https://www.smithsonianmag.com/rss/tag/new-research/RSS feed for New ResearchenFri, 25 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/google-just-released-an-ai-tool-that-helps-historians-fill-in-missing-words-in-ancient-roman-inscriptions-180987046/Known as Aeneas, the tool was trained on an extensive dataset of Latin epigraphy. Experts hope it will help decipher segments of text that have been lost to historyFri, 25 Jul 2025 13:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cancer-dna-can-be-detected-in-the-bloodstream-up-to-three-years-before-diagnosis-study-suggests-180986862/For a few individuals, scientists found genetic material from cancerous tumors in blood samples taken years before they were diagnosed through traditional methodsThu, 24 Jul 2025 18:38:08 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/optimists-really-are-on-the-same-wavelength-when-they-think-about-the-future-new-study-of-brain-activity-suggests-180987033/As the research participants thought about future scenarios, optimists displayed similar neural patterns, but pessimists showed more individualized brain activityThu, 24 Jul 2025 15:59:52 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cctv-footage-captures-the-first-ever-video-of-an-earthquake-fault-in-motion-shining-a-rare-light-on-seismic-dynamics-180987034/A clip recorded in Myanmar in March reveals a curved path of the fault slip, which can help scientists better understand the physics of such eventsThu, 24 Jul 2025 12:00:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/with-ancient-dna-scientists-have-mapped-37000-years-of-disease-across-europe-and-asia-180986964/Zoonoses—diseases that spread from animals to humans—began to gain prevalence some 6,500 years ago with the rise of animal husbandry, a new study suggestsWed, 23 Jul 2025 20:25:52 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/octopuses-fall-for-the-rubber-hand-illusion-just-like-humans-pointing-to-a-sense-of-body-ownership-180987024/The trick that plays with awareness of one’s own limb appeared to fool all six of the cephalopods tested in a series of experimentsWed, 23 Jul 2025 15:35:35 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/this-surprising-ancient-reptile-had-a-colorful-corrugated-sail-on-its-back-new-research-suggests-it-was-used-to-communicate-180987031/A 247-million-year-old fossil from a German natural history museum reveals the secrets of MirasauraWed, 23 Jul 2025 15:00:01 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/astronomers-say-theyve-finally-spotted-betelgeuses-companion-star-long-predicted-to-exist-but-never-seen-180987025/The discovery, if confirmed, could explain Betelgeuse’s mysterious six-year oscillations in brightnessTue, 22 Jul 2025 20:52:17 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-odd-bony-structures-were-hiding-beneath-the-skin-of-far-more-lizards-than-thought-researchers-find-180987023/Called osteoderms, the chain mail-like plates may have helped some species adapt to Australia’s harsh environmentTue, 22 Jul 2025 19:22:38 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-childs-skull-that-has-long-confounded-archaeologists-might-be-a-human-neanderthal-hybrid-study-suggests-180986981/According to new CT scans and models, parts of the 140,000-year-old skull resemble those of modern humans, while the jaw appears to be more similar to those of our extinct relativesMon, 21 Jul 2025 21:12:20 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-do-dogs-watch-tv-that-might-depend-on-their-personalities-new-research-suggests-180987014/A survey-based study reveals how different dogs react to elements on TV, suggesting that personalized television enrichment could support animal welfare in shelters or at homeMon, 21 Jul 2025 17:23:40 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/fossil-flipper-reveals-ichthyosaurs-hunted-in-lethal-silence-with-unique-adaptations-for-stealth-180987015/An analysis of a roughly 180-million-year-old fossil fin reveals serrations and flexibility that might have served to dampen sound as the predator swamMon, 21 Jul 2025 14:52:30 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-discover-the-trick-that-allows-burmese-pythons-to-digest-the-bones-of-their-prey-180987006/Special intestinal cells collect excess minerals into particles the snakes can poop out, according to a new studyFri, 18 Jul 2025 18:34:47 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/invasive-golden-oyster-mushrooms-are-crowding-out-native-fungi-and-could-slash-biodiversity-in-forests-study-suggests-180987003/Researchers