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By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Longtime NASA astronaut Mike Fincke is stepping away from his role at the space agency. The news comes months after he experienced a medical emergency aboard the International Space Station, which forced a premature end to the journey for him and three crewmates. Fincke’s last day at the space

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — The grand stellar spectacle of the year — a total solar eclipse — dazzled the skies over parts of Europe on Wednesday. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the sun and Earth, casting a shadow on our planet that completely blocks the sun’s light from

By Amen Galinato, CNN Some sky-gazers may see a dazzling meteor shower coincide with a total solar eclipse in a rare celestial alignment this week. The Perseid meteor shower will be visible on Wednesday night and before dawn Thursday morning, reaching its expected peak — or point of maximum meteor activity — on Thursday at

By Andrew Freedman, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is ending federal support for the flagship annual report on the state of the Arctic and how the region is changing due to climate pollution, according to two people familiar with the situation. The Arctic Report Card has been supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric

By Andrew Freedman, CNN (CNN) — July was the hottest month ever recorded in the United States, according to data released Monday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The month featured long, intense heat domes that led to record hot temperatures from the East Coast to the Plains and Southwestern states. NOAA’s temperature records

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — Michael Zeiler is currently aboard the expedition ship Ocean Explorer, heading to the fjords of Greenland to view the upcoming total solar eclipse on Wednesday. The veteran eclipse chaser has an ambitious goal: to make the first-ever observation of an aurora during solar eclipse totality. He also said he

By Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN Rome (CNN) — Italian spear fisherman and diver Giacomo De Mola couldn’t believe his eyes when what he thought was an underwater rock turned out to be the wreck of a 2,000-year-old Roman transport vessel off the coast of Sicily. De Mola and fellow spear fisherman and diver Igor Bisulli

By Lex Harvey, CNN (CNN) — The first two months of summer in western Europe have been the hottest on record, the European Union’s climate monitor said Monday, as the continent grapples with devastating wildfires and braces for yet another heatwave. The average temperature for June and July was 21.62 degrees Celsius (70.9 Fahrenheit), about

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A daring mission to rescue one of NASA’s crucial space observatories from falling to Earth has encountered issues of its own — but there may still be hope for both spacecraft to beat the odds. The Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory has served as an astrophysics multitool in low-Earth orbit

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — A gravity-defying competition that brewed in the background of geopolitics for decades is now roaring to the forefront — with China demonstrating rapid advances in space technology and the United States ratcheting up rhetoric about a looming battle for control of the cosmos. In the past five years alone,

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Lake Mead, the largest reservoir in the United States, has fallen to a record low — yet another sign that the Colorado River system is spiraling further into crisis. Water levels on Thursday in Lake Mead dropped to 1,040.5 feet, below the previous record low of 1,040.58 feet set

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — An ambitious effort to boost an aging probe on its journey through the uncharted territory of interstellar space seems to have found success. Engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, have spent the last few months implementing what they nicknamed the “Big Bang” fix to buy the

By Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — The skies of Oklahoma City roared for six months in 1964 as military aircraft intentionally rattled the population below with a daily barrage of thunderous sonic booms. It was a controversial test — the consequences of which have lingered to this day. The booms — 1,253 in total —

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — The world’s most powerful solar telescope has captured the highest resolution observations of the sun’s visible surface — and uncovered a hidden process that drives solar activity. Scientists used the National Science Foundation’s Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope, located near the summit of Haleakalā, a volcano on the Hawaiian

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — In the heart of urban Los Angeles lie the La Brea Tar Pits, a group of natural asphalt seeps made famous by the millions of ice age fossils preserved within the bubbling, dark pools of goo. Excavations of the pits have yielded bones of species that once roamed the

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Relentless heat and a dearth of rain are having a punishing effect on some of Europe’s most vital rivers. The waterways have tumbled to record lows in places, in a crisis so severe it can be seen from space. Stark satellite images reveal dramatically shrunken waterways weaving through parched

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — When the next hurricane heads toward Florida, some people won’t have to join the lines of traffic slowly snaking out of town. They won’t need to worry about gas, or where they should head. Instead, they will be swiftly flown out of state on a privately hired airplane. A

By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — Sticky “hairs” on two plant species in the Saxifraga genus led famed British naturalist Charles Darwin to wonder: Could some plants in this genus be carnivorous? He couldn’t prove it then, but more than 150 years later, scientists have shown that Darwin’s suspicions were correct. Darwin proposed in 1875

