Science News - Latest Scientific Discoveries

A Soyuz-2 rocket launches a missile-warning satellite from Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia on May 22, 2020.

Russian military satellite launch spawns space-junk fireball over Australia (video)

By Mike Wall

Russia launched a military satellite to orbit on Friday (May 22), and the mission generated plenty of drama in the downward direction as well.

Mars' core has long thought to be comprised of iron-sulfur.

New Marsquake study could shatter theories on how Mars was born

By Gemma Lavender

Tantalizing details about Mars' seismic activity have been revealed for the very first time.

US map of coronavirus cases, May 24, 2020.

Coronavirus in the US: Latest COVID-19 news and case counts

By Live Science Staff

The U.S. nears the grim milestone of 100,000 deaths related to COVID-19 over this Memorial Day weekend.

In Göbekli Tepe, archeologists have uncovered a handful of circular neolithic structures such as this one (Enclosure C), which consist of two T-shaped pillars surrounded by a bunch of slightly smaller inward-facing pillars.

The world's oldest temple was built along a grand geometric plan

By Yasemin Saplakoglu

The construction of Göbekli Tepe was "a deviation from the hunting and gathering way of life."

The Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical radio Telescope (FAST) in southwest China's Guizhou Province.

Ready, SETI, go: Is there a race to contact E.T.?

By Leonard David

Researchers using China's huge new FAST radio telescope are piecing together a technological strategy to carry out a major and sweeping search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI).

Artist's impression of a city on Mars, which SpaceX wants to help establish with its Starship transportation system.

Colonizing Mars may require humanity to tweak its DNA

By Mike Wall

Genetic enhancement could allow humanity to push surprisingly far out into the final frontier.

Digital reconstructions of Mary Queen of Scots, who died in 1587, and Oliver Cromwell who died in 1658.

Amazing images: The best science photos of the week

By LiveScience Staff

Here are the stories behind the most amazing images in the world of science this week. A recap of the coolest photos featured on Live Science.

Researchers prepare to launch the Antarctic Impulsive Transient Antenna (ANITA) experiment, which picked up signals of impossible-seeming particles as it dangled from its balloon over Antarctica.

Strange ice formations may have tricked physicists into seeing mysterious particles that weren't there

By Rafi Letzter

What if one of the strangest, most unsettling findings in particle physics turned out to be an illusion? A new study suggest a simple physical explanation for a mysterious event.

A health care worker filling a vaccine syringe from a vial.

Coronavirus vaccine developed in China shows promise after early study in 100 people

By Rachael Rettner

A potential coronavirus vaccine developed in China appeared safe and able to generate an immune response after an early trial in more than 100 people.

The coronavirus 'does not spread easily' from touching surfaces or objects, CDC says

By Yasemin Saplakoglu

Still, spread through contaminated surfaces remains "possible," agency says

Live Science podcast 'Life's Little Mysteries' special report: Coronavirus (May 21)

By Live Science Staff

In this special episode of Life's Little Mysteries, we'll give you the latest news and answer frequently asked questions about the new coronavirus and COVID-19.

An artist's impression of the Wolfe Disk, a massive disk galaxy in the early universe.

Massive disk galaxy could change our understanding of how galaxies are born

By Chelsea Gohd

A massive, rotating disk galaxy that first formed just 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang, could upend our understanding of galaxy formation, scientists suggest in a new study.

The CDC is lumping positive COVID-19 viral and antibody tests together. Here's why that's bad.

By Nicoletta Lanese

The CDC and several states have been reporting COVID-19 diagnostic and antibody test results together.

True color satellite image of the Earth centred on Asia and Oceania

Giant tectonic plate under Indian Ocean is breaking in two

By Laura Geggel

The India-Australia-Capricorn plate is breaking up at a rate of about 2 millimeters a year.

A young adult patient in a hospital bed.

Mysterious inflammatory syndrome tied to COVID-19 is showing up in adults in their early 20s

By Rachael Rettner

A mysterious inflammatory syndrome tied to COVID-19 that has been reported in children is now also turning up in young adults in their early 20s.

A bumble bee (Bombus terrestris) worker damaging a plant leaf

Pollen-starved bumblebees bite 'half-moons' into plants to make them bloom

By Nicoletta Lanese

Scientists don't yet know when or how the behavior evolved.

Henry VII's death mask showed a clean-shaven face, but he may have worn a beard in life, as shown in the new reconstruction.

Death mask of King Henry VII is brought to astonishing life in a digital restoration

By Mindy Weisberger

A highly detailed digital replica of the face of England's King Henry VII offers a glimpse of how the monarch may have looked in life.

This is how the ancient humans may have discovered the elephant's carcass at what is now Schöningen, Germany.

300,000-year-old remains of towering elephant species discovered in Germany

By Laura Geggel

The elephant likely died of old age, and stone tools nearby indicate it was scavenged.

The Gardner Pinnacles are all that's visible of what is now considered the world's largest, and hottest, volcano. It's called Pūhāhonu, and it lies northwest of Honolulu, Hawaii.

Hawaii just got a new 'largest volcano on Earth.' (Condolences to Mauna Loa.)

By Brandon Specktor

Scientists used sonar and gravimeters to measure the gargantuan Pūhāhonu volcano in Hawaii — and it's the world's biggest.

This image shows the disk around the young AB Aurigae star, where the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) has spotted signs of planet birth. Close to the center of the image, in the inner region of the disk, we see the "twist" (in very bright yellow) that scientists believe marks the spot where a planet is forming. This twist lies at about the same distance from the AB Aurigae star as Neptune from the sun. The image was obtained with the VLT's SPHERE instrument in polarized light.

Baby exoplanet spotted growing around distant star (photo)

By Mike Wall

New imagery pinpoints the spot where a baby planet is forming around the young star AB Aurigae, which lies 520 light-years from Earth.