Today's biggest science news: Farewell comet 3I/ATLAS | Starlink tumbles from orbit | AI’s giant carbon footprint
LIVE Friday, Dec. 18, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
Space
Stargazing over the Christmas holidays 2025: 10 great reasons to look up
Your guide to the best sights the night sky has to offer from Dec. 20, 2025, to Jan. 4, 2026 — and the gear you'll need to see them.
Ursid meteor shower 2025: When and where to see 'shooting stars' on the longest night of the year
Here's how to see the Ursid meteor shower, which peaks in dark skies close to a new moon this year.
NASA eyes 3I/ATLAS with alien-hunting Clipper spacecraft in new image
NASA's alien-hunting Europa Clipper spacecraft took seven hours of ultraviolet observations of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS while both objects zoom toward Jupiter.
Saturn's largest moon may be riddled with 'slushy tunnels' that contain alien life, new study hints
Decades ago, a spacecraft suggested Saturn's largest moon, Titan, had an ocean. New observations suggest that the liquid may look more like slush.
James Webb telescope finds supermassive black hole hidden inside 'Jekyll and Hyde' galaxy
The discovery of a hidden supermassive black hole inside an ancient galaxy suggests that some of our universe's most extreme objects could be invisible unless observed in infrared wavelengths, James Webb telescope observations reveal.
Planet Earth
Undersea lava rubble acts as a 'sponge' for carbon dioxide, study finds
Lava rubble at the bottom of the sea is acting like a giant "sponge" for carbon dioxide, ancient cores reveal.
Ancient burrowing bees made their nests in the tooth cavities and vertebrae of dead rodents, scientists discover
Scientists made a unique discovery in a cave on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola: dozens of fossilized bee nests inside rodent bones that were deposited by owls thousands of years ago.
Deep snow blanket transforms Yellowstone Lake into a giant white void
Earth from space A 2022 astronaut photo shows a thick blanket of snow covering Yellowstone Lake, transforming the frozen body of water into a featureless white void. But below the ice lie some of Earth's hottest hydrothermal vents.
Giant structure discovered deep beneath Bermuda is unlike anything else on Earth
A thick layer of more than 12 miles of rock may explain why Bermuda seems to float above the surrounding ocean.
23 Comments
China's Great Green Wall: The giant artificial forest designed to slow the expansion of 2 deserts
Since 1978, China has planted more than 66 billion trees along its 2,800-mile-long northern border, and it wants to plant 34 billion more over the next 25 years to complete its "Great Green Wall."
10 Comments
archaeology
Diarrhea and stomachaches plagued Roman soldiers stationed at Hadrian's Wall, discovery of microscopic parasites finds
Analysis of latrine sediments at the Roman fort of Vindolanda has revealed that at least three parasites were widespread among Roman soldiers.
2 Comments
Detectorists find Anglo-Saxon treasure hoard that may have been part of a 'ritual killing'
These Anglo-Saxon accessories were recovered from the side of a hill in England and may be from a hoard, a ritual deposit or a collection of stolen items.
Pompeii victims were wearing woolen cloaks in August when they died — but experts are split on what that means
Some of the victims at Pompeii were wearing woolen cloaks when they died, even though it was August, new research finds.
13 Comments
LATEST ARTICLES
Animals
Polar bears in southern Greenland are 'using jumping genes to rapidly rewrite their own DNA' to survive melting sea ice
Warming temperatures appear to be driving genetic mutations in some polar bears to help them survive the shifting climatic conditions.
6 Comments
Scientists finally sequence the vampire squid's huge genome, revealing secrets of the 'living fossil'
The genetic link between squids and octopuses may just be found in the vampire squid genome.
2 Comments
Can a turtle tuck its head all the way inside its shell?
Turtle shells evolved over the course of 300 million years, but self-defense wasn't the initial driver, researchers think.
Cassius the giant crocodile died from sepsis after 40-year-old dormant infection burst from 'abscess,' necropsy reveals
Cassius was an 18-foot-long saltwater crocodile living in captivity in Marineland Crocodile Park in Australia. He died last year at the age of about 120, and we finally know why.
Health & Human Behavior
It matters what time of day you get cancer treatment, study suggests
Giving immunotherapy earlier in the day can significantly extend patients' survival, compared to giving treatment later in the day, a new study of lung cancer shows.
An otherwise 'fit' man had a stroke after drinking 8 'high-potency' energy drinks a day
A man with few risk factors unexpectedly experienced a stroke, and his daily energy drink habit may have been to blame.
Heart attacks are less harmful at night. And that might be key to treating them.
Controlling immune cells' internal clocks helped reduce inflammatory damage in conditions like heart attack and sickle cell disease, a mouse study found.
Brain scans reveal 'dial' that helps keep us from getting lost
A brain-scan study reveals key components of the brain's navigation system, which may help us better understand early symptoms of dementia.
5 genetic 'signatures' underpin a range of psychiatric conditions
A study suggests psychiatric disorders can share the same genetic signatures and that they may stem from shared biological mechanisms.
6 Comments
Science history: Norwegian explorer wins the treacherous race to the South Pole, while British rival perishes along with his crew — Dec. 14, 1911
In December 1911, Roald Amundsen and his crew reached the South Pole, beating his rival, Robert Falcon Scott, by 35 days. Scott and his crew didn't survive the return trip.
-
-
Life's Little Mysteries
Science questions, answered
-
Space photo of the week
Extraordinary images of our sublime universe
-
Diagnostic dilemma
Unusual case reports from the medical literature
-
Incredible places
A window onto extraordinary landscapes on Earth
-
Astonishing artifacts
A glimpse into how people lived in the past
-
Earth from space
Incredible images of our planet from above
-
Technology
Japan trials 100-kilowatt laser weapon — it can cut through metal and drones mid-flight
A new high-power laser system will soon be sent to sea for its first tests under maritime conditions.
History of computers: Timeline of key events & technological breakthroughs
Reference The history of computers began with primitive designs in the early 19th century and went on to change the world during the 20th century.
Snakes' mind-bending 'heat vision' inspires scientists to build a 4K imaging system that could one day fit into your smartphone
The human eye can only detect wavelengths in the visible light range, but a new imaging system will let us "see" infrared radiation using smartphones.
2 Comments
Physics, Math & Chemistry
Glue strong enough to tow a car made from used cooking oil
Chemists used waste cooking oil to create a sustainable, super-sticky adhesive that's strong enough to hold up hundreds of pounds of weight.
6 Comments
Quizzes & Games
Live Science crossword puzzle #24: Elemental particle associated with light — 11 down
Science crossword Test your knowledge on all things science with our weekly, free crossword puzzle!
Live Science Recommends
Save 72% with our exclusive Norton VPN deal and get set for travel over the holidays and into 2026
Deals Get a quality VPN for less, so you can stream and browse with confidence from any location.
