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Smart News / Smart News Science

An electron micrograph of the coronavirus.

New SARS-Like Virus Is Spreading—Slowly

A novel coronavirus identified earlier this year is slowly—very slowly—spreading

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How Much Damage Could North Korea’s New Nuke Do?

North Korea’s new nuke could take out a big chunk of Lower Manhattan

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Elephants Choose to Stay Inside Safe, Less Stressful National Parks

Elephants living within the park’s boundaries are significantly less stressed than those living outside of its protective borders

All Those Hours Inside Could Make You Nearsighted

Just being inside all the time might be creating a population full of nearsighted people

Researchers thought that male fish, affected by artificial hormones in waste water, were growing eggs. This turned out to not be true.

California’s Gender-Bending Fish Was Actually Just a Contamination Accident

Scientists thought male fish, exposed to artificial hormones, were growing eggs. They weren’t

A sea turtle farm in Gran Cayman

Captive Sea Turtles Extract Their Revenge by Making Tourists Sick

Captive sea turtles in the Caymans can ruin a tourist’s visit with a nasty dose of bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites

A moose in Alaska’s Denali National Park and Preserve.

Minnesota’s Moose Are Missing, And No One Really Knows Why

Disease? Warm summers? No one knows for sure what is leading to the moose’s decline in this state

Wisdom the Albatross with the chick she hatched last year.

At 62, the Oldest Bird in the World Is Still Hatching Chicks

Wisdom the 62 year-old albatross just hatched what is thought to be her 30 to 35th chick

Does he really miss you, or is that a tasty looking squirrel out there?

Is Your Dog as Smart as You Think?

Researchers are now starting to look into the question, and see just how intelligent our furry friends actually are

A seismogram records the motion of the magnitude 8.0 earthquake.

A Massive 8.0 Earthquake Hit the South Pacific Last Night

Huge magnitude 8.0 earthquakes are rare—but not as rare as you’d think

Earthworms Could Make Climate Change Worse

While earthworms benefit soils, they do play a significant role in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide - though not nearly as great as humans, of course

Colorful Kindergarten Lessons Throw Color-Blind Kids Off Their Game

‘Beatrice the Swabia’ is a baby Coquerel’s sifaka

Lemurs Are the Most Endangered Mammals on the Planet, And This Adorable Baby Is Their Future

The vast majority of lemur species are facing extinction, but this baby Coquerel’s safika is trying to help

A New Disease, a New Reason to Hate And Fear Ticks

A worrisome new tick-borne disease, similar to Lyme disease but caused by a different microbe, turned up in 18 patients in southern New England

China’s Air Pollution Is So Bad That One Entrepreneur Is Selling Fresh Air in Cans

It’s a bleak state of affairs indeed when a Mel Brooks schtickfest from the ‘80s actually predicts the future

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Just a Nibble of Chocolate Is Enough to Satiate Cravings

Larger portions lead to increased grazing, but there’s no benefit when it comes to banishing cravings.

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Here’s What Three Mummies Might Have Looked Like While Alive

For the first time in over 2,000 years, these three mummies’ faces now stare back at viewers, much as they might have appeared just before their deaths

Citrus Greening Will Ruin Morning OJ, No Matter How You Slice It

Never Listen to a Wine Critic Babble About Tannins Again

Turns out, a lot of what wine experts “know” isn’t really based on fact

The earliest known portrayal of patients suffering from syphilis, from Vienna in 1498.

Did Shakespeare Have Syphilis?

Shakespeare acquired an uncanny obsession with syphilis late in life, perhaps along with a few bacteria of his own

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