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Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is seen docked at the ISS. After helium leaks and thruster issues, the craft will make an uncrewed return to Earth.

NASA’s Starliner Astronauts Will Return on SpaceX Craft in February, Turning an Eight-Day Mission Into Eight Months on the ISS

Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft no longer meets safety standards after experiencing technical issues in June, and it will return to Earth uncrewed, the space agency announced

A still from a video captured by Vermont resident Gary Shattuck, featuring the lynx walking alongside a road in Rutland County, Vermont, on August 17.

Rare Endangered Lynx Spotted in Vermont for the First Time Since 2018

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department has only confirmed seven sightings of the wildcats since 2016

Human flesh might resemble this nice beef fillet.

Cool Finds

What Does Human Flesh Taste Like? The Answer Depends on Who You Ask

Cannibals have weighed in with different opinions. Some say it tastes like pork, while others say like veal—and still others say like nothing else

The Polaris Dawn crew at the Kennedy Space Center, from left to right: Anna Menon, Scott Poteet, Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis.

Groundbreaking Mission Attempting the First Private Astronaut Spacewalk Will Target Tuesday Launch

Polaris Dawn is set to be the farthest humans have traveled from Earth since the Apollo program and will test new technology in a “radiation belt” surrounding our planet

Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi holds up the newly discovered diamond, which weighs more than a pound.

Largest Diamond Since 1905 Unearthed by Miners in Botswana

Volcanic eruptions long ago brought the 2,492-carat diamond—the latest in a string of stunning discoveries over the last decade—to the surface

Keepers say it was love at first sight for Sphen and Magic when they met for the first time in 2018.

Sphen, Australian Penguin of Famous Same-Sex Couple, Dies at Age 11

Sphen and his longtime partner Magic got together at Sea Life Sydney Aquarium in 2018. They successfully hatched two foster chicks and became “international queer icons”

A scan of a color copy of the original computer printout bearing the Wow! signal, taken several years after the signal's 1977 arrival.

Mysterious ‘Wow!’ Radio Signal Might Finally Have an Explanation—and No, It’s Not Aliens

The infamous signal recorded in 1977 might have been a laser-like beam of radiation from a hydrogen cloud energized by a powerful, magnetic star, preliminary research suggests

A waterspout photographed in the Adriatic Sea near Brac Island, Croatia, like the one implicated in sinking a yacht in Sicily this week. These sudden, violent storms are hard to predict and can occur more often in warmer waters heated by climate change.

A ‘Tornadic Waterspout’ Likely Sank a Billionaire’s Yacht Near Sicily. Here’s What That Means

Scientists say the extreme weather phenomenon could grow more common as climate change brings warmer water temperatures and more intense storms to the Mediterranean

A view of the lunar south pole, with Shackleton Crater at the center, assembled from images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Scientists Suggest Freezing Endangered Animals’ Cells and Preserving Them on the Moon

Shadowed areas in lunar craters may be cold enough to safeguard species’ DNA amid “climate disasters and social disasters” on Earth, according to Smithsonian-led research

More than 10,000 Clovis points have been discovered in North America, but researchers still aren't sure how early humans used them.

How Did Ice Age Humans Kill Huge Animals Like Mammoths? Probably Not by Throwing Spears, Study Finds

New research theorizes that hunters used pikes planted in the ground—with their sharp tips pointing upward—to impale approaching wildlife using the creature’s own weight and momentum

Carpentry waste inside one of the Roman-era wells discovered in England.

Two Ancient Wells Discovered in England Suggest Even the Romans Used Trial and Error

After the first well collapsed, the local builders incorporated wooden planks to hold up the walls of the second

The munitions are primarily located in Lake Thun, Lake Brienz, Lake Lucerne and Lake Neuchatel.

For Decades, Switzerland Dumped Munitions Into Its Pristine Alpine Lakes. Now, It Wants Them Gone

Officials are offering cash rewards for the best strategies to safely remove the submerged weapons

The ocean sunfish (Mola mola) is one of several unusual-looking sea creatures to wash ashore in Oregon so far this summer.

Five-Foot-Long Ocean Sunfish Washes Ashore in Oregon, a ‘Relatively Small’ Size for Its Species

It’s the second sunfish to be found dead on the beach in a small region of northwestern Oregon this summer, following the discovery of an even rarer hoodwinker sunfish

An orb-weaver spider wraps a male firefly in silk while it flashes from its lanterns. Male fireflies typically signal with multiple pulses using two lanterns, while females emit single pulses from one lantern.

These Spiders Use Captured Fireflies as Flashing Lures to Snare More Prey

A new study suggests orb-weaver spiders manipulate trapped male fireflies to emit female-like signals, which in turn draws more males into the web

Archaeologists found the bishop's remains in a tomb in Spain in 1955.

New Research

Archaeologists May Have Identified the Bones of a Celebrated Ninth-Century Bishop in Spain

Bishop Teodomiro was a central figure in the creation of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage

Kayakers, researchers, lifeguards and paddleboarders managed to get the huge fish to shore.

Rare ‘Doomsday’ Oarfish Surfaces in California, Just the 20th Discovered in the State Since 1901

Kayakers spotted and hauled ashore the 12-foot-long oarfish, a deep-sea species known for its connection to earthquakes in Japanese folklore

The South American lungfish (Lepidosiren paradoxa) has the largest known genome of the animal kingdom at 91 billion base pairs of DNA.

The World’s Largest Animal Genome Belongs to an Odd, Air-Breathing Fish

Scientists sequenced the 91 billion base pairs in the South American lungfish’s genome, setting a record and revealing insights into vertebrate evolution

An artist's reconstruction of the two tardigrade species found preserved in a pebble-sized piece of amber in Canada.

Rare Fossils Give Clues to How Tardigrades Survived Mass Extinctions by Hitting the Snooze Button

Scientists have only four known tardigrade fossils, which preserve insights into how the hardy critters evolved their hibernation-like superpower of cryptobiosis

A full moon rises over the Vasquez Rocks in California.

A Rare ‘Super Blue Moon’ Will Be Visible Monday Night: What Does That Mean?

Tonight’s full moon will be bigger and brighter than usual, and it’s the third of four full moons this summer

The new research tested the drug liraglutide, marketed as the diabetes treatment Victoza. Liraglutide and the active substance used in the weight-loss treatment Wegovy are both GLP-1 agonists, used to lower the risk for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.

Weight Loss and Diabetes Drug Could Slow Alzheimer’s Progression, Preliminary Study Suggests

In a year-long trial, people who received a daily injection of liraglutide showed an 18 percent lower cognitive decline than people who received a placebo

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