Planet Earth

Scientists discover new way to predict next Mount Etna eruption

By Sascha Pare published

Researchers analyzed changes over time in the ratio of small earthquakes to bigger ones beneath Mount Etna and found a strong correlation with the volcano's activity over the past 20 years.

Volcanos
Icebergs floating near face of Sveabreen Glacier in Nordfjorden.

Arctic Ocean methane 'switch' that helped drive rapid global warming discovered

By Aubrey Zerkle published

The Arctic Ocean was once an important source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere — and it could become one again, researchers warn.

Planet Earth
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Space

A close-up photo of Comet Lemmon appearing to fly through red and green auroras

Superbright 'Comet Lemmon' flies through auroras over Scotland during surprise solar storm

By Harry Baker published

A photographer snapped a striking shot of Comet Lemmon streaking over Scotland as the night sky unexpectedly filled up with a technicolor mix of vibrant auroras.

Comets

Comets Lemmon and SWAN reach their brightest this week

By Jamie Carter published

Comet Lemmon (C/2025 A6) makes its closest approach to Earth on Oct. 21, about 24 hours after the fainter Comet SWAN (C/2025 R2) does the same. Here's how, where and when to see them both.

Comets
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archaeology

'People made it out of the cities alive': Tracing the survivors of Pompeii and Herculaneum, 2,000 years after Vesuvius erupted

By Steven L. Tuck published

Several lines of evidence, from chiseled inscriptions to missing horses, suggest that thousands of people survived the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79.

Romans

Roos Carr figures: Creepy 2,600-year-old carvings with 'removable genitalia' and eyes that may have symbolized Odin's soothsayer powers

By Kristina Killgrove published

Spooky-looking wooden figurines with quartzite eyes are 2,600 years old and may be linked to a Norse god.

Archaeology
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World of science

Health

A Live Science Prime Day logo and a picture of a young woman running in the park while listening to her headphones

Bored of waiting for Black Friday fitness deals? Us too! Here are 7 discounts for those who can't wait

By Anna Gora published

Deals Save up to 40% on smartwatches, running headphones and cardio machines ahead of Black Friday, for those fitness and health geeks who just can't wait.

Deals

How do our brains wake up?

By Sara Hashemi published

How do we go from sound asleep to awake in the blink of an eye?

Neuroscience
an illustration of a drop of blood

Could simple blood tests identify cancer earlier?

By Emily Cooke published

Blood tests that detect early cancer are coming to market. Could they lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment?

Cancer
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Animals

Can you actually get high from licking a toad?

By Marilyn Perkins published

There's some truth to the urban legend that certain toads have psychedelic properties, but licking them isn't a good idea.

Toads

Jane Goodall revolutionized animal research, but her work had some unintended consequences. Here's what we've learned from them.

By Sophie Berdugo published

Following Jane Goodall's death, chimp experts explain how her early observations still influence our understanding of our ape cousins.

Land Mammals

The viral 'Chicago Rat Hole' wasn't actually made by a rat, scientists claim

By K.R. Callaway published

After researching the rodent indent, scientists are over 98% sure it came from a squirrel.

Land Mammals
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Human Behavior

A hand holding a pencil over a crossword puzzle

Live Science crossword puzzle #16: Famous female Australopithecus skeleton — 5 down

By Harry Baker last updated

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

Science crossword
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.

Opinion
a 5g cell tower with green waves coming out

'When people gather in groups, bizarre behaviors often emerge': How the rise of online social networks has catapulted dysfunctional thinking

By Carlo Kopp, David Green, Fatima Seeme published

Opinion The pervasive spread of misinformation can be tracked to cognitive limitations, social influence and the global spread of online networks. Combatting it has become an "arms race" between truth and lies.

Opinion
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Physics & Mathematics

Physicists capture rare illusion of an object moving at 99.9% the speed of light

By Larissa G. Capella published

For the first time, physicists have simulated what objects moving near the speed of light would look like — an optical illusion called the Terrell-Penrose effect.

Physics & Mathematics

Einstein's relativity could rewrite a major rule about what types of planets are habitable

By Paul Sutter published

Planets that orbit white dwarf stars should be too hot to host alien life, theories suggest. But a new study accounting for Einstein's general relativity may rewrite that rule.

Physics & Mathematics
The 2025 Nobel Prize winners in physics, illustrated left to write, John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis.

Nobel Prize in physics goes to three scientists who discovered bizarre quantum effect on large scales

By Patrick Pester published

The 2025 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to John Clarke, Michel H. Devoret and John M. Martinis "for the discovery of macroscopic quantum mechanical tunnelling and energy quantisation in an electric circuit."

Physics & Mathematics
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Chemistry

Why does slicing onions make you cry?

By Donavyn Coffey last updated

Here's why you may start tearing up while slicing an onion.

Chemistry
An illustration of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners.

'Harry Potter' materials land three scientists Nobel Prize in chemistry

By Patrick Pester last updated

Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar Yaghi awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Chemistry "for the development of metal–organic frameworks."

Chemistry
The monument for Marie Sklodowska Curie, the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences: the Nobel Prize for physics in 1903 (jointly with her husband), and the Nobel Prize for chemistry in 1911.

Nobel Prize in Chemistry: 1901-Present

By Live Science Staff last updated

The Nobel Prize in Chemistry includes famous winners such as Marie Curie and Otto Hahn.

Chemistry
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Technology

Rainbow colored iridescent semiconductor wafer extreme close-up studio shot.

'Rainbow-on-a-chip' could help keep AI energy demands in check — and it was created by accident

By Owen Hughes published

A new photonics chip that generates multicolored laser beams could supercharge data center technology and ease the strain of AI's surging data demands.

Electronics
Somebody wearing the prototype picoRing mouse and accompanying wristband.

New smart ring is a novel way to control your computer — it has the humble mouse firmly in its sights

By Owen Hughes published

The picoRing device ditches Bluetooth for a novel magnetic relay system linked to a wristband, slashing its power consumption to mere microwatts.

Computing
Quantum computing concept (artist's impression). A qubit, short for "quantum bit," is the fundamental unit of information in quantum computing. Unlike classical bits, which can be either 0 or 1, a qubit can exist in a superposition of both states simultaneously, enabling powerful computational possibilities - digitally generated image

'This moves the timeline forward significantly': Quantum computing breakthrough could slash pesky errors by up to 100 times

By Owen Hughes published

Researchers used a new technique called algorithmic fault tolerance (AFT) to cut the time and computational cost of quantum error correction by up to 100 times in simulations of neutral-atom architecture.

Computing
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