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Smart News / Smart News Science

27 Years Later, Radiation Still Hides Out in Chernobyl’s Trees (Fukushima’s Too)

Trapped in the trees, radiation from Chernobyl could be re-released with a forest fire

Dual Jet Streams

It’s Dueling Dual Jet Streams That Are Causing All This Weird Weather

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The World Is Heading for 11 Billion People This Century

How are we going to feed them all?

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Smoke From More Than 800 Forest Fires in Indonesia Is Blanketing Southeast Asia

Most fires appear to be burning in palm oil plantations and land overseen by paper pulp companies, which are owned by Singaporean and Malaysian families

Part of the 700,000-year-old bone fragment used to sequence the DNA.

Cracking the Code of the Human Genome

700,000-Year-Old Horse Genome Is Oldest Ever Sequenced by a Factor of 10

The study authors say that the horse genome hints that it may be possible to sequence the genomes of organisms that lived up to 1 million years ago

A Fungus-Like Disease Threatens Europe’s Supply of Gin

This is the first time the disease, which was discovered in Argentina around five years ago, has turned up in Europe

Death Valley is the site of the hottest measured temperature on Earth.

It’s About to Get Dangerously Hot in the Southwest

The southwest US is about to face a strong, and long, heat wave

Not the cloned mouse

Mouse Cloned From Its Parent’s Blood

White blood cells flowing in its parents blood provided the genetic material needed to clone

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Your Choice of Spoon Changes the Taste of Your Food

White yogurt eaten from a white spoon was deemed sweeter, more expensive and denser than a similar yogurt that was dyed pink.

Mummies at the Manchester Museum

Museum’s Ancient Egyptian Statue Mysteriously Rotates

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Fin Whale Unsure Whether It Wubs Dubstep Remix of Its Conversation

Fin whale calls can be detected by seismic networks, and because this is the internet, there is obviously a remix

A Slight Zap to the Brain Makes Everyone Appear More Attractive

After getting zapped, participants experienced a boost of dopamine - a chemical associated with how we judge people’s attractiveness

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Phnom Pehn Has 1.5 Million People, And One Bird Scientists Had Never Seen Before

This bird was distinguished by differences in coloring and by its faster and more complicated song

Live Closer to a Gas Well, And There’s Likely More Gas in Your Water

The team found low levels of methane in 115 of 141 Marcellus Formation shale gas wells they sampled

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Plants Do Math Every Single Day

Math, the researchers say, is a vital component of a plant’s ability to grow and thrive

Blue tits being winter piggies.

Birds That Gorge Themselves in Winter Have Fewer Chicks in Spring

The well-fed birds’ babies were smaller and weighed less than the chicks belonging to birds that had to scrape by during the cold months on their own wits

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One of Our Nearest Neighbor Stars Has At Least Six Planets, And Three May Be Habitable

Three potentially habitable planets orbit a star just 22 light years away

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Song of Fire and Ice: Watch What Happens When Lava Meets Ice

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We Still Have No Idea Why Women Have Orgasms

Most researchers hypothesize that the orgasms must have something to do with facilitating the meeting of sperm and egg, but studies prove inconclusive

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This Stunning, Six-and-a-Half Hour Video of the Night Sky Will Transport You to the Desert

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