found that trees in Wisconsin that had become hosts to the eye-catching species hosted only half the fungal biodiversity of trees that had not been invadedFri, 18 Jul 2025 16:37:38 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cut-marks-on-animal-bones-suggest-neanderthal-groups-had-their-own-unique-culinary-traditions-180987002/Neanderthals in two nearby caves used different techniques when butchering animal carcasses in what is now Israel, according to a new paperThu, 17 Jul 2025 20:06:47 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/video-reveals-an-unlikely-bond-between-ocelots-and-opossums-in-the-amazon-walking-together-like-old-friends-180986994/Researchers captured the footage by surprise, with cameras initially set up to record bird behaviorWed, 16 Jul 2025 19:50:17 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-tiny-typo-may-explain-a-centuries-old-mystery-about-chaucers-canterbury-tales-and-troilus-and-criseyde-180986991/The medieval writer made puzzling references to a story called "The Song of Wade," which has been lost to history. Only a few lines quoted—or perhaps misquoted—in a 12th-century sermon surviveWed, 16 Jul 2025 19:50:07 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/physicists-detect-the-most-massive-black-hole-merger-ever-observed-by-studying-gravitational-waves-180986988/A short-lived ripple in space-time revealed that two black holes merged into a giant black hole with the mass of 225 sunsWed, 16 Jul 2025 18:30:48 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-recover-ancient-proteins-from-animal-teeth-up-to-24-million-years-old-opening-doors-to-learning-about-the-past-180986966/Two new papers analyze fossils found in Canada and Kenya, respectively—vastly different environments for the preservation of genetic materialWed, 16 Jul 2025 15:59:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/preserved-blood-vessels-discovered-in-a-rib-bone-from-the-worlds-largest-t-rex-could-shed-light-on-how-dinosaurs-healed-180986987/Scotty, a specimen unearthed in Canada, was probably injured in a fight, then died several months laterTue, 15 Jul 2025 18:38:56 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/does-this-ancient-rock-carving-depict-one-of-egypts-earliest-rulers-180986980/New research suggests the engraving, which shows an elite individual sitting in a boat, may be up to 5,100 years oldTue, 15 Jul 2025 18:26:05 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/enemy-ant-colonies-are-peaceful-roommates-in-apartment-like-plants-on-fiji-scientists-discovered-how-this-delicate-coexistence-works-180986971/New research explores the surprising symbiotic relationship between tubers and different ant species at rainforest heightsTue, 15 Jul 2025 12:28:05 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-california-gull-hitched-a-ride-on-a-garbage-truck-and-took-an-80-mile-journey-to-a-compost-facility-then-it-happened-again-180986979/GPS tracking data showed the bird zooming across bridges and interstates at 60 miles per hour on two occasions in 2018Mon, 14 Jul 2025 18:31:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/greenland-sled-dog-dna-reveals-a-story-of-human-migration-and-ancestry-of-the-unique-breed-180986975/Researchers analyzed ancient and modern genetic samples of the Greenlandic Qimmit breed to shed light on the long relationship between the Inuit and their dogs in the ArcticMon, 14 Jul 2025 17:06:56 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/neanderthals-may-have-been-running-a-sophisticated-fat-factory-in-germany-125000-years-ago-180986951/New research suggests that they smashed animal bones into tiny pieces before boiling them to extract the high-calorie grease insideFri, 11 Jul 2025 18:01:03 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-weird-sea-spiders-dont-have-abdomens-and-instead-store-organs-in-their-legs-with-dna-scientists-are-learning-why-180986934/Researchers sequenced the knotty sea spider’s genome for the first time, revealing a missing gene that many other animals haveFri, 11 Jul 2025 17:53:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-have-sequenced-an-ancient-egyptian-skeletons-entire-genome-for-the-very-first-time-heres-what-they-found-180986935/Dating back more than 4,500 years, the skeleton belonged to a middle-aged man who may have worked as a potter and likely descended from ancestors in North Africa and MesopotamiaMon, 07 Jul 2025 19:26:52 