Science News: Recent scientific discoveries and expert analysis
Read the latest science news and recent scientific discoveries on Live Science, where we've been reporting on groundbreaking advances for over 20 years. Our expert editors, writers and contributors are ready to guide you through today's most important breakthroughs in science with expert analysis, in-depth explainers and interesting articles, covering everything from space, technology, health, animals, planet Earth, and much more.
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Needle-free insulin? Scientists invent gel that delivers insulin through the skin in animal studies
By Sayan Tribedi published
A new polymer gel can deliver insulin through intact skin in animal tests. It could someday offer a path toward needle-free diabetes treatment, some say.

China has planted so many trees around the Taklamakan Desert that it's turned this 'biological void' into a carbon sink
By Sascha Pare published
Huge-scale ecological engineering around the edges of one of the world's largest and driest deserts has turned it into a carbon sink that absorbs more CO2 than it emits, research suggests.

Western Europe's earliest known mule died 2,700 years ago — and it was buried with a partially cremated woman
By Owen Jarus published
Scientists have identified the oldest mule remains ever found in the western Mediterranean.

Something supercharged Uranus with radiation during Voyager flyby 40 years ago. Scientists now know what.
By Skyler Ware published
Forty years ago, Voyager 2 flew past Uranus and observed radiation levels that defied explanation. Now, scientists may finally know exactly what happened.

Only certain types of brain-training exercises reduce dementia risk, large trial reveals
By Kamal Nahas published
A large, 20-year trial showed that speedy cognitive exercises could reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia. The question is, could these tasks be adapted into video games?

Scientists infiltrated volunteers' dreams to boost their creative thinking
By RJ Mackenzie published
A small study hints that you can "trigger" memories of specific puzzles while a person dreams and that the dreamer may be more likely to solve the puzzle the next day.

CT scans reveal the last moments of Inca children sacrificed as 'messengers to the gods'
By Tom Metcalfe published
New CT scans reveal the last moments of the Inca children who were sacrificed and mummified about 500 years ago.

The largest reservoir of hydrogen on Earth may be hiding in its core
By Sascha Pare published
Earth's core contains nine to 45 times more hydrogen than the planet's oceans do, according to a new study that could settle a debate about when and how hydrogen was delivered to Earth.

Viking Age mass grave holds mysterious mix of dismembered human remains and complete skeletons, including a 'giant' who'd had brain surgery
By Kristina Killgrove published
Archaeologists and student excavators uncovered a Viking Age pit full of dismembered remains near Cambridge, England.

New 'sungrazing' comet could become visible to the naked eye during the day — if the sun doesn't destroy it
By Harry Baker published
The newly discovered sungrazing comet C/2026 A1 (MAPS) will undergo an extremely close slingshot around our star in early April, and could become bright enough to be seen without a telescope during the day.

Impossibly powerful 'ghost particle' that hit Earth may have come from an exploding black hole
By Harry Baker published
A supercharged neutrino that smashed into our planet in 2023 may have been spit out by an exploding primordial black hole with a "dark charge." If true, this theory could lead to a definitive catalog of all subatomic particles and unveil the elusive identity of dark matter.

Paleo-Inuit people braved icy seas to reach remote Greenland islands 4,500 years ago, archaeologists discover
By Kristina Killgrove published
Archaeological remains on the Kitsissut islands off the coast of Greenland reveal that whole communities regularly journeyed across the dangerous Arctic waters.

'Night owls' may have worse heart health — but why?
By Isha Ishtiaq published
Emerging evidence suggests that "night owls" are more likely to have poor heart health and a higher risk of heart attack or stroke than "morning larks." Why is that?

Microbes in Iceland are hoarding nitrogen, and that's mucking up the nutrient cycle
By Javier Barbuzano, Eos.org published
A study in Iceland found that microbes are hoarding more nitrogen for themselves, altering nutrient cycling and leaving less for plants.

Physicists push quantum boundaries by turning a superfluid into a supersolid — and back — for the first time
By Damien Pine published
Physicists saw excitons, a type of quasiparticle, undergo a reversible phase transition from superfluid to supersolid for the first time, opening new doors for studying extreme states of matter.

Dramatic death of Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) caught on camera — Space photo of the week
By Jamie Carter published
The Gemini North telescope snapped a spectacular view of Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) breaking apart as it emerged from the other side of the sun in October.

AI-supported breast cancer screening spots more cancers earlier, landmark trial finds
By Jennifer Zieba published
A clinical trial shows that AI-assisted mammography can detect more cases of dangerous cancer and reduce missed diagnoses.

'There's no reason to ban us from playing': Analysis debunks notion that transgender women have inherent physical advantages in sports
By Kristina Killgrove, Nicoletta Lanese published
A meta-analysis of 52 studies that included over 5,000 transgender people suggests that transgender women's physical fitness after hormone therapy is comparable to that of cisgender women.
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