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Smart News / Smart News Science

A chimpanzee family in Uganda in 2010.

Cool Finds

What Does it Really Mean to Be 99 Percent Chimp?

This video breaks down our statistical similarity to chimpanzees

Artist's illustration of HIV

New Research

This is Why Developing an HIV Vaccine is Really Hard

For three decades researchers have been working to protect against the tricky virus

Some parks, like Assateague National Seashore, have already come up with plans to deal with the effects of climate change and how their visitation rates could shift in response.

New Research

How Will Climate Change Affect National Park Attendance?

A new analysis of the effect of global warming on tourism has things heating up in some areas, staying lukewarm in others

A wildlife camera captured this image of an adult Louisiana black bear foraging in a forest clearing.

Cool Finds

Louisiana’s Bears Are Making a Comeback

The state thinks the bears are doing well enough to merit removal from protected status. Others disagree

Cool Finds

Could the Sounds of Cod Having Sex Save a Species (and an Economy)?

Spying on “spawning haystacks” is helping fishermen make more money and biologists preserve a floundering fish population

South Africans celebrate at a gay pride event outside Johannesburg in 2013. While other countries have passed legislation criminalizing homosexuality, South Africa has advocated tolerance.

Some African Countries Are Trying to Use Science to Make Homophobic Laws, Now African Scientists are Pushing Back

Some African countries have tried to use science to justify laws that criminalize homosexuality

Flamingos at the the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo in Israel, possibly contemplating their escape

Cool Finds

Forget Llamas and Lions, Flamingos Are the Best Escape Artists

The pink birds are tougher than they look

New Research

Polar Bears are Eating Dolphins, Probably Thanks to Climate Change

A warmer winter lured a pod of white-beaked dolphins north but then ice trapped them, sealing their fate as a polar bear’s meal

A composite image of the Philae lander on comet 67P.

Comet Lander Philae Wakes Up From Nap

“Are you there, Rosetta? It’s me Philae”

Dinosaurs likely weren't around to witness this lovely view from the rim of the Grand Canyon.

New Research

Dinosaurs (Probably) Never Saw the Grand Canyon

The canyon likely didn’t exist in time to be a hang out for giant lizards

Saturn’s largest ring as spotted by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope in 2009

New Research

Saturn’s Rings Extend Farther Than Thought — Nearly 4 Million Miles From the Planet

The outermost ring is dark and dusty

Cool Finds

Behold the Weird Beauty of Mold

Scientists aren’t quite sure why mold comes in so many colors

Fear the claw. More often than no, claw machines are likely rigged for you to lose.

Cool Finds

Here’s How Claw Machines Are Rigged to Make Sure You Lose

That’s why simply grabbing a prize is so deceptively difficult

Surprise, surprise. The best campfires are as tall as they are wide.

New Research

How to Build the Perfect Campfire

Science confirms that the best way to build a campfire really is the best way to build a campfire

New Research

West African Chimps Regularly Drink Alcoholic Palm Sap

Observations over 17 years show this isn’t just an experiment for the apes

New Research

This Computer Runs on Water

A new class of computers takes advantage of the physical properties of water

A handprint from an eight-year-old boy after he came in from playing outside

Cool Finds

Here’s What Happens When You Culture the Bacteria on an Eight-Year-Old’s Hand

Lots of cooties grow

Two species of mites make their home in the hair follicles on your face.

Cool Finds

Meet the Mites That Live on Your Face

These microscopic organisms live and die on your face

Cool Finds

Visit the Pacific’s Deepest Hydrothermal Vents With Underwater Robots

Researchers spotted the vents nearly 12,500 feet beneath the surface during an expedition mapping the floor of the Pescadero Basin

An eight-week old human fetus attached to its placenta

New Research

There’s no Sound Evidence That Placenta Eating is a Good Idea

The scientific literature is skimpy and the organ’s biology indicates there might be reasons to abstain

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