Today

Celebrate Cassini’s Historic Voyage in Eight Incredible Images

After 13 years of exploration, one of NASA’s most successful probes will crash into Saturn’s atmosphere

You won't be hearing these disease names from your doctor

This Algorithm Generates Crazy and Terrifying Disease Names

A new neural network makes lists of diseases we thankfully don’t have

An apricot seed and the kernels found within them

Man Poisons Himself by Taking Apricot Kernels to Treat Cancer

Many believe these seeds can fight cancer, but there’s no scientific evidence to back up the claim

The destruction left in Irma's wake is so widespread it can even be seen from space. These satellite images show Irma's effects on the British and U.S. Virgin Islands before (top) and after (bottom) the storm.

Damage From Hurricane Irma Can Be Seen From Space

Caribbean islands that were once lush and green now appear sickly and brown

Skybolt 2 launch

Trending Today

Rocket Powered by Recycled Tires and Hope Launches in the U.K.

With a successful test of the Skybolt 2 rocket, Starchaser Industries takes a step towards sending tourists into space

This 1846 map of the solar system includes Vulcan as the planet closest to the sun.

Why Everyone Went on a Wild Goose Chase Looking for the Planet Vulcan

The idea of a ninth planet in the Solar System would resolve a mathematical conundrum about Mercury–only problem is, it wasn’t there

Kangaroo herds dominate Australians ecosystem today, outcompeting other organisms

To Save Australia’s Ecosystem, Ecologists Say Eat Kangaroos

With a soaring population, the iconic marsupials are overwhelming other species and may soon run out of food

New Research

Cargo Ships May Double Lightning Strikes in Their Path

Ship exhaust impacts cloud formation, which may influence lightning over busy shipping lanes

This reconstruction of the grave site shows how the woman may have originally looked.

New Research

This High-Ranking Viking Warrior Was a Woman

DNA analysis shows that the elaborate grave of what appears to be a Viking officer was a real-life shieldmaiden

Unlike Samuel Morse's one-key telegraph, Baudot's used five keys.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

The Roots of Computer Code Lie in Telegraph Code

Émile Baudot, born a year after the first long-distance telegraph message was sent, helped advance the technology

Monarch butterflies nesting in California in the winters have declined rapidly since 1981

West Coast Monarch Butterflies Flutter Toward Extinction

Since 1981, the butterfly’s numbers have declined 97 percent according to a new survey

Bison could soon get grazing space next to a Denver airport

Family Travel

Denver Airport…Where the Bison Might Soon Roam

Flyers through this large airport could be greeted by America’s official mammal

New Research

Got Writer’s Block? Try Listening to Happy Music

A new study suggests that an upbeat tune can boost creativity

Inostrancevia, devouring a Pareiasaurus, Alexei Petrovich Bystrow, 1933

Cool Finds

Two Centuries of Dinosaur Art Come Alive in This Gorgeous New Book

Paleoart traces historic depictions of T. rex, mastodons and other ancient creatures through an artistic lens

Trending Today

Swiss Chocolatiers Introduce New Type of Chocolate—Pink

Called ‘ruby chocolate,’ its creators claim the concoction contains no red coloring

An image from the New Horizons satellite showing three officially named features on Pluto: Norgay Montes, Hillary Montes and Sputnik Planitia

Pluto’s Surface Features Get Their First Official Names

The International Astronomical Union approved 14 dark and heroic names for the erstwhile planet

A relief party works to find bodies after the hurricane's destruction.

More Than a Century Later, This Texas Hurricane Remains America’s Deadliest Natural Disaster

The Great Galveston Hurricane helped the city of Houston to rise to prominence

You can see the resemblance in his eyes.

This Nineteenth-Century Genealogist Argued Norse God Odin Was George Washington’s Great-Great-Great… Grandfather

Albert Welles’s ideas about whiteness were a reflection of his time, and would be continued into the future

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