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Baobab trees can reach 100 feet tall, and they support entire ecosystems and communities with their large structures and natural resources.

Scientists Uncover the Ancient Origins of Baobab Trees in Genetic Study

The trees originated in Madagascar 21 million years ago but later traveled long distances by way of ocean currents, according to new research

Ed Dwight celebrates after landing back on Earth following Sunday morning's ten-minute flight to space.

Ed Dwight, the First Black Astronaut Candidate in the U.S., Finally Travels to Space at 90 Years Old

The former Air Force pilot trained to become an astronaut in the 1960s but was never selected by NASA. On a Blue Origin flight Sunday, he became the oldest person to go to space

The Mona Lisa is the most popular painting at the Louvre in Paris.

Art Meets Science

Has the Mystery of the ‘Mona Lisa’ Background Been Solved?

Ann Pizzorusso, a geologist and art historian, says she’s identified the location in the background of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting

A bright green fireball is captured on camera over Cáceres, Spain, by the European Space Agancy. Officials say the object was a comet and likely broke up over the Atlantic Ocean.

Watch a Blue-Green Comet Illuminate Skies Over Spain and Portugal

The colorful fireball mesmerized onlookers—and its unexpected appearance surprised astronomers who are hoping to better predict when space rocks enter Earth’s atmosphere

The environment surrounding the galaxy system where the two black holes are merging. The event is occurring in the distant universe, around 13 billion years ago.

James Webb Telescope Detects Earliest Known Black Hole Merger, Just 740 Million Years After the Big Bang

The new observations could help explain how black holes became so massive in the early universe

A tuna crab on the sand in San Diego in 2002, a year when large numbers of the creatures washed up on shore.

Why Are Tuna Crabs Swarming Off the Coast of San Diego?

Scientists are perplexed by the massive group of crustaceans, but they suspect the animals were pushed north by strong ocean currents originating near Mexico

Latyr Sy, a Senegalese percussionist and singer, was one of 75 researchers who played music for the study.

Why Do Humans Sing? Traditional Music in 55 Languages Reveals Patterns and Telling Similarities

In a global study, scientists recorded themselves singing and playing music from their own cultures to examine the evolution of song

An artist's rendering of a feathered dinosuar in the snow. Feathers would have allowed dinosaurs, ancestors of birds, to trap their body heat in cold climates.

Some Dinosaurs Evolved to Be Warm-Blooded 180 Million Years Ago, Study Suggests

Researchers studied the geographic distribution of dinosaurs to draw conclusions about whether they could regulate their internal temperatures

A subpopulation of orcas in the Strait of Gibraltar (not pictured) have interacted with roughly 700 boats since 2020, causing five of the vessels to sink.

Orcas Sink 50-Foot Yacht Off the Coast of Morocco

The vessel’s two passengers were evacuated onto an oil tanker in the Strait of Gibraltar. The incident marks the fifth vessel the mammals have sunk in recent years

A protein-DNA interaction, modeled by AlphaFold 3.

Google Releases A.I. That Can Predict How the Human Body’s Molecules Behave, Boosting Drug Discovery Research

Called AlphaFold 3, the latest update of the software models the interactions of proteins with DNA, RNA and other molecules for the first time

Tourists cool off in front of a fan in Rome, Italy on July 18, 2023. Temperatures in the area at the time surpassed 104 degrees Fahrenheit.

Last Year, the Northern Hemisphere Had Its Hottest Summer in 2,000 Years

Researchers used tree ring data to compare temperatures from as far back as 1 C.E. to 2023 temperatures

Lightning wowed onlookers watching the eruption of Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala last month.

Lightning Dazzles Onlookers Watching the Eruption of Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala

Volcanic lightning is so common that it’s even earned its own nickname: dirty thunderstorms

Teal Helms (right) and volunteer Gali Begim (left) perform intake assesments on a brown pelican at the Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach, California.

Hundreds of Starving Brown Pelicans Are Turning Up on California Beaches, Puzzling Wildlife Rescuers and Scientists

By all available accounts, there isn’t a lack of ocean forage

An illustration of some of the underwater creatures that lived during the Ediacaran Period, roughly 635 million to 541 million years ago.

Earth’s Magnetic Field Nearly Collapsed 600 Million Years Ago. Then, Weird and Complex Life Evolved

A new study suggests more solar radiation reached Earth while the magnetic field weakened, leading to a rise in oxygen that drove an explosion of multicellular organisms during the Ediacaran Period

Runners compete in the Marathon des Sables, a 250-kilometer race in the Sahara Desert in Morocco, in 2022. Humans have a number physiological adaptations, such as slow-twitch muscle fibers and the ability to sweat a lot, that help with endurance running.

Long-Distance Running May Have Evolved to Help Humans Chase Prey to Exhaustion

Scientists found hundreds of recent examples from around the globe of hunters using “endurance pursuits” to tire out their prey, furthering the debate over the hunting technique

Researchers used ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography to scan the graveyard near the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

Cool Finds

Scientists Are Investigating a Puzzling Underground ‘Anomaly’ Near the Giza Pyramids

Using remote-sensing technologies, researchers have discovered two connected structures in a previously unexplored area

Elephants use different greetings depending on whether the other animal is looking at them.

How Do Elephants Say Hello? Reunions Lead to Ear Flapping, Rumbling and Trunk Swinging in Greeting

New research explores how African savannah elephants use vocalizations, gestures and secretions when they meet up with companions

A pterosaur cranium fossil is among the donated artifacts that will be on display and studied behind the scenes when the museum reopens in 2026.

More Than 1,000 Fossils, Including Rare Dinosaurs, Gifted to Brazil’s National Museum Following Fire

The massive donation was made by Burkhard Pohl, a Swiss-German collector, as the museum works to replenish its collections after a devastating blaze in September 2018

From Latourell, Oregon, the northern lights appear as ribbons of color in the night sky on May 11.

See 12 Breathtaking Images of the Northern Lights, Spotted in Shocking Places Over the Weekend

A period of unusually strong solar activity meant the colorful aurora borealis could be seen much farther south than normal

Human-caused biodiversity loss is a major factor that could contribute to more frequent and severe disease outbreaks, according to a new study.

Biodiversity Loss Increases the Risk of Disease Outbreaks, Analysis Suggests

Researchers found that human-caused environmental changes are driving the severity and prevalence of disease, putting people, animals and plants at risk

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