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Part of a SpaceX rocket traveling at more than 5,000 miles per hour crashed into the moon early Wednesday morning. The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, located at the Paranal Observatory in Chile, detected the impact. “We can confirm that the telescope detected spectral lines of sodium and

By Jackie Wattles, Thomas Bordeaux, CNN (CNN) — Space exploration enthusiasts have been tracking the unprecedented journey of SpaceX’s latest Starship prototype, which wound up floating in the Indian Ocean after the company’s latest test flight. Now, satellites have captured mind-bending images of boats working to haul the rocket back to shore. The saga of

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — The scintillating cosmic phenomenon of a total solar eclipse will be visible to millions of people across parts of Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, Spain and Portugal on August 12. It’s the first of three eclipses anticipated over Spain in the next two years. The best way to prepare for

By Sneha Dhandapani, CNN Bobcat Cave near Huntsville is home to the endangered Alabama cave shrimp, two species of cave crayfish and the southern cavefish. Those were all Dr. Matthew Niemiller expected to find when he set out to survey the cave system last year. Instead, he discovered a bizarre-looking fish, previously unknown to science.

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — California, Arizona and Nevada will be required to slash their water use from the drought-stricken Colorado River by 16 to 20% through 2028, under a federal plan set to be released in the next few days, according to a senior state water official. But some fear it won’t be

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Europe’s summer of extraordinary heat and drought has pushed some of its rivers to record lows, revealing long-submerged relics from ancient bones to century-old shipwrecks. The remains of what’s believed to be an ancient mammoth were discovered Wednesday on the newly exposed riverbed of the Danube in northern Bulgaria,

By Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — Scientists say they have detected promising signs that a planet orbiting a star 49 light-years from Earth could have an atmosphere, making it potentially suitable for life. Called LHS 1140b, the object is about five times the mass of our planet, or a “super-Earth.” This planet orbits around its

Barbie Latza Nadeau Rome (CNN) — The new trees meant to provide much-needed shade in Rome’s Piazza Risorgimento were burnt to a crisp. Benches in dark plastic and wood were searingly hot. Several of the large flower pots had been gutted of their foliage entirely. The bushes lining the entrance were a burnt orange color.

By Amen Galinato, CNN A double meteor shower peak will occur this week — but sky-gazers might have a difficult time catching a glimpse of the cosmic activity. The Alpha Capricornids are active from early July to mid-August, and the Southern Delta Aquariids are active from mid-July to mid-August, but both are expected to reach

CNN By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — The vast blazes ripping through southwestern France burned so intensely they created a powerful, fire-generated thunderstorm. This rare phenomenon is sometimes seen in the kinds of megafires that afflict the US and Canada, but was unprecedented in France, until now — and it’s just one sign that Europe

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — The vast blazes ripping through southwestern France burned so intensely they created a powerful, fire-generated thunderstorm. This rare phenomenon is sometimes seen in the kinds of megafires that afflict the US and Canada, but was unprecedented in France, until now — and it’s just one sign that Europe is

By Amen Galinato, CNN July’s full moon will grace the sky this week. Called the buck moon, it will rise in the east and reach peak illumination at 10:36 a.m. ET on Wednesday, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, though the moon will still look full before and after its peak. Sky-gazers will have “flexibility

By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — Scientists have revised the longstanding picture of “Nutcracker Man” — an extinct hominin, or human relative, nicknamed for its large teeth and powerful jaw muscles — thanks to fresh analysis of fossil footprints from a site in Kenya. Nutcracker Man, whose species is scientifically known as Paranthropus boisei, lived

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — When astrobiologist Adam Frank walked into the office of NASA scientist Gavin Schmidt, he had what he believed was the weirdest question: do aliens experience climate change? It took just moments for Schmidt to out-weird him. Frank, a University of Rochester professor who looks for signs of life in

By Sneha Dhandapani, CNN Four miles from the Eiffel Tower, a photographer captured the full moon’s path over a pink Paris skyline. In China, another photographer snapped a night sky of falling stars. These are just two of the submissions short-listed in the 18th annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition. Organized by the Royal

