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Lightning strikes over the countryside near Potsdam, Germany, on July 10, 2024, following a period of high temperatures.

Google Reveals New A.I. Model That Predicts Weather Better Than the Best Traditional Forecasts

Instead of crunching mathematical calculations, GenCast was trained on four decades of historical weather data to produce an array of 15-day forecasts

The tail, or fluke, of a humpback whale is identifiable, like a fingerprint is for a human.

Humpback Whale Makes Record-Breaking 8,000-Mile Migration Across Three Oceans, but the Reason Is Still a Mystery

Biologists say mating, climate change or simply being confused might have driven the creature to swim great distances, between Colombia and Zanzibar

Monarch butterflies are well-known and beloved migratory pollinators in North America.

Monarch Butterflies Might Soon Be Listed as Threatened Under the Endangered Species Act

If a new proposal is adopted, the insects would become the most commonly seen species to be the subject of federal protection under this law

The Large and Small Magellanic Clouds were recently captured by NASA astronaut Don Pettit aboard the ISS.

NASA Astronaut Shares Breathtaking Photos From the ISS, Featuring Galaxies and Glowing ‘Star Trails’

On his fourth flight, Don Pettit is once again sharing the art of astrophotography, capturing and posting pictures of Earth, satellites and space

A fossil skull of a prehistoric amphibian, found in a 230-million-year-old burrow in Wyoming, turned out to be from an unknown species.

A Paleontologist Cracked Open a Rock and Discovered a Prehistoric Amphibian With a Clever Survival Strategy

Named “Ninumbeehan dookoodukah” by Eastern Shoshone students and elders, the creature burrowed in riverbeds to stay moist during extreme droughts

Researchers found that in 2023, a decrease in low-altitude clouds, specifically over the Atlantic Ocean, drove an increase in the planet's temperature.

Scientists Find Another Reason Why 2023 Was So Hot: a Decline in Low-Lying Clouds

According to new research, Earth might have reflected less solar radiation last year than in any other year since 1940, a trend that adds to the planet’s warming

The genetic basis for orange cats' coloration has long been unknown to scientists.

Geneticists Solve the Mystery of Why Some Cats Are Orange—and Why They Tend to Be Males

Two new, preliminary papers identify a gene related to a cat’s coloration. The work also explains why tortoiseshell and calico cats tend to be females

New research suggests early humans hunted and ate mammoths, as well as elk and bison, to a lower degree.

An Ice Age Infant’s Bones Reveal Early Americans Ate Woolly Mammoths as a Protein Staple

New research examines chemical signatures to determine the diet of a prehistoric boy and his mother, suggesting the Clovis people relied on mammoths for a large portion of their menu

This image of the Geminid meteor shower, as seen from China, earned first place in the 2021 astrophotography contest by the International Astronomical Union Office of Astronomy Education.

How to Watch the Geminid Meteor Shower This Weekend

The peak of this popular annual meteor shower risks being washed out by an almost full moon this year—but stargazers can still spot shooting stars if they follow the right tips

The sun sets over Death Valley, California, on July 7, 2024, a day when its temperature reached 129 degrees Fahrenheit.

Climate Scientists Project 2024 Will Be the Hottest Year on Record—and the First to Pass 1.5 Degrees Celsius of Warming

After November 2024 was the second warmest November in the books, experts say the year is “effectively certain” to break the heat record set by 2023

The Stegosaurus named Apex is on display at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

You Can Now See Apex, the World’s Most Expensive Dinosaur Fossil, on Display at a New York City Museum

The largest and most complete Stegosaurus specimen sold for a record-setting price in July, and it is currently on loan to the American Museum of Natural History for four years

Smithsonian magazine’s top science titles this year.

The Ten Best Science Books of 2024

From a deep dive on a fatal space shuttle disaster to a study of a dozen iconic trees, these are our favorite titles this year

The Orion spacecraft during the fifth day of the Artemis 1 mission on Nov 20, 2022

NASA Pushes Back America’s Return to the Moon to 2027, With the Next Artemis Program Flight Slated for 2026

The space agency’s decision comes after an investigation into the Orion spacecraft’s heat shield, which suffered damage during the Artemis 1 test mission in 2022

Hawaiian crows, or ʻalalā, are intelligent birds that play an important role in Hawaiian culture. (This is not one of the five individuals taking part in the pilot release on Maui.)

Scientists Release Five Hawaiian Crows on Maui, Giving the Imperiled Birds a Second Chance—on a New Island

Only about 110 individuals of the species, called ʻalalā, are left in the world, making them the most endangered crows on Earth

New England Aquarium staff treat a cold-stunned sea turtle.

Hundreds of Sea Turtles With Hypothermia Are Washing Up in Cape Cod, Cold-Stunned as Temperatures Drop

New England Aquarium staff and volunteers are treating the reptiles, which have gotten trapped after venturing north earlier in the year. Experts say climate change is leading more turtles to get stranded in the bay

The hunting pod is led by Moctezuma, an adult male, named after an Aztec emperor.

New Research

A Pod of Orcas Learned to Target and Feast on Whale Sharks, the Largest Fish in the Sea

Photos and videos of the apex predators reveal how they engage in coordinated hunts in Mexican waters to take down juvenile whale sharks

A Hubble Space Telescope portrait of Jupiter, captured in August 2019, shows the gas giant's cloud bands and storms in detail, including its iconic Great Red Spot.

Look Up for a Dazzling View of Jupiter This Weekend as It Shines Its Brightest of the Year

On December 7, the “king of planets” will line up with the Earth and sun in an event known as opposition. It will be visible all night and offer prime viewing, especially through binoculars or a telescope

An orca named L82 Kasatka swims in front of Mt. Rainier, with a strand of eelgrass trailing from her dorsal fin. She belongs to the Southern Resident orca population, a critically endangered group in the northeast Pacific Ocean.

No, Orcas Probably Aren’t Reviving the ‘Dead Salmon Hat’ Trend, Despite a Viral Photo, Experts Say. Here’s Why

A recent photo of an orca swimming with a salmon on its head has fueled speculation that the fad, first observed in the 1980s, has re-emerged off the coast of Washington state. But some experts are less eager to jump to that conclusion

Computer simulated global view of Venus' northern hemisphere. 

Did Venus Have Oceans? This Surprising New Study Suggests Not, a Theory That Could Upend the Search for Extraterrestrial Life

The astronomers behind the research looked to the output from the nearby planet’s toxic volcanoes for clues

Arctic sea ice is melting at an unprecedented rate.

New Research

The Arctic Could Have Its First ‘Ice-Free’ Day by as Early as 2027

In a new study, scientists used climate models to predict the alarming milestone

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