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By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — An odd little gourd called the squirting cucumber has an explosive reproductive strategy that has intrigued naturalists since the days of the Roman Empire. Squirting cucumbers blast their seeds over distances hundreds of times their length, and now scientists know how the plants do it. A squirting cucumber in

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Researchers have discovered the residues of psychedelic drugs, bodily fluids and alcohol inside a 2,000-year-old mug, suggesting that ancient Egyptians imbibed hallucinogenic beverages during rituals. It’s the first time scientists have been able to identify chemical signatures of the liquid concoctions sipped from mugs decorated with the head of

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Russian cosmonauts on the International Space Station were forced to briefly lock down a segment of the orbiting laboratory this weekend after finding an “unusual odor” emanating from a visiting cargo spacecraft called Progress 90, NASA said Sunday. The odor — along with “droplets” the cosmonauts, or Russian astronauts,

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday he will provide $7,500 electric vehicle rebates for his state if President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans dismantle the federal credit – one of several consumer cost-saving measures in President Joe Biden’s climate bill. It’s the first of what could be several issues

CNN By Lex Harvey, CNN (CNN) — Gazing out the window of a rocket at Earth’s glistening blue perimeter, Emily Calandrelli’s mind was likely far from away from the trolls that inhabit the internet on this planet. But less than 24 hours after the MIT engineer and TV host known as “Space Gal” became the

By Ella Nilsen and Bill Weir, CNN BUCHANAN, New York (CNN) — The Indian Point nuclear power plant was an energy juggernaut for 50 years, generating a quarter of the electricity that powered New York City’s iconic, glowing skyline. It is well into its decommissioning process after shutting down in 2021: The remaining waste of

By Lex Harvey, CNN (CNN) — Gazing out the window of a rocket at Earth’s glistening blue perimeter, Emily Calandrelli’s mind was likely far from away from the trolls that inhabit the internet on this planet. But less than 24 hours after the MIT engineer and TV host known as “Space Gal” became the 100th

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — The world agreed to a new climate deal at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Saturday, with wealthy countries pledging to provide $300 billion annually by 2035 to poorer countries to help them cope with the increasingly catastrophic impacts of the climate crisis — a figure many developing countries criticized as

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Woolly mammoths, giant sloths and saber-toothed cats were a fact of life for early humans. But today’s researchers can only hope to find fossils that will shed more light on the existence of these fascinating prehistoric mega-creatures — and why they went extinct. New clues found in Earth’s northernmost

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — The promise of starting life anew on Mars may appear alluring, even feasible, as the climate crisis intensifies and space and rocket technology advances. But the reality would be dreadful, according to one book that argues that Elon Musk’s intention to settle the red planet within the next 30

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Astronomers have captured the first close-up image of a star beyond our galaxy, taken during a dramatic moment near the end of the star’s life. In it, the “behemoth” star appears to puff out gas and dust, a critical final step before exploding in a supernova. The star, known

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Each human is a finely tuned orchestra of more than 37 trillion cells. Mapping this little-known world is one of biology’s greatest challenges — and one in which scientists say they just made a significant dent. More than 3,600 researchers from over 100 countries have analyzed more than 100

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — The Biden administration is swimming against the current to get seven Western states to agree to divvy up the Colorado River’s water in a way that would protect the river basin and the West’s largest single water source – and do it before President-elect Donald Trump takes office, according

By Rachel Ramirez, CNN (CNN) — The tallest animal in the world is in trouble. Giraffe populations are declining at such an alarming rate — from habitat loss, poaching, urbanization and climate change-fueled drought — that US wildlife officials announced a proposal on Wednesday to help protect several of the species. The US Fish and

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — New images of the sun captured by the Solar Orbiter mission showcase the highest-resolution views of our star’s visible surface ever seen, revealing sunspots and continuously moving charged gas called plasma. The images could provide heliophysicists with new clues to help unlock the secrets of the sun like never

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — Famously known for its extensive ring system, Saturn is one of four planets in our solar system that have the distinctive feature. And now, scientists hypothesize that Earth may have sported its own ring some 466 million years ago. During the Ordovician Period, a time of significant changes for

