Science
- ScienceNBC News
'The big one': Researchers gain clearest picture yet of fault that threatens the Pacific Northwest
A fault off the Pacific coast could devastate Washington, Oregon and Northern California with a major earthquake and tsunami. Researchers mapped it comprehensively for the first time.
5 min read - HealthReuters
Texas bird flu strain kills ferrets used to mimic disease in humans, US CDC says
The bird flu virus strain that infected a Texas dairy farm worker in March was lethal to ferrets in experiments designed to mimic the disease in humans, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Friday. Seasonal flu, by contrast, makes ferrets sick but does not kill them, the CDC said. Ferrets are considered the best small mammal for studying influenza virus infection and transmission and are commonly used as a tool to inform public health risk assessments of emergi
2 min read - USAssociated Press
Former astronaut William Anders, who took iconic Earthrise photo, has died in Washington plane crash
Retired Maj. Gen. William Anders, the former Apollo 8 astronaut who took the iconic “Earthrise” photo showing the planet as a shadowed blue marble from space in 1968, was killed Friday when the plane he was piloting alone plummeted into the waters off the San Juan Islands in Washington state. “The family is devastated,” Greg Anders said. William Anders has said the photo was his most significant contribution to the space program, given the ecological philosophical impact it had, along with mak
3 min read - ScienceCNN
The storied Hubble telescope has gone into ‘safe mode.’ Here’s NASA’s plan to keep it alive
NASA is changing the way the Hubble Space Telescope operates to bypass an issue that keeps putting the space observatory into “safe mode” shutting down its work.
3 min read - WorldAssociated Press
The UN says more aquatic animals were farmed than fished in 2022. That's the first time in history
The total global volume of fish, shrimp, clams and other aquatic animals that are harvested by farming has topped the amount fished in the wild from the world's waters for the first time ever, the United Nations reported Friday. The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization, in its latest report on fisheries and aquaculture — or farming in water — says the global catch and harvest brought in more than 185 million tons of aquatic animals in 2022, the most recent year for which statistics are avai
2 min read - ScienceThe Conversation
Why do astronomers look for signs of life on other planets based on what life is like on Earth?
It’s hard to look for something you’ve never seen before – and that might not even exist. But you have to start somewhere.
6 min read - ScienceSpace
Why is Neptune's magnetic field so weird? An exotic molecule may be the answer
An exotic molecule stabilized by intense pressure found in the icy depths of Neptune and Uranus could help explain a long-standing mystery.
4 min read - HealthReuters
US to research possible respiratory spread of bird flu in cows
(Reuters) -U.S. federal and state agencies are planning research into potential respiratory spread of bird flu among dairy cattle, according to a Reuters interview with Michigan state agriculture and public health officials. Scientists and government officials hope the research will guide efforts to contain the virus and reduce exposure to humans. The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is working with Michigan State University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
3 min read - ScienceCNN
How an unassuming ‘sponge’ in your home could suck planet-heating pollution from the atmosphere
Scientists found an item widely used in kitchens can absorb planet-heating carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, in what they hope will become a low-cost and efficient tool to slow climate change.
4 min read - USCNN
Hiking family discovers rare T. rex fossil
A dad, his two sons and their cousin were hiking in North Dakota when they came across what could be a rare juvenile T. rex skeleton, one of only a handful in existence.
6 min read - WorldReuters
Erdogan dismisses secular criticism on Turkey's new curriculum
President Tayyip Erdogan on Friday dismissed criticism of Turkey's new education curriculum and vowed to prioritise "national values" in the face of worries that the changes will erode schools' scientific and secularist foundations. Late last month Ankara approved the curriculum, dubbed the "Turkey Century Education Model", which will roll out gradually from the next academic year. The main opposition party, education unions and non-governmental organisations have all voiced concerns over its
2 min read - ScienceSpace
South Korea creates new KASA space agency, sets sights on the moon and Mars
South Korea has announced the creation of a new space agency and is aiming to land its own spacecraft on the moon and Mars in the coming decades.
