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Smart News / Smart News Science

Chantek, an Orangutan Who Knew Sign Language, Has Died at 39

The ape was raised by an anthropologist who taught him to clean his room, use the toilet and bargain for cheeseburgers

One of the cats involved in the Acoustic Kitty Project was a grey-and-white female.

The CIA Experimented On Animals in the 1960s Too. Just Ask ‘Acoustic Kitty’

Turns out that cats really don’t take direction well

New cloud complex discovered on Neptune

Cool Finds

New Storm as Big as Earth Is Stirring Up Neptune’s Atmosphere

Astronomers aren’t sure if the 5,600-mile-wide storm will peter out or if a deep vortex will keep it churning

Joseph Moxon, author of 'Mathematicks Made Easie,' was born on this day in 1627.

Is One A Number? According to ‘Mathematicks Made Easie,’ Yes

The ancient Greeks, and people for almost 2,000 years after them, argued over whether one was a number

William Maples holds a bone fragment during a presentation about the Romanov Investigations, circa 1992.

William R. Maples Popularized Forensic Anthropology Long Before CSI

Maples worked on a number of high-profile cases that helped to bring the field of forensic anthropology to prominence

Amid Soaring Produce Prices, Indian City Launches “State Bank of Tomato”

The bank began as a tongue-in-cheek protest, but residents are taking it seriously

Under the Sun's surface is a rapidly rotating core with a temperature of 29 million degrees Fahrenheit

The Sun’s Core Spins Roughly Four Times Faster Than Its Surface

Satellite data lets scientists peer into the depths of our star, uncovering hints to its formation

The well-preserved nodosaur fossil

New Research

Was the “Sleeping Dragon” Dinosaur a Red Head?

A new study suggests the perfectly preserved armored nodosaur camoflauged itself against marauding meat-eaters

By editing a gene soon after fertilization, scientists were able to successfully fix a disease-causing mutation in human embryos

New Research

Five Things to Know About the Latest Gene Editing Breakthrough

While it’s not the first case of genetically modifying human embryos, the study has reignited a long-running controversy

New Research

Bepob Over Here Nitwit: Study Identifies the Funniest Words in the English Language

Participants rated 4,997 random words on how funny they were, with Booty, Booby, Egghead and Twerp making the top 12

This 3D recreation depicts what scientist believe the ancestor of all modern flowers looked like

New Research

What Did the Ancestor of All Flowers Look Like?

Tracing back the genetic tree of flowering plants millions of years, scientists recreate the predecessor of Earth’s flowers

Scientists found some of the physical imprints of Alzheimer's disease in the brains of elderly chimpanzees

Aging Chimps Show Signs of Alzheimer’s Disease

Long been thought unique to humans, a new study suggests that our close ancestors exhibit some of the hallmarks of the illness

JFK aboard the PT-109 in the South Pacific in 1943

Why JFK Kept a Coconut Shell in the Oval Office

During this week in 1943, a 26-year-old Kennedy and his crew were marooned on a deserted island and then rescued thanks to two daring men

A census enumerator's records from the 1790 census, the first-ever to be conducted in the United States.

The First US Census Only Asked Six Questions

America’s founders agreed that the census was important, but it wasn’t long

New Research

New Study Gives Hope to Victims of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Immune system imbalances may lie behind this crippling illness—a discovery that could lead to more effective treatments in the future

Etmopterus lailae

Cool Finds

This Tiny, Bulbous-Nosed Shark Glows in the Dark

After 17 years of study, scientists finally confirm that the oddball creature is a new species

The actual first logo for the World Wide Web, created by the developer of its first web browser.

The World Wide Web Was Almost Known as “The Mesh”

The inventor of the World Wide Web had a few different name ideas

A thin film of DNA could work even better than sunscreen at protecting our skin

New Research

Why Salmon Sperm DNA Could Revolutionize Sunscreen

A thin layer of the genetic material seems to effectively block the sun’s rays and becomes more effective over time

The LEM model missing from the Armstrong Museum

Trending Today

Thieves Steal Solid Gold Lunar Lander Model From Armstrong Museum

The five-inch model was created by Cartier as tribute from French newspaper readers to the Apollo 11 astronaut

An illustration shows the satellite Cassini moving near Saturn and its largest moon Titan

Potential Ingredients for Life Found on Saturn’s Moon Titan

But that life likely wouldn’t look like what we’re used to here on Earth

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