CNN, DR. KATHRYN AYRES, FRONTIERS OF ETHOLOGY By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — How hard do you have to ram a fish to make it explode? Ask an orca. Barreling into large, heavy fish with enough force to blast them into instant chum is a previously unknown collaborative feeding strategy among orcas, scientifically called Orcinus

By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — How hard do you have to ram a fish to make it explode? Ask an orca. Barreling into large, heavy fish with enough force to blast them into instant chum is a previously unknown collaborative feeding strategy among orcas, scientifically called Orcinus orca, also known as killer whales. But

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — The combined water level in two of the United States’ biggest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, has fallen to a historic low, in what experts are calling a significant moment in the Colorado River crisis — threatening a water system that supplies tens of millions. On July 12,

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — As the number of satellites orbiting Earth continues to grow, so does the risk of crashes between these spacecraft. Such collisions could create fields of debris, potentially rendering entire areas of orbit useless. Objects in space have crashed, or had near misses, in the past. But while such incidents

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Houseboats lie perched on desiccated riverbeds, receding water levels have left wide stretches of newly exposed riverbank and the shipping sector is bracing for trouble. The low-lying Netherlands is used to grappling with too much water; now it’s struggling with too little. On Thursday, the country declared an official

By Andrew Freedman, CNN (CNN) — Putting your own mask on before assisting others was only supposed to be a safety instruction on an airplane, but it has applied to everyday life in the urban corridor from Washington, DC, to Boston where, for the second time in four years, smoke from wildfires in Canada turned

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Pompeii is often thought of as an undisturbed time capsule, a once-bustling port that fell silent after Mount Vesuvius erupted and blanketed the ancient Roman city with a thick layer of ash in AD 79. “It is such a great persistent narrative,” Dr. Steven Tuck, professor and head of

By Kasha Patel, Chiara Negrello, CNN Scardovari, Italy (CNN) — As the sun was rising, two fisherwomen dragged their boat through the Scardovari lagoon in northeastern Italy. Oscarina Soncin stood in one of the largest clam-harvesting sites in Europe — the frigid water lapping against her knees as she scraped the seafloor with a metal

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — When the Eaton fire swept through the Los Angeles neighborhood of Altadena last year, it claimed 19 lives and incinerated thousands of buildings — one of which was the home of Kaitlyn Trudeau’s grandfather. His house burned to the ground; he lost everything. But while he grappled with trauma,

By Jack Guy, CNN London (CNN) — Bronze Age remains once thought to belong to a revered male metalworker are in fact female, new DNA analysis has found, calling into question long-held beliefs about ancient British society. The 4,000-year-old skeleton, which became known as the Upton Lovell Shaman, was found in a barrow, a special

By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — A new species of monkey with distinctive orange lips and a deep roaring call has been identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Colobus congoensis, known to local people as Likweli, is just the fifth new monkey species scientists have identified in Africa in the last 75 years,

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A groundbreaking mission that explored Pluto and distant solar system objects in unprecedented detail has awakened from its longest sleep ever — and it’s 5.9 billion miles (9.5 billion kilometers) from Earth. NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft went into a planned hibernation mode on August 7, 2025, and woke up

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A meteorite weighing more than 2 pounds (1 kilogram) that crashed through the roof of a New Jersey home two years ago could shed light on ancient water in the solar system. Observers across New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Pennsylvania reported seeing a fireball streaking across

By Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — Since the mysterious deaths of a husband and wife in the Medici family, a powerful Italian dynasty that ruled Florence and Tuscany almost uninterruptedly from 1434 to 1737, rumors have swirled about what led to the couple’s untimely demise. Now, scientists believe they have an answer — it wasn’t

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Astronomers have detected a natural sugar found in raspberries in clouds of interstellar dust and gas near the center of the Milky Way galaxy. The sweet discovery shows for the first time that compounds that are key to life can form in the vast expanse between stars and fuels

By Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — A Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton from South Dakota has become the world’s most expensive fossil sold at auction, after fetching a record $50,130,000 at Sotheby’s in New York Tuesday. The skeleton, which is about 67 million years old, is nicknamed Gus after the late Gary ‘Gus’ Licking, a cattle rancher

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — It’s been 13 years since the last large coal-fired power plant was built in the US. Now, the Trump administration wants to build another two, but experts say even federal support likely won’t make that feasible. President Donald Trump and his administration have made no secret of their preference

By Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — Before he became the namesake of one of the largest predators that ever lived — or made it into the footnotes of an auction catalog — the late Gary “Gus” Licking, a cattle rancher in South Dakota, had always suspected his land was hiding something big. The Licking ranch

By Ella Nilsen, Kit Maher, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration reversed decades of longstanding environmental law protecting endangered species on Friday, opening up sensitive habitats of those protected species to drilling, mining, farming and real estate development. The change, finalized by the Interior and Commerce Departments, redefines what constitutes “harm” to endangered species and

By Amen Galinato, CNN Six mysterious metal spheres that washed ashore last weekend at Forrest Beach in northern Queensland, Australia, are “suspected space debris,” the Australian Space Agency announced Monday on social media. Informally dubbed “space balls,” the large objects are likely pressure vessels — heavy-duty containers of pressurized gases and liquids — from a

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration announced Friday it has reached a settlement over a major 2022 oil spill in Kansas from the Keystone Pipeline, a controversial pipeline that President Donald Trump has taken interest in. South Bow LP, the owner of the pipeline, agreed to pay a $26 million civil penalty

By Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — Elon Musk’s plans for the future of SpaceX, and humanity, are rooted in an idea conceived in the 1960s when astronomers began to pick up mysterious, unknown radio sources in the cosmos. Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev was a pioneer in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence at the time, and

By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — If you happen to be right-handed, you may be able to trace the origins of that trait to a wormlike animal that lived about 550 million years ago and had a tendency to bend to the right. Spriggina floundersi appeared in oceans during the Ediacaran Period (635 million to

By Ashley Strickland, Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Wally Funk, a pioneering aviator who volunteered to be an astronaut for NASA’s “Women in Space Program” in 1961, has died at the age of 87. Funk passed away at her home in Grapevine, Texas, Wednesday evening, according to a spokesperson for the city, Mona Quintanilla. “Wally

By Mustafa Qadri, CNN (CNN) — For anyone who has ever wondered whether they could handle life on another planet, NASA is offering a chance to find out – well, sort of. The US space agency is looking to recruit four participants for its Moon and Mars Exploration Analog (MMEA), a yearlong simulation program that

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — A disused airport on Tasmania’s rugged West Coast will soon be home to an angular steel structure with a haunting purpose: to record “every step” humanity takes toward “catastrophe.” The striking monolith, known as “Earth’s Black Box,” will be perched on the granite landscape of western Tasmania — an

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — A Super El Niño is brewing and it could be the most intense in decades, threatening a dramatic increase in deadly extreme weather. But what if there was a way humans could dial down the ferocious impacts of the most severe El Niños by temporarily dimming the sun? That’s

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Pioneering gene-editing treatments are already in clinical use, saving lives and easing the pain of devastating genetic diseases. However, the growing number of patients receiving these treatments still run the risk of passing their disease-causing mutations to their children. Scientific consensus — and the law in 70 countries —

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Ancient DNA revealed that our species, Homo sapiens, once interbred with Neanderthals, but what was the nature of those Stone Age encounters tens of thousands of years ago? Discoveries unearthed in a cave in what’s now Turkey indicate the two groups did not merely cross paths but may have

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — A sudden electricity crunch in the US, driven by artificial intelligence, is colliding headlong with the Trump administration’s attacks on wind and solar. President Donald Trump has presented his anti-renewable stance as a way to cut energy costs — but a new analysis suggests limiting energy development at a

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, who captivated the world when he flew around the moon alongside three American crewmates during the Artemis II mission in April, said Monday that he would step back from a full-time astronaut role in September. In a social media post, Hansen said the move was

By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — Nomadic warriors called the Scythians roamed the Eurasian Steppe on horseback during the Iron Age. An elite class held the reins of Scythian power, their elevated status celebrated in death through rich burials. Among the most famous of these elite individuals is “Golden Man,” whose entombment contained iron weapons,

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Prehistoric human relatives, nicknamed “hobbits” due to their short stature, may have been scavengers, rather than skilled hunters capable of taking down big game or building cooking fires, according to new research. The study adds to growing evidence that Homo floresiensis, which had a brain only slightly bigger than

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A mission to rescue one of NASA’s storied space observatories from falling to Earth has launched on a daring, first-of-its-kind endeavor. If successful, it will mark the first time a commercial robotic mission has captured an uncrewed NASA spacecraft that wasn’t designed to be serviced in space, according to

