Science

Millions of people will be able to don protective glasses and view a spectacular total solar eclipse on April 8, 2024, starting around 1 pm CT. If this sounds familiar, it’s because in 2017, a 70-mile-wide band of the US saw a total solar eclipse, while many other areas saw a partial eclipse. People drove

Climate change has caused Greenland’s ice sheet to lose 20 percent more ice than previously thought, according to research published Wednesday that used satellite imagery to track the retreat of glaciers over the past four decades. Previous studies have found that about 5,000 gigatons of ice has been lost from the surface of the Greenland

An experimental philosopher from the University of Arizona has set up what he’s calling the Millennium Camera: a device designed to take a single image of the Tucson, Arizona landscape over the course of a thousand years. Creator Jonathon Keats says he wants the Millennium Camera to provoke deeper thought about the past, present, and

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Space Force last year launched a small satellite on a Firefly rocket in a demonstration of responsive launch, sending the payload to orbit just 27 hours after receiving launch orders. That mission, named Victus Nox, was impressive, Gen. Michael Guetlein, vice chief of space operations of the U.S. Space Force, said

The random nature of genetic mutation implies evolution is largely unpredictable. But recent research suggests this may not be entirely so, with interactions between genes playing a bigger role than expected in determining how a genome changes. It’s known that some areas of the genome are more likely to be mutable than others, but a

When Isaac Newton inscribed onto parchment his now-famed laws of motion in 1687, he could have only hoped we’d be discussing them three centuries later. Writing in Latin, Newton outlined three universal principles describing how the motion of objects is governed in our Universe, which have been translated, transcribed, discussed and debated at length. But

Researchers have detected a cluster of lost 2,500-year-old cities at the foothills of the Andes in the Amazon rainforest. This amazing discovery, the oldest and largest of its kind in the region, includes a vast system of farmland and roads, revealing that Ecuador’s Upano Valley was densely populated from about 500 BCE to between 300

The very early Universe was a dark place. It was packed with light-blocking hydrogen and not much else. Only when the first stars switched on and began illuminating their surroundings with UV radiation did light begin its reign. That occurred during the Epoch of Reionization. But before the Universe became well-lit, a specific and mysterious

Since the 1960s each decade has been hotter than the last, exactly as predicted by many climate models. But there has been some debate in the science community about whether or not this rate of warming is accelerating, particularly in light of last year’s climate chaos. A few months ago former NASA climatologist James Hansen,

TAMPA, Fla. — Space investments should start picking up in 2024 after plummeting last year, executives discussing the industry’s outlook said Jan. 17, but will likely remain far short of record highs. According to recently released research from early-stage investor Space Capital, around $17.9 billion was invested in the global space economy in 2023, 25%

About 14,000 years ago, the tusk of a 20-year-old female mammoth ended up at a campsite in Swan Point, Alaska. How the tusk got there will likely remain a mystery – perhaps the campsite owners hunted her, or came across her remains and took the tusk home with them. Fortunately for us, the extinct mammoths’

Quantum science is usually concerned with ultra-small scales, where the mathematics of probability becomes a more useful tool than ‘classical’ descriptions of matter. Now, new research has put forward a way to measure the quantumness of much larger masses. Scientists have been wanting to test the quantum nature of bigger objects for a long time:

Scientists are predicting a worldwide fall in family sizes before the end of the century, as families get more ‘vertical’ – meaning more grandparents and great-grandparents, and fewer cousins, nieces, and nephews. In a new study by an international team of researchers, mathematical models were used alongside existing population records and projections to calculate an

A glimmer flickering from across the gulf of time and space is the earliest black hole we’ve ever seen. The light detected by a team led by astrophysicist Roberto Maiolino of the University of Cambridge is the blaze emitted by the black hole’s host galaxy as it swirls inexorably towards the event horizon. Appearing as

Scientists are putting forward a new explanation for the giant exploding craters that seem to be randomly appearing in the Siberian permafrost. These craters, first spotted in 2012, have been popping up in the deserted Siberian permafrost, puzzling scientists. They can be substantial, reaching more than 160 feet in depth and 65 feet in width,

