Smart News

The 23 pairs of human chromosomes. People who inherit two tall X chromosomes (bottom right) are much more susceptible to autoimmune diseases than people with one X and one short Y chromosome.

Why Do Women Get More Autoimmune Diseases? Study of Mice Hints at Answers

Four in five people with an autoimmune disease are women. New research points to an RNA molecule involved in silencing one of their X chromosomes as a potential culprit

The Hohle Fels baton, made from 15 pieces of ivory unearthed in 2015.

Stone Age People Used This 35,000-Year-Old Woolly Mammoth Tusk Tool to Make Rope, Scientists Say

To test their hypothesis that the perforated object was a tool, researchers used a replica to create a 16-foot-long rope from cattail reeds

A visual reconstruction of the workshop, which was active near the start of Britain's Iron Age

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover a 'High-End' Blacksmith's Iron Age Workshop

Found in Oxfordshire, the "smithy" was active at the beginning of a transformative era in Britain

An A.I.-generated image of a kitten on display in "Cute," the new exhibition at London's Somerset House

Why We're So Obsessed With Cute

A London exhibition explores how cute became such a powerful—and sometimes dangerous—cultural force

Miniature dachshunds have a median lifespan of 14 years, according to the data.

Which Dogs Live the Longest? Scientists Say Small and Long-Nosed Canines Outlive Others

A new study of more than 500,000 dogs in the United Kingdom adds more nuance to our understanding of their life expectancy based on breed, size, face shape and other factors

The bronze statue of Jackie Robinson (left) was unveiled in Wichita in early 2021. In late January, perpetrators cut off the statue at the ankles, leaving only a pair of shoes (right).

Who Stole—and Burned—This Jackie Robinson Statue?

Donations poured in to help replace the bronze statue, which a youth baseball nonprofit unveiled in 2021

A fragment of early human bone uncovered in the excavation in Ranis, Germany

Humans and Neanderthals Lived Side by Side in Northern Europe 45,000 Years Ago, Study Finds

Archaeologists identified bone fragments of prehistoric modern humans in Germany, suggesting several millennia of coexistence with Neanderthals before the species disappeared

A sea otter basks in the water with some kelp. Sea otter populations plummeted as they were killed for their pelts in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Hungry Sea Otters Help Prevent Erosion on California's Coast

The marine mammals, which were once hunted nearly to extinction, feed on crabs that would make the land more susceptible to erosion by digging holes in the soil and eating roots

A 1,700-year-old mosaic jade mask and a carved femur bone found inside an ancient Maya tomb at Chochkitam, Guatemala

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Discover 1,700-Year-Old Jade Mask Inside the Tomb of a Maya King

Located in Guatemala, the tomb also held rare mollusk shells, carvings and other funeral offerings

A hermit crab wears the top of a broken bottle as a shell.

Hermit Crabs Are Using Trash as Shells Across the World, Scientists Find

Researchers analyzed photographs of the crustaceans online, identifying nearly 400 examples of artificial shells, which were often plastic bottle caps

The archive was found by a direct descendant of Herman Matzinger, the doctor who performed McKinley's autopsy.

Newly Discovered Papers From President McKinley's Assassination Are for Sale

The archive belonged to Herman Matzinger, who performed the autopsy on the 25th president and conducted a bacteriological analysis to rule out the possibility of poison-tipped bullets

Western monarchs prefer to cluster in areas with little to no wind, high humidity, dappled sunlight and easy access to nectar-producing plants.

Monarch Butterflies Wintering in California Are Down 30 Percent From Last Year

The insects' population is slowly rebounding from a historic low in 2020, but they remain in crisis, having declined by more than 95 percent since the 1980s

The Millenium Camera, set on the path of a hiking trail in Tucson Arizona, is capturing an image over the course of 1,000 years.

Art Meets Science

This Camera Is Taking a 1,000-Year-Long Exposure Photo of Tucson's Desert Landscape

Jonathon Keats, who devised the plan, hopes the camera will inspire onlookers to contemplate how humanity’s actions affect the environment

The recovered pair of ruby slippers from The Wizard of Oz

Thief Who Stole Dorothy's Ruby Slippers Avoids Prison

Terry Martin has been sentenced to one year of supervised release for swiping the iconic "Wizard of Oz" shoes from the Judy Garland Museum in 2005

An image from an electron microscope of Treponema pallidum, the bacteria that causes syphilis. In 2022, the number of reported cases of syphilis in the United States was the highest it has been since 1950.

Syphilis Cases in the U.S. Are the Highest Since 1950

Diagnoses of the sexually transmitted infection rose by nearly 80 percent between 2018 and 2022, according to a new report from the CDC

Measuring 40 by 50 inches, The Schoolmistress (circa 1784) had belonged to physician Earl Leroy Wood. Officials returned it to his son, Francis Wood, on January 11.

Stolen by Mobsters 54 Years Ago, This 18th-Century Painting Was Just Returned to Its Rightful Owners

Authorities presented "The Schoolmistress" to 96-year-old Francis Wood, the owner’s son, last month

When researchers reviewed footage of flying insects, they saw that the bugs tilted their backs toward the source of artificial light.

Why Are Flying Insects 'Attracted' to Lights? Scientists May Finally Have an Answer

Moths and other insects might turn their backs toward the brightest source of light around—which has historically been the sky—to determine which way is up and which is down, according to a new paper

The Glen Affric tartan, which dates to the 16th century, on top of the newly recreated pattern

You Can Now Wear a Recreation of Scotland's Oldest Tartan

Fashion designers have created a fabric inspired by the Glen Affric tartan, which was discovered in a peat bog and dates to between 1500 and 1600

A mother "Dorado" octopus, one of the newly announced species, protects her eggs some 3,000 meters under the ocean's surface.

Biologists Discover Four New Octopus Species in the Deep Ocean Off Costa Rica

One species was found brooding eggs near low-temperature hydrothermal vents, a rare sight that could unlock new information on deep-sea cephalopods

Writer N. Scott Momaday at his home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in 2019

N. Scott Momaday Built the Foundations of Native American Literature

Smithsonian scholars offer their reflections on the author, who died last week at age 89, and his impact on a new generation of Native writers

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