Latest Science News

Global warming's extreme rains threaten Hawaii's coral reefs
HONOLULU (AP) — As muddy rainwater surged from Hawaii's steep seaside mountains and inundated residential communities last month, the damage caused by flooding was obvious — houses were destroyed and businesses swamped, landslides covered highways and raging rivers and streams were...

Google Earth adds time lapse video to depict climate change
SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — The Google Earth app is adding a new video feature that draws upon nearly four decades of satellite imagery to vividly illustrate how climate change has affected glaciers, beaches, forests and other places around the world. The tool unveiled...

Thermo Fisher buying PPD in deal worth $17.4 billion
WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — Thermo Fisher is buying the clinical testing company PPD for $17.4 billion with the global pandemic creating a surge in demand. Activity in healthcare testing has gone into overdrive over the past year and Thermo Fisher accelerated its entry into...

Biologists defy Cyprus' ethnic divide to protect environment
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — There’s something regal in the sprightly step and curious gaze of the long-horn sheep that roam the hills near Varisia, an abandoned village inside a U.N. buffer zone that cuts across ethnically divided Cyprus. The endangered Mouflon sheep...

Homeless Americans finally getting a chance at COVID-19 shot
Homeless Americans who have been left off priority lists for coronavirus vaccinations — or even bumped aside as states shifted eligibility to older age groups — are finally getting their shots as vaccine supplies increase. While the U.S. government has only incomplete...

Epic drought means water crisis on Oregon-California border
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Hundreds of farmers who rely on a massive irrigation project that spans the Oregon-California border learned Wednesday they will get a tiny fraction of the water they need amid the worst drought in decades, as federal regulators attempt to balance the needs of...

Study finds that blocking seats on planes reduces virus risk
A new study says leaving middle seats open could give airline passengers more protection from the virus that causes COVID-19. Researchers said the risk of passengers being exposed to the virus from an infected person on the plane could be reduced by 23% to 57% if middle...

J&J vaccine to remain in limbo while officials seek evidence
Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine will remain in limbo for a while longer after government health advisers declared Wednesday that they need more evidence to decide if a handful of unusual blood clots were linked to the shot — and if so, how big the risk really is. ...

Fairness watchword at NC transgender sports ban hearing
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Calls for fairness predominated at a North Carolina legislative hearing Wednesday on a bill that would prevent transgender girls and women from competing in organized school sports designated for biologically female athletes. A House judiciary...
Tiger sharks eat whale carcass that drifted ashore in Hawaii
HONOLULU (AP) — Officials are warning people to stay out of the water after sharks were seen eating the carcass of a whale that has washed ashore on an Oahu beach. Several tiger sharks were seen eating the whale remains as it drifted closer to shore in Waimanalo,...
