Smart News Science

A scanning electronic microscope image of the 600 million-year-old sponge-like fossil

New Research

One of the Oldest Known Animals Is This Tiny, Ancient Sponge

A new fossil find pushes back the start of the evolution of multicellular animals

The zodiacal light.

Cool Finds

Catch a Glimpse of the Zodiacal Light Show This Month

For some in the northern hemisphere, a celestial treat sometimes referred to as “false dusk” is lighting up the night

Smog over Shanghai

Trending Today

China’s Smog Might Be to Blame for the East Coast’s Rough Winter

A NASA visualization shows how particles from East Asia can swirl into Pacific storms—a source of precipitation for the U.S.

Icebergs break off, or calve, from the Dawes Glacier at the end of Endicott Arm in southeast Alaska.

New Research

The Loud Noise of Melting Glaciers May Actually Be Good for Animals

Melting glacier ice has been found to the loudest noise in the ocean—what does that mean for marine animals?

New Research

Can You Draw the Apple Logo From Memory?

New research shows you probably can’t

An African cotton leafworm moth.

New Research

These Moths Remember Where They Mated for the First Time

The locale of the African cotton leafworm moth’s first experience pairing up forms its future preferences, a new study shows

In the Argentine village of San Antonio de los Cobres, some people have a genetic mutation that helps them cope with the high levels of arsenic present in their drinking water.

New Research

Centuries of Poison-Laced Water Gave These People a Tolerance to Arsenic

Some citizens of a remote village in the Andes have a genetic adaptation that allows them to quickly process high levels of arsenic, a new study shows

A large band of warmer than average sea surface temperatures, an indicator of El Niño, stretches across the Pacific

Trending Today

Gear Up for a Scorcher of a Year: El Niño Has Officially Arrived

It’s later than usual and weak, but definitely here

Cool Finds

This Is Next-Level Origami

From dancing cranes to protective structures, origami is popping up in science and tech

Artist’s conception of Dawn entering orbit around Ceres

Trending Today

Dawn Has Arrived at Ceres

Downlink connection confirms that the spacecraft is in orbit around the dwarf planet

New Research

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

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

New Research

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

New Research

U.S. Heroin Overdose Rate Nearly Quadruples

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

Cool Finds

The First Photos of Free-Falling Snowflakes Reveal Their Imperfections

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

New Research

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

Cool Finds

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

Louisville, Kentucky.

Trending Today

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

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

Trending Today

Mars Rover Is Out of Commission (For Now)

Short circuit halts Curiosity in its tracks

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

New Research

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

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

New Research

This Could Be the Tiniest Organism on Earth

Scientists capture an image of ultra-small bacteria

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