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By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — When plant biologist Jing-Yi Lu was earning his bachelor’s degree in Taiwan, he began to take note of the local flora. He paid particular attention to the lipstick vines, which, in Taiwan, have short, tubelike flowers with a yellowish-green hue. However, in other parts of Asia, lipstick vines are

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Some 400 million years ago, long before dinosaurs or even trees had evolved, an enigmatic organism towered over the landscape like a prehistoric monolith. Now, new research makes the case that the ancient life form is not a plant, animal or fungi and instead may be a completely unknown

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — There is nothing like the excitement of a rocket launch. I’ll never forget the feeling of being at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the highly anticipated liftoff of the uncrewed Artemis I mission in 2022. I had reported on space and science news for nearly a decade,

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — A federal judge on Monday dealt a fifth blow to the Trump administration’s attempts to kill the offshore wind farms under construction up and down the east coast. In December, Trump suspended all five offshore wind projects under construction in federal waters off the coast of New England, New

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — A crucial test of NASA’s towering Space Launch System rocket is underway — marking one of the final steps before the vehicle launches four astronauts into deep space for the first time since the Apollo program ended more than five decades ago. The mission could launch as soon as

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — NASA’s Space Shuttle Challenger lifted off 40 years ago with an unusual crew. In addition to six astronauts, the mission took flight with a teacher on board. Christa McAuliffe, the first educator selected for a new Teacher in Space Project, said in a news conference before the flight that

CNN By Kristen Rogers, CNN (CNN) — At the dawn of the nuclear age, scientists created the Doomsday Clock as a symbolic representation of how close humanity is to destroying the world. On Tuesday, nearly eight decades later, the clock was set at 85 seconds to midnight — the closest the timepiece has ever been

By Kristen Rogers, CNN (CNN) — At the dawn of the nuclear age, scientists created the Doomsday Clock as a symbolic representation of how close humanity is to destroying the world. On Tuesday, nearly eight decades later, the clock was set at 85 seconds to midnight — the closest the timepiece has ever been to

By Andrew Freedman, CNN (CNN) — The frigid temperatures, massive snow and deadly ice storm taking shape east of the Rockies might seem to conflict with life on a rapidly warming planet. But all of these things still happen, even with climate change, and some of them could be even more severe than before when

By Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — Space junk falling out of orbit and crashing toward Earth is a growing threat. Indeed, old satellites and spacecraft parts reenter our planet’s atmosphere more than three times a day. When these objects burn through the atmosphere, they can release harmful substances, and if they reach Earth’s surface, they

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — As an electricity crunch drives bills higher around the country, big tech companies building power-hungry data centers are increasingly offering to pay for more of the energy they consume, so everyday people don’t get stuck with the bill. At least, that is the message from seven large tech companies

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — The outline of a hand made with red pigment on the wall of a cave in Indonesia at least 67,800 years ago may be the world’s oldest rock art, according to a new study. The faded hand stencil, along with other spectacular cave paintings on the island of Sulawesi,

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Longtime NASA astronaut Suni Williams announced her retirement Tuesday — officially making the unexpectedly long Boeing Starliner test flight her final foray to orbit as a member of the astronaut corps. Williams, who has set multiple spaceflight records since joining the agency in 1998, did not give insight into

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Astronomers have long searched for clues that a hidden companion star sits out of view near the red supergiant star Betelgeuse. Now, they’ve uncovered a new piece of evidence: a trail like the wake behind a boat, cutting through Betelgeuse’s upper atmosphere, likely forged by the unseen companion. Betelgeuse’s

CNN, ANTONIO J. OSUNA-MASCARÓ, CURRENT BIOLOGY By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — How does a cow scratch an itch on its back? An Austrian cow named Veronika has a solution that could change how we view livestock. For the past decade, Veronika has been observed by her owner occasionally picking up sticks with her mouth,

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Powerful solar activity released by the sun is heading for Earth and it’s likely to create dazzling auroral displays in unexpected areas Monday evening and early Tuesday morning. It could also disrupt satellite-based communications and GPS accuracy. A solar radiation storm, ranked at a level four out of five

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — How does a cow scratch an itch on its back? An Austrian cow named Veronika has a solution that could change how we view livestock. For the past decade, Veronika has been observed by her owner occasionally picking up sticks with her mouth, maneuvering the ends to reach areas

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Artist, inventor and anatomist Leonardo da Vinci was the definition of a Renaissance man — and scientists are aiming to unlock the secrets of his genius on a genetic level. But there’s just one wrinkle: More than 500 years after his death in 1519, Leonardo’s DNA has proved virtually

By Jasmin Sykes, CNN (CNN) — Images of plants painted on pottery made up to 8,000 years ago may be the earliest example of humans’ mathematical thought, a study has found. Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem examined pottery produced by the Halafian people of northern Mesopotamia, who lived between 6200 BC and 5500

By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — Tyrannosaurus rex lived longer and took more time to reach its maximum size than previously thought, according to a new study. Scientists have long counted annual growth rings in fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex leg bones to calculate both their age at death and how fast they grew to adult size.

CNN By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Four astronauts aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule splashed down early Thursday in the Pacific Ocean, ending a weeklong effort to get an unnamed crew member home to evaluate a medical issue. “NASA was ready. The team responded quickly and professionally, as did the teams across the agency,

CNN By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Four astronauts are now en route home from the International Space Station, marking the first time NASA has brought a crew home prematurely amid a health concern. And their unprecedented early departure leaves behind a bare-bones staff to look after the outpost. Only three people remain on the

By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — Horses can detect fear in humans by smell, becoming more likely to startle and more wary of people who are scared, a new study has found. Researchers collected samples of odor compounds from the armpits of human study participants and then observed how the horses behaved when they were

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Four astronauts are about to make an abrupt exit from the International Space Station amid a health concern — and their unprecedented early departure will leave behind a bare-bones staff to look after the outpost. When the crew boards the SpaceX capsule that will bring them home, only three

By Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — Particles from Earth’s atmosphere have been carried into space by solar wind and have been landing on the moon for billions of years, mixing into the lunar soil, according to a new study. The research sheds new light on a puzzle that has endured for over half a century

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — Dark-eyed junco songbirds have been serenading the University of California, Los Angeles campus for decades as they forage for food. The species from the sparrow family is not usually found in cities. But as the climate crisis affected their mountain forest habitats, they started taking up residence in Southern

By Andrew Freedman, CNN (CNN) — There were 23 separate billion-dollar weather and climate disasters in the United States last year, adding up to a total of $115 billion in damages, according to a new report from the climate research nonprofit Climate Central. The report, and establishment of the Billion-Dollar Disasters Database within Climate Central,

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Astronomers may have discovered a previously unknown type of astronomical object, nicknamed “Cloud-9,” that could shed light on dark matter, one of the biggest mysteries in the universe. Dark matter is an enigmatic substance that shapes the cosmos and provides it with structure. While it has never been directly

By Andrew Freedman, Ella Nilsen, Samantha Waldenberg, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is pulling the United States out of the bedrock treaty that underpins international cooperation on climate change, along with dozens of other global bodies, according to a memorandum released by the White House Wednesday evening and an accompanying social media post. Such

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — NASA said on Wednesday it was postponing a spacewalk that was scheduled for Thursday, citing a “medical concern” with one of the crew members. The space agency did not name the astronaut involved but confirmed later the issue was related to a “single crew member who is stable” and