By Ella Nilsen and Hien An Ngo, CNN (CNN) — High above the sand dunes of China’s Kubuqi desert, nearly 200,000 solar panels have been carefully placed in rows to create the outline of a galloping steed. The giant horse is a cultural symbol for Inner Mongolia, the northern Chinese region where the massive Junma

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — The answers to the biggest questions in space science — what happens inside a black hole, how does a galaxy form or what is dark matter — lie in the far reaches of the universe. However, there is still plenty that scientists don’t know about the solar system, our

By Rachel Ramirez, CNN (CNN) — Christmas tree farmers across the Northeast are looking decidedly less merry as they struggle to keep their trees alive amid a weeks-long drought that has left vegetation brown, shriveled and crisp. Nearly 60% of the Northeast was in drought last week, according to the US Drought Monitor, and more

By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — A species of marine worm that scientists lost sight of for almost 70 years has finally resurfaced, thanks to some eagle-eyed sleuthing and a seahorse less than an inch long. When researchers analyzed images of tiny seahorses taken by scuba divers, they found evidence of photobombing worms in the

By Issy Ronald, CNN (CNN) — If you saw an enormous, deadly funnel-web spider sitting on her egg sac, your first instinct might be to run away. But the Australian Reptile Park in New South Wales is urging residents of nearby Sydney to suppress that fear, remain calm, and carefully collect both the spider and

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — The moon has some new stories to tell. Scientists have published the first detailed analyses of the historic cache of lunar soil and rock that China retrieved from the far side of the moon this year. Chang’e-6, the first mission to bring back soil from the moon’s far side,

By Ella Nilsen and Renée Rigdon, CNN (CNN) — President Joe Biden’s climate law is on the chopping block as Republicans prepare to have full control in Washington. But it’s not just Democrats gearing up to protect the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy policies. President-elect Donald Trump is out on a limb within even his

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — November’s full moon, otherwise known as the beaver moon, shone bright in the sky on Friday as the last supermoon of the year. For sky-gazers observing the golden orb this weekend, the Leonid meteor shower could make for a dazzling bonus feature as it reaches its peak on Saturday

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — It’s more than 100 feet long, at least 300 years old and visible from space. The world’s largest coral has just been discovered in the southwest Pacific Ocean, scientists announced Wednesday. The mega coral was spotted during a scientific expedition launched by the National Geographic Pristine Seas program in

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Global levels of planet-heating pollution from fossil fuels will hit record levels this year, according to new projections, dashing hopes 2024 would be the year they plateau or fall. Fossil fuel pollution is set to rise to 37.4 billion metric tons this year, an increase of 0.8% from 2023,

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Researchers have discovered an unlikely new species within the ocean’s midnight zone: a glowing “mystery mollusk.” Although the apple-size species, named Bathydevius caudactylus, is classified as a sea slug, the marine animal is unlike any sea slug Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute scientists have seen before. Bathydevius is a

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Lucy, a fossilized skeleton unearthed 50 years ago this month, transformed scientists’ understanding of human evolution. The discovery by American paleontologist Don Johanson and graduate student Tom Gray on November 24, 1974, in Ethiopia opened a new chapter in the human story, offering proof that ancient hominins were able

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — An enormous, rancid-smelling, 52-foot sperm whale has lain beached on the shoreline of the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest lake, since Monday. It’s a jarring sight; no sperm whales live in this vast body of water. Many of the people who gathered to see the giant marine mammal on

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — The Environmental Protection Agency just finalized one of the Biden administration’s only outstanding climate rules, aimed at cracking down on leaks of methane — a potent planet-warming gas with an outsized impact on the climate. The rule, proposed nearly a year ago, was mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act,

By Helen Regan, Robert Shackelford and Yumi Asada, CNN (CNN) — Four separate storm systems are churning their way through the West Pacific simultaneously, a rare occurrence resulting from warmer oceans that threatens to bring more misery to the storm-weary Philippines. It is the first time that four named storms have existed at the same

