Live Science: The Most Interesting Articles, Mysteries & Discoveries

Planet Earth

Streaks of red algae coat the Antarctic ice in "blood snow."

Spooky 'blood snow' invades Antarctic island

By Brandon Specktor

Blood-red algae is blooming in Antarctica, leading to plains of creepy 'watermelon snow' across Galindez Island.

An illustration of how Proterocladus antiquus likely appeared 1 billion years ago.

Billion-year-old green algae is an ancestor of all plants on Earth

By Laura Geggel

A billion years ago, this green seaweed likely produced oxygen and provided shelter for other organisms.

Space and Physics

A small asteroid has been orbiting Earth for 3 years, astronomers say. Meet our newest minimoon.

Possible new 'minimoon' discovered orbiting Earth

By Brandon Specktor

Astronomers discovered a 'minimoon' that's been orbiting Earth for about three years, and may soon leave our planet's orbit.

An image of Mars showing the epicenters of two marsquakes detected by the Mars InSight lander, which is about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) west of the quakes.

What can the coronavirus outbreak teach us about bringing Mars samples back to Earth?

By Leonard David

A new virus called SARS-CoV-2 is a coronavirus that has caused an outbreak of a disease called COVID-19. But what does that have to do with Mars?

History

This 15th-century courtesy book, entitled "The Lytille Childrenes Lytil Boke," taught kids table manners and other rules, such as "don't pick your nose."

No nose picking! 15th-century guide taught kids how to mind their manners

By Stephanie Pappas

The British Library has digitized a 15th-century manners book for children, including advice against nose picking, burping and being too greedy around cheese.

A local farmer discovered this stone half-submerged in an irrigation canal in Turkey. Inscriptions on the stone, dating back to the 8th century B.C. told the story of an ancient lost civilization in Turkey.

Ancient inscription reveals lost civilization in Turkey that may have defeated King Midas

By Yasemin Saplakoglu

The lost kingdom was one of the largest settlements to exist in ancient Turkey at the time.

Health

Northern California reports first case of coronavirus not tied to travel

By Tia Ghose

A case of COVID-19 has been confirmed in a Northern California resident who had no travel history to an affected area and no known contact with a person previously diagnosed with the coronavirus.

President Trump talks at a news briefing alongside HHS Secretary Alex Azar (right) and the CDC’s Principal Deputy Director Dr. Anne Schuchat (2-R).

Trump announces Pence will be 'coronavirus czar'

By Rachael Rettner

President Trump announces that Vice President Pence will take the lead in the government's response to the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S.

Lab technicians test samples from people suspected of having the COVID-19 coronavirus at a laboratory in Shenyang in China's northeastern Liaoning province on Feb. 12, 2020.

US isn't 'remotely prepared' to test for coronavirus, experts say

By Laura Geggel

The same delay has happened with other new infectious diseases, including Zika.

Animals

The giant coconut crab (Birgus latro) is the biggest terrestrial crab in the world.

Seabird-eating 'monster' crabs are chatty during sex

By Mindy Weisberger

Enormous and powerful coconut crabs are known for their extreme size. They also have an unexpectedly diverse "vocabulary."

The bird's frozen carcass was discovered by two men hunting for fossil mammoth tusks near the village of Belaya Gora in Siberia.

46,000-year-old bird, frozen in Siberian permafrost, looks like it 'died a few days ago'

By Laura Geggel

A bird that lived during the last ice age is in "pristine condition."

Two tailbones in a juvenile hadrosaur — a duck-billed dinosaur — bear telltale cavities that hint at tumorous growths.

Duck-billed dinosaur's tail had tumors found in children

By Mindy Weisberger

Paleontologists found peculiar cavities in the tailbones of a duck-billed dinosaur, suggesting that it suffered from tumors caused by Langerhans cell histiocytosis.

Strange News

A so-called ice volcano erupting on Oval Beach in Michigan

Bizarre 'ice volcanoes' erupt on Lake Michigan beach

By Nicoletta Lanese

What are 'ice volcanoes,' and why are they erupting in Michigan?

Read an excerpt from 'The Falcon Thief'

By Mindy Weisberger

Over decades, a brazen thief stole hundreds of eggs from rare and endangered falcons' nests around the world, to sell to private collectors.

When Lendrum was apprehended in June 2018, he was carrying rare falcon eggs strapped to his body in a custom sling.

'The Falcon Thief' exposes the high-flying life of a notorious rare-bird smuggler

By Mindy Weisberger

Wild falcons are highly prized by private collectors, who pay tens of thousands of dollars for the rare birds.

Culture

Can you 'turn off' a nightmare?

By Grant Currin

With lucid dreaming, people can stop or even control their dreams.

Biologists from the University of California, Irvine just looked at the genome of a pretty bizarre fish called a monkeyface prickleback (Cebidichthys violaceus).

Amazing Images: The Best Science Photos of the Week

By LiveScience Staff

Here are the stories behind the most amazing images in the world of science this week. A recap of the coolest photos featured on Live Science.

The Most Interesting Science News Articles of the Week

By Live Science Staff

Here are the most interesting, amazing and unusual things that happened in the world of science this week. A recap of Live Science's best.

Tech

An artist's concept of DARPA's Glide Breaker anti-hypersonic-weapon system.

DARPA's hypersonic 'Glide Breaker' could blast missile threats out of the sky

By Elizabeth Howell

Aerojet Rocketdyne will develop "enabling technologies" for DARPA's Glide Breaker program under a newly announced contract, which is worth up to $19.6 million.

A view of "Mad Mike" Hughes' rocket, taken on Aug. 12, 2019.

'Mad' Mike Hughes dies in rocket crash

By Jeanna Bryner

Mad Mike Huges has died after crash-landing a homemade rocket Saturday.

An illustration of the X-59 supersonic plane landing on a runway.

NASA's experimental X-59 supersonic jet could be built by the end of 2020

By Chelsea Gohd

NASA's experimental, supersonic X-plane is on a fast track to flying.

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