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — New observations may offer fresh clues into how a giant exoplanet survived the violent death of its host star — and came to closely orbit its stellar remnants. The findings could serve as a preview of the fate that may await our solar system’s largest planets — such as

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — The balcony solar revolution is coming to the United States, but not everyone has been able to benefit. The nearly 35% of Americans who rent could stand to gain the most from solar, but there is a potential barrier in the way: Their landlords. This week, New Jersey became

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Every 40 seconds of nighttime for the next 10 years, a camera the size of a small car will capture strikingly detailed images of the southern sky, stitching together a time-lapse panorama of intergalactic evolution that could help unlock some of the universe’s lingering mysteries. The historic effort, called

CNN By Andrew Freedman, CNN (CNN) — Summer has barely started in the Northern Hemisphere, but already it’s offering an oppressive preview of life on a hotter planet. Europe has endured two deadly, record-shattering heat waves in a matter of weeks, with a third on the way next week. Now, the United States is experiencing

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Scientists say they have built a cell from scratch for the first time that can feed, grow and replicate like a natural cell. This breakthrough in synthetic biology could usher in an era of made-to-order organisms that function like living machines. Kate Adamala, a synthetic biologist and professor at

By Andrew Freedman, CNN (CNN) — Summer has barely started in the Northern Hemisphere, but already it’s offering an oppressive preview of life on a hotter planet. Europe has endured two deadly, record-shattering heat waves in a matter of weeks, with a third on the way next week. Now, the United States is experiencing its

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — The planet’s oceans are at unprecedented temperatures for this time of year, breaking the all-time June record, according to new data, with alarming implications for global weather and marine life. On June 21, average global sea surface temperatures reached 69.5 degrees Fahrenheit (20.86 Celsius), edging above the June record

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — NASA’s moon base plans, conceptualized just a few months ago, are rolling out in earnest as the space agency maps out a strategy to deliver landers, rovers, buggies and other assets to the lunar surface. On Tuesday, NASA said it will pay about $590 million dollars to three companies

By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — A fossil that was sitting in a collection drawer for decades has been found to belong to the first dinosaur remains ever discovered in Antarctica. The vertebra or backbone was found in 1985 by a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) expedition, but was initially assessed as belonging to a large

By Amen Galinato, CNN The strawberry moon, which will be visible in the sky this week, will mark the first full moon of the summer. On Monday, just days after the June 21 summer solstice, sky-gazers will witness the celestial body light up the night sky with its amber glow. For those in the Northern

By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — Archaeologists in Israel have discovered a cave used by pre-Neanderthal human-like creatures who lived as long as 400,000 years ago, making it one of only a handful of sites from the little-known period accessible to scientists. Located on the outskirts of a town called Fureidis in northern Israel, the

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN (CNN) — A papyrus scroll that was burned and carbonized when Mount Vesuvius erupted almost 2,000 years ago has been virtually unrolled and partially deciphered with the help of artificial intelligence. The scroll — named PHerc. 1667 — is one of hundreds from the ancient Roman town of Herculaneum, which was

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A distant star-forming galaxy nicknamed the “Shadow Blaster” could have sent a ghostly cosmic particle hurtling toward Earth. Astronomers believe they have traced the particle‘s origin to 11 billion light-years away, marking a step forward in understanding the mysterious neutrinos. Neutrinos are abundant across the universe, earning a reputation

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — The record-shattering June heat that’s baked Europe this week would have been “virtually impossible” just a few decades ago, according to a new analysis, which says the human-driven climate crisis is “unequivocally to blame.” The ongoing heat wave is the region’s “most severe ever recorded,” according to the study

By Amen Galinato, CNN (CNN) — An iron cannonball that may have played a role in the 1836 Battle of the Alamo has been unearthed in Texas, according to researchers. It’s only the second artifact of its kind ever found intact at the site. Archaeologists were digging beneath undisturbed soil layers in June near the

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Europe’s heat endurance continues as multiple countries are braced for triple digit temperatures Thursday. The United Kingdom has already broken its June temperature record for the second straight day, and other countries could see national records fall. Swaths of Europe are baking under a heat dome, a vast area

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Humanlike fossils have emerged from the deep and twisting caverns of the Rising Star cave system in South Africa over the past decade — and what they have revealed has rocked the field of human origins. Now, new findings on the sex of individuals whose remains were discovered there

