Science
- USNBC News
Water tanks went dry in Pacific Palisades, hampering efforts to fight fire
Demand for water to fight the Palisades Fire led all three of the area's water tanks and some fire hydrants to temporarily dry up in the last roughly 24 hours.
5 min read - ScienceCNN
Nearly 200 Jurassic footprints unearthed on ‘dinosaur highway’ in southern England
Nearly 200 Jurassic footprints found in southern England reveal new insights into 166 million-year-old prehistoric creatures, according to scientists.
6 min read - USAssociated Press
It's not really the right time for nasty California fires. What are the factors that changed that?
“Tiny, mighty and fast” fires have blazed through America's west in the last couple of decades as the world warms, said University of Colorado fire scientist Jennifer Balch. “The big culprit we're suspecting is a warming climate that's making it easier to burn fuels when conditions are just right.” Summer fires are bigger usually, but they don't burn nearly as fast.
5 min read - USNBC News
Four fires grow, forcing more than 80,000 evacuations around L.A.
A fire in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles has forced some residents to evacuate amid "life-threatening and destructive" winds.
5 min read - HealthReuters
World animal health body urges tighter bird flu controls after US death
More should be done to control the spread of bird flu among animals to avoid more cases in humans, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) said on Wednesday, following the first death of a patient from the virus in the United States. Avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, has spread across the world in recent years, ravaging flocks, pushing up food prices, and raising concerns about a new pandemic. "This situation really highlights the importance of managing risk at the animal sour
2 min read - EntertainmentSpace
Bill Nye 'The Science Guy' awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom
Bill Nye was recently awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of his dedication to science education.
2 min read - HealthWashington Post
Why more Americans are dying from the cold
On a warming planet, deaths in the United States related to cold weather are going up. Although it may seem counterintuitive, new research shows that even as climate change fuels hotter temperatures, cold weather is becoming an increasing risk in the United States. As a second winter storm in a week is forecast to pummel parts of the United States, experts cautioned that risk factors making people more susceptible to the cold - such as homelessness and social isolation - are on the rise.Subscrib
6 min read - ScienceAssociated Press
New research shows a quarter of freshwater animals are threatened with extinction
Nearly a quarter of animals living in rivers, lakes and other freshwater sources are threatened with extinction, according to new research published Wednesday. “Huge rivers like the Amazon can appear mighty, but at the same time freshwater environments are very fragile,” said study co-author Patricia Charvet, a biologist at Brazil's Federal University of Ceará. Freshwater habitats – including rivers, lakes, ponds, streams, bogs and wetlands – cover less than 1% of the planet’s surface, but sup
2 min read - ScienceSpace
Venus and the moon light up the night sky in gorgeous photos from around the world
Venus and the moon made quite a pair during a conjunction on Jan. 3, 2025, and we've got the photos to prove it.
3 min read - ScienceReuters
Study identifies risk potential for thousands of mutations of a cancer gene
Scientists have characterized the role of thousands of mutations in the BRCA2 cancer gene, findings that may help reassure worried patients about their cancer risk or guide doctors toward better, more targeted treatments, according to a study published on Wednesday. Harmful mutations in BRCA2 - a gene responsible for repairing damaged DNA - significantly increase the risk of breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancers. About 45% of women who inherit a harmful BRCA2 mutation will develop
2 min read - ScienceSpace
'Dark photons' at Big Bang's cosmic dawn could shine a light on dark matter
Interactions between dark matter and dark photons during a "missing chapter" cosmic history could shed light on one of the most troubling cosmic mysteries.
5 min read - ScienceThe Conversation
Nuclear fusion could one day be a viable clean energy source – but big engineering challenges stand in the way
Even once researchers can reliably get more power out of a fusion reaction than they put in, they’ll still need to overcome engineering challenges to scale up fusion energy.
6 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Egypt unveils ancient rock-cut tombs and burial shafts in Luxor
Egypt unveiled several discoveries near the famed city of Luxor on Wednesday, including ancient rock-cut tombs and burial shafts dating back 3,600 years. It said it worked in tandem with the Supreme Council of Antiquities on the site since September 2022. Artifacts found at the tombs included bronze coins with the image of Alexander the Great dating to the Time of Ptolemy I (367-283), children’s toys made of clay, cartonnage and funerary masks that covered mummies, winged scarabs, beads and fu
2 min read - ScienceThe Conversation
Gender balance in computer science and engineering is improving at elite universities but getting worse elsewhere
Women in these fields are almost at parity with men at the most selective schools, but the gender gap doubled at many of the least selective universities.
