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Smart News / Smart News Science

A Standard Stations filling station in California, circa 1939.

Leaded Gas Was a Known Poison the Day It Was Invented

For most of the mid-twentieth century, lead gasoline was considered normal. But lead is a poison, and burning it has had dire consequences

This collage of images from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows Saturn's northern hemisphere and rings as viewed with four different spectral filters. Each filter is sensitive to different wavelengths of light and reveals clouds and hazes at different altitudes.

New Research

Check Out New Pictures of Saturn From Cassini’s Latest Orbit

New images of the ringed planet herald the spacecraft’s demise

A flock of snow geese safely land on a lake at the Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge in Delaware.

Trending Today

Thousands of Snow Geese Die at Abandoned Pit Mine

Despite attempts to scare them away, thousands of geese landed on the acidic Berkeley Pit, which is full of toxic heavy metals

Underside of preserved tail section, displaying paler plumage, numerous decay products, and an associated ant.

New Research

This 99-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Tail Trapped in Amber Hints at Feather Evolution

The rare specimen provides new insights into how feathers came to be

Obi the parrotlet

New Research

How a Goggle-Wearing Parrot Could Help Future Robots Fly

By flying through a haze and lasers, Obi the parrotlet helped researchers figure out how much lift birds produce

Cosmic dust particle collected from an urban gutter

Cool Finds

Scientists Discover Cosmic Dust in the Grime of City Gutters

Usually only found in remote locations, a dedicated amateur scientist combed through pounds of urban debris to recover these space specks

Hair removal is personal—but it may be time to bring science to the party.

Bare Down There? New Study Suggests You’re More Susceptible to STIs

Your pubic preferences could be linked to your sexual health

As if you needed another reason to sleep in.

New Research

Sleep-Deprived Drivers Can Be as Dangerous as Drunk Ones

Getting by on even slightly less sleep could put you at risk

An early cotton-candy machine.

The Innovative Spirit fy17

People at the 1904 World’s Fair Paid Half the Price of Admission for a Box of Cotton Candy

Celebrating cotton candy’s sugary, innovative goodness

Bathochordaeus charon

Cool Finds

Scientists Finally Spot Giant, Slimy Sea Blob First Found Over a Century Ago

Discovered in 1899, the creature recently popped up in Monterey Bay

New Research

You May Not Have Rhythm, But Your Eyeballs Sure Do

Tracking eye movement gives researchers a peek into how the brain reacts to music

New Research

Archeologists Discover Nearly 2,000-Year-Old Pet Cemetery in Egypt

Containing 100 lovingly positioned creatures, the site suggests that the ancients could have valued their companion animals as much as we do

Grab your coats—this was the scene on Mauna Kea this morning.

Trending Today

Hawaii Faces Down Nearly Three Feet of Snow

And more of the white stuff is on its way to the Big Island’s tallest peaks

A partial skull of an ancient elephant uncovered in a new L.A. Metro station.

Cool Finds

Construction Workers Uncover Ancient Elephant Bones Under L.A.’s Subway

But it won’t slow the metro down

Cool Finds

Listen to This Holly, Jolly (and a Little Creepy) A.I.-Penned Christmas Song

A neural network at the University of Toronto wrote a holiday ditty based on an image of a Christmas tree

Turtle grass may rely on tiny crustaceans as pollinators.

Meet the Newly Discovered Pollinators Under the Sea

The tiny crustaceans are challenging previous assumptions about how plants grow underwater

A sinkhole recently discovered in northwestern China.

Cool Finds

Massive Cluster of Sinkholes Found Deep in China’s Mountainous Northwest

The network of pockmarks is packed with old-growth forests and giant flying squirrels

A Jarvik-7 artificial heart in the Smithsonian's collection.

Remembering Barney Clark, Whose Ethically Questionable Heart Transplant Advanced Science

Three decades ago, a dentist agreed to receive the first artificial heart. And then things went downhill

Researchers gave capsules containing psilocybin to cancer patients with terminal cancer—and witnessed spectacular results.

New Research

Could Magic Mushrooms One Day Help Cancer Patients Face Down Death?

Two new studies show the promise of psilocybin for patients with anxiety and depression

Trending Today

The Four Newest Elements Now Have Names

Chemistry governing body officially approves names for the four newest additions to the Periodic Table

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