Science News: Recent scientific discoveries and expert analysis
Read the latest science news and recent scientific discoveries on Live Science, where we've been reporting on groundbreaking advances for over 20 years. Our expert editors, writers and contributors are ready to guide you through today's most important breakthroughs in science with expert analysis, in-depth explainers and interesting articles, covering everything from space, technology, health, animals, planet Earth, and much more.
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Scientists infected a 'vagina on a chip' with gonorrhea — then cured it with a new antibiotic found by AITo sift through 6 million molecules in pursuit of new gonorrhea treatments, researchers trained AI to select the best drug candidate and then tested it in a "vagina on a chip."
By Kamal Nahas Published
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Water shortages could prevent the US from mining more lithium, deepening reliance on foreign importsMost proposed lithium mines in the U.S. overlap with drought-prone regions — including in Nevada, Arizona and California — and there may not be enough water to support them.
By Sascha Pare Published
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New chip harnesses quantum computing's biggest weakness — and tries to turn it into a strengthA new quantum computing chip turns destructive noise into a programmable feature, helping scientists study signal loss and error correction to build more effective systems in the future.
By Tristan Greene Published
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When does the next full moon rise?When does the next full moon rise? Find out exactly when to see the full moons of 2026, including the full "Strwaberry Moon" in June.
By Jamie Carter Last updated
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Some of the last surviving Neanderthals were remarkably diverse — suggesting inbreeding didn't doom themSome Neanderthals living in northwestern Europe after 52,500 years ago were surprisingly diverse, suggesting that they didn't all go extinct due to inbreeding.
By Charles Q. Choi Published
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IBM creates world's first sub-1nm computer chip — cramming 100 billion transistors into a tiny fingernail-sized spaceIBM's NanoStack architecture has helped scientists cram 100 billion transistors onto a computer chip, delivering 50% better performance and consuming 70% less energy than the current generation.
By Tristan Greene Published
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Scientists find thousands of earthquakes in a perfectly straight line in Alaska, revealing a hidden 'microplate'Tiny earthquakes that emerge in a strikingly linear pattern revealed the Yakutat microplate, which may be focusing volcano and earthquake activity.
By Stephanie Pappas Published
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NASA rover finds record-breaking trove of complex organic molecules on MarsData from NASA’s Perseverance rover confirms the presence of macromolecular carbon on Mars – another potential piece of the puzzle in the search for life.
By Joanna Thompson Published
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'You can't patch your way out of it': Cheap AI worm can spread between devices without human guidance — but how did scientists create it?Analysis Researchers show how future malware could use AI to make decisions that are traditionally handled by human hackers — but not all experts say we should panic.
By Carly Page Published
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Satellites reveal Earth has a surprising symmetry in the way it reflects light — and it might be tied to the El Niño cycleEven though the Eastern and Western halves of Earth are fairly different, they reflect the same amount of sunlight, a new study finds.
By Bethany Augliere Published
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Water might secretly be a mix of 2 different liquids, scientists sayFor decades, scientists suspected water secretly behaves like two different liquids. A new AI-powered study has finally caught it happening at the molecular level.
By Larissa G. Capella Published
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China's Einstein Probe detected a mysterious cosmic explosion — and scientists have no idea what caused itThe explosion, consisting of two mysterious double flares, matches no known space eruption.
By Skyler Ware Published
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'A weird result from an already weird hominin': Archaeologists discover all Homo naledi skeletons found in South African cave are femaleA cutting-edge analysis of the teeth from Homo naledi skeletons in a South African cave system found no males within the group. Experts are unsure what to make of the finding.
By Kristina Killgrove Published
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'Weirdos of the sperm whale world' appear to be evolving 2 different dialects, audio recordings suggestThousands of recordings of sperm whale communications in the Mediterranean Sea reveal that the population might be splitting into two groups with their own dialects.
By Chris Simms Published
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60 million stars: Euclid space telescope snaps the most detailed photo of the Milky Way ever takenPlanet hunters and stargazers will both benefit from the Euclid space telescope's newest image, which was released after 26 hours of deep-space observations.
By Elizabeth Howell Published
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'Unequivocal evidence' of Earth's oldest impact crater turns out to be off by half a billion yearsA new study updates the age of Earth's oldest known meteorite impact crater, the North Pole Dome crater, which scientists previously claimed was 3.47 billion years old.
By Sascha Pare Published
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Drug-induced 'brain freeze' may help protect the brain after a stroke, early study suggestsBy tamping down metabolism, a new experimental treatment that induces a hypothermia-like state may slow stroke-associated brain injury, scientists report.
By Lauren Schneider Published
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NASA satellite captures wave of warm water hundreds of miles long that signals a devastatingly strong El NiñoThis year's El Niño is on track to be among the strongest ever recorded.
By Skyler Ware Published
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We've spent decades looking for the wrong type of alien radio signals, new paper claimsNew research suggests that alien radio signals may be transformed by plasma from their home stars — and scientists on Earth could be overlooking prime evidence of alien intelligence.
By Sarah Wild Published
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