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Science

  • A general view of a staircase leading into the Sterkfontein caves located within the Cradle of Humankind UNESCO World Heritage Site in Krugersdorp near Johannesburg on April 15, 2025. The iconic caves some 50 kilometres (30 miles) northwest of Johannesburg, is one Africa's largest collection of hominin fossils and was closed to the public in 2022 due to flooding that destroyed its entrance.
    Emmanuel Croset/AFP/Getty Images
    Digital reconstruction reveals the face of ‘Little Foot,’ a nearly 4 million-year-old human ancestor
  • Image-01-03-2026-at-10.52.jpg
    Windward Maritime AI
    GPS jamming is emerging as an increasingly prevalent — and troubling — weapon of war
  • This image shows the complex distribution of molecular gas in the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ) of the Milky Way. It was obtained with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), in which ESO is a partner. This map is as long as three full Moons side-by-side in the sky, and it is in fact the largest ALMA image ever obtained.
 This map is part of ACES — the ALMA CMZ Exploration Survey — a project designed to understand how gas condenses into stars in the extreme and chaotic environment at the heart of our galaxy. The survey has charted the distribution of dozens of different molecules, five of which are shown here in different colours: sulphur monoxide (cyan), silicon monoxide (green), isocyanic acid (red), cyanoacetylene (blue), and carbon monosulphide (magenta).
 The stars in the foreground of this image were observed at infrared wavelengths (Y, Z and J filters) with ESO’s VISTA telescope as part of a different project. The actual density of stars in the CMZ is much higher than what is shown here, where we have opted to highlight the details in the molecular cloud. Note that the edges of the ALMA map appear somewhat sharp because the ALMA observations do not cover the entire rectangular area here.
    ALMA(ESO/NAOJ/NRAO)/S. Longmore/D. Minniti et al.
    Astronomers capture the most detailed image yet of our galaxy’s center
  • FKt251103-MissionControl-20251114-Naranjo-09289.jpg
    Monika Naranjo-Shepard/Schmidt Ocean Institute
    Is all complex life on Earth related to a concept from Norse mythology? Kind of
  • The low-surface-brightness galaxy CDG-2, shown in this image from the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope, is dominated by dark matter and contains only a sparse scattering of stars. This galaxy is nearly invisible, but by using advanced statistical techniques, scientists identified it by searching for tight groupings of stars called globular clusters at the centre of this image. The Hubble observations include those from programme 15235 (W. Harris). [Image description: A field of space with a dozen white foreground stars and a number of small, yellow background galaxies.]
    Li (utoronto), Ima/ESA/NASA
    NASA’s Hubble telescope detects possible ‘dark galaxy’
  • A partial lunar eclipse is seen above the fronds of a palm tree during the Blood Moon Lunar Eclipse in Palm Springs, California, on March 13, 2025. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
    Patrick T. Fallon/AFP/Getty Images
    A total lunar eclipse is turning the moon red. Here’s how to watch
  • The blue-and-white porcelain is intricately decorated.
    Michael Flecker/Science Direct
    14th century shipwreck reveals huge cargo of rare Yuan Dynasty blue-and-white porcelain
  • CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 03: NASA's Artemis II sits on Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on February 03, 2026 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Artemis II wet dress rehearsal countdown was terminated due to a liquid hydrogen leak. The next launch attempt will be in March. The mission is scheduled to last 10 days and will take astronauts around the Moon and back to Earth. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
    Joe Raedle/Getty Images
    A new problem throws four astronauts’ impending moon journey into uncertainty
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  • Artemis II: the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft at Launch Pad 39B, on Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
    Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/TNS/Getty Images
    NASA abruptly changes its roadmap to putting boots back on the moon
  • The line-up of three evening planets in the southwest twilight sky, on December 17, 2021 — with Jupiter at top left, Venus at bottom right, and dimmer Saturn in the middle, all defining the line of the ecliptic in the cold winter sky this night. The stars of Capricornus are at centre. . (Photo by: Alan Dyer/VW Pics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
    Alan Dyer/VW Pics/Universal Images Group/Getty Images
    6-planet parade will grace the night sky on Saturday

Editor's picks

  • 20251210-jane-austen-mystery-death.jpg
    Photo Illustration by Alberto Mier/CNN/Universal History Archive/Getty Images; Gillian Pullinger/Alamy Stock Photo; Will Dax/Solent News/Shutterstock
    Jane Austen’s cause of death has remained a mystery. But her letters and books offer clues
  • Pilot Amelia Earhart poses for a portrait in and airplane in circa 1936. (Photo courtesty Library of Congress/Getty Images)
    Donaldson Collection/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
    An object in a satellite image defies explanation. Could it solve one of aviation’s greatest mysteries?
  • O’Neill Cylinder interior provides a 20-mile vista. Children born here would think it totally normal to have “upside down” land areas overhead.
    Rick Guidice/NASA
    Two billionaires have very different — and equally wild — visions of a future in space. Is either possible?
  • fig-25.jpg
    Susanne Muth/Dirk Mariaschk/Elis Ruhemann/Pompeii Reset Project/Humboldt University of Berlin
    An ancient stone staircase seemed to lead nowhere. Now it’s revealing the ‘lost Pompeii’
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Space

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  • CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES - AUGUST 1: Crew-11 mission astronauts walk out of the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building before heading to pad 39A for launch to the International Space Station (ISS) at the Kennedy Space Center on August 1, 2025 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov (L-R), NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, NASA astronaut and mission commander Zena Cardman, and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui (not shown) will live and work aboard the ISS for at least six months. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images)
    Paul Hennessy/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
    Astronaut whose medical issue prompted NASA’s first early return from the ISS speaks out
  • Astronomers say they have solved one of Saturn’s greatest mysteries
  • What four astronauts could find as they journey around the moon and beyond its far side
  • The fuel set to propel NASA’s moon crew is notorious for leaking. So why use it?

Archaeology

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  • The Adorant figurine from Geißenklösterle Cave, approximately 40,000 years old, consists of a small ivory plate bearing an anthropomorphic figure and multiple sequences of notches and dots. The application of these marks suggests a notational system, most notably in the rows of dots on the back of the plate.
    Hendrik Zwietasch/Landesmuseum Württemberg
    Symbols found carved into 40,000-year-old artifacts may be precursor to writing
  • Ancient bone may be first physical evidence of Hannibal’s ‘war machine’ elephants in Western Europe
  • Scientists find first physical evidence that Romans used human poop as medicine
  • Skeletons found in mysterious pit died violent deaths in Anglo-Saxon-era England

Life

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  • The coral was found as part of the Great Reef Census, which encourages citizen scientists to collect data.
    Richard Fitzpatrick/Citizens of the Reef
    World’s largest coral colony discovered off Australian coast by mother-daughter team
  • Ancient bacteria strain discovered in ice cave is resistant to some modern antibiotics
  • New experiments show Earth’s core may hold vast ‘oceans’ of an essential element for life
  • Bonobos are capable of pretend play, just like human children

Paleontology

Show all

  • Artist impression of what Prototaxites would have look like in life
    Matt Humpage
    The largest life-form on land 400 million years ago was one that scientists can’t explain
  • Fossil analysis changes what paleontologists know about how long T. rex took to grow full size
  • Discovery of ancient bee nests in fossils points to a never-before-seen behavior
  • Scientists document over 16,000 footprints in the world’s most extensive dinosaur tracksite
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