Science

Photo collage of family with various drugs.

The 'naughty little secret' of today's drug-friendly parents

11 min read

Researchers found a spoon's worth of nanoplastics in human brains — the latest evidence that plastic is accumulating in our bodies

4 min read

Bill Gates speaking at the "World Health Summit" conference; Donald Trump speaking to reporters in the Oval Office.

Bill Gates said he did his best to save things like funding for HIV research during a 3-hour meeting with Trump at Mar-a-Lago

Gates said he "had a really good, very long dinner" with Trump at Mar-a-Lago after Christmas.

3 min read

An animation looking from behind as NASA's first planetary defense test mission, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART), collides with the asteroid moonlet Dimorphos.

An asteroid with a tiny chance of striking Earth in 2032 is triggering planetary defense planning

Asteroid 2024 YR4 might force NASA to plan the first-ever space mission to push an asteroid away from Earth. Most likely, though, it's a non-threat.

4 min read

field of tiny balls of different sizes and shades of grey in a microscope image

The odds of alien life just increased, NASA says after discovering DNA ingredients on an asteroid

NASA scientists found amino acids, key minerals, and nucleobases for DNA in samples from the OSIRIS-REx asteroid mission. It's a win for alien life.

5 min read

A home in a glass dome protected by fire

If you own a home, the LA wildfires are trying to tell you something

A third of American homes, or about 48 million properties, are at risk of wildfires. Here's how to protect yours.

9 min read

illustration of planets lined up behind the sun across starry space

How to see 6 planets align in a rare night-sky parade in January and February

Six planets are parading across the sky, appearing as some of the night's brightest stars. A few easy tips can help you identify them.

4 min read

The researcher who popularized 'Gen Beta' explains why the name fits the next generation

Generation Beta, or those born from 2025 to 2039, has no inherent meaning, demographer Mark McCrindle said. Still, he's aware of the memes.

3 min read

blue origin new glenn rocket roars to life in dark of night with fire and smoke billowing from the launch pad

If Blue Origin wants to give SpaceX a run for its money, it has a lot of catching up to do

Blue Origin scored a major win with its New Glenn rocket launch, but SpaceX still leads the space industry with a Falcon fleet and upcoming Starship.

4 min read

Starship minutes before liftoff on its latest test flight

SpaceX's new-generation Starship explodes after taking off on its latest test flight

SpaceX launched its Starship mega-rocket for the seventh time. It achieved an epic booster catch, but the ship was lost.

6 min read

white new glenn rocket standing on launch platform

Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin launches New Glenn mega-rocket, entering the orbital big league

Jeff Bezos' company Blue Origin launched its New Glenn mega-rocket for the first time. The milestone is a leap for reusable rocketry.

5 min read

A woman is smiling while on a scale, a healthcare provider is adjusting the scale, stock image.

BMI, one of the most popular ways of telling if you're a healthy weight, is bogus. Here's what to use instead.

A new report suggests that a diagnosis of obesity should depend on patients' individual health — not their Body Mass Index. Here's why BMI is outdated.

5 min read

window frame covered in flames with a tree burning inside

The most horrific wildfires in recent US history have one key feature in common

Devastating fires in Lahaina, Hawaii and Paradise, California share a crucial root cause with the LA blazes. It's a clue to our fire future.

4 min read

A woman looking doubtful while embraced by a man

Here's how to stop an argument with a narcissist from spinning out of control

Things can escalate very quickly when dealing with a narcissist, as they struggle with having positive feelings about someone they are mad at.

6 min read

before-and-after satellites images show suburban neighborhood of homes then the same area with most homes replaced by piles of charred rubble

Satellite images show the scale of the destruction from LA's wildfires

Satellite imagery shows neighborhoods burned down, roads closed, and fires spreading across Los Angeles.

4 min read

a home engulfed in fire with bright orange and yellow flames shooting out of the windows and covering the roof

Photos from the LA fires show how houses catch on fire — and how homeowners can protect their property

Wildfires and brush fires can quickly spread into neighborhoods in large part because flying embers start little fires that then set homes ablaze.