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/a-bone-bed-from-the-dawn-of-the-dinosaurs-has-revealed-the-oldest-known-pterosaur-found-in-north-america-180986939/Fossil surprises abound in new research that unearths the history of the Triassic PeriodMon, 07 Jul 2025 19:00:04 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/archaeologists-discover-roman-army-camp-in-the-netherlands-15-miles-beyond-the-empires-northern-border-180986910/Researchers think the camp was built during the second century C.E. Stretching across 22 acres, it was identified using a computer model developed by an archaeology studentMon, 07 Jul 2025 15:49:04 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/four-bewildering-bronze-lions-heads-with-slightly-different-facial-expressions-found-in-ancient-roman-grave-in-israel-180986922/Similar examples of ancient lion artifacts appear to have been used as door knockers. But the newly discovered discs may have served a different purposeThu, 03 Jul 2025 17:47:45 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-shed-light-on-the-mysterious-cold-blob-in-the-north-atlantic-amid-a-search-for-its-cause-180986923/In two recent studies, researchers suggest a weakening ocean current system is to blame for a persistent cold spot in the Atlantic Ocean, though other factors may also be at playThu, 03 Jul 2025 16:58:16 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-dna-reveals-that-men-moved-in-with-their-brides-families-in-this-neolithic-settlement-180986915/A new study suggests that a 9,000-year-old society in Catalhoyuk, a proto-city in southern Anatolia, may have established a "female-centered" social structureWed, 02 Jul 2025 11:15:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/orcas-appear-to-be-sharing-their-prey-with-humans-but-what-does-it-mean-180986913/Researchers documented 34 instances of purported prey-sharing behavior, which suggests orcas may be altruistic and capable of recognizing sentience in another speciesTue, 01 Jul 2025 20:21:19 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-built-a-canoe-using-only-prehistoric-tools-then-they-sailed-the-dangerous-140-mile-route-early-humans-traveled-30000-years-ago-180986900/Five paddlers journeyed from Taiwan to Japan’s southern Yonaguni Island in 45 hours. Their efforts provide new insights into prehistoric mariners' tools and techniquesTue, 01 Jul 2025 16:57:20 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-young-woman-with-a-cone-shaped-skull-died-after-suffering-a-severe-head-wound-6000-years-ago-180986894/Found in the Chega Sofla cemetery in Iran, the skull appears to have been struck by a blunt object. Archaeologists don't know whether the incident was intentional or accidentalMon, 30 Jun 2025 20:49:59 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/need-to-solve-a-problem-try-taking-a-deep-power-nap-for-an-aha-moment-research-suggests-180986901/A new study finds that entering N2 sleep—a deep phase of non-rapid eye movement sleep—may help lead to more “eureka” breakthroughsMon, 30 Jun 2025 19:27:23 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-killer-whales-make-tools-from-kelp-to-massage-each-other-in-a-newly-discovered-grooming-behavior-180986873/Dubbed "allokelping," it might be a unique cultural phenomenon that's as endangered as the orca population itselfMon, 30 Jun 2025 18:14:34 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/enigmatic-dog-sized-dinosaur-reveals-a-new-species-that-scampered-around-jurassic-north-america-180986895/The speedy, plant-eating creature lived in what is now Colorado roughly 150 million years ago, and its skeleton went on display in London this weekFri, 27 Jun 2025 20:01:06 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/james-webb-space-telescope-reveals-its-first-direct-image-discovery-of-an-exoplanet-180986886/Researchers identified the likely planetary candidate’s infrared light after blocking out its host star’s overwhelming glareFri, 27 Jun 2025 16:15:28 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-worlds-oldest-boomerang-is-even-older-than-scientists-thought-a-new-analysis-suggests-180986885/Researchers revisited a crescent-shaped, mammoth tusk artifact discovered in Poland and estimated it’s around 40,000 years oldThu, 26 Jun 2025 20:50:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/why-were-the-ancient-statues-of-this-egyptian-female-pharaoh-destroyed-180986883/Shattered depictions of Hatshepsut have long thought to be products of her successor’s