By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — Archaeologists have identified the site of an ancient battle in what is now Iraq by comparing historical accounts with declassified images from US spy satellites. Researchers from Durham University in the United Kingdom and the University of Al-Qadisiyah in Iraq say they have found the site of the Battle

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — When the Voyager 2 spacecraft became the first and only mission to fly by Uranus in 1986, it defined the way astronomers understand the ice giant. But the data collected by the probe also introduced new mysteries that have continued to puzzle scientists in the decades since the historic

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — If Earth’s astronomical observatories were to pick up a signal from outer space, it would require an all-hands-on-deck effort to untangle and decipher the extraterrestrial message. An art project from the SETI Institute, a nonprofit in Mountain View, California, devoted to searching for life beyond Earth, simulated that scenario

By Julianna Bragg, CNN (CNN) — If you missed the chance to see fireballs of the Southern Taurids light up the sky last week, don’t worry. The second branch of the Taurid meteor showers, the Northern Taurid event, is about to take center stage. The Northern Taurids have been active since mid-October, but the shower

By Angela Dewan and Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — America’s allies and foes alike have spent the past five days speculating about what Donald Trump’s re-election will mean for their economies, security and the world’s grinding wars. Similar anxieties are brewing among diplomats gathering in Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, on Monday for the COP29 climate talks

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — When Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, it wiped multiple Roman towns off the map — but it also froze them in time. Ash raining down from the volcano blanketed Pompeii and surrounding cities, preserving frescoes, buildings and citizens where they fell. Over time, Pompeii was forgotten, and it

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Scientists at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History have peered beneath the wrappings of ancient Egyptian mummified human remains to uncover new details about their identities and how they were prepared for the afterlife — all without removing a single piece of linen. In September, staff members rolled 26

By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — Millions of years ago, long-legged, big-beaked, meat-eating “terror birds” stalked the Americas. The imposing creatures ruled the roost as top predators of their terrestrial ecosystems, and scientists recently discovered one of the largest terror birds ever unearthed. When paleontologists analyzed a leg bone from a fossil site in Colombia

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Three of the astronauts who were unexpectedly hospitalized after returning from the International Space Station in late October discussed the SpaceX Crew-8 mission during a NASA news conference on Friday. The trio revealed some anecdotes about the trials of readjusting to life on Earth after spending more than 230

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Ancient DNA has revealed surprises about the identities of some people who perished in the ancient Roman town of Pompeii after a volcanic eruption, overturning misconceptions about their genetic relationships, ancestry and sex. When Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, the volcano spewed hot, lethal gases and ash into

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — With a sickle across her neck and a padlock on her left big toe, the corpse of a young woman found in northern Poland would have been unable to rise from her unmarked grave, according to local 17th century folklore. But her identity and how she ended up in

By Brandon Miller and Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — New data confirms 2024 will be the hottest year on record and the first calendar year to exceed the Paris Agreement threshold — devastating news for the planet that comes as America chooses a president that has promised to undo its climate progress both at home

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Researchers have uncovered links between the precursor to the world’s oldest writing system and the mysterious, intricate designs left behind by engraved cylindrical seals that were rolled across clay tablets about 6,000 years ago. Scholars consider cuneiform the first writing system, and humans used its wedge-shaped characters to inscribe

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — A meteor shower known for blazing fireballs is set to peak on Monday night into early Tuesday and could present a dazzling display for patient sky-gazers. The Southern Taurids, the first branch of the Taurid meteors showers, will be optimally visible after midnight early Tuesday. Both showers tend to

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — The Mary Rose was a royal favorite when it first set sail as the flagship of King Henry VIII’s fleet in 1512. Nearly 500 years after the vessel sank in 1545 during a battle with a French fleet, the shipwreck is revealing what life was like in Tudor England.