4 min read

The Getty Villa sign with fires in the background from the Palisades Fire in California

The Getty Villa survived LA's firestorms while the area around it burned, revealing a key lesson for homeowners

The Getty Villa remained standing as fires razed homes around it. Getty staff have been doing simple yard work all year that homeowners should follow.

3 min read

Firefighters fight the Palisades wildfires in Los Angeles.

What fueled the LA wildfires now tearing through some of America's most expensive homes

California is no stranger to wildfires, but the firestorms raging through Los Angeles are different.

4 min read

two people stand in front of a burned down house still smoldering under smoky skies

The horror of the Los Angeles firestorms is hard to grasp, but emerging photos give a sense of the destruction

The Palisades and Eaton fires are still raging through Los Angeles. Emerging photos offer a glimpse of how devastating their toll will be.

4 min read

rocky mars ground with red strip in the middle speckled with off-white leopard spots with black outlines

NASA scrapped its $11 billion scheme to grab Mars rocks that may point to alien life. Now it has a faster, cheaper plan.

NASA's mission to return samples from Mars and potentially discover the first signs of alien life has a new timeline. The samples may arrive sooner.

4 min read

A hiker ventures along the snowy trails of Utah in the winter.

The coldest temperature recorded in every state

A slew of snowstorms have been hitting the US, but the weather hasn't come close to dropping to these record-low temperatures.

16 min read

A worker in an orange vest and a person in a plaid shirt inside caves that used to be dwellings

5 times entire towns were found buried

Dirt, ice, and greenery can all conceal hidden or forgotten cities. Here are five cities that were rediscovered through technology or by chance.

10 min read

Freezing conditions to linger as Winter Storm Blair blankets US

Winter Storm Blair is bringing heavy snow to areas in the mid-Atlantic region that haven't seen such weather in a decade.

3 min read

First US bird flu death recorded in Louisiana as outbreak spreads

A Louisiana patient has died from bird flu. It's the first bird flu death in the US. Public health risk remains low, officials report.

3 min read

large metal ring thought to be part of a rocket fell from space in Kenya village

Photos show the 1,000 pounds of space debris that crash landed in Kenya. It's unclear who it belongs to.

A large metallic ring from space crash-landed in Kenya on New Year's Day. Officials want to determine its origins and hold the owner accountable.

3 min read

Gen Alpha is no longer the youngest generation — Gen Beta has arrived

Babies born from January 1 will be part of Generation Beta, a new generation that will hopefully be less obsessed with Skibidi Toilet.

2 min read

aerial view of a long miami island with high rise buildings above beaches next to blue ocean water

Miami's beachfront high-rises are sinking fast. It's a warning for coastal properties worldwide.

Miami's luxurious barrier islands high-rises are sinking, pointing to an expensive issue for coastal properties and cities worldwide.

4 min read

The northern lights over snowy mountains by the water.

A powerful solar storm is due to hit Earth on New Year's Eve, sparking beautiful auroras. Here's how to see them.

The sun recently hurled two coronal mass ejections toward Earth. The first is expected to reach us on Tuesday sparking aurora across the northern US.

5 min read

gritty yellow ring with speckled solid rock sample inside

The US's biggest moments and upsets in space this year

See the US achieve many firsts in space exploration this year from SpaceX's wild rocket catch to Intuitive Machines' historic moon landing.

4 min read

spaceship docked to space station module surrounded by bright pink and green lights amid a red glow with cloudy Earth below

Astronauts' most jaw-dropping photos from the International Space Station show what 2024 looked like 250 miles above Earth

Pictures from the International Space Station do not disappoint, from comets and northern lights to giant hurricanes and cities at night.

3 min read

satellite debris collision experiment simulation explosion

Earth's orbit is so crowded that space traffic controllers issue more than 1,000 collision warnings per day

Satellites and chunks of space junk come close to colliding on a regular basis. The situation could get dangerously out of control.

4 min read

illustration of parker solar probe spacecraft approaching sun

NASA is about to 'touch' the sun. Here's what you need to know.

NASA is about to make history. Its Parker Solar Probe is set to fly closer to the sun than any object in history. The mission is years in the making.

5 min read

How Elon Musk made SpaceX take off by giving employees stock options

SpaceX's earliest workers endured grueling hours, Elon Musk's tirades, and even dangerous conditions — in part because they had equity in the company.

3 min read