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Smart News / Smart News Science

At the beginning of June, aquarium officials announced Charlotte was no longer pregnant due to a reproductive disease.

Charlotte the ‘Pregnant Virgin’ Stingray Dies After Diagnosis of Reproductive Disease

The animal drew attention earlier this year for becoming pregnant despite having no male ray in her tank

The International Space Station, as seen from the Space Shuttle Discovery in 2007.

NASA Will Pay SpaceX Up to $843 Million to Destroy the International Space Station

After the end of this decade, the company will guide the aging laboratory into the Pacific Ocean, where many retired spacecrafts have been deposited

A diver found the vessel off the coast of northern Cyprus in 1965.

New Research

How Researchers Solved the Mystery of This 2,000-Year-Old Shipwreck

A new analysis of nuts, timber and other items found onboard the Kyrenia shipwreck is shedding new light on the vessel’s timeline

Yun Chuan is "serious about his bamboo but mild-mannered toward others," according to the San Diego Zoo.

Two Pandas Arrive at the San Diego Zoo, the First to Enter the U.S. in 21 Years

For months, the only pandas in the country had been in Atlanta. Next, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are expected to also receive pandas this year

A new study adds evidence to the idea that Earth's inner core is slowing its spin, though still rotating in the same direction as the planet.

Earth’s Inner Core May Be Slowing Its Spin, Another Study Suggests

New research adds evidence to the controversial idea that the hot, solid ball at the center of our planet has been reducing its speed for years as part of an oscillating cycle

An artist's rendition of the volcanic eruption that preserved several trilobite fossils in ash more than 500 million years ago.

Volcanic Ash Preserved Trilobite Fossils in Surprising Detail at ‘Prehistoric Pompeii’

The specimens date to more than 500 million years ago and provide new insights into trilobite anatomy, revealing previously unseen features

Tusks and other fossilized remains are all that's left of the woolly mammoths that lived on Wrangel Island thousands of years ago.

What Killed the Last Woolly Mammoths? Scientists Say It Wasn’t Inbreeding

New research suggests some catastrophic event—such as a natural disaster or a virus—killed the world’s last known population of mammoths on Wrangel Island

An illustration of debris and satellites in the geostationary ring around Earth.

ISS Astronauts Forced to Briefly Take Shelter as Russian Satellite Suddenly Breaks Up in Orbit

Officials are unsure why the satellite fractured unexpectedly, splintering into nearly 200 pieces

The new blood test, researchers hope, will help doctors diagnose Parkinson's disease years before symptoms occur, helping them provide more proactive treatments.

New Blood Test for Predicting Parkinson’s Disease With A.I. Shows Promise, Study Suggests

In preliminary research, scientists identified eight protein anomalies in the blood of patients with Parkinson’s, which they say can help diagnose the disease up to seven years before symptoms appear

Researchers have previously found evidence of Neanderthals caring for sick and injured individuals.

Neanderthal Child May Have Had Down Syndrome, Fossil Suggests

The child’s survival until at least 6 years old could be evidence of collaborative caregiving in Neanderthal societies, according to a new paper

The frog saunas are easy to make and cost around $50 to put together.

‘Frog Saunas’ May Be the Key to Saving Amphibians From a Deadly Fungal Infection

Providing frogs with sun-warmed bricks inside mini-greenhouses can help them recover from chytrid and make them more resilient against the disease in the future, a new study finds

The face's novel anchors—holes filled with gel—allow the skin to stretch into a smile without damaging itself.

Researchers Make a Smiling Robotic Face From Living Skin

The team designed a new way for their lab-grown skin to adhere to the robot’s face, in a creation that could help produce soft robots or train plastic surgeons

The European Space Agency's Planetary Defense Office tracks and observes near-Earth objects passing by our planet, such as those shown in this illustration. 

Two Massive Asteroids Will Fly Past Earth This Week. Here’s What to Know

Within 42 hours of each other, the pair of large asteroids, which both have no chance of impacting our planet, will approach Earth as they orbit the sun

The return capsule of the Chang'e-6 probe lands in China on June 25, 2024, with lunar samples inside.

China Brings Samples From the Moon’s Far Side to Earth in First-Ever Feat

The China National Space Administration retrieved more than four pounds of lunar soil samples, which scientists hope will shed light on the early history of Earth and the moon

Honeybees have a very good sense of smell.

Honeybees Can Sniff Out Lung Cancer, Scientists Suggest

New research opens the door for doctors to one day use bees as a living diagnostic tool

A firefighter stands in a blaze at the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge in 2009.

Extreme Wildfires Became Twice as Frequent and Intense in 20 Years, Study Finds

As measured by satellites, wildfires have markedly increased in boreal and temperate conifer forests, and rising nighttime temperatures allow flames to keep burning intensely after dark

Zorita de los Canes Castle in central Spain, where the 25 skeletons were discovered

Cool Finds

Was This Mysterious Woman a Medieval Warrior?

Buried at a castle in Spain, the woman was found alongside the remains of 22 men who likely died on the battlefield

Jupiter's Great Red Spot is a large storm that has persisted for at least 190 years.

Jupiter’s Signature Red Spot May Have Evolved More Than Once

The planet’s massive storm, known as the Great Red Spot, seems to be different from a spot first observed at roughly the same location in the 17th century, a new study finds

Painted ladies are known for making long migrations over land.

These Stunning Butterflies Flew 2,600 Miles Across the Atlantic Ocean Without Stopping

Researchers combined several lines of evidence to solve the mystery of why a group of painted ladies, which do not live in South America, were found fluttering on a beach in French Guiana

Robert DiNapoli, co-author of a new study about population dynamics on Rapa Nui, stands in front of a rock garden on the island. People used rocks to make the volcanic land more suitable for farming.

Easter Island Did Not Collapse From Overuse of Resources After All, Study Suggests

A new paper contradicts the idea that people used up the island’s resources and experienced a significant population decline, instead proposing that a small society lived there sustainably

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