Latest Science News
A six-planet solar system in perfect synchrony has been found in the Milky Way
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Astronomers have discovered a rare in-sync solar system with six planets moving like a grand cosmic orchestra, untouched by outside forces since their birth billions of years ago. The find, announced Wednesday, can help explain how solar systems across...
A Sumatran rhino calf born in Indonesia adds to an endangered species of fewer than 50 animals
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A critically endangered Sumatran rhino was born in Indonesia’s western island of Sumatra on Saturday, the second Sumatran rhino born in the country this year and a welcome addition to a species that currently numbers fewer than 50 animals. A female...
One of world's largest icebergs drifting beyond Antarctic waters after it was grounded for 3 decades
LONDON (AP) — One of the world’s largest icebergs is drifting beyond Antarctic waters, after being grounded for more than three decades, according to the British Antarctic Survey. The iceberg, known as A23a, split from the Antarctic's Filchner Ice Shelf in 1986. But it became...
Peru lost more than half of its glacier surface in just over half a century, scientists say
LIMA, Peru (AP) — Peru has lost more than half of its glacier surface in the last six decades, and 175 glaciers became extinct due to climate change between 2016 and 2020, Peruvian scientists from the state agency that studies glaciers said Wednesday. “In 58 years, 56.22% of the...
A strong earthquake shakes eastern Indonesia with no immediate reports of casualties or damages
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A strong, deep undersea earthquake shook the eastern side of Indonesia on Wednesday with no immediate reports of casualties or damages in the area. The 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit an area 94 kilometers (58 miles) west of Tobelo in Indonesia's North Maluku...
Giving thanks isn't just a holiday tradition. It's part of how humans evolved
NEW YORK (AP) — It’s the season of giving thanks — and it turns out humans have been doing it for a long, long time. As more researchers dig into the science of gratitude, they've found the feeling likely played a key role in helping our ancestors band together and survive. ...
Eruption of Papua New Guinea volcano subsides though thick ash is billowing 3 miles into the sky
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — An eruption of Papua New Guinea’s tallest volcano that raised regional tsunami fears subsided Tuesday, but thick ash still billowed into the sky and coated roofs and palm trees nearby. One of the South Pacific nation’s most active volcanoes, Mount...
Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson 'bamboozled' by science, COVID-19 inquiry told
LONDON (AP) — Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister, struggled to come to grips with much of the science during the coronavirus pandemic, his chief scientific adviser said Monday. In keenly awaited testimony to the country’s public inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic,...
Deep sea explorer Don Walsh, part of 2-man crew to first reach deepest point of ocean, dies at 92
Retired Navy Capt. Don Walsh, an explorer who in 1960 was part of a two-man crew that made the first voyage to the deepest part of the ocean — to the “snuff-colored ooze” at the bottom of the Pacific's Mariana Trench — has died. He was 92. Walsh died Nov. 12 at his home in...
UN report says world is racing to well past warming limit as carbon emissions rise instead of plunge
Earth is speeding to 2.5 to 2.9 degrees Celsius (4.5 to 5.2 degrees Fahrenheit) of global warming since pre-industrial times, set to blow well past the agreed-upon international climate threshold, a United Nations report calculated. To have an even money shot at keeping warming to...
