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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Today's biggest science news: Vaccine skeptics get hep B win | Comet 3I/ATLAS surprises | 'Cold Supermoon' pictures
By Ben Turner, Tia Ghose, Patrick Pester, Alexander McNamara last updated
Live blog Friday, Dec. 5, 2025: Your daily feed of the biggest discoveries and breakthroughs making headlines.

CDC panel, stuffed with vaccine skeptics, votes to end recommendation for universal newborn hepatitis B vaccination
By Nicoletta Lanese, Tia Ghose published
The CDC's vaccine committee has voted to roll back a universal recommendation that newborns be vaccinated against hepatitis B, which is one of public health's major success stories.

Giant sunspot on par with the one that birthed the Carrington Event has appeared on the sun — and it's pointed right at Earth
By Harry Baker published
A massive new sunspot complex, dubbed AR 4294-4296, has emerged on the sun and is facing directly at Earth. The dark patch is on par with the infamous sunspot that birthed the 1859 Carrington Event — but, for now, it's staying quiet.

When is the next full moon?
By Jamie Carter last updated
When does the next full moon rise? Find out exactly when to see the full moons of 2025, including the full 'Cold Moon' supermoon in December.

Cold Moon 2025: See the last and highest full moon of the year
By Jamie Carter last updated
The Cold Moon, the 12th and final full moon of 2025, rose on Thursday (Dec. 4) but will still appear bright and full on Friday (Dec. 5)

New 'physics shortcut' lets laptops tackle quantum problems once reserved for supercomputers and AI
By Owen Hughes published
Physicists have transformed a decades-old technique for simplifying quantum equations into a reusable, user-friendly "conversion table" that works on a laptop and returns results within hours.

Could aging eggs be 'rejuvenated'? New tool may help pave the way to fertility-extending treatments
By Nicoletta Lanese published
Scientists invented a new experimental system to study how age-related changes in egg cells make them more prone to chromosomal errors.

Male human heads found in a 'skull pit' in an ancient Chinese city hint at sex-specific sacrifice rituals
By Kristina Killgrove published
A genetic study of 80 skulls found at a Stone Age city in China has revealed that the sacrificed people were mostly men, in contrast to previous assumptions.

Geminids 2025: The year's best meteor shower is coming, with a second shower hot on its tail
By Jamie Carter published
The Geminid meteor shower has begun. The Geminids peak overnight on Dec. 13 and 14, when up to 150 "shooting stars" per hour will rain down on Earth in a moonless night sky.

Injecting anesthetic into a 'lazy eye' may correct it, early study suggests
By Clarissa Brincat published
Temporarily shutting down a "lazy eye" triggers a burst of neuronal activity that reverses the condition in animal experiments, a study shows.

Volcanic eruption triggered 'butterfly effect' that led to the Black Death, researchers find
By Kristina Killgrove published
A volcanic eruption in 1345 may have kicked off a series of events that led to the Black Death sweeping through medieval Europe.

18,000 dinosaur tracks discovered along ancient Bolivian coastline — and they set a new record
By Sascha Pare published
Researchers 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.

Collapse of key Atlantic current could bring extreme drought to Europe for hundreds of years, study finds
By Sarah Wild published
Scientists modeled Europe's future if a key Atlantic current were to collapse and found that the continent faces a much drier future.

MIT invention uses ultrasound to shake drinking water out of the air, even in dry regions
By Owen Hughes published
A new device cuts down the time it takes to harvest water from the atmosphere from days to minutes, MIT researchers say.

Giant rotating string of galaxies is 'probably the largest spinning object' in the known universe
By Joanna Thompson published
A giant rotating filament of the cosmic web may be the largest spinning structure ever seen, and could help reveal how galaxies form.

Ancient 'hanging coffin' people in China finally identified — and their descendants still live there today
By Tom Metcalfe published
People buried in "hanging coffins" thousands of years ago in China and Southeast Asia have finally been identified through DNA research.

'An extreme end of human genetic variation': Ancient humans were isolated in southern Africa for nearly 100,000 years, and their genetics are stunningly different
By Kristina Killgrove published
Ancient genomes from southern Africa show that people evolved in isolation for upward of 100,000 years.

China has planted so many trees it's changed the entire country's water distribution
By Sascha Pare published
Huge "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.

Death Valley's 'world's hottest temperature' record may be due to a human error
By Sascha Pare published
A 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.
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