SMRTR Science & Engineering

Science & Engineering stories

Get hand-picked daily summaries of the best, most informative science and engineering articles from around the web. Browse recent summaries, then jump to the original source when you want the full article.

Latest story• Dec 22, 2025

Korea Tests Ultra-Rugged Robot to Explore the Moon’s Mysterious Caves

South Korean scientists developed a rover prototype with flexible wheels made from woven metal strips that expand from nine to 19.6 inches in diameter, designed to explore lunar caves that could shelter future human colonists. The robot navigated 7.8-inch obstacles and withstood simulated 328-foot drops under lunar gravity conditions, demonstrating durability through cave tests and extreme temperature exposure. The...

Read summary Original source

Latest stories

We Could Hitch a Ride to Unknown Frontiers on Super-Fast Interstellar Objects Like 3I/ATLAS

Interstellar object 3I/ATLAS made its closest approach to Earth on December 19 at 167 million miles, disappointing hopes it might be an alien spacecraft as it simply cruised past without incident. Harvard astronomer Avi Loeb now...

Read summary Original

Safety panel says NASA should have taken Starliner incident more seriously

NASA's safety panel criticized the agency for failing to formally declare Starliner's thruster problems a mishap or close call, which created confusion and delayed proper investigation protocols. This ambiguous approach led to...

Read summary Original

How Dad’s Fitness May Be Packaged and Passed Down in Sperm RNA

Recent research challenges the traditional view that sperm cells simply deliver DNA, revealing they also carry RNA molecules that may transmit fathers' fitness and health information to offspring. Scientists have discovered that...

Read summary Original

An underwater volcano off Oregon didn’t erupt in 2025 after all. Why not?

Scientists predicted Oregon's Axial volcano would erupt in 2025, but it didn't despite ongoing magma swelling. They're now refining forecasting methods and predicting eruption in 2026.

Read summary Original

Hubble Captures Arp 4, Spiral Galaxies That Appear Closer Than They Really Are

Hubble Space Telescope captured stunning images of Arp 4, two spiral galaxies in the constellation Cetus that create a perfect optical illusion of proximity despite being hundreds of millions of light-years apart. The closer...

Read summary Original

SMRTR Science & Engineering

Get the next batch of curated stories in your inbox.

This archive is built from SMRTR newsletter stories. Subscribe for hand-picked stories without the extra noise.

More recent stories

Patches of the moon to become spacecraft graveyards, say researchers

Researchers warn that sections of the moon will become spacecraft graveyards as over 400 planned lunar missions in the next two decades create constellations of satellites that must eventually crash-land due to the moon's lack of...

Read summary Original

This cancer-fighting molecule took 50 years to build

MIT chemists successfully synthesized verticillin A, a cancer-fighting fungal molecule first discovered in 1970 but too complex to recreate in labs until now. The compound's intricate structure, featuring just two additional...

Read summary Original

Did a Rogue Planet Bring Order to Our Solar System?

Astronomers have long wondered how the giant planets in our solar system rearranged themselves from their original clustered positions into their current orbits. New research suggests a rogue planet or brown dwarf may have caused...

Read summary Original

Scientists spot 'unprecedented celestial event' around the 'Eye of Sauron' star just 25 light-years from Earth

Two massive cosmic car crashes have fooled astronomers into thinking they discovered a planet around Fomalhaut, a nearby star nicknamed the "Eye of Sauron" for its glowing dust ring. What appeared to be an exoplanet reflecting...

Read summary Original

These Baby Stars Have Mysterious Companions

The Gaia telescope detected hidden companions in 31 of 98 young star systems by measuring gravitational wobbles. These companions could be stars, planets, or brown dwarfs within protoplanetary disks.

Read summary Original

These “Living Rocks” Are Living It Up

Rock-like structures called microbialites, formed by ancient microbe communities, are among Earth's oldest living organisms at 3.5 billion years old and helped create our oxygen-rich atmosphere. Recent research in South Africa...

Read summary Original

A photographer captures two very rare phenomena in the sky at the same time

Photographer Valter Binotto captured an unprecedented image on November 26, 2025, showing two extremely rare lightning phenomena occurring simultaneously above the Alps. The shot features an elve—a red electromagnetic ring up to...

Read summary Original

First wheelchair-using astronaut touches down after ride to edge of space

German paraplegic engineer Michaela Benthaus made history as the first wheelchair user in space, launching with Blue Origin from Texas in a 10-minute flight that soared over 65 miles high. The mission required only minor...

Read summary Original

NASA’s Curiosity Uncovers Striking Polygons at the Bottom of a Martian Hollow

NASA's Curiosity rover discovered striking geometric polygons formed by raised ridges on Martian bedrock while exploring the Monte Grande boxwork hollow in Gale Crater during December 2025. These polygon formations were created...

Read summary Original

A Starlink satellite appears to have exploded and is now spiraling toward Earth

A Starlink satellite suffered an internal malfunction that caused it to lose communications, vent propulsion fuel, and release debris objects while spiraling toward Earth from 418 kilometers altitude. The incident highlights...

Read summary Original

An 11-year-old needed two new organs and doctors made history

Children's Hospital Colorado made medical history performing its first dual heart and liver transplant on 11-year-old Gracie Greenlaw, who was born with hypoplastic left heart syndrome that caused liver failure. The 16-hour...

Read summary Original

Why is Venus so bright?

Venus appears as the second-brightest object in our night sky because it reflects an impressive 76% of sunlight through its thick clouds made of sulfuric acid droplets. These tiny droplets, suspended 30-43 miles above the...

Read summary Original

Macroscopic Quantum Tunneling: Unlocking the Quantum Secret Inside an Electrical Circuit

Three physicists won the 2025 Nobel Prize for discovering quantum effects in large superconducting circuits, creating artificial atoms that became the foundation for modern quantum computers.

Read summary Original

Monster Stars Roamed the Cosmos at the Dawn of Time

Scientists have discovered the first direct evidence of "monster stars" that existed shortly after the Big Bang, solving a 20-year mystery about how supermassive black holes formed so early in cosmic history. Using the James Webb...

Read summary Original

An asteroid could hit the moon in 2032, scattering debris toward Earth

A building-sized asteroid named 2024 YR4 has a 4 percent chance of hitting the moon in December 2032, with a 1 percent possibility that debris from the impact could threaten Earth's satellites and astronauts. The collision would...

Read summary Original

Astrophysicists map the invisible universe using warped galaxies

University of Chicago astrophysicists mapped the invisible universe by analyzing how dark matter and dark energy warp light from 270 million galaxies. The study confirmed cosmology predictions and resolved disagreements about the...

Read summary Original

Scientists unlocked a superconductor mystery under crushing pressure

Scientists developed a new tunneling technique to measure hydrogen sulfide's superconducting gap under extreme pressure. This breakthrough reveals how high-temperature superconductors work and advances room-temperature...

Read summary Original

NASA just caught a rare glimpse of an interstellar comet

NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft captured unprecedented observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS in November, filling a critical viewing gap when Earth and Mars-based telescopes couldn't see it due to the comet's position near...

Read summary Original

Back to all archives Load more stories