Scientists claim 'Lucy' may not be our direct ancestor after all, stoking fierce debate
Recent fossil finds could mean that "Lucy" wasn't our direct ancestor, some scientists say. Others strongly disagree.
Space
That was the week in science: Farewell comet 3I/ATLAS | Starlink tumbles from orbit | AI’s giant carbon footprint
LIVE Friday, Dec. 19, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.
Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS makes closest pass of Earth. Where's it heading next?
Everyone's favorite interstellar comet, 3I/ATLAS, flew past Earth overnight, coming within about 168 million miles (270 million kilometers) of our planet.
Comet 3I/ATLAS reaches its closest point to Earth tonight: How to see it
Comet 3I/ATLAS, the third interstellar object ever detected, reached its closest point to Earth overnight from Thursday to Friday (Dec. 18 to 19), and it remains in a good viewing position tonight. Here's how to see it.
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.
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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.
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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."
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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.
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Oldest known evidence of father-daughter incest found in 3,700-year-old bones in Italy
Archaeologists have found the earliest DNA evidence to date of a father-daughter pairing.
Rare 1,300-year-old medallion decorated with menorahs found near Jerusalem's Temple Mount
An excavation at the City of David in Jerusalem unearthed a 1,300-year-old medallion decorated with a seven-branched menorah on each side.
LATEST ARTICLES
Animals
Pumas in Patagonia started feasting on penguins — but now they're behaving strangely, a new study finds
Pumas in Patagonia, Argentina are eating penguins in a national park — and it's changing how the big cats are interacting with each other.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Life's Little Mysteries
Science questions, answered
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Space photo of the week
Extraordinary images of our sublime universe
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Diagnostic dilemma
Unusual case reports from the medical literature
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Incredible places
A window onto extraordinary landscapes on Earth
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Astonishing artifacts
A glimpse into how people lived in the past
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Earth from space
Incredible images of our planet from above
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Technology
Celestron Showdown: Battle of the 10x42s
We tested every single pair of Celestron 10x42 binoculars so you don't have to — find out which one comes out on top.
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.
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Quizzes & Games
Archaeology Fragments Quiz: Can you work out what these mysterious artifacts are?
Break out your best magnifying glass to solve these visual archaeology puzzles.
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