Latest Science News
NASA's Parker Solar Probe aims to fly closer to the sun like never before
NEW YORK (AP) — A NASA spacecraft aims to fly closer to the sun than any object sent before. The Parker Solar Probe was launched in 2018 to get a close-up look at the sun. Since then, it has flown straight through the sun's corona: the outer atmosphere visible during a total solar...
Giant sloths and mastodons lived with humans for millennia in the Americas, new discoveries suggest
SAO PAULO (AP) — Sloths weren’t always slow-moving, furry tree-dwellers. Their prehistoric ancestors were huge — up to 4 tons (3.6 metric tons) — and when startled, they brandished immense claws. For a long time, scientists believed the first humans to arrive in the Americas...
In Florida, the Miccosukee fight to protect the Everglades in the face of climate change
EVERGLADES, Fla. (AP) — As a boy, when the water was low Talbert Cypress from the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida rummaged through the Everglades’ forests, swam in its swampy ponds and fished in its canals. But the vast wetlands near Miami have radically changed since...
LA Zoo hatches first-ever perentie lizards, one of largest lizard species in the world
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two new baby lizards have hatched at the Los Angeles Zoo, the first of their species to be bred there, zoo officials said Thursday. Perentie lizards, or Varanus giganteus, are native to Australia and one of the world's largest lizards, dwarfed only by the Komodo...
Republican senators demand an end to science and tech cooperation with China
WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of Republican senators is demanding that the Biden administration revoke a science and technology agreement with China, barely a week after the two countries renewed cooperation for five more years to keep ties from deteriorating. In a letter Thursday to...
Harmful gas billowing from Texas and New Mexico comes mostly from smaller leaks, researchers say
The blob on the satellite image is a rainbow of colors. An analyst digitally sharpens it and there, highlighted in red, is the source: a concrete oil pad spewing methane. In the 75,000-square-mile (194-square-kilometer) Permian Basin straddling Texas and New Mexico, the most...
Data on animal movements help Hungarian researchers create a swarm of autonomous drones
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Moving in a dense cloud, like throngs of people walking across a crowded public square, 100 drones maneuver through the night sky in Hungary's capital, the result of over a decade of research and experimentation that scientists believe could change the future of unmanned...
New York man finds mastodon jaw while gardening in his backyard
SCOTCHTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Scholars are hailing the discovery of a fossilized mastodon jaw discovered by a man who spotted two giant teeth while gardening at his upstate New York home this year. The mastodon jaw and some other bone fragments were found in late September in a backyard...
Endangered whales found entangled in rope off Massachusetts, and 1 is likely to die
Two endangered whales have been spotted entangled in fishing gear off Massachusetts, and one is likely to die from its injuries, the federal government said. They are North Atlantic right whales, which number less than 400 and face existential threats from entanglement in gear and...
The last meteor shower of the year peaks a few days before Christmas
The last meteor shower of the year — the Ursids — peaks Sunday, a few days before Christmas. While usually not as bright as the Geminids, the Ursid meteor shower can yield surprises. “The Ursids are generally a sparse meteor shower," producing about 5 to 10...
