This week's science news was largely dominated by the return of two NASA astronauts from the International Space Station, whose planned eight-day mission ended up lasting 286 days.
Astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams lifted off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on June 5, 2024, but not long into the mission helium leaks, along with a number of other issues, were discovered on their Boeing Starliner spacecraft.
Starliner had already suffered years of delays, and although it was later suggested the pair would have been fine to return home on the suspect vessel, the risk to their safety was considered too great. As such, it wasn't until 5:57 p.m. ET on Tuesday (March 18) that the astronauts finally splashed down near the coast of Florida, after hitching a lift aboard a SpaceX Dragon capsule.
While much of the attention on them focused on the duo being "stranded" in space, it's not a sentiment the pair shared. In a conversation with CNN's Anderson Cooper, they explained how mission extensions are sometimes just part of the job.
"We come prepared, we come committed. That is what your human spaceflight program is: It prepares for any and all contingencies that we can conceive of, and we prepare for those," Wilmore told Cooper. "We don't feel abandoned. We don't feel stuck. We don't feel stranded."
A new study details how human ancestors mixed with a mystery population 300,000 years ago.
(Image credit: Alamy)
In a study published Tuesday, researchers presented a new method of modeling genomic data, called "cobraa," that has enabled them to trace the evolution of modern humans (Homo sapiens).
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They found that the ancestors of all modern humans split off from a mystery population 1.5 million years ago and then reconnected with them 300,000 years ago. This unknown population contributed 20% of our DNA and may have boosted humans' brain function.
"The fact that we can reconstruct events from hundreds of thousands or millions of years ago just by looking at DNA today is astonishing, and it tells us that our history is far richer and more complex than we imagined," study co-author Aylwyn Scally, a geneticist at the University of Cambridge, said in a statement.
(Image credit: Tatyana Andreyeva via Shutterstock)
Just like the mountains, lakes on Earth can be ancient, or more than 1 million years old. There are only 20 ancient lakes on the planet, but which is the oldest?
The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument maps the night sky from the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope in Arizona.
(Image credit: KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/B. Tafreshi)
Astronomers studying the largest-ever map of the cosmos have found hints that our best understanding of the universe is due a major rewrite. The analysis, which looked at nearly 15 million galaxies and quasars spanning 11 billion years of cosmic time, found that dark energy — the presumed-to-be constant force driving the accelerating expansion of our universe — could be weakening.
Or at least this is what the data, collected by the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), suggest when combined with information taken from star explosions, the cosmic microwave background and weak gravitational lensing. If the findings hold up, it means that one of the most mysterious forces controlling the fate of our universe is even weirder than first thought — and that something is very wrong with our current model of the cosmos.
Scientists have developed new blood tests that can detect early chemical signatures of cancer. For diseases like pancreatic cancer, that could lead to earlier diagnosis and a better prognosis.
(Image credit: CSA Images via Getty Images)
Around four years ago, now 77-year-old John Gormly went for what was supposed to be a routine blood test. But the results were life-changing.
The test suggested Gormly had colon cancer, which a colonoscopy later confirmed was Stage 2, meaning the cancer had spread through the wall of the colon but not to his lymph nodes.
"I thought [my doctor] was wrong," Gormly, CEO of a construction company near Newport Beach, California, told Live Science. "I go, 'Nah, I don't feel anything.' But there it was. It was real; the colonoscopy showed it."
Gormly was one of the first patients to take a newly approved test called Shield, which its makers say can detect colon cancer from a blood sample. After his diagnosis, Gormly had surgery to remove the tumor and was back at work within 10 days.
"Liquid biopsies" like the one that detected early cancer for Gormly are now coming to market. Could they lead to earlier diagnosis and treatment?
Something for the weekend
Something for the weekend
If you're looking for something a little longer to read over the weekend, here are some of the best long reads, book excerpts and interviews published this week.
An octopus has been spotted catching a ride from an unlikely marine friend: a superfast shark. Researchers captured a video showing the orange-hued octopus clinging to the back of a large shortfin mako shark (Isurus oxyrinchus) as it swims. This "sharktopus" was spotted in the Hauraki Gulf off the northern coast of New Zealand's North Island during a December 2023 research trip.
Alexander McNamara is the Editor-in-Chief at Live Science, and has more than 15 years’ experience in publishing at digital titles. In 2024 he was shortlisted for Editor of the Year at the Association of British Science Writers awards for his work at Live Science. He has previously worked at New Scientist and BBC Science Focus.
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