By Hilary Whiteman, CNN Brisbane, Australia (CNN) — Etched onto rocks on a remote peninsula in Western Australia are millions of images drawn tens of thousands of years ago by the country’s original inhabitants, including the earliest known depictions of the human face. This open-air display of some of humanity’s oldest works is being slowly
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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.
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By 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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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Astronomers have detected an astonishing celestial object emitting bright flashes of radio waves and X-rays that last for two minutes and repeat every 44 minutes. In a fresh twist, the discovery marks the first time powerful X-rays have been associated with an object that might be a long-period transient.
Continue ReadingBy Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — What scientists understand about the voracious feeding habits of the colossal megalodon could be up for some revision. The prehistoric predator that went extinct about 3.6 million years ago was not hunting only large marine mammals such as whales as researchers widely thought, a new study has found. Instead,
Continue ReadingBy Andrew Freedman, CNN (CNN) — Forget marching in the streets with creative signs. For President Donald Trump’s second term, in the face of steep funding cuts for climate and weather research and forecasting, scientists have a new way of engaging the public: livestreamed presentations. Starting Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET and lasting for 100
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By Rosa Rahimi and Mostafa Salem, CNN (CNN) — Three tombs dating back thousands of years have been unearthed in an ancient Egyptian burial complex. The tombs of three prominent statesmen from the New Kingdom era (1539 to 1077 BCE) have been uncovered in Luxor, according to Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. The discovery
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By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — The Environmental Protection Agency is drafting a proposed regulation that would end all federal limits on planet-warming pollution generated by coal and gas-fired power plants, according to documents cited by the New York Times. The proposed rule, which the agency said would be published once it has completed interagency
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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — An Anglo-Saxon ship found at the Sutton Hoo estate in Suffolk, England, has long captivated history enthusiasts since its discovery on the eve of World War II. And the site of the seventh century royal burial has yielded still more wonders of the ancient past in more recent decades.
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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Archaeologists have uncovered a key component of a mysterious artifact at Sutton Hoo, a National Trust site in Suffolk, England, famous for the seventh century Anglo-Saxon “ghost ship” burial discovered in a mound between 1938 and 1939. The fragments of the sixth century Byzantine bucket have fascinated researchers since
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By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Infection-causing fungi responsible for millions of deaths a year will spread significantly to new regions as the planet heats up, new research predicts — and the world is not prepared. Fungi are absolutely everywhere. A vast kingdom of organisms, from mold to mushrooms, they grow in environments such as
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By Kameryn Griesser, CNN (CNN) — Astronomers have for the first time spotted two galaxies in the throes of a deep-space “duel.” Using combined observations from ground-based telescopes over nearly four years, the researchers saw the distant galactic neighbors charging toward each other at more than 1.1 million miles per hour (1.8 million kilometers per
Continue ReadingBy Amanda Schupak, CNN (CNN) — A new study may have uncovered exactly what makes orange cats special — though it might not be for the reason you think. Ginger kitties are known among cat owners for being particularly friendly and feisty. To geneticists, however, the uniqueness of these house cats comes from the unusual
Continue ReadingBy Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — On a remote, crescent-shaped island surrounded by crystal-clear ocean live some of the most plastic-contaminated birds in the world. They have bellies so full of fragments, they crunch when touched. Lord Howe Island — a speck of land about 370 miles off mainland Australia, home to just a few
Continue ReadingBy Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Distinct clawed footprints found on a slab of 356 million-year-old rock from Australia suggest that reptile relatives appeared between 35 million and 40 million years earlier than previously believed. The tracks also push back the origin of amniotes, a group that includes reptiles, birds and mammals, and provide new
Continue ReadingBy Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Federal regulators have given SpaceX the green light for another test flight of Starship, the most powerful launch vehicle ever constructed, after two explosive mishaps earlier this year rained debris near islands in the Caribbean and Atlantic oceans. The Federal Aviation Administration, which licenses commercial rocket launches, said Thursday
Continue ReadingBy Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — Clownfish, a small orange and white species made famous by the “Finding Nemo” movies, have been found to shrink in order to boost their chances of surviving marine heat waves, according to a new study. Working at a conservation center in Papua New Guinea, a team led by scientists
Continue ReadingBy Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — The sensitive interior of human teeth might have originated from a seemingly unlikely place: sensory tissue in fish that were swimming in Earth’s oceans 465 million years ago. While our teeth are covered in hard enamel, it’s dentine — the tooth’s inner layer responsible for carrying sensory information to
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By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — When a fossil preserves an animal’s complete body in a death pose, seeing it is observing a snapshot in time. Several such fossils exist for Archaeopteryx — the earliest known bird — and now, a remarkable specimen that was off-limits to scientists for decades is offering previously unseen evidence
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By Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — Ten gold bracelets, 17 cigar cases, a powder compact, a comb, and a whopping 598 gold coins: The items are all part of a valuable and somewhat mysterious stash, found by chance by two hikers in the northeastern Czech Republic. The hikers, who wish to remain anonymous, were taking
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