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Smart News / Smart News Science

Microbes May Be Responsible For Wine Regions’ Distinctive Flavors

Wines’ regionally-distinctive flavors may be caused by the bacteria and fungi that live on the grapes

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Scientists Accidentally Captured the Sound of Poachers Killing an Elephant, And It’s Very, Very Sad

A microphone network meant to eavesdrop on elephants’ conversations ended up hearing something far more gruesome

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This Hurricane Season Was Way Less Awful Than People Expected

This year’s hurricane season - which ends tomorrow - has been far more subdued than experts predicted

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Meet Brazil’s Adorable New Wildcat Species

Also known as little spotted cats, tigrillo, tigrinas or tiger cats, it turns out these wild felines are not one but two distinct species

Same-Sex Parenting Can Be an Adaptive Advantage

Same-sex bird couples produced fewer offspring than traditional couples, but they still reared more chicks than solo parents

Bodies of would-be native mates may have nourished this invasive female M. caffra, here pictured laying eggs.

New Zealand’s Native Mantises Are a Little Too Attracted to Invasive Females

Nearly 70 percent of love-blinded males that were lured towards the invasive females were then eaten by the object of their desire

Here’s How Astronauts Will Eat Thanksgiving Dinner in Space

Yum yum yum, irradiated smoked turkey and thermostabilized yams

The Microbes Living in Our Bodies Were Probably Once Evil Pathogens

The Salmonella of the past may today help us break down food in our gut, for example

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

Here’s Why the FDA Is More Than a Little Freaked Out by Personal Genetic Testing

Really, this debate isn’t about 23andMe, but about a broader question of how to deliver and interpret personal genetic data

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Get Up to Speed on the Latest Climate Science in Nine Minutes

This new IPCC video boils down the physical science behind climate change in language anyone can understand

Shale gas in America

Most Americans Don’t Know What Fracking Is

You know what fracking is, right? If not, we’re here to help

A bed bug killed by Beauveria bassiana

This Fungus Is the Ultimate Bedbug Killer

This insect-killing fungus could be the bane of bed bugs

Even If It Hurts More, People Rather Just Get A Painful Experience Over With

People can sometimes seem eager to get physically painful experiences out of the way, likely in avoidance of having to dread that impending pain

How Stores Fool Us By Listing the “Original Price” During Sales

From half off deals, to the music they play in the store, marketers are getting ready to release their arsenal of tricks on you

The Mauna Loa Observatory where Keeling’s observations are made.

Budget Cuts Could Shut Down the Carbon Dioxide Monitors That First Warned of Global Warming

The monitoring program that gave us Keeling’s Curve is facing the axe as budgets are cut

To Dodge a Bullet, You’d Have to See It From Three Football Fields Away

Even the slowest handguns shoot a bullet at 340 meters per seconds

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Hermit Crabs Avoid Conflict By Developing a Taste for Specific Types of Shells

As the crabs got older, their tolerance for shell diversity decreased, and they honed in on a single shell type they liked best

For some people, like Staff Sgt. Dana Fernkas, having access to crucial information depends, in some part, on the typography and design of checklists and manuals.

Here Are NASA’s Top 19 Typography Tips

For some, the choice of font is actually a matter of life and death

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Fresh Brains Are Way Squishier Than You Thought

Brains are so soft that you can deform them with a touch

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Why Men Tend To Have Bigger Noses Than Women

This also speaks to differences between modern humans and our ancient ancestors, since ancient humans had more muscle mass than we soft creatures of today

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