Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.
When the solar system first took up the task of building solid bodies—such as planets, moons and protoplanets—it basically had a choice between two ingredients: heat-forged chondrules, which were millimeter-sized bits of rock, and matrix, a fine-grained, cold dust loaded with water ice and organic molecules. And from the get-go, the solar system chose fire.
Humans are social animals, but we have a diversity of societies, each with its own customs, behaviors and expectations. It's obvious that those can affect how we respond to someone—favoring the comfort of familiar behaviors, for example—and people often try to account for that in themselves and others. But sometimes the effect is more subtle.
A sickle across the throat and a padlock on the toe were likely meant to keep this 17th-century Polish teen from resurrecting.
The space telescope is set to reveal thousands of new exoplanets and scour the universe for signs of dark matter and energy
The National Weather Service is speeding ahead with changing the name of the Great Lake
Starship's next test flight will be its first orbital mission. The craft will also release working Starlink V3 satellites for the first time, making the flight the first commercially useful Starship mission
New research suggests that Paleodictyon — honeycomb-shaped formations perhaps sketched by da Vinci — are not made by soft-bodied creatures.
Scientists discovered a population of cells that can start the process of programmed cell death, survive it, and then help rapidly rebuild damaged tissue. Their descendants become far more resistant to future damage, revealing a mechanism that could improve healing but may also help cancers return after treatment.
A newly discovered snake from New Guinea has been named after Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash, who has loved reptiles since childhood. Genetic testing and physical differences confirmed that the reddish-brown groundsnake, Lielaphis slashi, is a species scientists had never formally recognized before. The nonvenomous snake may use large rear teeth to catch slippery lizards and reptile eggs.
Solve the math puzzle from our October 2026 issue, in which a bird watcher seeks an indoor hobby.
Following the possible recent detection of a dark matter particle, researchers have already come up with a veritable cornucopia of possible models for what sort of particle it might have been
A new Caltech device can redirect a beam of light in just 74 femtoseconds using another beam and a nanoscale silicon metasurface. The breakthrough could pave the way for dramatically faster photonic communications, computing, and sensing technologies.
NASA’s Roman Space Telescope may now have enough fuel for at least 22 years of science, more than double its original 10 year design life. An extremely precise course correction, extra fuel at launch, and additional expected savings could keep the powerful observatory studying the universe for decades.
Scientists have found a new way to create a controlled beam of muonium, an exotic atom containing a heavier cousin of the electron. The advance could allow researchers to test for the first time whether gravity acts on second-generation particles exactly as Einstein’s theory predicts. Any unexpected difference would be a major surprise and could potentially point toward new physics, including a hypothetical fifth force.
The fish that preceded the first four-legged land animals came in a wider variety of forms than we had thought, and fossils show that one had an elbow joint that moved in an oddly restrictive way
Don’t have the energy to catch your own meal? This dolphin has a gross solution
Our sun is on a long, strange trip to its eventual demise. Here are the key stops along the way
As temperatures rise, the evidence is clear that heat is eroding students’ ability to learn
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed a 728-foot-wide crater that formed on the Moon in 2024, making it the largest newly formed crater ever identified in the solar system. The impact disturbed the surface for miles around it, creating a surprisingly large cold zone and showing how dramatically a single collision can reshape the lunar landscape.
As Bangladesh faces a deadly measles outbreak, experts assess what it would take for the U.S. to reach similar levels