violent hatred towards her, but a new study presents a different narrativeThu, 26 Jun 2025 19:30:43 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-may-be-closer-to-discovering-the-origins-of-physics-defying-radio-pulses-180986860/Strange signals detected by a NASA instrument more than a decade ago have continued to confound scientists, but a new paper rules out cosmic neutrinos as a sourceThu, 26 Jun 2025 16:42:38 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-lizards-mysteriously-survived-the-asteroid-strike-that-killed-the-dinosaursand-their-descendants-are-still-alive-today-180986879/Small and elusive night lizards probably persisted because they have slow metabolisms and like to hide out in rock crevices, a new study suggestsWed, 25 Jun 2025 20:21:11 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/ancient-dna-reveals-mysterious-new-group-of-humans-in-colombia-with-no-genetic-ties-to-people-today-180986819/The previously undocumented lineage of hunter-gatherers seems to have disappeared around 2,000 years agoWed, 25 Jun 2025 16:44:09 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/doctors-detected-a-mysterious-antibody-in-a-french-womans-body-it-turned-out-to-be-a-brand-new-blood-type-180986866/Called "Gwada negative," it marks the discovery of the 48th known blood group system in humansTue, 24 Jun 2025 21:00:03 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/iconic-dragon-man-skull-offers-first-glimpse-of-what-a-denisovans-face-looked-like-new-genetic-studies-suggest-180986861/The mysterious ancient humans were only known from fossil fragments. Now, two papers argue a skull uncovered in China belongs to this group, after examining preserved DNA and proteinsTue, 24 Jun 2025 16:03:06 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/stunning-new-image-of-the-sculptor-galaxy-captures-the-cosmic-landscape-in-thousands-of-colors-180986850/The galaxy sits in a sweet spot that allows astronomers to study it in ways that can't be applied to even our own Milky WayMon, 23 Jun 2025 20:03:21 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/australian-moths-are-the-first-known-insects-to-navigate-by-the-stars-revealing-a-migratory-superpower-180986857/Bogong moths use both Earth's magnetic field and the starry night sky to make twice-yearly migrations spanning hundreds of miles, according to new researchMon, 23 Jun 2025 19:05:30 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-discover-first-known-sea-spider-species-that-eat-methane-with-the-help-of-bacteria-180986846/The research offers new insights on interactions between creatures on the mysterious seafloor and sheds light on the methane cycleFri, 20 Jun 2025 18:28:01 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-jar-of-fossil-bones-long-stored-at-a-museum-led-scientists-to-discover-a-goblin-like-lizard-from-76-million-years-ago-180986843/Fossils described in a new study speak to a previously unknown large-bodied lizard diversity that existed alongside dinosaursFri, 20 Jun 2025 14:45:51 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scavenger-animals-are-in-trouble-and-that-could-spell-bad-news-for-human-health-180986845/More than one-third of species that eat some amount of carrion are threatened or declining, a new analysis finds, and that could lead to a rise in zoonotic diseasesWed, 18 Jun 2025 19:57:40 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/14000-year-old-puppies-found-in-siberia-were-young-wolf-littermates-who-dined-on-wooly-rhino-180986834/Researchers studied chemicals found in the animals’ bones, teeth and tissues, as well as genetic material from their stomach contentsTue, 17 Jun 2025 18:31:10 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/nesting-birds-eavesdrop-on-prairie-dog-alarm-calls-to-keep-their-eggs-safe-from-grassland-predators-180986818/New research suggests long-billed curlews keep an ear out for warnings from prairie dogs in order to hide from predators and protect their nestsMon, 16 Jun 2025 18:16:16 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-way-you-breathe-is-unique-to-you-like-a-fingerprint-suggests-new-study-180986797/Researchers could identify people with almost 97 percent accuracy based on 24 hours of their recorded breathing patterns, and they also found links to a person’s mental and physical conditionMon, 16 Jun 2025 12:12:43 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/axolotls-may-hold-the-key-to-regrowing-limbs-and-scientists-are-unraveling-their-secrets-to-help-humans-do-the-same-180986781/With