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Smart News / Smart News Science

There are ways to treat heroin addiction—but they remain controversial.

New Research

U.S. Heroin Use Has Risen Dramatically Since 2001

White males under 45 are most likely to report using the drug

Can Playing Tetris Block Traumatic Memories?

New research suggests that the engaging, visual-spatial nature of the game may disrupt the formation “intrusive memories”

New Research

Mice Have Called Human Houses Home for 15,000 Years

Even before the dawn of agriculture, house mice plagued homes

One of the panther kittens photographed with trail cameras north of Florida's Caloosahatchee River

Future of Conservation

Panther Kittens Spotted in Florida Give Hope for Their Species’ Survival

Trail cameras caught a mother panther trailed by two kittens

This dioarama, which used actual human remains, is another example of the ways Ruysch used bodies to make art.

This 17th-Century Anatomist Made Art Out of Bodies

Using human bodies in this way still happens–and it’s controversial

Ovarian cells did their thing in a dish for researchers who used microfluidics and chips to recreate a female menstrual cycle.

New Research

Your Monthly Menstrual Cycle, Reenacted on a Microchip

Bodies are complicated, but they’re no match for persistent bioengineers

None

New Research

Largest-Known Dinosaur Footprint Discovered in Western Australia

The print was among twenty-one types left behind 130 million years ago

New Research

Researchers Turn Spinach Leaves Into Beating Heart Tissues

These living leaves could eventually become patches for the human heart

Researchers discovered the effect in hamsters while trying to find a cure for jet lag in people.

Another Use for Viagra: Curing Hamster Jet Lag

It works—but only for hamsters (and maybe people) traveling east

Cancer cells in culture from human connective tissue, illuminated by darkfield amplified contrast.

New Research

Nearly Two-Thirds of Cancer-Causing Mutations Are Unavoidable, Study Claims

But it’s complicated—and the medical community is not in agreement about the new findings

View out of the window during the inaugural Flight to the Lights

Cool Finds

New Charter Flight Takes Passengers to See the Southern Lights

The first “Flight to the Lights” took 130 skygazers to get up close with the Aurora Australis

The O'Briens have amassed over 1.25 million insects over six decades.

Cool Finds

This Couple Just Donated Their Collection of More Than a Million Insects

The O’Briens have carried on a decades-long love affair with the critters—and each other

Put on your sunglasses—when in action, this artificial sun is 10,000 times brighter than the usual solar radiation here on Earth.

Cool Finds

This New Man-Made Sun Is 10,000 Times More Intense Than Sunlight on Earth

It’s a bright idea that just might help humans create solar fuel

Miles of pipe slated for the Keystone XL stacked in a field near Ripley, Oklahoma after construction stalled in 2012.

Trump Administration Approves Construction of Keystone XL Pipeline

Supporters say that the pipeline will bolster job development in the U.S., but opponents worry about the project’s environmental impact

Asperitas clouds

Cool Finds

Cloud Atlas Adds First New “Species” in Almost 70 Years

The update includes 12 new cloud-related features, including volatus clouds, contrails, and wave-like asperitas discovered by citizen scientists

Mount Etna's glowing lava flow can be spotted at bottom left.

Mount Etna’s Fiery Eruptions Are Visible From Space

Astronaut Thomas Pesquet captured an image of the volcano’s glowing lava

Bird-like versus lizard-like hips define the two major categories of dinosaurs

New Research

New Study Restructures the Dinosaur Family Tree

Detailed analysis of dino fossils suggests that Tyrannosaurus and its relatives may be on the wrong side of the tree

Among all those poppies is something less beautiful—noxious, invasive weeds.

Trending Today

After Intense Downpour, Superblooming California Has a Problem

In a word: weeds

Scientists used this MRI scanner to compare the brains of blind and sighted people.

New Research

Blind People’s Brains Rewire Themselves to Enhance Other Senses

New study finds marked differences between the brains of blind and sighted people

A San man prepares his arrows for hunting in the Living Museum of the Ju’Hoansi-San, Grashoek, Namibia

Trending Today

San People of South Africa Issue Code of Ethics for Researchers

This much-studied population is the first indigenous people of Africa to develop such guidelines

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