Latest Science News

Over 100 pilot whales beached on western Australian coast have been rescued, researcher says

Apr. 25, 2024 02:54 AM EDT

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — More than 100 long-finned pilot whales that beached on the western Australian coast Thursday have returned to sea, while 31 died on the shore, a whale researcher said. Researcher Ian Wiese joined hundreds of volunteers who helped rescue the whales at...

More cows are being tested and tracked for bird flu. Here's what that means

Apr. 24, 2024 17:40 PM EDT

U.S. health and agriculture officials are ramping up testing and tracking of bird flu in dairy cows in an urgent effort to understand — and stop — the growing outbreak. So far, the risk to humans remains low, officials said, but scientists are wary that the virus could change to...

She was too sick for a traditional transplant. So she received a pig kidney and a heart pump

Apr. 24, 2024 11:13 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — Doctors have transplanted a pig kidney into a New Jersey woman who was near death, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart. Lisa Pisano’s combination of heart and kidney failure left her too sick to qualify for a traditional...

China to send three astronauts to Tiangong space station, part of its ambitious program

Apr. 24, 2024 06:01 AM EDT

JIUQUAN SATELLITE LAUNCH CENTER, China (AP) — China's space agency is making final preparations to send a new crew to its space station on Thursday as part of its ambitious program that aims to put people on the moon by 2030. The three-member crew of the Shenzhou-18 spacecraft will...

Japan's moon lander wasn't built to survive a weekslong lunar night. It's still going after 3

Apr. 24, 2024 04:25 AM EDT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s first moon lander has survived a third freezing lunar night, Japan’s space agency said Wednesday after receiving an image from the device three months after it landed on the moon. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said the lunar probe responded to a...

NASA leaders discuss global challenges, solutions with Mexico president, lawmakers and students

Apr. 23, 2024 21:12 PM EDT

MEXICO CITY (AP) — In a frequently tense relationship often defined by a shared border, the United States sent two officials with a different perspective to Mexico this week for a bit of space diplomacy. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy – both...

The first glow-in-the-dark animals may have been ancient corals deep in the ocean

Apr. 23, 2024 19:12 PM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Many animals can glow in the dark. Fireflies famously blink on summer evenings. But most animals that light up are found in the depths of the ocean. In a new study, scientists report that deep-sea corals that lived 540 million years ago may have been the first...

NASA hears from Voyager 1, the most distant spacecraft from Earth, after months of quiet

Apr. 23, 2024 16:04 PM EDT

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA has finally heard back from Voyager 1 again in a way that makes sense. The most distant spacecraft from Earth stopped sending back understandable data last November. Flight controllers traced the blank communication to a bad computer chip and...

European Space Agency adds 5 new astronauts in only fourth class since 1978. Over 20,000 applied

Apr. 23, 2024 08:05 AM EDT

COLOGNE, Germany (AP) — For the past year, five fit, academically superior men and women have been spun in centrifuges, submerged for hours, deprived temporarily of oxygen, taught to camp in the snow, and schooled in physiology, anatomy, astronomy, meteorology, robotics, and Russian. ...

US advances review of Nevada lithium mine amid concerns over endangered wildflower

Apr. 23, 2024 00:07 AM EDT

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The Biden administration has taken a significant step in its expedited environmental review of what could become the third lithium mine in the U.S., amid anticipated legal challenges from conservationists over the threat they say it poses to an endangered Nevada wildflower. ...