By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Two well-preserved ice age “puppies” found in Northern Siberia may not be dogs at all, according to new research. Still covered in fur and naturally preserved in ice for thousands of years, the “Tumat Puppies,” as they are known, contain hints of a last meal in their stomachs, including
Continue ReadingBy Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — The sun was setting on a busy London street on a May evening in 1337 when a group of men approached a priest named John Forde. They surrounded him in front of a church near Old St. Paul’s Cathedral, stabbed him in the neck and stomach, and then fled.
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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Scientists have identified a previously unknown 86 million-year-old dinosaur species that fills an early gap in the fossil record of tyrannosaurs, revealing how they evolved to become massive apex predators. Researchers analyzing the species’ remains have named it Khankhuuluu mongoliensis, which translates to “dragon prince of Mongolia,” because it
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By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to scrap two major federal regulations that limit air pollution and planet-warming emissions from coal and gas-fired power plants, the agency’s head announced Wednesday. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said the proposal targets a rule regulating all planet-warming carbon emissions from existing and new
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By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — New research revealing details of gold coins found aboard a shipwreck off Colombia provides further evidence that the vessel was the San José galleon, a 300-year-old Spanish warship believed to contain artifacts worth billions of dollars. Scientists used an unmanned underwater vehicle to survey the wreck and captured images
Continue ReadingBy Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — The collapse of a crucial network of Atlantic Ocean currents could push parts of the world into a deep freeze, with winter temperatures plunging to around minus 55 degrees Fahrenheit in some cities, bringing “profound climate and societal impacts,” according to a new study. There is increasing concern about
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By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — Scientists studying ancient human remains uncovered in Colombia have found that the people they were researching have no known ancestors or modern descendants. In a study published May 30 in the journal Science Advances, a team of researchers reported on the genetic data of 21 individuals whose skeletal remains
Continue ReadingBy Helen Regan, CNN (CNN) — Climate lawyers are taking the New Zealand government to court, alleging its plan to reduce planet-heating pollution contains “glaring holes,” which will have “huge consequences for our country.” Two groups, Lawyers for Climate Action NZ and the Environmental Law Initiative, argue that the government’s plan to reach net zero
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By Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — An accidental discovery might change how we think about one of the most mysterious structures in our solar system. The Oort Cloud, a large expanse of icy bodies revolving around the sun at a distance 1,000 times greater than the orbit of Neptune, is widely thought to be spherical
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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — June’s full moon, nicknamed the strawberry moon, will shine brightly on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. The moon will be at its fullest at 3:44 a.m. ET Wednesday but will still appear bright and low in the east after sunset on Tuesday, as well as low in the west
Continue ReadingBy Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — As scientists search for worlds that may be habitable for life, they’ve discovered a type that is common in the universe — but doesn’t exist in our own solar system. These enigmatic planets are called sub-Neptunes, which are larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. An April study catapulted
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By Jacopo Prisco, CNN Many of the Dead Sea Scrolls, some of the most widely known archaeological finds of all time, may be older than once thought, according to a new study. The fresh analysis, which paired radiocarbon dating with artificial intelligence, determined some of the biblical manuscripts date to about 2,300 years ago, when
Continue ReadingBy Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Jan Beutel was half-watching a live stream of Kleines Nesthorn, a mountain peak in the Swiss Alps, when he realized its cacophony of creaks and rumbles was getting louder. He dropped his work, turned up the sound and found himself unable to look away. “The whole screen exploded,” he
Continue ReadingBy Morgan Severson, CNN (CNN) — Gloves, a fur coat and a bear mask. This outfit might sound like avant-garde fashion, but it’s actually the uniform of caretakers at the San Diego Humane Society who are raising an orphaned black bear cub. Campers in California’s Los Padres National Forest found the cub in April. Biologists
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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A tiny sign revealed in April seemed like it might change the universe as we know it. Astronomers had detected just a hint, a glimmer of two molecules swirling in the atmosphere of a distant planet called K2-18b — molecules that on Earth are produced only by living things.
