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Smart News / Smart News Science

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Even Mummy Doctors Forgot Tools in Their Patients Sometimes

Researchers examining the brains of mummies have found a small tool that was used during embalming, left behind after the procedure

The Smithsonian Air and Space museum is in possession of the remains of an original Horten Ho 229.

After Nearly 70 Years, How Do Stealth Planes Stay Stealthy?

From the Horten Ho 229 to the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, stealth technology has changed a lot

Gamers Are Better at Robotic Surgery Than Med Students

Robotic surgery - commanding a robotic arm to perform delicate surgical tasks - has become more and more popular in medicine

“Hardness” or just boredom?

Boredom Didn’t Exist as an Emotion in Darwin’s Days

In 1868, Darwin set out to quantify human emotion in a series of novel experiments, which researchers are recreating today

The Obamadon is that little blue guy in the left corner.

How To Get an Ancient Lizard Named After You: Get Elected President

Simply get elected president, and you’ll have a fair chance of some newly discovered creature inheriting your moniker

Radar images of Toutatis captured during its 1992 flyby.

Get Ready: A 2.8-Mile Wide Asteroid Is About to Swoop Past Earth

A huge asteroid will pass near Earth today, and you can watch it live online

A reef ecosystem grows on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico.

Environmentalists Want To Keep Oil Platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Wait, What?

Oil companies want to pull their rigs from the Gulf, but environmentalists are saying “no”

The Lake Ellsworth drilling camp

British Scientists Will Drill Through Three Kilometers of Ice Into an Ancient Antarctic Lake

More than a decade of planning will come together this week for a five-day push through three kilometers of ice

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Catfish Are Teaching Themselves to Catch Pigeons

In southwestern France, catfish are throwing themselves on the shore to catch pigeons

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Climate Change May Have Driven Genghis Khan’s Army Across Eurasia

A multidecadal blip in temperature and rainfall patterns may have spurred the rise of the Mongol Empire

Eugene Cernan on the surface of the Moon, December 1972.

It’s Been 40 Years Since Anyone Rode a Rocket to the Moon

Apollo 17 took off forty years ago today

Climate justice protestors in Doha.

It’s the Final Day of the Doha Climate Talks, And, Uh, Did Anything Actually Happen?

Reports from Doha don’t provide much hope that any progress has been made on the increasingly urgent issue of global climate change

Middle School Jocks Actually Get the Best Grades

The fittest kids on the playground are also the ones who excel in the classroom at standardized tests and good grades

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Lions Are Disappearing From Africa

Research shows that lions are quickly disappearing across Africa’s once-thriving Savannah due to human population growth and massive land use conversion

Here’s How to Make a Scorpion Bomb

Want to keep your enemies at bay? How about throwing a jar of scorpions at them?

“Nothing tells us more about the spread of humans across the Earth than city lights” – NOAA.

Black Marble, Interrupted: Our Mark on the Night Sky, From Space

NASA scientists created global composite images using cloud-free nights to reveal an unprecedented look at how our planet appears at night

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Birds Harness the Deadly Power of Nicotine to Kill Parasites

And city birds are stuffing their nests with cigarette butts to poison potential parasites

A thermal image of a lying subject gives away his bright red nose.

Like Pinocchio, When You Lie, Your Nose Gives You Away

When a person lies, the area on and around the nose increases in temperature, giving away the anxiety lurking below the surface of an otherwise cool facade

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