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Smart News / Smart News Science

The images, captured with the Event Horizon Telescope, show the magnetic field of the supermassive black hole M87* completely reversing.

Astronomers Watched a Black Hole Unexpectedly Flip Its Magnetic Field, Challenging Theoretical Models

A series of observations between 2017 and 2021 suggest the supermassive structure’s magnetized plasma is more dynamic than thought

The newly identified tektites.

Cool Finds

Researchers Find Evidence of a Mysterious Giant Asteroid Impact, but They Don’t Know Where Its Crater Is

Special shards of glass, known as “tektites,” were hiding in plain sight in a museum collection

An artistic rendering of a Joaquinraptor casali with a croc leg in its mouth.

Cool Finds

Paleontologists Discover Megaraptor Fossil With a Crocodilian’s Leg Still in Its Mouth

The finding in Argentina reveals a new megaraptor species that would have ruled at the same time as North America’s T. rex, shedding light on what it took to be a prehistoric top predator

The first-place winner of the 2025 Nikon Small World in Motion Video Competition captures a self-pollinating flower.

Stunning Microscope Videos Highlight Self-Pollination, Algae and Tumor Cells in the Nikon Small World in Motion Contest

The annual video competition focuses on the tiny wonders of the natural world

Huntington's disease gradually damages the caudate nucleus, pictured in red. 

Experimental Gene Therapy Successfully Treats Huntington’s Disease for the First Time

Preliminary results from a small study offer hope for treatment of the degenerative disease

Stuttering affects roughly 1 percent of the world's population, yet it is not well researched.

What Causes Stuttering? A Large DNA Analysis Study Offers New Clues, Uncovering Links to 48 Genes

Scientists analyzed data from more than one million users of 23andMe and found associations between certain genes and stuttering

The three missions launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket the morning of September 24.

‘Ultimate Cosmic Carpool’ Sends Three New Missions to Monitor Space Weather and the Protective Bubble Around Our Solar System

The spacecraft will map the boundaries of the heliosphere, study how Earth’s outer atmosphere reacts to solar activity and provide continuous monitoring of space weather

Scientists are considering what limits to potentially place on mirror-image cell research.

Scientists Weigh the Risks of ‘Mirror Life,’ Synthetic Molecules With a Reverse Version of Life’s Building Blocks

Though mirror biology might lead to improved drugs and other innovations, scientists have warned against potentially devastating consequences of this research

This event marks the first time the leopard shark (Stegostoma tigrinum) has been documented mating in the wild.

Rare Trio of Leopard Sharks Spotted Mating in the Wild for the First Time, and a Snorkeling Scientist Captured a Video

Conservationists say the unexpected observation could inform efforts to protect or reintroduce leopard sharks, an endangered species

A male blue jay on the left, a female green jay on the right and a hybrid offspring of the two species in the center.

Strange Bird Spotted in a Texas Backyard Is the First Known Hybrid Between a Blue Jay and a Green Jay

The ranges of the two parent bird species have expanded due to climate change and now overlap around San Antonio, researchers say

An artistic rendering depicting dozens of exoplanets

Exoplanet Discoveries Pass the 6,000 Mark, Shedding Light on How Our Solar System Compares With the Rest of the Universe

The rate of finding these distant worlds has recently increased, with astronomers scrambling to accommodate the data

A jaguar, not the one documented in the new study, swims in the Pantanal in Brazil.

A Jaguar in Brazil Makes the Longest Recorded Swim by the Species, Traversing at Least 0.79 Miles Through Water

The new record could help conservationists strategize ways to consider feline movements during construction of hydroelectric dams

Chimpanzees in Uganda's Kibale National Park love eating figs, which scientists found had the highest level of alcohol at the site.

Chimps Consume the Equivalent of 2.5 Alcoholic Drinks per Day by Eating Fermented Fruit, Study Finds

Scientists report that chimpanzees consume about 14 grams of alcohol daily and suggest the result might help explain humans’ interest in booze

The slice was taken from an area of the trunk roughly three feet above the ground.

New Research

By Counting Growth Rings, Researchers Solve the Mystery of the Sycamore Gap Tree’s Age

A new analysis shows that the historic tree was at least 100 to 120 years old in September 2023, when two men illegally chopped it down

A team of Japanese researchers accepts the Ig Nobel Prize for biology. In their experiments, they found that painting cows with stripes roughly halved the number of fly bites the animals received.

Ig Nobel Prizes Honor Fingernails, Painted Cows and Cacio e Pepe in a Celebration of Strange Science

Ten research projects earned awards for achievements that have made people “laugh, then think”

According to new research, the Chicago River has become significantly cleaner and healthier in recent decades. 

Fish Are Spawning in the Chicago River, Another Sign the Once-Contaminated Waterway Is Rebounding

A new study suggests at least 24 species of fish are reproducing in the urban river, adding to the evidence that it is getting cleaner and healthier

An artistic rendering featuring a confrontation between two dome-headed dinosaurs

Cool Finds

Paleontologists Discover Earliest Known Dome-Headed Dinosaur in Excellent Condition, Shedding Light on Its Mysterious Anatomy

Most of what researchers previously knew about the iconic Cretaceous dinosaurs came from their domed heads, which endured better than the rest of their skeletons

The Scarlet Sunrise is a new, crack-resistant grape tomato variety developed by researchers at Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Researchers Just Developed a Tasty New Tomato Called the Scarlet Sunrise

The snackable grape variety is the brainchild of scientists at Rutgers University, who have spent more than a decade trying to produce a firm, crack-resistant fruit with a vibrant reddish-yellow color

Quasi-moons follow heliocentric orbits, centered around the sun, that are similar to Earth's.

Cool Finds

Astronomers Say Earth Has a Newly Discovered ‘Quasi-Moon,’ a Companion That Shares Its Orbit Around the Sun

Researchers are discussing 2025 PN7, a small celestial body that’s following a similar orbital path to our planet’s without being gravitationally tied to Earth

A fly trapped in a studied amber sample. 

Cool Finds

112-Million-Year-Old Amber Samples Preserve a Snapshot of an Ancient Forest

The deposits from the time of the dinosaurs contain fragile insects and a spider’s web

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