Bacteria that are mirror images of existing ones could evade our immune systems, causing serious illness. | Continue reading
Dec. 20, 2024: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend. | Continue reading
Astronomers have discovered a pair of young stars near the supermassive black hole at the heart of our galaxy. Studying them can offer a rare glimpse into how stars can endure — at least briefly — the immense gravity exerted by such cosmic behemoths. | Continue reading
Paleogenomics has finally solved a question that has puzzled researchers for decades: Where did syphilis come from? | Continue reading
An initially "unknown" illness affecting hundreds in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may be attributable to malaria, malnutrition and a viral infection. But investigations are ongoing. | Continue reading
Researchers believe volcanic ash created dark rocks at Oxia Planum, the site of a future Mars rover landing mission. The off-color rocks may be protecting signs of life — if there ever was life on Mars. | Continue reading
Archaeologists have found 188 medieval reliquaries during excavations at a square in Berlin. Some of them still contain human bones of people considered to be saints or holy. | Continue reading
Officials say they've eradicated northern giant hornets, nicknamed "murder hornets," after years of tracking the invasive giant wasps in Washington state. | Continue reading
This year, we learned that our Neanderthal cousins were a lot like us, despite treading their own path that ended in extinction. | Continue reading
Scientists investigating the frozen Lake Enigma in Antarctica discovered an ecosystem teeming with strange microbial communities. | Continue reading
The Denmark Strait cataract is a sloping portion of the seafloor between Iceland and Greenland that funnels cold water from the Nordic Seas into the Irminger Sea, fueling Atlantic Ocean currents. | Continue reading
The declaration of a state of emergency in California over avian influenza comes within days of the first severe human case of bird flu in the U.S. | Continue reading
A new magnetic survey of the ancient Assyrian capital of Khorsabad has revealed several structures, including a villa, buried underground. | Continue reading
A Japanese astronomer captured several impacts on the moon during the Geminid meteor shower. | Continue reading
With legs and wings, the RAVEN can take off with no runway, and even hop along the ground. | Continue reading
Scientists at CERN's ALICE detector are replicating conditions found during the Big Bang, attempting to get to the bottom of how matter came to dominate over antimatter. | Continue reading
Galaxies in the early universe tend to be clumpy, but the new JWST discovery of a "grand design" spiral galaxy just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang has scientists stumped. | Continue reading
Fossilized plant remains discovered near a Utah ghost town have stumped scientists, who are unable to link them to any modern or extinct plants. | Continue reading
The remains of ancient bronze statues, including sculpted snakes up to 35 inches long, have been found within a hot spring in Italy. | Continue reading
Ground squirrels have turned into carnivorous killers in a local park after vole numbers exploded in Contra Costa County, California. | Continue reading
The life-size clay figurines offer new insights into the organization and structure of China's army 2,000 years ago. | Continue reading
The robot's flexible arms are a technology demonstration that could one day aid in satellite maintenance and space debris management. | Continue reading
As fatal familial insomnia progresses, patients completely stop sleeping and enter a coma-like state that results in death within months. | Continue reading
A person in Louisiana has been hospitalized with the United States' first serious case of H5N1 bird flu, following 60 milder cases this year. | Continue reading
DIY-ers in northern Holland filled a large gap in a tile floor with precisely sliced cow bones several centuries ago. | Continue reading
The odd atmosphere of a fledgling exoplanet is causing astronomers to question leading theories of how planets form. | Continue reading
A New York homeowner, in Scotchtown, Orange County, was "thrilled" to find mastodon fossils in their backyard, which museum staff plan to study to learn more about the last ice age. | Continue reading
Due to a delay with SpaceX's Dragon capsule, NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were meant to spend 10 days in space in June 2024, will now not return to Earth until late March 2025 at the earliest, NASA announced. | Continue reading
The geoengineering scheme, known as stratospheric aerosol injection, would not be cheap, but scientists say it could buy us some time until we reach net-zero carbon. | Continue reading
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured an image of a baby, Milky Way-like galaxy that formed more than 13 billion years ago. This "Firefly Sparkle" galaxy could reveal how our own galaxy evolved. | Continue reading
Space exploration news, features and articles | Continue reading
The sun news, features and articles | Continue reading
Moon news, features and articles | Continue reading
More than a dozen ancient gold tongues have been discovered in a cemetery at the site of Oxyrhynchus in Egypt. | Continue reading
Scientists have shown that a "remelting event" more than 4.3 billion years ago "reset" the internal clock of most lunar rocks, which has helped obscure the moon's true age. | Continue reading
Fossils of the oldest saber-toothed predator are helping researchers understand the evolution of early mammal relatives called gorgonopsians and our shared origins in the therapsid group. | Continue reading
Save $150 on the excellent Bose QuietComfort headphones this holiday season. | Continue reading
The "megaberg" A23a is on the move again after spinning in one spot for months on end. This is the ice slab's second great escape in as many years after being stuck in place for the first 37 years of its existence. | Continue reading
A man in his 60s went to the emergency room after a fall and ended up being diagnosed with a rare disorder of the penis. | Continue reading
Geographical barriers and cultural differences can prevent people from mingling with their neighbors, leading to genetic isolation — and the phenomenon is more common than most people think. | Continue reading
An Alabama woman underwent a transplant procedure to get a new kidney from a gene-edited pig. | Continue reading
The updated version of the World Magnetic Model was released on Dec. 17, with a new prediction of how the magnetic north pole will shift over the next five years. Here's why it was changed. | Continue reading
While investigating a mysterious radiation signal unlike any seen before, astronomers may have uncovered a rare pair of binary supermassive black holes with a truly monstrous appetite. | Continue reading
When will MDMA be approved for therapy? Major trial issues may stand in the way, psychiatrist Dr. Albino Oliveira-Maia says | Continue reading
A newfound clay head from the sixth millennium B.C. is the first of its kind ever found in Kuwait, but similar finds have been unearthed from ancient Mesopotamia. | Continue reading
Tiffany Taylor, professor of microbial ecology and evolution at the University of Bath in the U.K., recommends the books that shaped her career and her outlook on life. | Continue reading
Computer modeling suggests Saturn's rings are billions of years older than previous research suggests — but the new findings are up for debate. | Continue reading
With a 29% saving, these tech-packed binoculars are at the lowest price they have been in years. | Continue reading