1 min read - ScienceCNN
Largest known genome is within this plain plant on the forest floor, study says
A new study identified the largest known genome of any organism in a fern found in Pacific islands. Its cells have more than 50 times the DNA as human cells have.
5 min read - ScienceSpace
Scientists find slowest spinning 'radio neutron star' — it breaks all the dead-star rules
Taking almost a full hour to rotate rather than fractions of a second, ASKAP J1935+2148 is the slowest spinning radio-blasting neutron star ever seen.
5 min read - ScienceYale Environment 360
Leafy Vegetables Found to Contain Tire Additives
Scientists have found in leafy vegetables traces of several chemicals used to prevent the aging and corrosion of car tires.
1 min read - BusinessSpace
'Sudden, brief, and unexpected:' dearMoon crew laments cancellation of private SpaceX Starship moon mission
Crew members selected for a planned flight around the moon funded by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa shared public feelings of disappointment after the mission's cancellation.
4 min read - USThe Conversation
Scientists and Indigenous leaders team up to conserve seals and an ancestral way of life at Yakutat, Alaska
Collaborative research by archaeologists, environmental scientists and tribal elders combines science and Indigenous knowledge to tell the story of centuries of life at a glacier’s edge.
6 min read - ScienceThe Conversation
Scientists call the region of space influenced by the Sun the heliosphere – but without an interstellar probe, they don’t know much about its shape
An interstellar probe could help scientists answer fundamental questions about how the Sun influences Earth, space and other planets in the solar system.
6 min read - ScienceSpace
Massive 'El Gordo' galaxy cluster suggests dark matter smashes into itself
El Gordo is a massive collection of colliding galaxies 7 billion light-years away. Its odd behavior could suggest dark matter interacts with itself.
6 min read - ScienceSpace
A billionaire wanted to save the Hubble Telescope — here's why NASA politely declined
Billionaire Jared Isaacman wanted to conduct a private Hubble Telescope reboost mission. NASA says 'not yet.'
5 min read - ScienceSpace
Thruster glitches and helium leaks can't stop Boeing's Starliner astronaut test flight — but why are they happening?
Boeing's Starliner Crew Flight Test faced down thruster glitches and helium leaks to reach the International Space Station on June 6. Why all the glitches and is NASA worried?
5 min read - HealthNBC News
What to know about the first human case of H5N2 bird flu
Should we be worried about the first human case of the H5N2 strain of bird flu? H5N2, confirmed in a man in Mexico who died, is different from the bird flu virus affecting cows in the U.S.
5 min read - ScienceCBS News
Wary of giant, parachuting Joro spiders? Here's what to know.
They're big, they're scary-looking and they float through the air — but Joro spiders are also among the "shyest" spiders researchers have ever found.
6 min read - ScienceCNN
Boeing Starliner’s crew is now on the space station after encountering new issues en route
The spacecraft and crew safely reach their destination after NASA and Boeing discovered additional helium leaks and thruster issues.
11 min read - ScienceNBC News
Boeing's Starliner spacecraft docks with space station after thruster issues
The two NASA astronauts flying Boeing’s Starliner capsule to the International Space Station encountered some issues, which delayed the scheduled docking.
2 min read - ScienceSpace
The 'hole' on Mars making headlines could be crucial to Red Planet exploration
Similar craters are found on Earth and the Moon, and are the product of volcanic, tectonic or even fluvial activity.
5 min read - USAssociated Press
A man in Mexico died with one form of bird flu, but US officials remain focused on another
The mysterious death of a man in Mexico who had one kind of bird flu is unrelated to outbreaks of a different type at U.S. dairy farms, experts say. Here’s a look at the case and the different types of bird flu. WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MEXICO BIRD FLU CASE? A 59-year-old man in Mexico who had been bedridden because of chronic health problems developed a fever, shortness of breath and diarrhea in April.
