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NASA announces unprecedented return of sick ISS astronaut and crewNASA has announced the early return of Crew-11 from the International Space Station after an unidentified astronaut experienced a medical problem.
space-exploration -
Leonardo da Vinci's DNA may be embedded in his art — and scientists think they've managed to extract someIn a first, scientists have extracted DNA from a Renaissance-era drawing attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, but they can't be sure that the genetic material belongs to the Italian polymath.
2 Commentsgenetics -
'Wolf Supermoon' gallery: See the first full moon of 2026 in pictures from across the worldThe first full moon of 2026 shone brightly Saturday (Jan. 3). Known as the Wolf Moon, it appeared more luminous and larger than usual, rising together with Jupiter.
the-moon -
Spotted Lake: Canada's soda lake with colorful brine pools that are smelly and slimy 'like the white of an egg'Spotted Lake is a soda lake that evaporates every summer, leaving a white crust with circular brine pools that can appear blue, green or yellow.
planet-earth -
Enough fresh water is lost from continents each year to meet the needs of 280 million people. Here's how we can combat that.Earth's continents are losing 4 Olympic swimming pools' worth of fresh water every second, with dire consequences for jobs, food security and water availability.
3 Commentsplanet-earth -
Orcas are adopting terrifying new behaviors. Are they getting smarter?From sinking boats and feasting on shark livers to dining on whale tongue and tossing porpoises around for fun, orcas are displaying some fascinating — and sometimes terrifying — behaviors.
8 Commentsorcas -
Coconucos volcanic chain: Colombia's stunning cluster of volcanoes, lost in an otherworldly landscapeThe Coconucos volcanic chain is a mountain ridge dotted with at least 14 volcano craters, including one that is active and erupted in December 2025.
volcanoes -
Ancient burrowing bees made their nests in the tooth cavities and vertebrae of dead rodents, scientists discoverScientists 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.
extinct-species -
Brutal lion attack 6,200 years ago severely injured teenager — but somehow he survived, skeleton found in Bulgaria revealsExtremely rare evidence of a lion attack on a teenage boy's remains suggests the teenager survived the initial trauma but became severely disabled, requiring support from his community.
archaeology -
Cassius the giant crocodile died from sepsis after 40-year-old dormant infection burst from 'abscess,' necropsy revealsCassius 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.
bacterial-fungal -
China's Great Green Wall: The giant artificial forest designed to slow the expansion of 2 desertsSince 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."
14 Commentsplants -
Amazon rainforest is transitioning to a 'hypertropical' climate — and trees won't survive that for longThe Amazon rainforest currently has a few days or weeks of hot drought conditions per year, but researchers say this could increase to 150 days per year by 2100.
climate-change -
Earth's crust hides enough 'gold' hydrogen to power the world for tens of thousands of years, emerging research suggestsReservoirs of hydrogen gas that form naturally in Earth's crust could help humans decarbonize. The challenge now is finding these accumulations and working out how best to mine them, experts say.
20 Commentsgeology -
A huge helium shortage is looming — but ancient rocks in Earth's crust may be hiding massive reservoirsFor decades, helium has been produced with natural gas, generating huge carbon emissions. Now, geologists are looking for new helium sources — and finding enormous "carbon-free" reservoirs that could revolutionize the industry.
6 Commentsgeology -
18,000 dinosaur tracks discovered along ancient Bolivian coastline — and they set a new recordResearchers have counted 16,600 fossilized dinosaur footprints and 1,378 swim tracks at a site in Bolivia that showcase a variety of behaviors and different theropods from the Cretaceous period.
7 Commentsdinosaurs -
China has planted so many trees it's changed the entire country's water distributionHuge "regreening" efforts in China over the past few decades have activated the country's water cycle and moved water in ways that scientists are just now starting to understand.
50 Commentsplants -
Death Valley's 'world's hottest temperature' record may be due to a human errorA new analysis of July temperatures in Death Valley between 1923 and 2024 suggests the world record near-surface air temperature of 134 F measured in July 1913 may be erroneous.
8 Commentsweather -
Ruptures from 'silent' earthquakes deep in Earth's crust can heal themselves within hoursResearchers re-created the conditions deep inside the Cascadia subduction zone and found that fractured rocks can repair themselves during, or just hours after, slow-motion earthquakes.
earthquakes -
A new Apple TV series brings to life iconic animals of the last ice age.A clip from the upcoming series "Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age" shows how iconic ice age creatures adapted to their changing environment as temperatures rose and ice sheets started to melt.
extinct-species -
Scientists discover new type of lion roarResearchers 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.
4 Commentscats -
Underwater volcano off Oregon coast likely won't erupt until mid-to-late 2026Researchers thought that Axial Seamount might erupt in 2025, but recent data suggest the underwater volcano could take a bit longer to blow its top.
volcanoes -
Tiny spiders that build giant 'puppet' decoys from disembodied prey discovered in Peru and PhilippinesResearchers have documented the strange antics of two tropical spider species that build giant, arachnid-shaped decoys out of silk, plant matter and prey remains in their webs.
spiders-arachnids -
Breakup of ancient supercontinent Nuna created 'incubators' for complex life, study findsAncient supercontinent Nuna's breakup around 1.5 billion years ago set off a chain of events that made Earth more habitable, new research suggests.
2 Commentsgeology -
Incredible, first-of-their-kind images show an orca being born in Norway — and the rest of its pod forming a protective circleScientists with the Norwegian Orca Survey and Orca Channel have documented, for the first time and in astounding detail, the birth of an orca and the newborn's first hour.
42 Commentsorcas