the help of gene-edited axolotls, researchers have gotten one step closer to enabling human limb regenerationThu, 12 Jun 2025 16:55:03 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-are-recreating-the-long-lost-recipe-for-egyptian-blue-the-worlds-oldest-known-synthetic-pigment-180986778/Created 5,000 years ago, the mysterious color has been found on artworks and artifacts throughout the ancient world. But the pigment's recipe was eventually lost to historyThu, 12 Jun 2025 15:47:25 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-had-never-seen-this-mysterious-squid-alive-in-the-wild-until-now-see-the-first-footage-of-the-elusive-creature-180986779/A three-foot-long Antarctic gonate squid was spotted swimming 7,000 feet below the surface of the Southern OceanWed, 11 Jun 2025 20:51:09 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/first-fossil-evidence-that-sauropods-were-herbivores-supports-a-widespread-assumption-about-the-long-necked-dinosaurs-180986767/A recent discovery of a dinosaur’s preserved gut contents offers the first direct proof that sauropods were plant-eatersTue, 10 Jun 2025 18:52:28 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/two-invasive-termites-are-interbreeding-in-florida-raising-concerns-that-the-hybrid-pests-could-spread-around-the-world-180986739/Previous research found that Asian and Formosan termites could produce offspring together, and now, scientists have found these creatures established in the wildTue, 10 Jun 2025 16:06:31 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/massive-field-where-native-american-farmers-grew-corn-beans-and-squash-1000-years-ago-discovered-in-michigan-180986758/The ancestors of the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin built earthen mounds to grow crops. The site could be the largest preserved archaeological field system in the eastern United StatesTue, 10 Jun 2025 15:42:26 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/researchers-discover-that-living-worm-towers-exist-in-nature-not-just-in-horror-movies-180986754/A new study reveals that nematodes assemble into coordinated structures to catch a ride on passersbyFri, 06 Jun 2025 19:02:40 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/seahorse-smuggling-is-a-big-problem-despite-global-efforts-to-protect-these-beloved-aquatic-creatures-180986757/Between 2010 and 2021, authorities seized around five million individual sea horses worth more than $21 millionFri, 06 Jun 2025 17:47:55 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-dead-sea-scrolls-changed-our-understanding-of-the-bible-could-some-of-them-be-even-older-than-we-thought-180986746/A new study combines A.I., radiocarbon dating and handwriting analysis to estimate new dates for some of the ancient scrolls, thought to be some of the earliest surviving fragments of the Old TestamentThu, 05 Jun 2025 20:00:39 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-deadly-disease-is-eating-away-at-caribbean-corals-and-wreaking-havoc-on-reefs-could-probiotics-be-the-solution-180986743/New research suggests the probiotic McH1-7 could help stop the spread of stony coral tissue loss disease among wild corals near Fort Lauderdale, FloridaThu, 05 Jun 2025 06:01:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/these-australian-cockatoos-learned-to-operate-drinking-fountains-with-their-feet-to-quench-their-thirst-180986742/Birds in Sydney’s western suburbs have figured out how to get a sip from the fountains, even though they have access to nearby streamsWed, 04 Jun 2025 20:36:06 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/our-milky-way-might-not-crash-into-the-andromeda-galaxy-after-all-new-simulations-suggest-a-50-50-chance-of-merging-180986737/Scientists previously predicted the pair of galaxies would merge in about five billion years. Now, research suggests that outcome is less certain than thoughtWed, 04 Jun 2025 18:22:14 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/two-wildlife-tunnels-are-saving-thousands-of-amphibians-from-being-crushed-by-cars-in-vermont-180986727/New research finds a pair of underpasses installed under a road that crosses a migration corridor have led to an 80.2 percent reduction in amphibian deathsTue, 03 Jun 2025 15:24:06 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/cats-can-recognize-their-owners-scent-compared-to-a-strangers-new-research-suggests-180986710/In an experiment, domestic cats spent longer sniffing cotton swabs with the