5 min read - WorldReuters
Fires in Brazilian wetlands surge 980%, extreme drought expected
Fires in Brazil's Pantanal wetlands have surged nearly tenfold so far this year to the highest levels since 2020, when the biome suffered its worst blazes on record. Satellite data from Brazil's National Institute for Space Research (INPE) showed a 980% increase in the number of fires in the Pantanal through June 5, compared with the same period of last year. "It's one of the worst starts of year in terms of hot spots since the beginning of the historical series in 1998," said Vinicius Silguei
2 min read - WorldCBS News
Boeing's Starliner successfully docks with space station
The Starliner crew had to work around thruster problems and more helium leaks, but pulled off a successful space station docking.
5 min read - ScienceReuters
Planet-forming disk around small star offers big surprises
Stars about the size of our sun are not the most common ones in the Milky Way. Much smaller stars are way more common - and those host the most rocky planets in the galaxy, the type in focus as scientists search for worlds capable of harboring life. New research is providing insight into how planets form around these small stars, called very low mass stars (VLMS), showing how the chemistry in the planet-forming disks of gas and dust surrounding them differs substantially from such disks observ
3 min read - ScienceSpace
Rocky, carbon-rich exoplanets more likely around tiny stars, James Webb Space Telescope reveals
Astronomers using the JWST have discovered tiny stars may be better suited at birthing small, rocky planets with atmospheres dominated by carbon.
5 min read - ScienceAssociated Press
Scientists have traced the origin of the modern horse to a lineage that emerged 4,200 years ago
Around 4,200 years ago, one particular lineage of horse quickly became dominant across Eurasia, suggesting that’s when humans started to spread domesticated horses around the world, according to research published Thursday in the journal Nature. There was something special about this horse: It had a genetic mutation that changed the shape of its back, likely making it easier to ride. “In the past, you had many different lineages of horses,” said Pablo Librado, an evolutionary biologist at the
3 min read - BusinessSpace
SpaceX's Starship 4th flight test looks epic in these stunning photos
SpaceX conducted the fourth flight test of its Starship megarocket on June 6, putting on quite the show for photographers gathered near its Starbase facility in Texas.
4 min read - ScienceCBS News
Shark spits out land-loving creature in front of shocked scientists
Researchers were tagging marine when the tiger shark they caught vomited a dead echidna — a spiny creature similar to a hedgehog.
2 min read - ScienceSpace
Boeing's 1st Starliner to carry astronauts arrives at ISS despite thruster malfunction
Boeing's Starliner capsule arrived at the ISS on its second try today (June 6), overcoming a problem with several of its reaction-control system thrusters.
3 min read - ScienceSpace
New moon of June 2024 tonight lets Saturn, Mars and Jupiter shine
The dark skies of the new moon of June 2024 will allow some of the naked eye planets to stand out late in the night after midnight.
10 min read - USAssociated Press
Fossil-hunting diver says he has found a large section of mastodon tusk off Florida's coast
At first, fossil-hunting diver Alex Lundberg thought the lengthy object on the sea floor off Florida's Gulf Coast was a piece of wood. It turned out to be something far rarer, Lundberg said: a large section of tusk from a long-extinct mastodon. Lundberg and his diver companion had found fossils in the same place before, including mammoth teeth, bones of an ancient jaguar and parts of a dire wolf.
3 min read - ScienceCNN
SpaceX soars through new milestones in test flight of the most powerful rocket ever built
SpaceX’s Starship launched on its fourth uncrewed flight test Thursday from the company’s private Starbase facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
7 min read - BusinessSpace
SpaceX Starship launches on nail-biting 4th test flight of world's most powerful rocket (video, photos)
SpaceX launched its giant Starship rocket for the fourth time ever this morning (June 6) in a dramatic and nail-biting liftoff.