4 min read - USAssociated Press
What this week's winter wallop means for farmers across the U.S.
A nasty dose of winter weather has pummeled much of the U.S. from Kansas to the East Coast, leaving many Americans to dig out of the blizzard — including farmers. Farmers always watch the weather, but depending on where they're located and what they produce, winter always presents mental challenges for growers, said Carolyn Olson, an organic farmer in southwestern Minnesota who is also vice president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors. It's also a time for planning ahea
4 min read - ScienceSpace
Building blocks of life on Earth left the Milky Way before being pulled back in
You may be stuck in the Milky Way but new research suggests the carbon that makes up your body took an intergalactic round trip on a cosmic conveyer belt.
3 min read - ScienceSpace
SpaceX launches 21 new Starlink satellites from Florida
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink internet satellites lifts off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025.
1 min read - WorldAssociated Press
Tents arrive for survivors of a quake that killed 126 in freezing, high-altitude Tibet
Relief teams in western China shifted their focus to resettling survivors after a search Wednesday for any remaining victims of a deadly earthquake that struck a day earlier near a holy city for Tibetan Buddhists. Tibetans, many of whom have fled persecution in China, held vigils for the victims in neighboring India and Nepal, both of which have sizeable communities. The earthquake struck an outlying county in Shigatse, the second-largest city in Tibet and the traditional seat of the Panchen L
4 min read - ScienceNBC News
NASA overhauls plan to bring samples from Mars back to Earth
NASA on Tuesday announced an overhaul to its plan to collect samples from Mars and return them to Earth.
5 min read - ScienceCNN
NASA collected potential evidence of life on Mars. Now it’s pitching new plans to retrieve the cache
NASA has arrived at two ways of returning samples collected on Mars to Earth. Now, the agency will test the options to see if the cache can make it back in the 2030s.
7 min read - ScienceAssociated Press
Why Greenland? Remote but resource-rich island occupies a key position in a warming world
Remote, icy and mostly pristine, Greenland plays an outsized role in the daily weather experienced by billions of people and in the climate changes taking shape all over the planet. Greenland is where climate change, scarce resources, tense geopolitics and new trade patterns all intersect, said Ohio University security and environment professor Geoff Dabelko. The world's largest island is now "central to the geopolitical, geoeconomic competition in many ways," partly because of climate change,
5 min read - ScienceSpace
Watch India attempt its 1st space docking between satellites live this week after delays
ISRO's SpaDeX satellites will try to dock in orbit on Jan. 8 around 9:30 p.m. EST (0230 Jan. 9 GMT/0800 IST).
3 min read - ScienceCBS News
NASA studies options to rein in cost of Mars Sample Return mission
NASA hopes a revised plan will get Mars samples back to Earth faster and cost less than the agency's original plan.
5 min read - ScienceSpace
NASA won't decide on overhaul for Mars Sample Return mission until mid-2026
NASA is considering two ways to get its precious Mars samples back to Earth but won't pick a winner for another 18 months or so.
5 min read - ScienceSpace
Scientists find 'spooky' quantum entanglement on incredibly tiny scales — within individual protons
Einstein may have been troubled enough by entanglement to call it "spooky action at a distance" but scientists have discovered it operates at small scales between quarks and gluons in protons.
5 min read - ScienceSpace
How NASA and Sierra Space are preparing for Dream Chaser space plane's 1st flight to ISS
Sierra Space and NASA's Johnson Space Center are conducting simulations to prepare for the Dream Chaser space plane's first flight to the International Space Station.
6 min read - ScienceAssociated Press
NASA proposes cheaper, quicker way to get Mars rocks and soil to Earth
NASA is pitching a cheaper and quicker way of getting rocks and soil back from Mars, after seeing its original plan swell to $11 billion. Administrator Bill Nelson presented a revised scenario Tuesday, less than two weeks before stepping down as NASA’s chief when President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated. Nelson said he “pulled the plug” months ago on the original sample return plan given the soaring costs and the delay in getting anything back from Mars before 2040.
2 min read - ScienceSpace
SpaceX launch of private Blue Ghost moon lander set for Jan. 15
SpaceX and NASA are targeting Jan. 15 for the launch of the private Blue Ghost moon lander from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
4 min read - ScienceSpace
Big 'dark comet' discoveries could be coming in 2025
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory's Legacy Survey of Space and Time should spot many new "dark comets" after coming online in July 2025.
5 min read - ScienceSpace
ISS astronaut captures green auroras dancing over city lights (video)
NASA astronaut Don Pettit continues to give us great views of Earth from the ISS, this time beaming home video of green auroras shimmering over bright city lights.