scents of unfamiliar people than swabs with the scent of their ownerMon, 02 Jun 2025 17:44:39 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/did-a-neanderthal-who-lived-43000-years-ago-paint-a-red-nose-on-a-rock-that-looked-like-a-face-180986704/Researchers theorize that an adult male dipped his finger in red ocher and intentionally used the pigment to complete the face he saw on a small granite stoneMon, 02 Jun 2025 16:48:13 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-investigate-22-million-year-old-tooth-enamel-to-unravel-the-mysteries-of-ancient-human-relatives-180986723/By studying proteins preserved in teeth, researchers determined the sex of four Paranthropus robustus individuals that lived in southern AfricaFri, 30 May 2025 21:02:47 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-fungal-disease-ravaged-north-american-bats-now-researchers-found-a-second-species-that-suggests-it-could-happen-again-180986715/White-nose syndrome caused millions of bat deaths, and scientists are sounding the alarm that a second fungus could be disastrous if it reaches American wildlifeFri, 30 May 2025 17:55:04 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/the-fearsome-megalodon-ate-basically-whatever-it-wanted-to-reach-its-daily-100000-calorie-need-study-suggests-180986712/Scientists previously assumed the giant, prehistoric sharks mostly feasted on whales, but it turns out they probably weren’t so pickyThu, 29 May 2025 20:18:32 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-164-foot-tsunami-pushed-this-enormous-boulder-atop-a-cliff-in-tonga-7000-years-ago-180986711/The hulking rock, called Maka Lahi, is the size of a two-story house and sits on a 120-foot-tall cliff, covered in vegetationThu, 29 May 2025 18:42:10 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/this-bewildering-byzantine-bucket-stumped-archaeologists-for-decades-now-theyve-finally-discovered-its-purpose-180986701/Fragments of the bucket were first found at England's Sutton Hoo burial site in 1986. New research has revealed that the 1,500-year-old artifact was probably used as a cremation vesselThu, 29 May 2025 18:20:16 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/astronomers-discover-a-possible-dwarf-planet-far-beyond-neptune-where-there-should-have-only-been-empty-space-180986703/As it orbits the sun once every 25,000 years, the celestial body 2017 OF201 travels beyond the Kuiper Belt into a region thought to be largely devoid of objectsThu, 29 May 2025 16:32:11 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/bedbugs-could-have-been-the-first-urban-pest-to-plague-human-cities-new-study-suggests-180986698/Scientists examined the genomes of two bedbug lineages to trace how their population sizes have changed over timeWed, 28 May 2025 19:28:35 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-did-vikings-view-pregnant-women-new-research-reveals-that-they-were-sometimes-depicted-with-weapons-180986674/Researchers studied Old Norse literature and archaeological evidence to shed new light on women's experiences of pregnancy during the Viking AgeWed, 28 May 2025 17:38:46 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/scientists-discover-the-oldest-known-tools-made-from-whale-bones-crafted-in-western-europe-20000-years-ago-180986696/Stone Age humans scavenged the skeletons of several whale species along the Bay of Biscay in what is now southwestern France and northern Spain, according to a new studyWed, 28 May 2025 17:04:05 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/new-contact-lenses-give-users-supervision-even-with-their-eyes-closed-180986679/Researchers have developed experimental contact lenses that use nanoparticles to convert the invisible wavelengths of near-infrared light into visible colorsTue, 27 May 2025 20:37:00 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/californias-hummingbirds-have-changed-their-beaks-in-response-to-backyard-feeders-study-finds-180986693/With plenty of artificial nectar available, Anna’s hummingbirds have expanded their range northward and their beaks have tended to become longer and largerTue, 27 May 2025 18:19:20 +0000https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/penguin-poop-helps-drive-cloud-formation-over-antarctica-according-to-a-new-study-180986686/The ammonia from Adélie penguin guano reacts with sulfur-containing gases in the atmosphere to aid in forming clouds, which scientists say may be significant to regulating the climateTue, 27 May 2025 17:02:13 +0000