Latest News

silouette of hands prepping a syringe for injection in front of white background with word "Novavax" written across it in blue

Novavax's COVID-19 shots are 90% effective, company reports

By Nicoletta Lanese

The shots are 100% effective against moderate and severe infections.

The sinkhole is roughly 40 feet in diameter, or about half the size of a tennis court.

Huge sinkhole bursts open near underwater 'blowhole' in South Australian coast

By Brandon Specktor

A large 40-foot-wide sinkhole opened suddenly near South Australia's ancient Limestone Coast, threatening to break away even more

This iceberg-filled passage, Lemaire Channel, lies in the Southern Ocean.

Earth's fifth ocean just confirmed

By Tom Metcalfe

The sun rises behind the reconstructed "Ringheiligtum Pömmelte" in eastern Germany, on Dec. 21, 2016, the winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year.

Ancient people lived at German 'Stonehenge,' site of brutal human sacrifices

By Laura Geggel

The "German Stonehenge," a place for ritual events and possibly even human sacrifice, was also a home to many during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

A short-beaked echidna in Australia.

Scientists unravel mystery of echidnas' bizarre 4-headed penis

By Harry Baker

Scientists have finally solved a longstanding mystery surrounding the bizarre 4-headed penises of echidnas using CT scans.

China's Mars rover Zhurong poses for a self portrait with its lander in this photo from Utopia Planitia released on June 11, 2021.

China's Mars rover Zhurong just snapped an epic self-portrait on the Red Planet (photos)

By Tereza Pultarova

China's Zhurong rover has sent a new batch of images to Earth — including a "family photo" of the rover with its rocket-powered landing platform posing for a camera on the rock-covered surface.

Planet Earth

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Ice melt in Antarctica and Greenland drives changes to sea level and temperature, sparking off rapid changes to other climate systems..

Climate 'tipping points' could push us past the point-of-no-return after less than 2 degrees of warming

By Ben Turner

Nearly one-third of the 3 million simulations run by scientists showed disastrous effects within 2 degrees of warming, and scientists say their estimates are conservative.

An aerial view of the Hoover Dam in 2009.

Hoover Dam reservoir reaches record-low water levels

By Rachael Rettner

The low levels will likely require states to implement water-saving measures.

Space and Physics

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China's Mars rover Zhurong poses for a self portrait with its lander in this photo from Utopia Planitia released on June 11, 2021.

China's Mars rover Zhurong just snapped an epic self-portrait on the Red Planet (photos)

By Tereza Pultarova

China's Zhurong rover has sent a new batch of images to Earth — including a "family photo" of the rover with its rocket-powered landing platform posing for a camera on the rock-covered surface.

Here, a few of the stellar nurseries mapped in the ALMA survey.

100,000 star nurseries mapped in first-of-its-kind survey

By Ben Turner

The researchers say that they want to use the survey to better understand our own place in the universe.

History

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The sun rises behind the reconstructed "Ringheiligtum Pömmelte" in eastern Germany, on Dec. 21, 2016, the winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year.

Ancient people lived at German 'Stonehenge,' site of brutal human sacrifices

By Laura Geggel

The "German Stonehenge," a place for ritual events and possibly even human sacrifice, was also a home to many during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages.

The new seal impression and a modern imprint of its patterns.

7,000-year-old letter seal found in Israel hints at ancient long-distance trade

By Yasemin Saplakoglu

The tiny clay impression dates back 7,000 years and was likely used to seal and sign deliveries, as well as to keep storerooms closed, according to a new study.

Health

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silouette of hands prepping a syringe for injection in front of white background with word "Novavax" written across it in blue

Novavax's COVID-19 shots are 90% effective, company reports

By Nicoletta Lanese

The shots are 100% effective against moderate and severe infections.

mosquito sitting on skin

Breakthrough dengue-prevention strategy passes huge trial

By Nicoletta Lanese

The trial was conducted in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Why do we have eyebrows and eyelashes?

Why do we have eyebrows and eyelashes?

By Tara Santora

What role do our eyebrows and eyelashes play?

Animals

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A short-beaked echidna in Australia.

Scientists unravel mystery of echidnas' bizarre 4-headed penis

By Harry Baker

Scientists have finally solved a longstanding mystery surrounding the bizarre 4-headed penises of echidnas using CT scans.

Image of black crow with beak pointed toward computer monitor; monitor displays a grey circle with four dots on it

Crows understand the 'concept of zero' (despite their bird brains)

By Nicoletta Lanese

Researchers determined this with behavioral tests and recordings of the birds' brain activity.

sperm whale in the ocean

Will humans ever learn to speak whale?

By Randyn Bartholomew

Cutting-edge technology is helping researchers collect and analyze whale communication.

Strange News

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Friends holding hands above their heads and staring out into the ocean.

The 'friendship paradox' doesn't always explain real friendships, mathematicians say

By Yasemin Saplakoglu

Your friends are on average more popular than you are, according to a phenomenon known as the "friendship paradox." But it turns out, there's some nuance to that.

A government employee photographed a UFO that hovered for 15 minutes near Holloman Air Development Center in New Mexico, on Dec.16, 1957.

Pentagon's long-awaited UFO report to Congress due this month

By Mindy Weisberger

U.S. lawmakers called for an official assessment of UFO sightings in December, and the six-month deadline is up.

The auction of this so-called evidence of extraterrestrials has an opening bid of $1 million or 450 Ethereum (a network for the cryptocurrency Ether).

1947 'alien autopsy' film frame is up for auction as an NFT

By Mindy Weisberger

A film frame allegedly showing the autopsy of an extraterrestrial that crash-landed in Roswell, New Mexico has an opening bid of $1 million.

Culture

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People walking through a city.

Humans might be making genetic evolution obsolete

By Cameron Duke

A new study on human cultural evolution argues that humans evolve much faster as cultures than as individual organisms, molding our genes in the process.

Woman thinking next to a thought bubble on a blackboard

Does everyone have an inner monologue?

By Donavyn Coffey

Does everyone have a monologue in their head?

12 spheres sit on a field of green, red and blue stripes, with some stripes crossing in front of the spheres

This optical illusion tricks you into seeing different colors. How does it work?

By Nicoletta Lanese

This image is an example of the Munker-White illusion.

Tech

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The Airlander 10 would have a roomy interior for rides that could start as soon as 2025.

Inside of world's largest airship revealed in stunning images

By Edd Gent

Xu Li, CEO of SenseTime Group Ltd., is identified by the A.I. company's facial recognition system at the company’s showroom in Beijing, China, on June 15, 2018.

Expect an Orwellian future if AI isn't kept in check, Microsoft exec says

By Stephanie Pappas

Speaking on the BBC show 'Panorama,' Microsoft's Brad Smith warned that unless checks are put in place, artificial intelligence could lead to a dystopian future

On July 16, 1952, Coast Guard seaman Shell Alpert took this photo of four roughly elliptical blobs of light in formation through the window of his photographic laboratory near Salem, Massachusetts. The U.S. Air Force's UFO task force, Project Blue Book, investigated the image and deemed it "unexplained."

'No evidence' UFOs are alien spacecraft, but they're not American, Pentagon says

By Mindy Weisberger

In a new report, Pentagon officials claim they lack evidence that UFOs are from worlds other than Earth.