TAG · Tech & Science
NASA has declared the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Environment (MAVEN) satellite unrecoverable and its mission concluded, nearly six months after losing contact with the spacecraft. The agency held a media teleconference Wednesday to…
3 MIN READPigeons may navigate hundreds of miles by using iron-loaded immune cells in their livers to sense Earth’s magnetic field, according to a study published Wednesday that offers a surprising new clue to a century-old biological mystery.
3 MIN READNPR science correspondent Nate Rott says his beat—“the natural world and humanity’s relationship to it”—pushes him beyond climate into questions about biodiversity, monitoring ecosystems and the boundaries of what people should try to…
3 MIN READJackson Hole’s busiest trails near the town do not appear to create a wildlife “sacrifice zone,” a yearslong study found, using 27 remote cameras in a 36-square-mile area south and east of Jackson. Led by The Nature Conservancy…
4 MIN READBees have lived alongside humans for more than a millennium, but the origin of the word “bee” remains uncertain, according to etymology experts cited by NPR. This Wednesday marks World Bee Day, established by the United Nations in 2018 to…
3 MIN READGlobal warming is causing rivers to slowly lose oxygen, threatening fish and other life in waterways worldwide, a new study finds. Researchers using satellites and artificial intelligence analyzed oxygen levels in more than 21,000 rivers…
3 MIN READA new analysis of 400,000-year-old tooth enamel proteins suggests that Homo erectus — the first human ancestor to migrate out of Africa — interbred with Denisovans, and a remnant of that encounter survives in the DNA of some people alive…
3 MIN READEn un nuevo estudio, investigadores analizaron proteínas antiguas extraídas del esmalte de dientes de Homo erectus de unos 400.000 años, recuperados en China. Al comparar mutaciones en una proteína del esmalte con variantes presentes en…
3 MIN READAn analysis of 400,000-year-old tooth enamel has uncovered a genetic link suggesting that Homo erectus interbred with Denisovans hundreds of thousands of years ago, and that the genetic legacy may have reached modern humans through later…
3 MIN READAncient teeth are giving researchers genetic clues about Homo erectus and possible interbreeding with Denisovans, according to a new study that analyzed enamel proteins from six people. The work, described by an outside expert as using…
3 MIN READGlobal warming is on track to decimate the world's plants, with scientists predicting that between 7% and 16% of species will lose nearly all their habitat and go essentially extinct in the next 55 to 75 years, according to a study…
3 MIN READScientists project that warming could drive many plant species toward “essentially extinct” status by the end of the century, with losses tied to habitat loss as temperatures rise and rainfall patterns shift. A separate study by Kew…
3 MIN READAstronomers have reported evidence of a thin, delicate atmosphere around a tiny icy object in the Kuiper Belt beyond Pluto, a discovery they say could be linked to volcanic activity or a comet impact. The study, published Monday in *Nature…
3 MIN READA male coyote swam 2 miles from Angel Island to Alcatraz Island across the cold, swift currents of San Francisco Bay, stunning National Park Service biologists who had assumed the animal made a shorter crossing from the city.
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A lone male coyote surprised biologists and visitors when it swam to Alcatraz Island earlier this year, but DNA analysis showed it came from farther away than originally thought. National Park Service wildlife ecologist Bill Merkle said…
4 MIN READA new study suggests that a tiny icy body in the outer solar system, roughly 300 miles wide, may possess a thin atmosphere — a discovery that could reshape understanding of small worlds beyond Neptune, according to researchers using…
3 MIN READUn nuevo estudio reporta que un pequeño objeto helado más allá de Plutón, llamado (612533) 2002 XV93, podría albergar una atmósfera tenue y persistente. El hallazgo se basa en observaciones realizadas en 2024 desde Japón mientras el objeto…
3 MIN READThe Eta Aquarid meteor shower, made of debris from Halley’s comet, is expected to peak Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, but a bright moon will make the display harder to see. In the Southern Hemisphere, viewers typically see about 50…
4 MIN READMexico City is sinking at a rate of nearly 10 inches (25 centimeters) per year, according to new satellite data released by NASA, making it one of the fastest-subsiding urban areas in the world. The measurements, captured between October…
3 MIN READNew satellite measurements from a joint NASA-Indian mission show that Mexico City is sinking by as much as 10 inches each year, one of the fastest subsidence rates ever recorded in a major metropolis, as groundwater pumping beneath its…
3 MIN READMexico City is sinking by nearly 10 inches (about 25 centimeters) a year, NASA said, citing new satellite imagery that shows ground subsidence can be seen from space. The NASA estimates, based on measurements from October 2025 to January…
3 MIN READMexico City is sinking nearly 25 centimeters (10 inches) per year, according to NASA satellite images released this week. The research, based on measurements taken between October 2025 and January 2026 by the NISAR satellite, shows the…
3 MIN READBlue Hill Observatory and Science Center, about 15 miles south of Boston, says it has used largely unchanged instruments to record daily weather for 141 years. Staff and volunteers at the private nonprofit send observation summaries to…
3 MIN READA seafood company on Cape Cod donated a rare two-colored lobster to Woods Hole Science Aquarium, sparing it from being cooked. Fishermen caught the lobster off Cape Cod on April 16, and the aquarium plans to display it when it reopens.
3 MIN READMost sunscreens can end up in the ocean after swimming, and research cited by the Associated Press links several common chemical UV filters to harm to coral reefs. The story details how consumers can reduce exposure through clothing and…
3 MIN READThousands of climbers and their guides are being forced to delay their planned climb of Mount Everest after an unstable ice block—described as a serac—halted movement on the route just above Everest base camp, Nepal’s mountaineering…
3 MIN READA new analysis of fossilized octopus jaws suggests that massive, kraken-like octopuses were among the top predators in dinosaur-era seas about 100 million years ago. Researchers say the ancient animals likely grew to between 23 and 62 feet…
3 MIN READA newly analyzed interstellar visitor, Comet 3I/Atlas, likely formed in a cold, isolated corner of the Milky Way before the star system where it is traveling toward Earth. Using observations from the ALMA observatory, astronomers reported…
3 MIN READThe Lyrid meteor shower reaches its peak Tuesday night into Wednesday morning, offering skywatchers a chance to see 10 to 20 shooting stars per hour streaking across the spring sky. The display will be visible across the globe, but views…
3 MIN READA Kaua'i nonprofit has built a community-driven map of coconut rhinoceros beetle infestations across the island, documenting feeding, breeding, and treatment sites as the invasive pest reaches Moloka'i for the first time and is…
4 MIN READThe rare corpse flower housed at Mount Holyoke College's Talcott Greenhouse in South Hadley, Mass., bloomed overnight Monday, drawing visitors Tuesday who compared its notorious odor to rotting eggs, farm manure, and stinky diapers baking…
3 MIN READLONDON—Scientists reported this week that a “world’s oldest octopus” fossil does not belong to an octopus, after new research found it is actually related to a nautilus. The finding led Guinness World Records to drop the claim that the…
3 MIN READGuinness World Records dijo esta semana que dejará de incluir Pohlsepia mazonensis como el pulpo más antiguo conocido, después de que un estudio concluyera que el fósil no pertenece a un pulpo sino a un pariente de un nautilo. El trabajo,…
3 MIN READUnseasonable heat pushed March to the hottest March on record across the continental United States, with federal data showing the month ran 9.35 degrees Fahrenheit (5.19 C) above the 20th-century normal. The Associated Press reports the…
3 MIN READSantiago, Chile — Bioparque Buinzoo held an Easter egg hunt for its animal residents on Sunday, with food treats shaped like holiday eggs placed in enclosures. The zoo’s director said the event is meant to entertain visitors while…
3 MIN READKYIV, Ukraine — Volunteers released hundreds of bats late Saturday at events planned for the arrival of spring near Kyiv, offering families and bat enthusiasts a rare moment of relief after a harsh winter. Hundreds of bats, many rescued…
3 MIN READA juvenile gray whale that swam about 20 miles up a Washington state river was found dead near Raymond, according to a marine research biologist and a nonprofit that tracked the animal. Researchers said the whale appeared thin but was…
3 MIN READA widely syndicated Associated Press look at the American UFO saga traces how the subject has shifted from early reported sightings and Cold War investigations to military videos later labeled unidentified aerial phenomena and new…
4 MIN READSeattle-area whale watchers have spotted three killer whales that researchers say had not been recorded in the region before, drawing crowds of visitors to Puget Sound waters near downtown over the past month. The Washington-based Orca…
3 MIN READA newly described trove of more than 700 fossils from China’s Yunnan province offers researchers a first detailed look at when Earth shifted from simple, two-dimensional marine life to the complex animals that later dominated the planet.…
3 MIN READFinland’s north is hosting a polar scientific diving class that trains divers to study the flora and fauna under Arctic and Antarctic ice. The course, run at the Kilpisjärvi Biological Station, has participants descend through ice cracks…
3 MIN READRare footage captured in 2023 shows a sperm whale giving birth with female whales from two family lines coordinating to support the labor and lift the newborn calf above the water, scientists say. The video, taken off the Caribbean island…
3 MIN READRobert F. Bukaty, an AP staff photographer, describes how he captured a dense flock of migrating snow geese at the Middle Creek Wildlife Management Area in rural Pennsylvania. He says he initially photographed the birds too far from shore,…
3 MIN READA new study published in Science challenges the age of Monte Verde, a Chile site long cited as some of the strongest evidence for the earliest human settlement in the Americas. The researchers say volcanic ash layers indicate the Monte…