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By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — An aging coal power plant that was supposed to shutter last week will run throughout the summer at the order of President Donald Trump’s Energy Sec. Chris Wright, a decision that could cost Midwest energy customers tens of millions of dollars. The last-minute federal order to keep the J.H.
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By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Nearly five months ago, a SpaceX rocket launched out of Florida carrying two lunar landers. The Blue Ghost spacecraft, from Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, zoomed to the moon, and in March it became the first robotic commercial vehicle to land upright on the lunar surface. The other spacecraft, developed by
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By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — One of the bleakest periods in medieval Europe was the plague pandemic known as the Black Death, which killed at least 25 million people in just five years. But the disease didn’t stop there. The plague adapted to keep its hosts alive longer, so it could spread farther and
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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A collision between our Milky Way galaxy and its largest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, predicted to occur in about 4.5 billion years, has been anticipated by astronomers since 1912. But new research suggests that the likelihood of this galactic clash, dubbed “Milkomeda,” is smaller than it seems. At first
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By Issy Ronald, CNN (CNN) — The world’s glaciers are in dire health with almost 40% of their total mass already doomed, even if global temperatures stopped rising immediately, a new study has found. Researchers estimate glaciers will eventually lose 39% of their mass relative to 2020, a trend that is already irreversible no matter
Continue ReadingBy Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — For a long time, there has been a missing puzzle piece in Jerusalem’s history. Though ancient texts offered some clues, an archaeological record of the city during the Early Hellenistic Period, from 332 to 141 BC, was largely absent — until now. Excavators at the Jerusalem Walls National Park
Continue ReadingBy Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — Deep below the surface of the ground in one of the driest parts of the country, there is a looming problem: The water is running out — but not the kind that fills lakes, streams and reservoirs. The amount of groundwater that has been pumped out of the Colorado
Continue ReadingBy Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — Gold and other precious metals are leaking from Earth’s core into the layers above, eventually making their way up to the surface during the formation of volcanic islands like Hawaii, a new study suggests. The theory results from a three-year analysis of Hawaii’s basaltic rocks, which originally formed from
Continue ReadingBy Alysha Bibi and Diego Mendoza, CNN (CNN) — Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a nearly 3,000-year-old Mayan complex in Guatemala, revealing sanctuaries, pyramids and a unique canal system that could shed further light on the ancient civilization, the country’s culture minister said Thursday. The complex was discovered across three sites — Los Abuelos,
Continue ReadingBy Rosa Rahimi, CNN (CNN) — Researchers in central Spain say they may have uncovered one of the most ancient symbolic objects bearing a human fingerprint on record in Europe, dating back tens of thousands of years. Unlocking the secret identity of exactly who made the mark involved enlisting the help of forensic experts working
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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Archaeologists in Jerusalem say they have discovered a roughly 2,300-year-old gold ring with a red gemstone that’s remarkably similar to another piece of jewelry found less than a year ago. The two rings, small enough to fit a child, were artifacts unearthed at the City of David site in
Continue ReadingBy Nell Lewis, CNN (CNN) — Last October, four female eastern lowland gorillas were airlifted from their home in Kasuhgo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and released 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast in Virunga National Park. Less than a year later, they have all successfully integrated into a group of wild gorillas, in what
Continue ReadingBy Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Attorneys general from 16 mostly Democrat-controlled US states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Wednesday, arguing that some of the federal government’s attempts to gut National Science Foundation research programs are illegal. The suit, filed in federal court Wednesday afternoon, asks a judge to put a stop to
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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — China has launched an ambitious mission to study two intriguing objects in our solar system, the likes of which have never been visited by a spacecraft before. The Tianwen-2 mission launched aboard a Long March 3B rocket from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province at 1:31 p.m.
Continue ReadingBy Andrew Freedman, CNN (CNN) — Global temperatures are forecast to reach record or near-record levels during the next five years, setting the stage for more deadly extreme weather, according to an annual report from two of the world’s top meteorological agencies. There is now a 70% chance that global warming over the next five
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