6 min read - ScienceSpace
Chang'e 6 probe's far-side moon samples enter return-to-Earth module in lunar orbit, China says
The two spacecraft of the Chang'e 6 mission met and docked in orbit over the moon on Thursday (June 6) to transfer samples the moon's far side. They'll now be returned to Earth.
4 min read - TechnologyAssociated Press
AI 'gold rush' for chatbot training data could run out of human-written text
Artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT could soon run out of what keeps making them smarter — the tens of trillions of words people have written and shared online. A new study released Thursday by research group Epoch AI projects that tech companies will exhaust the supply of publicly available training data for AI language models by roughly the turn of the decade -- sometime between 2026 and 2032. Comparing it to a “literal gold rush” that depletes finite natural resources, Tamay Besiro
5 min read - ScienceSpace
Fly over the scarred canyons of Mars in this breathtaking video from European spacecraft
ESA's Mars Express orbiter surveyed the vast Nili Fossae trenches, which formed following a massive impact billions of years ago, when water flowed over the Martian surface.
3 min read - ScienceAssociated Press
SpaceX's mega rocket completes its fourth test flight from Texas without exploding
SpaceX’s mega Starship rocket completed its first full test flight Thursday, returning to Earth without exploding after blasting off from Texas. This time, the rocket and the spacecraft managed to splash down in a controlled fashion, making the hourlong flight the longest and most successful yet. “Despite loss of many tiles and a damaged flap, Starship made it all the way to a soft landing in the ocean!” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said via X.
3 min read - ScienceThe Conversation
AI plus gene editing promises to shift biotech into high gear
AI has learned the ins and outs of proteins. Gene editing gives scientists control of life’s molecular machinery. Together they could lead to a revolution in biotechnology.
5 min read - ScienceAssociated Press
Boeing's astronaut capsule arrives at the space station after thruster trouble
Boeing’s new capsule arrived at the International Space Station on Thursday, delayed by last-minute thruster trouble that almost derailed the docking for this first test flight with astronauts. The 260-mile-high (420-kilometer-high) linkup over the Indian Ocean culminated more than a day of continuing drama for Boeing’s astronaut flight debut carrying NASA test pilots Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams. Boeing plans to keep Starliner at the space station for at least eight days before guiding it
2 min read - ScienceSpace
'Everything's a compromise:' How this NASA astronaut put Boeing's Starliner to the test (exclusive)
NASA astronaut Bob Hines helped bring the first Boeing Starliner to the International Space Station. Now he's part of the large ground team supporting Crew Test Flight, which launched May 21.
5 min read - WorldReuters
Bolivian scientists to track glacial changes at high speed with new equipment
Scientists in Bolivia are hoping to track glacial changes at lightning speed. New scientific equipment being installed at the country's Huayna Potosi mountain peak will provide real-time measurements of glaciers' mass compared to much slower older methods. Edson Ramirez, a glaciologist at Bolivia's Higher University of San Andres, said the equipment could make hourly measurements of glacial mass compared to classic glacialogy methods capable of monthly or yearly readings.
1 min read - ScienceCBS News
SpaceX's Super Heavy-Starship rocket launches on "epic" test flight
Building on lessons learned during three previous test flights, SpaceX set its sights on more lofty goals for a fourth launch of the giant rocket.
5 min read - ScienceReuters
Boeing Starliner's first astronaut crew welcomed aboard space station
(Reuters) -Boeing's new Starliner capsule and an inaugural two-member NASA crew safely docked with the International Space Station on Thursday, meeting a key test in proving the vessel's flight-worthiness and sharpening Boeing's competition with Elon Musk's SpaceX. The rendezvous was achieved despite an earlier loss of several guidance-control jet thrusters, some of them due to a helium propulsion leak, which NASA and Boeing said should not compromise the mission.
4 min read - ScienceSpace
Watch Boeing's Starliner arrive at ISS today on historic 1st astronaut mission
Boeing's Starliner capsule is scheduled to reach the ISS today (June 6) on its first-ever crewed mission, and you can watch the action live.
2 min read