By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — For more than 1,000 years, dense forests in the Mexican state of Campeche concealed the region’s ancient human history. Scientists called Campeche an archaeological “blank spot” in the Maya Lowlands, an area spanning what is now Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala and southeastern Mexico, and which the Maya inhabited from

By Julianna Bragg, CNN (CNN) — For many people, prime numbers have faded into the background since distant grade school days. However, for Luke Durant, a 36-year-old former Nvidia programmer, prime numbers became an all-consuming passion. He devoted nearly one year and invested a considerable sum of his own money to uncover the world’s largest

By Amarachi Orie, CNN (CNN) — Talented though they may be, monkeys will never type out the complete works of William Shakespeare, or even a short book, a new study suggests. The Infinite Monkey Theorem is a famous thought experiment that states that a monkey pressing random keys on a typewriter would eventually reproduce the

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — The 47-year-old Voyager 1 spacecraft is back in touch with NASA — but not out of the woods — after a technical issue caused a days-long communications blackout with the historic mission, which is billions of miles away in interstellar space. Voyager 1 is now using a radio transmitter

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — The oldest known surviving tombstone in the United States is an elaborate display of wealth — an intricately carved slab of black limestone initially laid in the floor of the second church of Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent British settlement in North America. Often referred to as the “Knight’s Tombstone” due

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — The Perseverance rover spotted a quick glimpse of a cosmic “googly eye” on Mars during a recent solar eclipse. As Phobos, one of Mars’ two moons, passed in front of the sun, it cast a lumpy, potato-shaped shadow on the sun’s face as well as on the Martian surface.

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Well-preserved bones recovered from an English shipwreck are shedding light on what life was like for the crew of the ill-fated Mary Rose — and offering surprising insights about changes in bone chemistry that could benefit modern medical research. The Mary Rose was one of the largest warships of

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — When a supernova was seen glittering in the night sky for six months in 1181, it was so bright that Chinese and Japanese astronomers recorded it as a “guest star” in the Cassiopeia constellation. Now, astronomers using the Keck Cosmic Web Imager, or KCWI, at the W. M. Keck

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — A comet nicknamed the “Halloween comet” disintegrated on Monday during its closest approach of the sun, and the European Space Agency and NASA’s Solar and Heliospheric Observatory mission captured footage of its final moments. Astronomers first discovered Comet C/2024 S1 (ATLAS) on September 27 via an Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — A shimmering ancient fossil unearthed in New York state looks like a piece of finely crafted jewelry, but it’s also a portal into the natural world 450 million years ago. The striking fossil is a newly identified species of arthropod, a distant relative of modern-day horseshoe crabs, scorpions, and

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Louisiana students Ne’Kiya Jackson and Calcea Johnson wowed their teachers in 2022 when they discovered a new way to prove the 2000-year-old Pythagorean theorem in response to a bonus question in a high school math contest. But that was only the beginning. A volunteer at their former school, New

By Kathleen Magramo, CNN (CNN) — Water was already up to his knees, but 22-year-old Kierwen Garlan’s first thought was how to help his neighbors, as their homes were filling with floodwater and being lashed by heavy rain. Tropical Storm Trami, known locally as Kristine, swept across the northeastern Philippines last week, inundating entire towns

By Rachel Ramirez, CNN (CNN) — The world’s trees are in critical danger, with a staggering number of tree species teetering on the brink of extinction, according to a new global analysis released Monday. The decade-long project found that more than one in three tree species are threatened with extinction, underscoring the scale of the crisis

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Greetings, earthlings! I’m Jackie Wattles, and I’m thrilled to be a new name bringing awe to your inbox. I’ve covered space exploration for nearly a decade at CNN, and there has never been a more exciting time to follow space and science discoveries. As researchers push forward to explore

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Researchers have connected the identity of skeletal remains found in a well at Norway’s Sverresborg castle to a passage in a centuries-old Norse text. The 800-year-old Sverris saga, which follows the story of the real-life King Sverre Sigurdsson, includes the tossing of the body of a dead man —

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Three NASA astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut were unexpectedly transferred to a medical facility in Florida rather than immediately returning to their home base in Houston after their splashdown early Friday morning aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule. One of those astronauts stayed at Ascension Sacred Heart Pensacola Friday

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — When dinosaurs roamed Earth, their surroundings looked very different than the world of today. But there were also some similarities. And now scientists have confirmed a new one: Diverse firefly species lit up the night during the late Mesozoic. The discovery comes from a fossil of an ancient firefly species

