Smart News

NASA’s Next Space Robot Was Inspired by a Baby’s Toy

Meet the Super Ball Bot, a flexible robot that could explore new planets

March 5, 2015

An artist’s interpretation of an object slamming into the early Earth

Metal Rain Could Explain Why the Earth Made of Different Stuff Than the Moon

A new study shows that iron-rich asteroids could have vaporized when they hit the early Earth

March 5, 2015

U.S. Heroin Overdose Rate Nearly Quadruples

As prescription painkillers become more difficult to abuse, the face of heroin addiction is changing

March 5, 2015

This is the inner lead casket of the Greyfriars medieval stone coffin.

Who's Inside the Lead Coffin Found Near Richard III?

The mysterious identity of a female skeleton discovered in a coffin-within-a-coffin stumps archeologists

March 5, 2015

Rain Took This Fruit Bat's Happy Away, a Banana Gave it Back

An Australia-dwelling flying fox needed rescue after rains drove it to search for food

March 5, 2015

Should People Be Allowed to Boat Through Yellowstone?

Conservationists and recreational paddlers are split on whether to open up remaining National Parks waterways to boaters

March 5, 2015

The First Photos of Free-Falling Snowflakes Reveal Their Imperfections

Collisions in mid-air often produce ice crystal aggregates, rather than single symmetrical flakes

March 4, 2015

This Might Be Why Handshaking Evolved

A new study shows that shaking hands is a covert way for us to unconsciously sniff out each other’s chemical signals

March 4, 2015

Paul Allen used his superyacht Octopus to locate a Japanese battleship near the Philippines.

Microsoft Billionaire Finds Enormous Sunken Japanese Battleship

Paul Allen used his megayacht to locate the long-lost ship, which has been missing since World War II

March 4, 2015

Halfway through the 2015 Super Bowl, Seattle Seahawks strong safety DeShawn Shead #35 lines up for a kickoff

There’s a Competition to Be the Last to Hear About the Super Bowl Winner

It’s hard to last past Monday morning

March 4, 2015

A Paralyzed Woman Operated a Flight Simulator Using Only Her Thoughts

Electrodes implanted in the brain are shown to enable those with quadriplegia to achieve amazing feats

March 4, 2015

Officials Figure Out What Was Making Louisville Stink

A musty smell permeating the city can be blamed on a naturally-occurring chemical largely responsible for the smell of dirt

March 4, 2015

NASA's Curiosity rover caught this image of its drill just days before a short circuit caused it to shut down.

Mars Rover Is Out of Commission (For Now)

Short circuit halts Curiosity in its tracks

March 4, 2015

A herd of domesticated beefalo in Montana. After interbreeding, free-ranging beefalos currently causing problems in the Grand Canyon appear both physically and genetically close to native bison.

A Beefalo Invasion Is Causing Trouble in the Grand Canyon

Hundreds of the hybrid animals are drying up water resources and messing with the ecosystem, eliciting calls for culling

March 4, 2015

Vigilantes in Quito Have A Mission to Correct Graffiti Artists' Spelling and Grammar

Meaning is important, the group says to explain their illicit copyediting duties

March 3, 2015

A general view shows damaged buildings in the Douma neighborhood of Damascus in Syria on February 24, 2015.

Are Climate Change And the Conflict in Syria Connected?

A new study shows a link between the nation’s recent unrest and a major drought spurred on by global warming

March 3, 2015

More than 150,000 of these tiny bacterial cells could fit onto the tip of a human hair.

This Could Be the Tiniest Organism on Earth

Scientists capture an image of ultra-small bacteria

March 3, 2015

Our familiar, and only true, Moon -- the only photos of the 'second moon' are of a distant, blurry object

Bet You Didn't Know About the Earth's 'Second Moon'

Even astronomers didn't realize it was following the Earth until 1997

March 3, 2015