Planet Earth

T. oblongifolia growing in Death Valley, California.

Death Valley shrub rearranges its insides to thrive in one of the hottest places on Earth

By Sarah Wild published

Heat-loving plants that thrive in California's Death Valley could hold the key to growing crops in a changing climate.

Plants

Science history: Experiment shows mutations arise spontaneously, supporting pillar of Darwinian evolution — Nov. 20, 1943

By Tia Ghose published

Two bacteriologists showed that mutations arise spontaneously in bacterial cultures, thereby disproving Jean-Baptiste Lamarck's theory of evolution.

Evolution
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Space

A photo of a large boulder-like rock on Mars, circled by a yellow ring annotation

Odd-looking rock on Mars is totally alien to the Red Planet, Perseverance rover finds

By Harry Baker published

NASA's Perseverance Mars rover recently came across an odd rock, dubbed "Phippsaksla," that is unlike anything else the robot has found on the Red Planet. It turns out that it probably isn't from our neighboring world and likely crashed on Mars instead.

Mars

Giant 'diamond ring' sparkles 4,500 light-years away in the Cygnus constellation — Space photo of the week

By Jamie Carter published

NASA's SOFIA observatory captured a rare image of a glowing gas ring in Cygnus X — a vast star-forming region 4,500 light-years away.

Astronomy
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archaeology

Did Neanderthals have religious beliefs?

By Owen Jarus published

Whether Neanderthals had religious beliefs is a subject of ongoing debate.

Human Evolution

Archaeologists discover decapitated head the Romans used as a warning to the Celts

By Kristina Killgrove published

A lone skull discovered near the walls of an ancient fort highlights the Romans' brutal treatment of their conquered foes.

Romans
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World of science

Health

Two women are resting between exercises while sitting on a park bench outside and looking at their fitness trackers

Best fitness trackers for beginners 2025 — From Apple Watch to Garmin Forerunner 165

By Lloyd Coombes last updated

Buying guides These are the best beginner-friendly fitness trackers you can buy in every category, from Apple Watch and Garmin Forerunner 165 to Amazfit Active

Buying guides
Our expert reviewer testing the workout features on the Garmin Fenix 8 smartwatch

Best fitness trackers 2025: From smart rings to multisport GPS watches

By Andrew Williams, Anna Gora last updated

Buying Guide These are the best fitness trackers you can buy in every category, from Amazfit Balance and Garmin Fenix 8 to Whoop MG.

Buying Guide
RFK and a mound of ants

Turmoil at the CDC, NASA's comet 3I/ATLAS image release, and the insect apocalypse.

By Ben Turner published

Science news this week Nov. 22, 2025: 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
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Animals

Two white-backed vultures high up on a leafless tree.

Why do vultures circle?

By Chris Simms published

Circling vultures aren't waiting for you to die, and seeing them should be a welcome sight because of the benefits they bring, experts say.

Birds

Scientists discover new type of lion roar

By Sascha Pare published

Researchers used artificial intelligence to analyze more than 3,000 recordings of African lions and found that the animals have an "intermediate" roar as well as a "full-throated" roar.

Lions
Headshot of male bonobo in thick vegetation

'A forest with bonobos has never been so quiet': Most extreme case of violence in 'hippie' species recorded, with females ganging up on male in unprecedented attack

By Sophie Berdugo published

Female bonobos routinely form coalitions to stamp out threats from males, but the level of violence in this attack was unprecedented.

9 Comments
Land Mammals
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Human Behavior

A hand holding a pencil over a crossword puzzle

Live Science crossword puzzle #20: Largest contiguous land empire in history — 3 down

By Harry Baker last updated

Science crossword Test your knowledge on all things science with our weekly, free crossword puzzle!

Science crossword

There is such a thing as 'settled science' — anyone who says otherwise is trying to manipulate you

By Kit Yates published

Opinion How bad-faith arguments sow doubt by weaponizing scientific humility.

20 Comments
Opinion
scientist holding test tubes with illustration of money symbols and a sand timer on a blue background

Citation cartels, ghost writing and fake peer-review: Fraud is causing a crisis in science — here's what we need to do to stop it

By Kit Yates published

Opinion Thousands of scientific papers are retracted every year because of fraudulent activity, with both authors and journals gaming a system to gain academic acclaim through deceit, dishonesty and false representation.

7 Comments
Opinion
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Physics & Mathematics

For the first time, physicists peer inside the nucleus of a molecule using electrons as a probe

By Larissa G. Capella published

A novel experiment has revealed a phenomenon called the Bohr–Weisskopf effect in a pear-shaped nucleus in a molecule for the first time.

Particle Physics

Science history: Russian mathematician quietly publishes paper — and solves one of the most famous unsolved conjectures in mathematics — Nov. 11, 2002

By Tia Ghose published

Mathematician Grigori Perelman solved the Poincaré conjecture, and then rejected the $1 million prize that came with it.

39 Comments
Mathematics
Clocks stand in a row in front of autumn trees

Daylight saving time 2025: When does the time change, and why?

By Jeanna Bryner last updated

When does daylight saving time end in 2025? Here's a look at when the time changes this year, and why we change our clocks in the first place.

Physics & Mathematics
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Chemistry

Scientists invent way to use E. coli to create and dye rainbow-colored fabric in the lab

By Mason Wakley published

Scientists have used a novel method to create sustainable, rainbow-colored fibers using bacteria in the lab.

Chemistry
an animation of a spinning buckyball molecule

Science history: Chemists discover buckyballs — the most perfect molecules in existence — Nov. 14, 1985

By Tia Ghose published

Over a feverish 10-day period, scientists synthesized and described a new class of carbon molecules, called buckminster fullerenes, after the iconic 20th-century inventor.

Chemistry

Why does boiling water have bubbles, except in a microwave?

By Victoria Atkinson published

Bubbles are usually the first sign that water’s coming to the boil, but heating it in a microwave seems to skip this important step. Here’s what’s going on.

10 Comments
Chemistry
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Technology

woman photographing the night sky with one of the best astrophotography cameras

Best astrophotography cameras 2025: Don't miss Black Friday and the Geminids

By Kimberley Lane last updated

BUYING GUIDE Black Friday has already brought some stellar deals on astro cameras — these models are tried and tested by our experts to help you decide what to invest in.

BUYING GUIDE
A woman with her back to the camera looks at the crescent moon and two planets through a telescope at sunset

Our 5 tips for choosing a telescope this Black Friday 2025

By Kimberley Lane published

You've waited until the biggest sales event of the year to scope out the best telescope deal — so make sure you know what to look for before you dive in.

Technology

Dream of quantum internet inches closer after breakthrough helps beam information over fiber-optic networks

By Owen Hughes published

Built from a single erbium atom, a hybrid quantum bit encodes data magnetically and beams it through fiber-optic wavelengths.

Computing
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