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — The two test pilots for the inaugural crewed flight of Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft — NASA’s Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore — left Earth for the International Space Station under the impression their trip would last only about one week. Months later, after determining that the technical issues the Starliner

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — The powerful Euclid telescope has captured millions of stars and galaxies in a dazzling new mosaic — and it represents just the first piece of a massive puzzle the observatory has been designed to solve. The European Space Agency mission, launched in July 2023, will create the largest and

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Lost for centuries, two cities lay buried, nearly 5 kilometers (3 miles) apart, underneath grassy pastures in the mountains of Uzbekistan. Now, archaeologists for the first time have mapped these intriguing highland strongholds in the country’s southeast — once a key crossroad of ancient silk trade routes — that

By Issy Ronald, CNN (CNN) — Scientists have scoured the depths of the ocean and outer space for microbes to help slow global warming. They’re now looking at a new and unlikely place —  inside your home. A group called the Two Frontiers Project (2FP) — funded by biotech company Seed Health — is asking people in

By Issy Ronald, CNN London (CNN) — A hoard of Norman-era silver coins unearthed five years ago in southwestern England has become Britain’s most valuable treasure find ever, after it was bought for £4.3 million ($5.6 million) by a local heritage trust. For the group of seven metal detectorists who discovered the 2,584 silver pennies

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A massive space rock, estimated to be the size of four Mount Everests, slammed into Earth more than 3 billion years ago — and the impact could have been unexpectedly beneficial for the earliest forms of life on our planet, according to new research. Typically, when a large space

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — The famous Halley’s comet is about halfway through its roughly 76-year orbit of the sun, having reached its farthest point from its host star in December 2023. The comet won’t be visible in the night sky until 2061. But the debris the comet leaves in its trail — otherwise known as

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A mile and a half beneath the ocean’s surface, the seafloor seems nearly as alien as the surfaces of other planets. Deep-sea volcanic ridges, formed by the collisions of tectonic plates, create underwater hot springs in an otherwise frigid environment. These hydrothermal vents belch warm towers of elements that

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — For nearly two centuries, scientists have tried to solve an enduring mystery about a giant millipede-like animal named Arthropleura that used its many legs to roam Earth more than 300 million years ago. Now, two well-preserved fossils of the creature unearthed in France have finally revealed what Arthropleura’s head

Story by Reuters (CNN) — The mass bleaching of coral reefs around the world since February 2023 is now the most extensive on record, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told Reuters this week. A staggering 77% of the world’s coral reef areas — from the Atlantic to the Pacific to the Indian oceans — have so far been subjected to bleaching-level heat stress,

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — The origin of modern humans’ long-standing love affair with carbs may predate our existence as a species, according to a new study. A once prevailing stereotype of ancient humans feasting on mammoth steak and other hunks of meat helped foster the idea of a protein-heavy diet that was necessary

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — Clean energy executive Cary Kottler was one of millions who lost power and heat as winter storm Uri, as it was called, blasted Texas with a historic cold snap in 2021. The temperature inside his house hovered just above the freezing mark. Kottler’s family goldfish froze in its tank.

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — For the first time, scientists have found evidence that marine mammals could be inhaling microplastics, according to new research that detected the potentially harmful particles in the breath of bottlenose dolphins off the coasts of Louisiana and Florida. Microplastics are small pieces of plastic defined as less than 5 millimeters

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Humanity has thrown the global water cycle off balance “for the first time in human history,” fueling a growing water disaster that will wreak havoc on economies, food production and lives, according to a landmark new report. Decades of destructive land use and water mismanagement have collided with the

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Scientists have uncovered communities of animals such as tube worms and snails living in volcanic caves beneath the seafloor, revealing a previously unknown but thriving ecosystem. Researchers made the astonishing discovery during a 30-day expedition aboard the Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel “Falkor (too)” to explore an undersea volcano

By Gina Park and Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Keep your eyes along the horizon at dusk to witness a stunning lunar display rise this evening. The closest supermoon of the year will soon loom large and bright in the autumn sky. October’s hunter’s moon is set to peak at its fullest around 7:26 a.m.

