By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Nearly five months ago, a SpaceX rocket launched out of Florida carrying two lunar landers. The Blue Ghost spacecraft, from Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, zoomed to the moon, and in March it became the first robotic commercial vehicle to land upright on the lunar surface. The other spacecraft, developed by
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By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — One of the bleakest periods in medieval Europe was the plague pandemic known as the Black Death, which killed at least 25 million people in just five years. But the disease didn’t stop there. The plague adapted to keep its hosts alive longer, so it could spread farther and
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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A collision between our Milky Way galaxy and its largest neighbor, the Andromeda galaxy, predicted to occur in about 4.5 billion years, has been anticipated by astronomers since 1912. But new research suggests that the likelihood of this galactic clash, dubbed “Milkomeda,” is smaller than it seems. At first
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By Issy Ronald, CNN (CNN) — The world’s glaciers are in dire health with almost 40% of their total mass already doomed, even if global temperatures stopped rising immediately, a new study has found. Researchers estimate glaciers will eventually lose 39% of their mass relative to 2020, a trend that is already irreversible no matter
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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — For a long time, there has been a missing puzzle piece in Jerusalem’s history. Though ancient texts offered some clues, an archaeological record of the city during the Early Hellenistic Period, from 332 to 141 BC, was largely absent — until now. Excavators at the Jerusalem Walls National Park
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By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — Deep below the surface of the ground in one of the driest parts of the country, there is a looming problem: The water is running out — but not the kind that fills lakes, streams and reservoirs. The amount of groundwater that has been pumped out of the Colorado
Continue ReadingBy Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — Gold and other precious metals are leaking from Earth’s core into the layers above, eventually making their way up to the surface during the formation of volcanic islands like Hawaii, a new study suggests. The theory results from a three-year analysis of Hawaii’s basaltic rocks, which originally formed from
Continue ReadingBy Alysha Bibi and Diego Mendoza, CNN (CNN) — Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a nearly 3,000-year-old Mayan complex in Guatemala, revealing sanctuaries, pyramids and a unique canal system that could shed further light on the ancient civilization, the country’s culture minister said Thursday. The complex was discovered across three sites — Los Abuelos,
Continue ReadingBy Rosa Rahimi, CNN (CNN) — Researchers in central Spain say they may have uncovered one of the most ancient symbolic objects bearing a human fingerprint on record in Europe, dating back tens of thousands of years. Unlocking the secret identity of exactly who made the mark involved enlisting the help of forensic experts working
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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Archaeologists in Jerusalem say they have discovered a roughly 2,300-year-old gold ring with a red gemstone that’s remarkably similar to another piece of jewelry found less than a year ago. The two rings, small enough to fit a child, were artifacts unearthed at the City of David site in
Continue ReadingBy Nell Lewis, CNN (CNN) — Last October, four female eastern lowland gorillas were airlifted from their home in Kasuhgo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and released 40 miles (64 kilometers) northeast in Virunga National Park. Less than a year later, they have all successfully integrated into a group of wild gorillas, in what
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By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Attorneys general from 16 mostly Democrat-controlled US states filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration Wednesday, arguing that some of the federal government’s attempts to gut National Science Foundation research programs are illegal. The suit, filed in federal court Wednesday afternoon, asks a judge to put a stop to
Continue ReadingBy 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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