Latest Science News
5.9 earthquake causes minor damage in Australia, no injuries
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A magnitude 5.9 earthquake caused slight damage in suburban Melbourne on Wednesday in an unusually powerful temblor for Australia. The quake hit about 130 kilometers (80 miles) northeast of Australia’s second-most populous city near the...
EXPLAINER: Wide dangers ahead for Spanish volcanic island
MADRID (AP) — A small Spanish island in the Atlantic Ocean is struggling days after a volcano erupted, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people, and authorities are warning that more dangers from the explosion lie ahead. Here is a look at the volcanic eruption on...
Ravaged by war, Syrian rebel area struggles with virus surge
BEIRUT (AP) — Coronavirus cases are surging to the worst levels of the pandemic in a rebel stronghold in Syria — a particularly devastating development in a region where scores of hospitals have been bombed and that doctors and nurses have fled in droves during a decade of war. ...
West Nile virus at high levels in Arizona due to wet monsoon
PHOENIX (AP) — This year's wet monsoon in Arizona is contributing to a record-high season for the West Nile virus, which is spread through mosquito bites, health officials said. Arizona had 123 cases and four deaths through late last week, the state Department of...
China, US unveil separate big steps to fight climate change
The two biggest economies and largest carbon polluters in the world announced separate financial attacks on climate change Tuesday. Chinese President Xi Jinping said his country will no longer fund coal-fired power plants abroad, surprising the world on climate for the...
Southern Resident grandmother orca missing and likely dead
SEATTLE (AP) — The Center for Whale Research has declared an orca in one of the Puget Sound’s endangered Southern Resident killer whale pods “missing and likely dead.” The Bellingham Herald reports mother and grandmother L47, or Marina as she was also known, was...
Biden bets on rapid COVID tests but they can be hard to find
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is betting on millions more rapid, at-home tests to help curb the latest deadly wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, which is overloading hospitals and threatening to shutter classrooms around the country. But the tests have already...
Sequoia National Park's Giant Forest unscathed by wildfire
THREE RIVERS, Calif. (AP) — The ancient massive trees of Sequoia National Park’s famed Giant Forest were unscathed Tuesday even though a wildfire has been burning near them on the western side of California’s Sierra Nevada for nearly two weeks. “As of right now we...
Toxic gas, new rivers of molten lava endanger Spanish island
EL PASO, Canary Islands (AP) — As a new volcanic vent blew open and unstoppable rivers of molten rock flowed toward the sea, authorities on a Spanish island warned Tuesday that more dangers lie ahead for residents, including earthquakes, lava flows, toxic gases, volcanic ash and acid rain. ...
Test scores show pandemic toll on learning in Massachusetts
BOSTON (AP) — The pandemic has taken a toll on the test scores of Massachusetts students, according to statewide MCAS test results from the spring 2021 exam released Tuesday by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Overall, the results revealed...
