Science

TOPSHOT - In this picture taken in the country-side near Dalby-Viggeby, south of Uppsala, Sweden just after 21:00 CET on March 24, 2025 shows a blue and white spiral in the night sky reportedly created by frozen fuel tumbling from a SpaceX rocket. A stunning blue and white spiral spotted in skies across Europe was created by frozen fuel tumbling from a SpaceX rocket, according to weather forecasters and scientists.
The UK's Met Office said on X it had received many reports of an "illuminated swirl" in the sky on Monday evening likely caused by a rocket that had earlier blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. (Photo by Bertrand ILHE / AFP) / TO GO WITH AFP STORY "Blue spiral in sky above France, UK likely from SpaceX rocket" (Photo by BERTRAND ILHE/AFP via Getty Images)

Bertrand Ilhe/AFP/Getty Images

An eerie spiral lit up the European skies. Here’s why such light shows are becoming more common

View of Takarkori rock shelter from west

Archaeological Mission in the Sahara/Sapienza University of Rome

Ancient DNA sheds light on origins of 7,000-year-old Saharan mummies

Nuclear-powered rocket concept could cut journey time to Mars in half

Tone Blakesley/Scott Reid

Footprints show giant carnivorous dinosaurs and their plant-eating prey drank from same Scottish watering hole

A funerary relief of a couple, a man and a woman - almost life-size - belonging to a monumental tomb in the Porta Sarno necropolis, has emerged during an archaeological excavation, as part of the research project “ <em>Investigating the Archaeology of Death in Pompeii</em> ” conducted by the Universitat de València in collaboration with the Archaeological Park (scientific direction of Prof. Llorenç Alapont).

Pompeii Archaeological Park

Rare, near-life-sized statues discovered in Pompeii tomb

Researchers compared the "space miso" after fermentation at the International Space Station.

Maggie Coblentz

Scientists sent beans into orbit and made ‘space miso.’ Here’s how it tasted

These whirling lines in the sky are the trails of stars after an hour-long exposure above Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO), a Program of NSF NOIRLab. The trails are shortest around the North Star, Polaris, a star that happens to coincide almost directly with the celestial north pole. The different colors in the trails reflect the different temperatures of the stars, with blue being the hottest stars and yellow/red the coolest. The telescope visible above the horizon is the Nicholas U. Mayall 4-meter Telescope, and the red glow on the mountain is caused by red lights used to ensure the eyes of visitors and staff remain dark adapted at night. The yellow glow on the horizon comes from Tucson, AZ, about 89 kilometers (55 miles) to the northeast. Over the past decade, light pollution like this has increased by 2% a year from many medium-sized and larger cities. To help monitor light pollution in your city, you can participate in the citizen science campaign, Globe at Night.

KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/B. Tafresh

‘Another mind-blowing change’: New data suggests mysterious dark energy is evolving

Did Neanderthals make it as far east as China? Discovery of stone tools suggests it’s a possibility

Qi-Jun Ruan/Hao Li

Archaeologists unearthed a cache of stone tools. Neanderthals may have made them, study finds

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the Fram2 mission astronauts aboard lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 31, 2025. Launching aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule Resilience, the Fram2 mission will be the first human spaceflight ever to cruise over Earth's polar regions. The flight is being funded privately by Chinese-born entrepreneur Chun Wang, who will serve as mission commander. The rest of the international crew are vehicle commander Jannicke Mikkelsen of Norway, pilot Rabea Rogge of Germany and mission specialist and medical officer Eric Philips of Australia. Their flight also marks the sixth private astronaut mission by SpaceX. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP) (Photo by GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images)

Gregg Nedwton/AFP/Getty Images

SpaceX launches 4 people on a polar orbit never attempted before

Astronauts Nick Hague, Suni Williams, and Butch Wilmore talk to reporters during a press conference at Johnson Space Center on Monday, March 31, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Ashley Landis/AP

NASA astronauts speak out for the first time following unexpected 9-month mission to space

Editor's picks

In 1922, American chemist, Thomas Midgley, Jr. discovered tetraethyl, an antiknock agent in gasoline, which led to the establishment of the ethyl gasoline industry. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Corbis/Getty Images

Once celebrated, an inventor’s breakthroughs are now viewed as disasters — and the world is still recovering

3D Illustration Getty Images/NASA

‘Dyson spheres’ were theorized as a way to detect alien life. Scientists say they’ve found potential evidence

KARS, TURKIYE - MAY 18: A view of moon, appearing in the sky in the evening hours in Kars, Turkey, on May 18, 2024. (Photo by Omer Tarsuslu/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Omer Tarsuslu/Anadolu/Getty Images

Why scientists say we need to send clocks to the moon — soon

B8C6TT MEXICAN AXOLOTL

Stephen Dalton/Avalon.red/Alamy Stock Photo

Why axolotls seem to be everywhere — except in the one lake they call home

Space

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Olivia Munn has seemingly strong feelings about the next Blue Origin space flight: 'What’s the point?'

TODAY with Jenna & Friends/YouTube

Olivia Munn has strong feelings about the next Blue Origin space flight: ‘What’s the point?’

SpaceX is set to launch 4 people on a first-of-its-kind mission around Earth’s poles. Here’s what to know

Curiosity rover makes ‘arguably the most exciting organic detection to date on Mars’

How to see a partial solar eclipse turn the sun into a crescent

Archaeology

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Dated: 18/09/2024
In September 2022, a metal detectorist searching a field – with the landowner’s permission – near the village of Melsonby, North Yorkshire, discovered what is thought to be one of the biggest Iron Age hoard found in the UK.

A team of archaeologists from Durham University were working in a separate field, close by, and he asked them to take a look. Experts from Durham University have been involved from the beginning – leading on the excavation and conservation of the items

Historic England provided emergency funding for the excavation, assessment and conservation of the finds.

The British Museum has also been involved from the beginning, providing specialist advice.

The discovery is highly significant in terms of what it can tell us about Iron-Age society, technology and the wealth and power of communities at the end of the Iron Age.

Over 800 objects have already been excavated and taken to Durham University, where they have been stabilised and are conserved. These items were buried deliberately and date from around 1st Century BC – 1st Century AD.

Durham University

‘Exceptional’ Iron Age hoard unlocks secrets of life in Britain 2,000 years ago

Discovery of ritual bath sheds light on Jewish life in ancient Rome

Archaeologists uncovered a cache of 1.5 million-year-old bone tools. They’re trying to determine who made them

World’s oldest rune stone has more pieces that contain mysterious messages, researchers say

Life

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HAAD SAI KHAO, TRAT PROVINCE, THAILAND - 2017/12/28: Spraying foam of a wave breaking at a rock at White Sand Beach on Koh Chang. (Photo by Frank Bienewald/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Frank Bienewald/LightRocket/Getty Images

Scientists redid an experiment that showed how life on Earth could have started. They found a new possibility

They are known as silent killers. Now, unprecedented recordings reveal first known shark sounds

Spread of Australia’s red fire ant population has sent 23 people to hospital

Iguanas floated 5,000 miles from North America to Fiji on vegetation rafts, new study finds

Paleontology

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Australian Museum © Salty Dingo 2020 CG

Salty Dingo/Australian Museum

Fossilized fish up to 16 million years old found in Australia, with last meal still intact

Bizarre creature preserved in 99 million-year-old amber was ‘beyond imagination,’ scientists say

These discarded objects will form humanity’s lasting geological footprint, paleontologists say

Largest fully preserved dinosaur claw unearthed in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert