An extra-tall wave struck a cruise ship off the Mediterranean coast of Spain this week, claiming two lives and injuring one person on board. Though the wave may not qualify as a “rogue wave,” it …
A moon probe has found millions of tons of water on the moon’s north pole, NASA reported Monday. The vast source of water could one day be used to generate oxygen or sustain a moon …
The connection between gut bacteria and obesity has gained some weight, with new findings demonstrating links in mice among immune-system malfunction, bacterial imbalance and increased appetite.
Mice with altered immune systems developed metabolic disorders and were …
Prodigious plumes of planet-warming methane are bubbling from sediments across a broad region of Arctic seafloor previously thought to be sealed by permafrost, new analyses indicate. The resulting increase of methane gas in the atmosphere …
Scientists have discovered 243-million-year-old fossils of dinosaurs’ closest relatives, pushing back the origin of dinosaurs by at least 10 million years.
The dinosaur-like creature, Asilisaurus kongwe, was about the size of a Labrador retriever and had …
Atrazine is receiving lots of attention for turning male frogs into girls, but that’s not all the common herbicide does. It also weakens amphibian immune systems, leaving the fragile creatures vulnerable to disease.
Though less obvious …
Scientists have found a 67 million-year-old fossil of a snake coiled around dinosaur eggs and a hatchling. This is the first evidence of snakes eating dinosaurs.
“It’s a stunning, once-in-a-lifetime find,” said paleontologist Paul Sereno of …
Long before human communication evolved into incessant tapping on computer keys, people scratched on eggshells.
sciencenewsDon’t laugh—researchers say a cache of ostrich eggshells engraved with geometric designs demonstrates the existence of a symbolic communication system around …
A new study has identified the best way to flash freeze living tissue, which could lead to better human egg and stem cell storage.
The technique could dramatically improve the odds that frozen, unfertilized eggs could …
Stars shine amidst a luminous, cotton-candy nebula in this new image of NGC 346, the largest star-forming region in our neighboring galaxy, the Small Magellanic Cloud.
The star cluster, located about 210,000 light-years away and measuring …
Seen in the right light, yellow reef fish become spotty pains in the tail fin.
sciencenewsMembers of one damselfish species use facial patterns of speckles and swooshes to identify the fish species they regularly attack, researchers …
A painstaking, multidecade study of 33,000 individual trees may finally have uncovered the roots of biodiversity.
That biodiversity’s origin needs uncovering is surprising because the word seems to be everywhere. But scientists still don’t quite understand …
According to findings that could have been pulled from a deep-sea sequel to Avatar, bacteria appear to conduct electrical currents across the ocean floor, driving linked chemical reactions at relatively vast distances.
Noticed only when reseachers …
PORTLAND — Sperm whales sometimes collaborate when they forage the depths, new tracking data suggests, with some individuals herding prey into dense schools while others lunge into the fray and feed.
Scientists have long known that …
SAN DIEGO — Not all crime hot spots are created equal, a new mathematical model suggests. For some areas repeatedly hit hard with crime, police intervention can shut down lawlessness and keep it down. But …
Engineered hybrids of bird and human flu strains have proven virulent in mice, raising the disturbing possibility that a natural recombination could be deadly to humans.
For years, researchers have worried that H5N1 avian influenza would …
The Army wants to instantly get eyes in the sky to watch over a potential enemy. But spy drones or satellites or even fighter jets can be too slow to handle the job. The answer: …
The Department of Energy has provided almost $10 billion in loan guarantees for two nuclear and three solar power plants in just the past week.
The moves mark a new DOE strategy to finance the large-scale …
The Cassini spacecraft’s November flyby of Saturn’s moon Enceladus has revealed new features including at least 20 more icy plumes spewing from the moon’s southern pole.
New infrared data gives scientists the highest resolution temperature map …
Pentagon officials have been talking for years about weaning their jets off of fossil fuels. Now they say they’re only months away from producing a cheap fuel made from algae — for less than $3 …