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — When massive 9.0 magnitude earthquake shook Japan on March 11, 2011, the ground also made a more lasting move. About 15 minutes after the event began at 2:46 p.m. local time, nearly the entire country shifted eastward, according to GPS station measurements. The lurch was small — 5 to

By Laura Paddison, Mitchell McCluskey, CNN (CNN) — Brutal heat waves are coming more frequently in Europe, leaving millions of people struggling to adapt to punishing, record-breaking temperatures. There is little respite. Air conditioning is very rare in European homes. Many residents ride out the searing heat with the help of electric fans, ice packs

CNN, AJAY NARENDRA ET AL, MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY, MGM, Ajay Narendra et al/ Macquarie University By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — When most silk-spinning spiders hunt, they build a web and wait for prey to blunder into it. But a newly discovered species from Australia instead uses its silk to craft a spring-loaded, cone-shaped death trap,

By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — When most silk-spinning spiders hunt, they build a web and wait for prey to blunder into it. But a newly discovered species from Australia instead uses its silk to craft a spring-loaded, cone-shaped death trap, which catapults its prey into the spider’s main web. A foraging tree ant bites

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Relentless, deadly heat is tightening its grip on Europe, with temperature records expected to not just fall but be obliterated this week. Scientists warn this extreme heat is a huge problem for Europe and a wake up call to a new reality. Europe is the planet’s fastest-warming continent, heating

CNN By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Europe is sweltering under its second heat dome in two months, with temperatures spiking above 104 degrees Fahrenheit, bringing dangerous conditions across swaths of the planet’s fastest-warming continent. France banned public alcohol consumption, Spain closed a World Cup fan zone and the UK is bracing for an annihilation

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Since most butterflies live a short time, fluttering between colorful flowers for a few weeks before dying, a few rare exceptions have stumped scientists. Now, some long-lived tropical butterfly species are shedding light on the secrets of longevity. Butterflies belonging to the Heliconius genus, which inhabit the tropical rainforests

WMC, US DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF MISSISSIPPI, STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, CNN By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — In a highly unusual move, the US Justice Department has urged a federal court to throw out a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s company xAI for its use of polluting gas turbines — sparking concerns the government is

By Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN Rome (CNN) — A Roman villa with intricate mosaics has been unearthed on the outskirts of the Italian capital, in a remarkable discovery that emerged after police were alerted to a clandestine dig on government land. The property is located in what is now the village of Castel di Guido,

By Laura Paddison, Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — The Trump administration is U-turning on its controversial decision to dismantle a critical ocean monitoring system that provides vital information on the health of the world’s oceans, after a bipartisan backlash in Congress. The Ocean Observatories Initiative was established in 2016 and involves around 900 instruments across

By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — A 5,000-year-old structure discovered in southwest England may have been a prototype for the development of Stonehenge, according to archaeologists. The structure, which consisted of two wooden poles placed 120 meters (394 feet) apart, would have lined up with the rising sun at summer solstice and the setting sun

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — A Japanese ship was in a convoy steaming through the South China Sea on September 21, 1944, with around 1,200 British and Dutch prisoners of war crammed in its holds. US warplanes, mistaking the unmarked ship for a military cargo vessel, dropped four torpedoes. One struck the ship. The

By Laura Paddison, CNN Ealing, West London (CNN) — A few hundred feet from a McDonald’s and a strip mall, sandwiched between busy and polluted roads, a lush urban wetland is being built by an unusual and furry group of city residents: beavers. This corner of Ealing, a borough in West London, used to flood

By Sam Peters, CNN London (CNN) — When knights of old went looking for Robin Hood, they knew where to find him. The legendary outlaw has been associated with England’s Sherwood Forest for centuries, and one tree in particular has traditionally been cited as his hideout: the Major Oak. Scientists now believe this 1,200-year-old oak

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Ancient DNA recovered from cemeteries in southeast Siberia has revealed previously unknown strains of plague that had a deadly impact on an unexpected group of people 5,500 years ago. The early plague strains, detailed in a new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature, may be the oldest known

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — In a highly unusual move, the US Justice Department has urged a federal court to throw out a lawsuit against Elon Musk’s company xAI for its use of polluting gas turbines — sparking concerns the government is trying to undermine the ability of individuals or communities to sue polluters.