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Smart News / Smart News Science

The supermassive black hole Sagittarius A* is at the center of the Milky Way.

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We’re About to Watch As a Supermassive Black Hole Tries to Gobble a Gas Cloud

A huge cloud of dust is on a collision course with the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way

New Research

Give Rats THC, And Their Kids’ Brains Look Different

The progeny of rats that were exposed to marijuana show some differences

Cool Finds

Adidas May Have Finally Made a Sleek, Streamlined Soccer Ball That Players Can Live With

Professional soccer players hate when Adidas redesigns their World Cup balls. How will this new one fly?

Cool Finds

Iditarod Sled Dogs May Be the Best Animal Athletes

These dogs run for about 100 miles a day for eight or nine days straight

There's a reason this food tastes like nothing.

Cool Finds

Sounds Can Change the Taste of Our Food As We Eat It

When you taste something, there’s a lot more than your tastebuds at work

Topographic map of the U.S. and Canada.

New Research

What’s the Flattest-Looking State in the U.S.?

How things are, and how things look, aren’t always the same thing

Cool Finds

Coming Soon, a College Degree in Coffee

The University of California, Davis, has launched a coffee research center, and hopes to offer college degrees in coffee

New Research

You Can Make Or Break a First Impression by How You Say “Hello”

Specifically, it’s the tone of your voice that is sending subtle clues about yourself—true or otherwise

Journey to the Center of Earth

There May Be a Second Massive Ocean Deep Beneath the Surface

Chemically bonded to minerals in the transition zone, Earth’s mantle may be rather wet

New Research

Let Us Introduce You to a Tiny Arctic Tyrannosaurs

Nanuqsaurus hoglund lived above the Arctic circle

New Research

Matching a Person’s Face With an ID Photo Seems To Be Something of a Crap Shoot

People fail to make a correct identification up to 20 percent of the time, at least in the lab

New Research

Copy Cats Are Universally Looked Down Upon by the World’s Children

Regardless of their nation’s stance on copyright and intellectual property laws, kids are not into others stealing their ideas

New Research

Restoring Cut Rainforests Might Not Work Well If There’s Light Pollution Nearby

Fruit-eating bats can’t do their job distributing seeds around the new jungle patch if they’re blinded by lights

Maybe sometimes it would be nice if your stuff would just stay where you put it. Just for a minute? Please?

Cool Finds

Astronauts Are Really Sick of Houston, And Other Insights Gleaned From Spacefarer’s Diaries

Life in space is amazing and wonderful and beautiful and awesome, but sometimes it’s also really, really annoying

Hoot.

New Research

Male Peacocks Make Fake Sex Noises to Seem More Attractive Than They Are

Faking a noise usually reserved for sex makes male peacocks more attractive

New Research

Elephants Identify Dangerous People by Their Gender, Their Clothes And Even the Language They Speak

Wild Kenyan elephant have learned to identify Maasai men as dangerous threats

Cool Finds

Activity Bands Can See You Run, But Not Deadlift

Bands are good at walking and running, but lose their accuracy for other types of exercise

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Cool Finds

In the Animal Kingdom, Couples Are Often More “Monogam-ish” Than Monogamous

That an animal “mates for life” doesn’t often mean what you think it means

Cool Finds

There Are Indeed Side Effects to Sword Swallowing

From “sword throat” to putting a hole in your pharynx, sword swallowing comes with a few risks

New Research

Parents Playing With Their Phones Have Less Patience for Their Kids

Kids compete with Candy Crush and texting for a parental attention

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