Fresh look at Apollo moon rocks solves decades-old lunar mystery
The lunar rocks collected by Apollo astronauts suggested the moon had a strong magnetic field. A new analysis shows the opposite.
Space
James Webb telescope spots giant auroras rolling through Uranus' atmosphere
JWST observed Uranus for nearly a full rotation, charting the planet's upper atmosphere and magnetic environment for the first time.
NASA set to roll Artemis rocket back for urgent repairs after yet another delay
NASA is about to roll its Artemis II moon rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to fix a helium flow issue that guarantees astronauts won't fly around the moon in March.
Scientists spot 'rule-breaking' black hole growing 13 times faster than should be possible
An ancient, fast-feeding quasar is breaking the rules of how black holes consume matter and generate galaxy-shaping jets.
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Planet Earth
How can deserts form next to oceans?
Deserts are notoriously dry, so why do so many of them border oceans?
Ancient 'Asgard' microbe may have used oxygen long before it was plentiful on Earth, offering new clue to origins of complex life
A new study suggests that ancient microbes once cast as oxygen haters may have actually learned to use the gas, offering a clue to how the first complex cells — and, eventually, all plants and animals — evolved.
Solar flares may be triggering earthquakes, controversial study claims
Researchers have proposed that changes in Earth's ionosphere could trigger electrical forces that nudge fragile areas of the crust into creating an earthquake.
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The biggest trees in the Peruvian Amazon store the most carbon — and they also face the greatest threat from humans
The Amazon's biggest trees store disproportionately more carbon than smaller trees do, new study finds. But in the Peruvian Amazon, large trees are currently prioritized for harvest.
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Missing megaflood: How did the Mediterranean transform from a salt-filled bowl to a deep sea if it wasn't a cataclysmic deluge?
Researchers have long believed that a sudden, massive deluge filled a dry, salt-filled Mediterranean 5 million years ago. Turns out that probably didn't happen, but there was still drama aplenty.
archaeology
Human evolution: Facts, news, features and articles about the past 300,000 years of Homo sapiens
Ancient China: Facts, news, features and articles about the most powerful ancient civilizations in the world
Discover the latest news, features and articles about ancient China's rulers, philosophy, and the Great Wall of China.
LATEST ARTICLES
Animals
95 million-year-old Spinosaurus had a scimitar-shaped head crest and waded through the Sahara's rivers like a 'hell heron'
Researchers have identified a new Spinosaurus species with a blade-like crest in Niger, changing our understanding of dinosaur evolution and behavior.
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Our adorable, noodle-like ancestor had 4 eyes, half-a-billion-year-old fossils reveal
The earliest recorded vertebrates had four eyes to escape predators in the ancient Cambrian ocean, according to half-a-billion-year-old fossils from China that shed light on our evolutionary origins.
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Snakes keep evolving into cannibals — here's what scientists think is going on
A review of over 500 reports of cannibalistic behavior in snakes finds it's appeared multiple times in different evolutionary lineages, leading researchers to hypothesize it's beneficial for snakes under certain circumstances.
Archaeopteryx, one of the world's first proto birds, has a set of weird, never-before-seen features, new study reveals
Iconic transition species between dinosaurs and birds may have had weird 'teeth' on roof of its mouth and a highly mobile tongue, study reveals
Extraordinary photo captures first appearance of Siberian peregrine falcon in Australia's arid center
An ecologist has captured a photo of a peregrine falcon subspecies in an unprecedented location.
Spotted lanternflies are invading the US. They may have gotten their evolutionary superpowers in China's cities.
The alarming spread of spotted lanternflies across the U.S. has been made possible by cities acting as evolutionary incubators, fine-tuning the insects and enabling them to thrive.
Health & Human Behavior
COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy may cut risk of preeclampsia
A study of more than 6,500 mothers found that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy significantly lowered the risk of preeclampsia, a dangerous blood-pressure disorder.
Obesity is linked to 1 in 10 deaths from infection worldwide — and scientists are still learning why
A new study finds that people with obesity are more likely to be hospitalized with or die from severe infections.
How menopause affects the brain — and what we still don't know
A new study shows that that menopause was associated with worse sleep, increased mental health problems and even changes within the brain itself.
'Some of them have accuracy that's close to zero': Experts unpack the promise and pitfalls of genetic tests aimed at consumers
Live Science spoke with a bioethicist and sociologist about emerging genomic technologies, including those that enable parents to "score" and "select" IVF embryos.
'The limits of human longevity have still not been reached,' study suggests
A new study, analyzing 450 regions in western Europe, focused on where the oldest people end up residing across the continent.
Emerging embryo-selection technologies are currently 'little more than snake oil.' But someday, they could widen social inequities.
Book In the book "What We Inherit," experts unpack long-standing myths about genes and how those myths could shape public opinion around emerging embryo-selection technologies.
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Life's Little Mysteries
Science questions, answered
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Space photo of the week
Extraordinary images of our sublime universe
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Diagnostic dilemma
Unusual case reports from the medical literature
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Incredible places
A window onto extraordinary landscapes on Earth
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Astonishing artifacts
A glimpse into how people lived in the past
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Earth from space
Incredible images of our planet from above
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Technology
Ultrafast quantum chemistry engine could speed up the development of new medicines and materials
The powerful software can reduce the time needed to simulate reactions with large molecules from weeks to just minutes.
'Thermodynamic computer' can mimic AI neural networks — using orders of magnitude less energy to generate images
Researchers generated images from noise, using orders of magnitude less energy than current generative AI models require.
China's kung fu robots, physicists' re-creation of the Big Bang soup, a teenager buried with her father's bones on her chest, and mathmeticians puzzle over AI taking their jobs.
Science news this week Feb. 21, 2026: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.
Physics, Math & Chemistry
'Proof by intimidation': AI is confidently solving 'impossible' math problems. But can it convince the world's top mathematicians?
AI could soon spew out hundreds of mathematical proofs that look "right" but contain hidden flaws, or proofs so complex we can't verify them. How will we know if they're right?
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Physicists recreated the first millisecond after the Big Bang — and found it was surprisingly soupy
Scientists saw a quark plowing through primordial plasma for the first time, offering a rare look at the first moments after the Big Bang
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Record-breaking gravitational wave puts Einstein's relativity to its toughest test yet — and proves him right again
A record-breaking gravitational wave signal let scientists "listen" to a distant black hole merger and put Einstein's gravity to its toughest test yet.
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Quizzes & Games
Can you crack our science word of the day puzzle?
Chain word You have six chances to guess our five letter word of the day. Can you figure it out and top the leaderboard?
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