WASHINGTON — The Space Development Agency announced Jan. 16 it selected  L3Harris, Lockheed Martin and Sierra Space to build and operate 54 satellites equipped with infrared sensors capable of tracking hypersonic missiles in all phases of flight. The satellites will be part of SDA’s Tranche 2 Tracking Layer, a network of satellites in low orbit

This year marks a once in a lifetime event in the mysterious world of periodical cicadas: the simultaneous emergence of two separate broods in the US, a rare phenomenon that last occurred in 1803. One of the greatest enigmas of the insect world, periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.) live up to 99.5 percent of their lives

In a typical battery, charged ions zip one way through a sea of other particles as the battery recharges, before racing back in the other direction to release the stored energy on cue. Back and forth the ions go, some getting diverted along the way, until the capacity of the battery is drained, and it

One of the marvelous things about humans is the uniqueness of each of our bodies. Although over 100 billion humans have lived on this blue marble of ours, no two fingerprints, scientists believe, have ever been identical. The pattern of lines and whorls on each human fingerprint is believed to be unduplicated on any other

A strange star in the Milky Way bares the signature of a unique explosion of a giant star that once existed billions of years ago in the era of the cosmic dawn. The chemical composition of the extant star known as J0931+0038 is so weird that it can only be made up of the leftovers

The Sun’s energy is effectively limitless. While resources such as coal or gas are finite, if you are able to capture and use solar power it doesn’t prevent anyone else from also using as much sunshine as they need. Except that isn’t quite the full story. Beyond a certain size, solar farms become large enough

WASHINGTON — SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk says a propellant dump caused the destruction of the Starship upper stage on a November test flight, giving him confidence that the vehicle can reach orbit on its next launch. On that Nov. 18 launch, the Starship upper stage, or ship, was nearing the end of its burn

The ocean is massive and covers most of the surface of our planet. In addition to its size, it’s packed with life, ranging from an astounding diversity of plants, microbes, worms, corals and crabs to squids, whales and, yes, even fish. The ocean is full of fish, so much so that they make up the

For the first time, physicists have succeeded in creating a strange, fragile kind of structure in a laboratory known as a trilobite Rydberg molecule. Building and observing these exotic atomic structures has given scientists new insights into the quantum activity of electrons as they scatter near atoms. Since their chemical bonds are unlike any other

Repetition has a strange relationship with the mind. Take the experience of déjà vu, when we wrongly believe we have experienced a novel situation in the past – leaving us with an spooky sense of pastness. But we have discovered that déjà vu is actually a window into the workings of our memory system. Our

The human body did not evolve to handle life in space, and it shows in our very blood. Since our species first started to spend extended periods of time beyond our planet, researchers have noticed a curious and consistent loss of red blood cells among astronauts. The phenomenon is called ‘space anemia’, and until recently,

It’s official: 2023 was Earth’s hottest year ever recorded, beating the previous record set in 2016 by a huge margin. Last year was also the first in which the world was close to 1.5°C (1.48°C) hotter than the pre-industrial average (1850-1900). We are brushing against the threshold scientists urged us to limit long-term warming to.

Roberta Wilson-Garrett looked at the glove keeping her right hand steady and smiled. At bay for the moment were tremors caused by Parkinson’s disease affecting her muscle control. She could do things others take for granted, like write crisply with a pen or hold a cup of coffee without spilling. The reprieve shared by the

WASHINGTON — The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) on Jan. 10 issued a solicitation for commercial satellite Earth observation data under a new program called Luno. The program aims to leverage commercial satellite imagery and data analytics to bolster NGA’s global monitoring capabilities, the agency said in the request for proposals. Submissions are due March 26.

It’s just a tiny thing, smaller than a fingernail. But a rock found deep in a limestone cave in Oklahoma is extending our understanding of prehistoric skin. The texture preserved thereon, paleontologists have found, is the earliest known example of fossilized skin from a diverse classification of animals known as amniotes. Dating back 290 million