The Euclid space telescope has captured the largest and most detailed photo ever taken of our galaxy’s crowded heart, a dazzling image packed with 60 million stars, the European Space Agency said Wednesday. The new photo of the Milky Way’s bright center will help in the search for planets beyond our Solar System, the agency…
An interstellar comet that blazed past the sun and swung by Earth last year could be nearly three times older than our solar system and is unlike anything ever before seen in our cosmic backyard, astronomers said Monday. The comet 3I/ATLAS is just the third visitor from beyond our solar system that humanity has ever…
Seahorses are unique ocean inhabitants with a head like a horse, a pouch like a kangaroo, a tail like a monkey, and the ability to camouflage themselves like a chameleon. They also exhibit an unconventional gender dynamic, in that the males do the work of carrying around fertilized eggs. Correspondent Conor Knighton goes in search…
Jordan Ragsdale A view of the Veil Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. The Central Idaho Dark Sky Reserve, draped over nearly one million acres of wilderness areas and the Sawtooth National Forest, provides stargazers a rare opportunity to enjoy the night sky with a minimum of light pollution, which can otherwise veil the views of…
Salmon exposed to cocaine in the water swim longer distances than those that go without, according to a study released this week. Cocaine use is on the rise worldwide, with the U.N. reporting an estimated 25 million people used the stimulant in 2023 and the drug being increasingly found in waterways. Joint research released Monday…
Scientists have solved the mystery of a “golden orb” found thousands of feet underwater by researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association in 2023, the agency said on Wednesday. The orb was found in the Gulf of Alaska, by a remotely operated underwater vehicle. The device was over two miles underwater when it spotted…
The top predator prowling the seas during the age of the dinosaurs 100 million years ago may have been the octopus. New analyses of fossilized jaws reveal that massive, kraken-like octopuses once hunted alongside other marine predators. They boasted eight arms and long bodies that extended more than 60 feet, rivaling other carnivorous marine reptiles….
The carnivorous Venus fly trap is native to the Carolinas, but its population is dwindling due to loss of habitat. Correspondent Seth Doane talks with botanist Julie Moore, who has spent much of her life helping to save these remarkable plants; and with Damon Waitt, director of the North Carolina Botanical Garden, who discusses the…
A Sumatran orangutan has been filmed for the first time using a human-made canopy bridge to cross a public road on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, conservationists said Monday. Rapid development has been shrinking the jungle habitat of the critically endangered species, and fatal conflicts with people have been increasing. The fleeting scene, captured by…
Archaeologists at the ancient Roman site of Pompeii have used artificial intelligence for the first time to digitally reconstruct the face of a victim of the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius that smothered the city, offering a new way to understand one of history’s most famous natural disasters. The digital portrait represents an older…