By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — Researchers have discovered a distant disc galaxy that has surprisingly similar characteristics to our own Milky Way, and it could change our understanding of how galaxies form. The galaxy, which has been named REBELS-25, is far more orderly than the existing science suggests it should be for its age,

By Stephanie Elam, CNN Los Angeles (CNN) — Beautiful beaches. Majestic mountains. Hollywood. One more thing Southern California is known for: earthquakes. Yet for a long time, and to the great relief of millions, the many active faults that claw and tear through the earth have been relatively quiet. That peace has been recently shaken by several

CNN By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A mission to study one of the solar system’s most promising environments that may be suitable for life has lifted off. NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft — designed to explore its namesake, Jupiter’s moon Europa — launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket Monday at 12:06 p.m. ET from

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A mission to study one of the solar system’s most promising environments that may be suitable for life has lifted off. NASA’s Europa Clipper spacecraft — designed to explore its namesake, Jupiter’s moon Europa — launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket Monday at 12:06 p.m. ET from NASA’s

CNN By Alexandra Banner, CNN (CNN) — More than 100 cities across the US are celebrating Indigenous Peoples’ Day today. The alternative to Columbus Day recognizes the contributions and legacy of those who lived here long before Christopher Columbus erroneously claimed to have discovered America. Before running errands, keep in mind that many post offices,

By Jackie Wattles and Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — SpaceX successfully launched the latest test flight of Starship Sunday morning, the most powerful rocket system ever constructed, which could one day be used to carry humans to the moon and Mars. Liftoff of the Super Heavy rocket booster, topped with the uncrewed Starship spacecraft, occurred at

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Federal regulators granted SpaceX its long-awaited license to move forward with a fifth uncrewed test launch of Starship, the most powerful rocket system ever constructed. The US Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, announced Saturday that SpaceX had “met all safety, environmental and other licensing requirements for

By Rachel Ramirez, CNN (CNN) — William Fulford moved from Virginia Beach, Virginia, to a new waterfront development in Florida in 2023. Nestled between Sarasota Bay and the southwestern part of Tampa Bay, the new home by Bradenton Beach was everything Fulford, a retired custom homebuilder, ever wished for. The developers of the new Hunters

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — The icy extremes of Earth have long beckoned explorers with the promise of discovering uncharted territory. The challenges of reaching such unforgiving destinations stirred excitement in the 19th and early 20th centuries, with expeditions venturing to Antarctica and the Arctic. Some achieved pioneering success, while others resulted in tragic

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — At the heart of the ancient city of Petra, Jordan, carved into pink sandstone cliffs, lies an elaborate monument known as the Khaznah, or the Treasury. And buried beneath that edifice, archaeologists recently discovered, is a tomb with at least 12 human skeletons and artifacts that are estimated to

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Drought is now so bad in parts of southern Africa that governments say they must kill hundreds of their most captivating, majestic wild animals to feed desperately hungry people. In August, Namibia announced it had embarked on a cull of 723 animals, including 83 elephants, 30 hippos and 300

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Two male lions became infamous for terrorizing and eating humans in 1898 during construction of a railway bridge over the Tsavo River in Kenya. Now, an innovative genetic analysis of hairs trapped inside the cavities of their broken teeth have revealed new insights into the prey the so-called Tsavo

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — New observations of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot captured by the Hubble Space Telescope show that the 190-year-old storm wiggles like gelatin and shape-shifts like a squeezed stress ball. The unexpected observations, which Hubble took over 90 days from December to March, show that the Great Red Spot isn’t as

By Issy Ronald, CNN (CNN) — When a National Geographic documentary team discovered a boot and sock sticking out of a melting glacier on Mount Everest in September, they almost immediately recognized its significance as a clue to a century-old mystery. A name label still stitched onto the woollen sock read “A.C. Irvine,” revealing that

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Archaeologists have identified the cannibalized remains of a senior officer who perished during an ill-fated 19th century Arctic expedition, offering insight into its lost crew’s tragic and grisly final days. By comparing DNA from the bones with a sample from a living relative, the new research revealed the skeletal