Smart News Science

A waterspout photographed in the Adriatic Sea near Brac Island, Croatia, like the one implicated in sinking a yacht in Sicily this week. These sudden, violent storms are hard to predict and can occur more often in warmer waters heated by climate change.

A 'Tornadic Waterspout' Likely Sank a Billionaire's Yacht Near Sicily. Here's What That Means

Scientists say the extreme weather phenomenon could grow more common as climate change brings warmer water temperatures and more intense storms to the Mediterranean

A view of the lunar south pole, with Shackleton Crater at the center, assembled from images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Scientists Suggest Freezing Endangered Animals' Cells and Preserving Them on the Moon

Shadowed areas in lunar craters may be cold enough to safeguard species' DNA amid "climate disasters and social disasters" on Earth, according to Smithsonian-led research

More than 10,000 Clovis points have been discovered in North America, but researchers still aren't sure how early humans used them.

How Did Ice Age Humans Kill Huge Animals Like Mammoths? Probably Not by Throwing Spears, Study Finds

New research theorizes that hunters used pikes planted in the ground—with their sharp tips pointing upward—to impale approaching wildlife using the creature's own weight and momentum

Carpentry waste inside one of the Roman-era wells discovered in England.

Two Ancient Wells Discovered in England Suggest Even the Romans Used Trial and Error

After the first well collapsed, the local builders incorporated wooden planks to hold up the walls of the second

The munitions are primarily located in Lake Thun, Lake Brienz, Lake Lucerne and Lake Neuchatel.

For Decades, Switzerland Dumped Munitions Into Its Pristine Alpine Lakes. Now, It Wants Them Gone

Officials are offering cash rewards for the best strategies to safely remove the submerged weapons

The ocean sunfish (Mola mola) is one of several unusual-looking sea creatures to wash ashore in Oregon so far this summer.

Five-Foot-Long Ocean Sunfish Washes Ashore in Oregon, a 'Relatively Small' Size for Its Species

It's the second sunfish to be found dead on the beach in a small region of northwestern Oregon this summer, following the discovery of an even rarer hoodwinker sunfish

An orb-weaver spider wraps a male firefly in silk while it flashes from its lanterns. Male fireflies typically signal with multiple pulses using two lanterns, while females emit single pulses from one lantern.

These Spiders Use Captured Fireflies as Flashing Lures to Snare More Prey

A new study suggests orb-weaver spiders manipulate trapped male fireflies to emit female-like signals, which in turn draws more males into the web

Archaeologists found the bishop's remains in a tomb in Spain in 1955.

New Research

Archaeologists May Have Identified the Bones of a Celebrated Ninth-Century Bishop in Spain

Bishop Teodomiro was a central figure in the creation of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage

Kayakers, researchers, lifeguards and paddleboarders managed to get the huge fish to shore.

Rare 'Doomsday' Oarfish Surfaces in California, Just the 20th Discovered in the State Since 1901

Kayakers spotted and hauled ashore the 12-foot-long oarfish, a deep-sea species known for its connection to earthquakes in Japanese folklore

The South American lungfish (Lepidosiren paradoxa) has the largest known genome of the animal kingdom at 91 billion base pairs of DNA.

The World's Largest Animal Genome Belongs to an Odd, Air-Breathing Fish

Scientists sequenced the 91 billion base pairs in the South American lungfish’s genome, setting a record and revealing insights into vertebrate evolution

An artist's reconstruction of the two tardigrade species found preserved in a pebble-sized piece of amber in Canada.

Rare Fossils Give Clues to How Tardigrades Survived Mass Extinctions by Hitting the Snooze Button

Scientists have only four known tardigrade fossils, which preserve insights into how the hardy critters evolved their hibernation-like superpower of cryptobiosis

A full moon rises over the Vasquez Rocks in California.

A Rare 'Super Blue Moon' Will Be Visible Monday Night: What Does That Mean?

Tonight’s full moon will be bigger and brighter than usual, and it’s the third of four full moons this summer

The new research tested the drug liraglutide, marketed as the diabetes treatment Victoza. Liraglutide and the active substance used in the weight-loss treatment Wegovy are both GLP-1 agonists, used to lower the risk for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.

Weight Loss and Diabetes Drug Could Slow Alzheimer's Progression, Preliminary Study Suggests

In a year-long trial, people who received a daily injection of liraglutide showed an 18 percent lower cognitive decline than people who received a placebo

When an asteroid struck Earth about 66 million years ago, it wiped out some 80 percent of the planet's animals, including all of the non-avian dinosuars.

Asteroid That Ended the Dinosaurs Came From Beyond Jupiter, Study Finds

Metal isotopes delivered to Earth by the asteroid reveal it's consistent with space rocks formed in the outer solar system

An ocelot rests on a rock in the Sonoran Desert, Arizona, in 2007. Only seven ocelots, including the one just spotted, have been seen in the state in the last two decades.

Rare Ocelot Caught on Camera in Arizona, the First Sighting in Its Area for 50 Years

Ocelots were federally listed as endangered in 1972, and their current U.S. population is thought to be fewer than 100 individuals

The European ant species Lasius emarginatus arrived to Manhattan around 2011 and has since become one of the most dominant ant species in the city.

Invasive 'ManhattAnts' Are Taking Over New York City and Spreading Quickly

Since appearing on Manhattan in 2011, the species has become one of the island's most dominant ants, and scientists formally identified it this year

The Altar Stone lies at the center of the prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England.

New Research

Stonehenge's Massive Central Stone May Have Been Shipped From Hundreds of Miles Away

Researchers think they've solved the mystery of the monument's Altar Stone, which could have traveled all the way from Scotland

A colorized transmission electron micrograph of monkeypox virus particles. There have been 15,600 mpox cases and 537 deaths reported in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2024 so far.

WHO Declares Mpox Global Health Emergency. Here's What to Know

A new virus strain has been spreading primarily the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as nearby countries that had previously not reported mpox cases

Mars might host an ocean of water within porous rocks miles beneath its surface, according to a new study.

Mars Hosts a Giant Reservoir of Water Underground, We Just Can't Easily Reach It, Study Finds

The water is enough to cover the Martian surface in a mile-deep ocean, but it's beyond the reach of drills for now, according to researchers

The A23a iceberg, photographed last December. It first split from Antartica in 1986 and stayed in the Weddell Sea until 2020, when it started drifting away.

The World's Largest Iceberg Is Stuck in a Spinning Ocean Vortex

The mega iceberg A23a is destined to melt after breaking free from Antarctica in 1986, but this pause in its journey is delaying its fate, experts say

Page 7 of 467