2 min read - ScienceYale Environment 360
Severe Cold Spells May Persist Because of Warming, Not in Spite of It
Huge swaths of North America are facing subfreezing temperatures this week as cold Arctic air pushes southward. Paradoxically, such cold spells may persist or even become more common as the planet warms, scientists say.
1 min read - ScienceCBS News
Webb telescope spots record number of stars in distant galaxy
A phenomenon called gravitational lensing turned a galaxy into a "hall of mirrors of cosmic proportions," allowing for the discovery.
2 min read - ScienceSpace
The 'original' John Glenn gave his 'go' for Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket
John Glenn's last correspondence before his death was to approve the use of his name for Blue Origin's first orbital-class rocket. Glenn hailed the booster for what it could enable for spaceflight.
6 min read - ScienceSpace
James Webb Space Telescope spots record-breaking collection of stars in far-flung galaxy
The James Webb Space Telescope captured images of 44 individual stars in a gorgeous portrait of a distant galaxy.
4 min read - USAssociated Press
Why more frequent cold blasts could be coming from global warming
Frigid air that normally stays trapped in the Arctic has escaped, plunging deep into the United States for an extended visit that is expected to provoke teeth-chattering but not be record-shattering. It's a cold air outbreak that some experts say is happening more frequently, and paradoxically, because of a warming world. Such cold air blasts have become known as the polar vortex.
4 min read - ScienceSpace
Blue Origin to launch its 1st New Glenn rocket on Jan. 10
Blue Origin plans to launch its New Glenn heavy-lift rocket for the first time ever in the wee hours of Friday morning (Jan. 10).
3 min read - ScienceNBC News
Lead pollution in ancient Rome may have dropped average IQ by up to 3 points, study finds
Lead pollution in ancient Rome likely dropped the average IQ, a study found. The research is based on an analysis of ice cores extracted from Greenland.
5 min read - SportsYahoo Sports
Report: NFL teams, including the Raiders and Tom Brady, are reaching out to Bill Belichick just a month into his North Carolina tenure
Belichick was hired as the Tar Heels' new coach in December.
3 min read - USYahoo News
Los Angeles wildfires live updates: 5 killed, Palisades and Eaton fires spread across 26,000 acres with 0% containment
Multiple wildfires were burning across Southern California on Wednesday.
1 min read - SportsYahoo Sports
NFL coaching requests, hires: Full list of teams and names being pursued
Feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of interview requests NFL teams made Monday? Let Yahoo Sports help.
4 min read - BusinessYahoo Finance
Why Nvidia rug pull doesn't faze US stock market bulls: Morning Brief
Nvidia's 6% loss Tuesday was especially painful for the company given it followed a splashy CES event with big announcements. But the market has good reason to shake off its swings.
3 min read - EntertainmentYahoo TV
Kat Dennings 'was trying to be cool' when Jonathan Taylor Thomas visited 'Shifting Gears' set: 'It was a really big deal for me'
The "Home Improvement" star came to visit – and Dennings called it "a full-circle moment."
3 min read - CelebrityYahoo Celebrity
Justin Baldoni's lawyer claims Ryan Reynolds mocked actor in 'Deadpool & Wolverine,' vows to name him in lawsuit
Ryan Reynolds was all smiles during his first public appearance since Blake Lively's lawsuit against Justin Baldoni.
4 min read - SportsYahoo Sports
Kawhi Leonard stepping away from Clippers to be with family impacted by Los Angeles fires
Kawhi Leonard will miss at least Wednesday night’s game against the Nuggets in Denver.
2 min read - BusinessYahoo Finance
Stock market today: Dow, S&P 500 edge higher with Trump tariffs, jobs report in focus
Investors absorbed a report that President-elect Donald Trump is considering declaring a national economic emergency to pave the way for proposed tariffs.
2 min read - CelebrityYahoo Celebrity
Los Angeles wildfires: Spencer Pratt, Adam Brody, Anna Faris among celebrities whose homes have reportedly burned down in blaze, as evacuations continue
As fire tears though the Los Angeles area, celebrities are among the many residents impacted.
6 min read - SportsYahoo Sports
Fantasy Football: 2024 TE Exit Interview
Fantasy football analyst Scott Pianowski examines what was yet another strange season at the tight end position.
6 min read - USYahoo News
Los Angeles wildfires in photos: Multiple blazes rage across the city, leaving a path of destruction
Wildfires are ripping through Southern California.
3 min read - BusinessYahoo Personal Finance
Are credit card rewards taxable?
Rewards you earn on spending may not be considered taxable income, but make sure you know all the details before it’s time to file.
8 min read
