Mount Etna Puffs 'Smoke Rings' Into the Sky
The circular wisps are mostly condensed water vapor
Flowers may be more ancient than dinosaurs – but scientists can’t agree on when they evolved
The origin date for flowers is a source of debate among scientists – but a new approach may help bring clarity to the question.
Toothed whales traded chewing for echolocation to evolve
‘Chewing muscles were no longer needed.’
Octopuses could lose eyesight and struggle to survive if ocean temperatures keep rising, study finds
Heat stress from global heating could lead to impaired vision and increased deaths of pregnant mothers and their unborn young, Australian researchers say
Elon Musk’s Latest Mars Pitch Has Potential
SpaceX has made significant progress toward what once seemed an unattainable goal.
Archaeologists think ancient South Americans may have kept foxes as pets
An extinct species of fox was found buried alongside more than 20 humans from over 1,500 years ago.
Update on NASA killer asteroid deflection test
Huge chunks of an asteroid that NASA sent a spacecraft slamming into may one day collide with Mars, new research has found.
Northern white rhino could be saved from extinction using frozen skin
We have enough genetic material to bring back the northern white rhino, but doing so won’t be easy
One of the biggest mysteries of cosmology may finally be solved
The expansion rate of the universe, measured by the Hubble constant, has been one of the most controversial numbers in cosmology for years, and we seem at last to be close to nailing it down
Solar eclipse's shadow caught passing over the US in NASA–NOAA video
The video shows the moon’s shadow racing across the country during the 2024 total solar eclipse.
The Secret of Our Existence—and Survival—May Hinge on Gravitational Waves
Astounding research suggests our biological makeup is star-spun.
Bizarre Marine Worm Has Eyes That Weigh 20 Times More Than The Rest Of Its Head
Its gigantic peepers endow it with an impressive level of eyesight.
Oldest Known Intact Polyene Pigments Found In 12-Million-Year-Old Snail Shells
Polyene pigments are found in abundance across the animal world and are involved in most red, yellow, and orange colors.
Neutron Stars Could Be The Best Dark Matter Detectors Available
In the quest to find the universe’s elusive mass, it might be time to use the densest objects short of black holes as detectors.
A Study Reveals Trees Have Hidden Clocks—and They’ve Started Going Haywire
Something sinister is throwing off the silent timekeepers in trunks.
Physicists created an imaginary magnetic field in real life
Researchers have used quantum light to create a magnetic field with a strength that is measured in imaginary numbers
Professor Peter Higgs: 'Pioneering' physicist who gave name to Higgs boson particle has died
The physicist was thrust into the limelight at 83 after his theories were finally proved, confirming the existence of a so-called God particle that holds the universe together.
Study sheds light on the white dwarf star, likely destroyer of our solar system
Huge gravity of these dense stars, which have burned all their own fuel, rips apart smaller planetary bodies
Animals reacted weirdly to the eclipse and NASA wants your help studying them
Coyotes yipping, owls hooting and gorillas marching off to bed – Monday’s solar eclipse made animals react in strange ways.
Climate change: 'Uncharted territory' fears after record hot March
Monthly hot streak continues in March with scientists struggling to explain the scale of recent heating.
Dumping green sand in shallow seas could let them absorb more CO2
Releasing 1 gigatonne of ground-up olivine on coastal shelves each year could help lower atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, find researchers, but questions remain over the ecological impact
March 2024 is the 10th consecutive month to break temperature records
Every month since April 2023 has been the hottest on record, as climate continues its record-breaking streak
Horny tortoises and solar mysteries: what scientists can learn from a total eclipse – podcast
For scientists a total solar eclipse can be a fleeting chance to understand something deeper about their field of research. Madeleine Finlay meets professors Huw Morgan and Adam Hartstone-Rose to find out what they hoped to learn from 8 April’s four minutes of darkness
Eclipse 2024: 5 of the best pictures of the total solar eclipse
On 8 April, a total solar eclipse passed over Mexico, the US and Canada – here are some of the most stunning images
Dinosaurs found to break 150-year-old scientific rule
The discovery throws into question our understanding of animal evolution.
