Latest Science News

NASA switches off instrument on Voyager 2 spacecraft to save power

Oct. 02, 2024 11:21 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — To save power, NASA has switched off another scientific instrument on its long-running Voyager 2 spacecraft. The space agency said Tuesday that Voyager 2's plasma science instrument — designed to measure the flow of charged atoms — was powered down in late...

Hurricanes like Helene are deadly when they strike and keep killing for years to come

Oct. 02, 2024 11:08 AM EDT

Hurricanes in the United States end up hundreds of times deadlier than the government calculates, contributing to more American deaths than car accidents or all the nation's wars, a new study said. The average storm hitting the U.S. contributes to the early deaths of 7,000 to 11,000...

Push to map Great Lakes bottom gains momentum amid promises effort will help fishing and shipping

Oct. 02, 2024 01:05 AM EDT

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Jennifer Boehme grew up scouting beaches around her home in St. Petersburg, Florida, for whatever she could find. Rocks, sand dollars, coquina mollusks — anything the ocean gave up. Now, 40 years later, Boehme wants to launch another treasure hunt. As...

Swiss glaciers are receding again after 2 punishing years and despite a good start to 2024

Oct. 01, 2024 20:41 PM EDT

GENEVA (AP) — The volume of Switzerland's glaciers shrank again this summer, compounding the negative impact of climate change after a devastating two-year run that depleted the ice by more than 10%, scientific experts reported Tuesday. The cryosphere observation team at the Swiss...

October's 'ring of fire' solar eclipse will dazzle parts of South America and the Pacific

Oct. 01, 2024 18:28 PM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — A “ring of fire” eclipse of the sun is coming. But only a lucky few will be in the path. The annular solar eclipsewill be visible Wednesday over Easter Island and the tips of Argentina and Chile. Here’s how to safely watch the final solar...

Montana man gets 6 months in prison for cloning giant sheep and breeding it

Oct. 01, 2024 17:50 PM EDT

GREAT FALLS, Mont. (AP) — An 81-year-old Montana man was sentenced Monday to six months in federal prison for illegally using tissue and testicles from large sheep hunted in Central Asia and the U.S. to create hybrid sheep for captive trophy hunting in Texas and Minnesota. U.S....

Outside lights are deadly to birds, especially this time of year

Oct. 01, 2024 12:14 PM EDT

As gardeners, we spend a lot of time observing nature up close -- When will my tomatoes turn red? What’s eating my hosta? What’s that white stuff on my peonies? – and we react as needed to ensure our plants survive and thrive. But there are other, sometimes overlooked, garden...

Mysteries of universe revealed? Hardly. But CERN still fascinates, discovers on its 70th anniversary

Oct. 01, 2024 11:47 AM EDT

GENEVA (AP) — The research center that is home to the world’s largest particle accelerator is celebrating its 70th anniversary on Tuesday, with the physicists who run it aiming to unlock secrets about dark matter and other mysteries to promote science for peace in today's conflict-darkened...

NASA's Webb telescope detects traces of carbon dioxide on the surface of Pluto's largest moon

Oct. 01, 2024 11:02 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — NASA's Webb Space Telescope has identified new clues about the surface of Pluto's largest moon. It detected for the first time traces of carbon dioxide and hydrogen peroxide on the surface of Charon, which is about half Pluto's size. Previous...

Helene and other storms dumped a whopping 40 trillion gallons of rain on the South

Oct. 01, 2024 07:27 AM EDT

More than 40 trillion gallons of rain drenched the Southeast United States in the last week from Hurricane Helene and a run-of-the-mill rainstorm that sloshed in ahead of it — an unheard of amount of water that has stunned experts. That's enough to fill the Dallas Cowboys' stadium...