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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Estrogen levels in both the male and female brain may shape memory's resilience in face of stressTraumatic experiences can cause memory problems, and estrogen may be a key factor that shapes the brain's resilience against such stressors, a mouse study finds.
By Nicoletta Lanese Published
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'A completely different story': 300 million-year-old fossils reveal the first vertebrate land dwellers weren't what we thought, researchers claimOur ancient four-legged ancestors didn't have an amphibian-like life cycle when they began walking on land, according to a new study of rare fossils found near Chicago.
By Patrick Pester Published
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Denisovan DNA influences the immune systems of modern Oceanians — but researchers aren't sure whyGenes inherited from the now-extinct Denisovans are actively playing a role in the immune system of some people from Oceania.
By Sophie Berdugo Published
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Wildlife inside Chernobyl exclusion zone acted differently during Russia's invasion, camera traps revealCamera footage in Ukraine's Chernobyl exclusion zone revealed that mammals became less active — especially at night — during the Russian occupation, highlighting the war's immediate impact on wildlife.
By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry Published
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5,000-year-old 'prototype' Stonehenge aligning with solstices discovered near the famous Stone Age monumentThe discovery of two ancient holes at Stonehenge suggests people placed posts there to help observe the summer and winter solstices around 5,000 years ago.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
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'It's a huge deal': Archaeologists discover second cannonball from the Battle of the Alamo, and it was likely fired by TexansArchaeologists have discovered a second cannonball from the 1836 Battle of the Alamo, and now they have one from each side.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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'A mixture from zero to infinity': Physicists tried splitting a photon — and unleashed an improbable swarm of particlesPhysicists have found that splitting a photon would lead to a complex state that may change the way we think of particles.
By Rory Harris Published
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Oldest known plague victims found in a 5,500-year-old burial ground in Siberia — and many of them were childrenThe oldest known evidence of the plague killing people has been found in Siberia, and it carried a gene that may have made it particularly deadly for children.
By Sophie Berdugo Published
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China's secretive Tianwen-2 mission arrives at Earth's 'quasi-moon' ahead of historic landingAnalysis China's Tianwen-2 mission has arrived at the quasi-moon Kamo'oalewa, which orbits the sun alongside Earth. The secretive probe will scoop up samples from our temporary companion to help uncover its mysterious origin, experts say.
By Harry Baker Published
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Atlantic 'cold blob' is responsible for shifts in the Indian summer monsoon that threaten over 1 billion peopleAn abnormally cold patch of water in the North Atlantic Ocean has triggered changes in the Indian summer monsoon via the jet stream winds, new research suggests.
By Sascha Pare Published
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How to watch Venus vanish behind the moon in broad daylight todayToday (June 17), the moon will pass between Earth and Venus, causing the hellish planet to temporarily disappear from the daytime sky. Here's what it will look like, exactly when it is happening and how you can safely view this skywatching spectacle.
By Harry Baker Last updated
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5,000-year-old burial of man with battered skull found in kiln in Germany — and he may have been a human sacrificeAn injured man from the Corded Ware culture was buried in a pit previously used as a kiln, and he may have been sacrificed.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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A Texas-size chunk of winter sea ice is missing from Antarctica — and it's probably not coming backAn area of ice nearly the size of Texas has failed to form over the Bellingshausen Sea, off western Antarctica, as researchers investigate the links between sea ice loss and global warming.
By Patrick Pester Published
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Wreck of World War II Japanese 'hellship' that sank with more than 1,000 Allied POWs on board discovered off the PhilippinesThe remains of a Japanese "hellship" that was torpedoed in 1944 and sank with more than 1,000 POWs on board has been found off the coast of the Philippines island of Luzon.
By Tom Metcalfe Published
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The world's first nuclear clock just ticked on — and it could help detect a fifth fundamental force of physicsBy using a rare thorium nucleus as a timekeeper, physicists have demonstrated the first working nuclear clock, a device that could lead to even more precise clocks and new ways to search for dark matter.
By Kenna Hughes-Castleberry Published
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'The system is critically stressed': San Andreas and San Jacinto faults scarily close to major earthquake, study findsThe San Andreas fault and a neighboring fault in Southern California have reached their highest levels of tectonic stress in 1,000 years, and a rupture at one fault could propagate to the other, researchers found.
By Sascha Pare Published
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Elusive dwarf fox, feared extinct, photographed for the first time on island off YucatánThe first-ever photos of a Cozumel fox prove that the mysterious island predator is still alive in Mexico but in dire need of conservation, according to researchers.
By Patrick Pester Published
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Earth-based telescope shares image of Artemis II capsule near the moon — one of the farthest photos of humans ever takenA blurry photo captured by the National Science Foundation's Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia shows Artemis II's Orion capsule circling the moon more than 200,000 miles away, making it a candidate for the longest-distance image of humans ever taken from Earth.
By Harry Baker Published
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Dangerously hot and humid: Rising temperatures in the US make outdoor exercise hazardousAnalysis In a warming world, outdoor exercise may be hindered by performance-impairing heat more often than it was in the past.
By Naomi Mihara Published
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