3 MIN READCleveland-area residents reported a bright fireball and a thunderous boom Tuesday morning, after a suspected 7-ton meteor broke apart over the region. The American Meteor Society said it received reports as far as Wisconsin and Maryland,…
3 MIN READResearchers say they found the oldest known recordings of whale sounds, preserved from March 1949, including a humpback whale “song” recorded off Bermuda. The discovery by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution scientists could help explain…
3 MIN READResearchers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution said they found the oldest known recordings of humpback whale songs, captured off Bermuda in March 1949. The team said the archived sounds, recorded during acoustic research connected to…
3 MIN READDeath Valley National Park in California is seeing a once-in-a-decade superbloom of wildflowers after steady rainfall and warm temperatures helped long-dormant seeds germinate, the National Park Service said. Park ranger Matthew Lamar said…
3 MIN READFederal meteorologists said the Lower 48 states averaged 37.13 degrees Fahrenheit (2.85 degrees Celsius) from December through February, making the winter the second-warmest on record. NOAA climate monitoring chief Russell Vose said the…
3 MIN READA triceratops skeleton that stood in a Wyoming museum for decades will be auctioned online in March as the dinosaur fossil market hits record highs. The fossil, dubbed “Trey,” will go up for bids from March 17 to 31 on Joopiter, an online…
3 MIN READA prehistoric skeleton has been found deep in a flooded cave system on Mexico’s Caribbean coast, near Tulum and Playa del Carmen, a cave-diving archaeologist said. The skeleton was recovered in late 2025 and is being analyzed, after the…
3 MIN READHumans and Neanderthals mated tens of thousands of years ago when they overlapped geographically, but researchers have long struggled to determine who paired with whom and under what conditions. A new genetic analysis published in Science…
3 MIN READLunar rocks collected by Apollo astronauts more than half a century ago are helping scientists better understand the moon’s magnetic field, according to a new study published Wednesday. Researchers at the University of Oxford said the…
3 MIN READBillions fewer birds are flying through North American skies than decades ago, and their population is shrinking faster, a new study in the journal Science found. Researchers linked the accelerating declines to a combination of intensive…
3 MIN READTotal lunar eclipse set for Tuesday will turn the moon blood red for skywatchers across North America, Central America and parts of South America, with partial stages visible elsewhere. The event, visible in different windows across time…
3 MIN READA new telescope image released by the European Southern Observatory shows swirling cold gas and dust around the Milky Way galaxy’s supermassive black hole at the dead center. The picture, released Wednesday, spans more than 650 light-years…
3 MIN READHorses whinny to find new friends, greet familiar ones and signal events like feeding time, but scientists have long struggled to explain how their distinctive neighs work. A new study describes the whinny as a combination of low- and…
3 MIN READResearchers with the University of California-Santa Cruz and the University of California-Davis confirmed an avian flu outbreak among elephant seals at Año Nuevo State Park in California, prompting officials to cancel popular seal-watching…
4 MIN READHarvard materials scientist Adel Djellouli and colleagues say they have pinpointed what makes basketball sneakers squeak as players slide and cut on hard courts. In a Nature study published Wednesday, the researchers linked the…
3 MIN READSix planets will line up in the night sky at the end of February, with four visible to the naked eye if skies are clear. Mercury, Venus, Jupiter and Saturn can be spotted from the ground, while Uranus and Neptune require binoculars or…
3 MIN READThe Galápagos National Park released 158 juvenile hybrid giant tortoises on Floreana Island on Friday, aiming to restart a native ecosystem after the species disappeared there more than 150 years ago. The park said the tortoises, aged 8 to…
3 MIN READThe natural El Niño cycle, which can warp weather worldwide, is both adding to and being shaped by a warming climate, meteorologists said. A new study says a recent switch between La Niña and El Niño can help explain why global…
4 MIN READAn Australian marine research center says it has video evidence of what it calls the first recorded shark in the Antarctic Ocean. The footage, captured in January 2025 off the South Shetland Islands near the Antarctic Peninsula, shows a…
3 MIN READHistorians and archaeologists are racing to locate Great Lakes shipwrecks before invasive quagga mussels destroy the sites, the Associated Press reported. The mussels have covered virtually every wreck in the lower Great Lakes, forcing…
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