Science

Researchers have reconstructed the oldest human genomes ever found in South Africa from two people who lived around 10,000 years ago, allowing a better understanding of how the region was populated, an author of the study said Sunday. The genetic sequences were from a man and a woman whose remains were found at a rock

Earth’s average global temperatures have been steadily increasing since the Industrial Revolution. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA), Earth has been heating up at a rate of 0.06 °C (0.11 °F) per decade since 1850 – or about 1.11 °C (2 °F) in total. Since 1982, the average annual increase has been

Almost two centuries after California’s gold rush, the United States is on the brink of a lithium rush. As demand for the material skyrockets, government geologists are rushing to figure out where the precious element is hiding. In September 2023, scientists funded by a mining company reported finding what could be the largest deposit of

WASHINGTON — An organization formed under the U.S. Space Command to harness commercial technology for space domain awareness is taking on broader responsibilities, including using commercial space systems for battlefield intelligence. “We’re expanding,” Barbara Golf, U.S. Space Force strategic advisor and head of the Joint Task Force-Space Defense Commercial Operations (JCO), told attendees Sept. 20

The discovery of artifacts associated with an ancient board game is offering clues about how humans interacted thousands of years ago. At various sites on the Abşeron Peninsula and Gobustan Reserve in Azerbaijan, archaeologists have found six designs carved into the surfaces of rocks. Dating to around 2000 BCE, they each resemble the hallmark pattern

In September 1859, the same year that Darwin published On the Origin of Species, telegraph systems across Europe and North America stopped working and started sparking, leading to fires in some cases. Just hours before, researchers had observed the first ever confirmed solar flare – an intense burst of radiation emitted from the Sun. It

It’s been 20 years since a paper in the journal Science showed the environmental accumulation of tiny plastic fragments and fibres. It named the particles “microplastics”. The paper opened an entire research field. Since then, more than 7,000 published studies have shown the prevalence of microplastics in the environment, in wildlife and in the human

TAMPA, Fla. — Executives discussing emerging space-based computing capabilities Sept. 20 called for stronger collaboration between policymakers and technology leaders to accelerate artificial intelligence’s societal benefits. Rika Nakazawa, chief of commercial innovation at Japanese telecoms giant NTT, proposed tech providers use private forums to educate policymakers and industry players about AI advancements.  This approach, she

Articles about badly behaved people and how to spot them are common. You don’t have to Google or scroll too much to find headlines such as 7 signs your boss is a psychopath or How to avoid the sociopath next door. You’ll often see the terms psychopath and sociopath used somewhat interchangeably. That applies to

Satellite swarms orbiting the Earth are leaking more radiation into protected wavelength bands than ever. In fact, the second generation of Starlink satellites – known as the v2mini and v2mini Direct-to-Cell versions – are leaking up to 32 times more radiation than their predecessor. This is a problem – because some of the radiation they’re

PARIS — SpaceX fired back at the Federal Aviation Administration over the agency’s proposed fines for launch license violations, blaming the FAA for dragging its heels on what the company considered minor changes. SpaceX released Sept. 19 a letter it sent to the leadership of the House Science Committee and the Senate Commerce Committee, the

Compared with the gregarious nature of modern humans, Neanderthal communities appear to have been surprisingly insular, according to past research, keeping to themselves more often than not. One group appears to have taken reclusivity to an extreme. A new study on genetic material lifted from the molars of a specimen named Thorin has found his

Could a long-lost moon explain the rather unusual shape of Mars, as well as the terrain on the planet’s surface? It’s an intriguing hypothesis put forward in a new paper by astronomer Michael Efroimsky from the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC. To a greater degree than any other planet in the Solar System, Mars

Earthquake scientists detected an unusual signal on monitoring stations used to detect seismic activity during September 2023. We saw it on sensors everywhere, from the Arctic to Antarctica. We were baffled – the signal was unlike any previously recorded. Instead of the frequency-rich rumble typical of earthquakes, this was a monotonous hum, containing only a

When it comes to our experience of the internet, “the times, they are a-changin’“, as Bob Dylan would say. You can’t quite recall how, but the internet certainly feels different these days. To some, it is “less fun and less informative” than it used to be. To others, online searches are made up of “cookie