Aye, regional accents are also worth saving | Brief letters
Brief letters: Protecting dialects | Titus Andronicus confusion | Gruesome sound effects | Pensioner stereotypes | Soap storylines
The Solar Eclipse Looks Absolutely Wild From Space
NASA footage from the International Space Station shows a massive, looming cloud of darkness engulfing huge swathes of the United States.
NASA Spots Object Speeding Around the Moon
The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter (KPLO), otherwise known as Danuri, photobomed NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Gravitational waves reveal “mystery object” merging with a neutron star
The so-called “mass gap” might be less empty than physicists previously thought.
See NASA’s Initial Moon Buggy Concepts, Expected on the Moon by 2030
Three companies are competing to design NASA’s lunar terrain vehicle (LTV) for the agency’s Artemis campaign
How insect blood stops bleeding fast
Their blood equivalent, hemolymph, forms a viscoelastic fluid that covers wounds.
Burrowing, Flesh-Eating Fly Larvae Outbreak Sparks National Emergency In Costa Rica
Preying on the open wounds of mammals, the new world screwworm is the stuff of nightmares.
Humans can't hear these frogs screaming
The sounds are inaudible to the human ear, and may be a way to thwart off hungry predators.
Solar eclipse to see citizen scientists probe upper atmosphere
Ham radio operators around the U.S. will help scientists research how eclipses affect the Earth’s ionosphere.
Dark Energy Could Be Evolving Over Time, Raising Questions About the Nature of the Cosmos
The largest 3D map of the universe ever made hints that dark energy might not be a constant, though the findings must be backed up with more data
‘Vital for looking after the soil’: fears as UK earthworm population declines
Keystone species has potentially enormous effects on above-ground wildlife and ecosystem functioning
“One-In-A-Billion” Giant Sea Monster Skull Breaks A World Record
It’s the most complete skull of its kind on the planet.
Parasitic Worms Plagued These Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs
Scientists peeled back the layers of history to find the afflictions of a bygone era.
US company hoping to bring back the dodo and the mammoth - but here's why it won't be like Jurassic Park
Dallas-based firm Colossal Biosciences is attempting to “de-extinct” the mammoth, the dodo, and the Tasmanian tiger, using genetic engineering.
Could a self-sustaining starship carry humanity to distant worlds?
Generation ships offer a tantalizing possibility: transporting humans on a permanent voyage to a new home among the stars.
The French aristocrat who understood evolution 100 years before Darwin – and even worried about climate change
Georges-Louis Leclerc proposed species change and extinction back in the 1740s, a new book reveals
A dead star and a black hole may have collided
Researchers are trying to figure out what kind of collision made a unique wave signal from 650 million light-years away
The best, safest ways to view a solar eclipse, from low-cost, simple options to expert astronomer techniques
From colanders to solar projection screens, filters, telescopes and glasses, there are many ways to safely view the Sun or a solar eclipse.
Scientists confirm record highs for three most important heat-trapping gases
Global concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide climbed to unseen levels in 2023, underlining climate crisis
Excitement builds ahead of total solar eclipse in US, Mexico and Canada
Rare celestial event on Monday will see the moon block out the sun for a few minutes and day turn to night, with fans hoping the clouds don’t spoil the view
Eclipse 2024 live: Watch the full NASA broadcast – latest
The eclipse is about to begin. Totality will arrive at Mexico’s west coast around 11.07am local time, moving east until it leaves Newfoundland, Canada, around 5.16pm there
Harbingers of doom! How comets were thought to foretell disaster for centuries
Why are comets considered harbingers of doom, and what historical events occurred around the time of a comet’s appearance?
See Venus disappear! How to observe today's lunar occultation and see the planet hide behind the Moon
See a lunar occultation of Venus the day before the solar eclipse, as Venus disappears behind a very thin crescent Moon during daytime.
Warning issued over orca extinction
Study raises alarm over rapid decline of the Southern Resident killer whale population.
Why we need to rethink what we know about dust
New research reveals our understanding of dust’s role in the environment is far from settled.