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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'What we found was striking': Physicists take the closest-ever look at a black hole's event horizonPhysicists isolated the 'last sound' of an enormous black hole collision, providing an unprecedented glimpse of the region next to the event horizon.
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James Webb telescope reveals largest-ever map of the universe's megastructuresUsing the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers have created the most detailed map of the cosmic web ever.
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First experiment to thicken Arctic ice with seawater shows promise — but there's a big catchResearchers recently performed the first scientific test of sea ice thickening in the field, but there remains a big question mark over how scalable this method is.
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The US is hooked on unregulated peptides. But are they effective, or even safe?The world of peptides has exploded in wellness circles, but the benefits of injecting these gray-market molecules rest on little clinical evidence.
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JWST finds unknown substance, China's 'Great Green Wall' grows faster than normal trees, a Medici murder mystery solved, and what the US can learn from Japan's 'silent pandemic'Science news this week July 4, 2026: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.
Science news this week -
Alien life on nearby 'super Earth' much likelier than we thought, study claimsA recently discovered "super Earth" located around 25 light-years from our planet is not as massive as previously thought, raising the chances that it has the conditions to support life.
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Diminutive species 'the Hobbit' did not hunt or control fire, deepening the mystery of its ancestry, dwarf elephant bones revealThe extinct human species Homo floresiensis was a scavenger, not a hunter, an analysis of fossil animal bones reveals.
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Elite families ruled nomadic Scythian society 2,500 years ago, DNA analysis revealsNomads of the Eurasian steppe were ruled by elite dynastic families, including women, a large-scale genetic analysis reveals.
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'Machine-gun sun' could bring auroras to more than a dozen states this Independence Day weekendThe sun launched 10 M-class solar flares over 24 hours, and more could be on the way. Auroras are likely in some US states as a result.
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NASA mission to rescue a space telescope plummeting to Earth launches into orbitNASA's Swift Observatory is slated to enter Earth's atmosphere later this year, but the Katalyst Space spacecraft is finally on its way to boost it higher this summer
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Hubble telescope spots 'impossible' light from a galaxy that shouldn't have been visibleResearchers say the surprising discovery of the faraway galaxy MXDFz4.4 could help explain how the cosmos went from opaque to transparent billions of years ago.
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The hantavirus outbreak is over, WHO declaresA hantavirus outbreak that began on a cruise ship and prompted an international public health response has now ended. It sickened 13 people and caused three deaths.
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'Uncharted territory': Record high ocean temperatures confirmed for June as El Niño strengthens its gripGlobal sea surface temperatures reached record highs for June as a newly declared El Niño hits the Pacific Ocean, prompting concerns over extreme weather, flooding, sea level rise and stress to global ocean ecosystems.
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James Webb telescope may have discovered a never-before-seen substance on Pluto and TitanA new study has identified a very specific wavelength of light missing from both Pluto and Saturn's largest moon, Titan. The surprising signal suggests that these worlds harbor an unknown molecule that has not yet been seen anywhere in the solar system or beyond.
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Ancient ring discovered underground in Scotland could be a Stonehenge-like monumentA hidden ring of stones or timbers detected beneath peat at Machrie Moor could represent a previously unknown Neolithic or Bronze Age monument.
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11-year-old boy in Canada dies from rabies after waking up with a bat on his faceAfter an 11-year-old boy died of rabies, doctors are urging the public to seek medical attention following exposure to bats, even when no obvious scratches or bite marks are visible.
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Ancient-DNA analysis solves 500-year-old mystery of what killed 2 Medici brothersAn ancient-DNA analysis of the bones of two members of the Renaissance Medici family has confirmed they had malaria when they died.
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Antarctica's first dinosaur fossil belonged to a group of the largest land animals everResearchers have identified the first-ever dinosaur fossil discovered on Antarctica, revealing it belonged to a titanosaur.
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Scientists propose launching a giant 'airbag' into space to protect us from solar superstorms — and experts say it's 'quite feasible'A new study suggests creating a satellite constellation, dubbed StormWall, that could reduce the impacts of the worst solar storms by more than 50%. The novel plan, which involves dumping gas into the magnetosphere, could be the only way to directly protect ourselves from dangerous space weather, experts say.
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