The United States and India, the two largest democracies in the world, have a decades-long relationship built on cooperation in space issues. In recent years, that bond has come into stronger focus. Building on their shared core values of open and representative government, rule of law and freedom of speech. Based on the countries’ similarities

When modern humans emerged from Africa, they explored far more than just new places. They encountered other human species, and in the Zagros Mountains of Iran, they did a heck of a lot more than just say hello. New research suggests this is where Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis interbred, changing the fate of at

When the James Webb Space Telescope was launched on Christmas Day in 2021, it faced a whole host of intriguing questions. By the time it finally launched, astronomers had a big list of targets begging for the type of detailed observations that only the powerful infrared space telescope could perform. One of the targets was

Nearly three in four of us will face extreme weather changes within the next two decades, a new study predicts. “In the best case, we calculate that rapid changes will affect 1.5 billion people,” says physicist Bjørn Samset from the Center for International Climate Research (CICERO) in Norway. This lower estimate would only be reached

For billions of years, life has used long molecules of deoxyribonucleic acid, or DNA, to store information and solve problems. Today engineers are putting their own spin on DNA computing, to both record data and serve as biological computers, yet until now they’ve struggled to design a synthetic system that can store and perform tasks

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — U.S. military satellites acquired by the Space Development Agency for its low Earth orbit constellation undergo rigorous cybersecurity evaluations ahead of their deployment, as SDA emphasizes the need to mitigate vulnerabilities before launch.  Speaking at the Air, Space & Cyber Conference, Tournear said cybersecurity requirements are integrated into satellite manufacturers’ contracts.

If you’ve ever gazed into the big, watery eyes of a dog and suddenly felt connected, you might have been experiencing a moment of brain synchronization. For the first time, researchers in China have found neural activity syncing up between two different species: humans and dogs. The findings suggest we really do bond with our

A team of scientists presented a new gravity map of Mars at the Europlanet Science Congress 2024. The map shows the presence of dense, large-scale structures under Mars’ long-gone ocean and that mantle processes are affecting Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the Solar System. The new map and analysis include data from multiple missions,

Life was put to the ultimate test a quarter-billion years ago as extinction events ravaged Earth’s biosphere, leaving a mere handful of species to claw their way back to survival. This ‘Great Dying‘ appears to have been driven by a complex series of incidents, with a new study finding prolonged, intense climate fluctuations not unlike

PARIS — A Crew Dragon spacecraft splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico early Sept. 15, concluding a five-day private astronaut mission that featured the first commercial spacewalk. The Crew Dragon capsule Resilience splashed down near Dry Tortugas, in the Gulf of Mexico west of Key West, Florida, at 3:37 a.m. Eastern. The splashdown location

The groans of pain as we get up from the sofa or the sound of crunching cartilage when taking the stairs are all too familiar. Many of us look down at our aching knees and curse them – wondering why they seemingly evolved to hurt so much. But the human knee has a complex evolutionary

In the outer Solar System, far from the light and warmth of the Sun, things can get a little… hinky. There, clusters of rocks have been orbiting in weird loops that some astronomers have attributed to the presence of a large, unseen planet lurking on the Solar System’s fringes. So far, searches for the hypothetical

At this time of year, as the sun rises over Antarctica, a “hole” opens up in Earth’s ozone layer. The ozone layer is a vital planetary boundary that protects all life on Earth from the sun’s damaging ultraviolet radiation. But as our research shows, a series of unusual events in recent years caused ozone holes

Apple on Thursday got a green light from US regulators to add a feature that would let upcoming AirPods Pro ear pieces be used as hearing aids, potentially disrupting that market. Earlier this week the company updated the AirPods Pro 2, touting a pending software upgrade that will let people test their hearing and then

WASHINGTON — The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) has selected 10 companies to compete for up to $290 million in contracts over the next five years to provide commercial satellite imagery and data analytics, aiming to bolster the government’s global monitoring and intelligence capabilities. The agency announced Sept. 13 that the following vendors will be