A composite image of the Bullet Cluster, a much-studied pair of galaxy clusters that have collided head-on. One has gone through the other, like a bullet going through an apple, and it is believed that there are clear signs of dark matter (blue) separated from hot gases (pink). Life has made a home on Earth … Read more
Since the beginning of the Space Age – the launch of Sputnik I in 1957 – humans have placed more than 15,000 satellites into orbit. Just over half are still functioning; the rest, after running out of fuel and ending their useful life, have either burned up in the atmosphere or are still orbiting the … Read more
More than 100 world leaders agreed at this year’s United Nations climate summit to make their agriculture and food systems a key part of their plans to fight climate change, aiming for improvements in a sector responsible for around a third of global warming emissions. With livestock responsible for more than half of these emissions, … Read more
ROTTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) — On the upper deck of a three-story building moored near central Rotterdam, brown and white cows graze on hay dropped from a conveyor belt overhead and orange peels salvaged from supermarket juicers in the port city. Overhead canopies protect the cows from the sun and collect rainwater that they will eventually … Read more
In an era of declining trust in science, scientists must change the way they collaborate with the public and within the broader scientific community. The vast majority of basic scientific research – the kind of science that penetrates ever deeper into uncharted territories and advances humanity’s knowledge – is funded by government organizations. In the … Read more
Editor’s note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s science newsletter Wonder Theory. To receive it in your inbox, Register for free here. If you could walk the streets of medieval England, it might feel as unfamiliar as an alien environment. The culture, landscape and even the languages of Middle English, Anglo-French and Latin … Read more
Misty LaBean wondered all her life why her mother left her family when she was just a year old. The disappearance of Connie Christensen from Wisconsin 40 years ago did not come out of the blue for the rest of her relatives: she had left before, running away when she was a teenager and even … Read more
CASPAR BEACH, Calif. (AP) — Joy Hollenback, with a welding hammer strapped to her wrist, donned blue fins and swam into the churning, chilly surf of the Pacific Ocean one fall morning to do her part to save the vanishing kelp forests in Northern California. Hollenback floated on the waving surface to regulate her breathing … Read more
The future of fossil fuels takes center stage at the United Nations climate summit in Dubai, with many activists, experts and countries calling for an agreement to phase out the oil, gas and coal responsible for warming the planet . On the other side: energy companies and oil-rich countries with plans to continue drilling well … Read more
Of all the freeze-dried, thermostable and ready-to-eat food products she helped send into space, Vickie Kloeris’ personal favorite was the cherry-blueberry cobbler. Kloeris was a food scientist at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for 34 years and not only enjoyed the cobbler, but helped develop it. “During the shuttle program, we weren’t really doing … Read more