Science

BOULDER, Colo. - A giant sunspot is expected to traverse the Earth-facing side of the Sun by Thanksgiving, according to scientists at the National Science Foundation's National Solar Observatory. They based their prediction, first made on Nov. 18, on a... Read More

The global COVID-19 pandemic, with all its devastating consequences, has reaffirmed why science must be at the center of policy considerations, political debate, and media attention. But, lamentably, it is often at the center for all the wrong reasons. Against... Read More

One year ago, a report from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security assessed the readiness of 195 countries around the world to confront a deadly disease outbreak. Topping the list of most-prepared nations was the United States of America. But that forecast... Read More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Two NASA astronauts returned to Earth on Sunday in a dramatic, retro-style splashdown, their capsule parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico to close out an unprecedented test flight by Elon Musk's SpaceX company. It was... Read More

WASHINGTON - For weeks it had been the stuff of living room banter and fodder for self-quarantining late night comedians. Suddenly, apparently on a whim, the president who once described himself as a "very stable genius," was talking about how... Read More

Remember when you decided against a trip to the dog park, a meet-up at a sports bar, or a visit to your sister’s house? New research shows that such social distancing decisions mattered back in April, when the coronavirus was... Read More

WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration issued a draft guidance establishing rules for lawfully researching cannabis. The guidance is limited to the development of drugs and does not cover other FDA-regulated products. Nevertheless, the release of the document and... Read More

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Mars is about to be invaded by planet Earth — big time. Three countries — the United States, China and the United Arab Emirates — are sending unmanned spacecraft to the red planet in quick... Read More

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Food and Drug Administration released a series of recommendations Tuesday that it say should help facilitate the timely development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. The agency said the guidance reflects advice it has been... Read More

Climate change is increasing the likelihood of low birth weights, premature births, and stillbirths in minority communities, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study’s authors said while they found detrimental impacts... Read More

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Senate tried Tuesday to respond to warnings from infectious disease experts that coronavirus is only an example of other pandemics that are coming soon. The World Health Organization has warned that a global population topping 7.8... Read More

American honeybee colonies have bounced back after a bad year, the annual beekeeping survey finds. Beekeepers only lost 22.2% of their colonies this past winter, from Oct. 1 to March 31, which is lower than the average of 28.6%, according... Read More

WASHINGTON –– A massive plume of dust from the Sahara Desert is slowly making its way from the west coast of Africa towards North and South America, creating drier-than-usual atmospheric conditions over the Atlantic Ocean. The cloud, which astronauts have... Read More

A malaria drug President Donald Trump took to try to prevent COVID-19 proved ineffective for that in the first large, high-quality study to test it in people in close contact with someone with the disease. Results published Wednesday by the New England... Read More

ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule eased its way to the International Space Station on Sunday morning, autonomously docking and marking the first time an American commercial capsule with humans aboard performed the feat. The docking, which concluded shortly... Read More

A majority of Hawaii residents continue to support the construction of a new observatory atop the dormant Maunakea volcano on the Big Island of the archipelago, despite protests that have brought the project to a standstill, a new poll shows.... Read More

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The federal government’s hurricane season forecast, released Thursday, predicts an above-average season, offering little hope of a break from strong storms in an already challenging year. The forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calls... Read More

A species of bee from Florida that scientists thought might no longer exist was rediscovered earlier this spring, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History. Before then, the blue calamintha bee had not been observed since 2016. “I was... Read More

WASHINGTON - NASA awarded contracts to three companies on Thursday to design and develop human landing systems, one of which will land the first woman and next man on the surface of the Moon by 2024 as part of the... Read More

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last week declared the burgeoning space industry is one of her nine economic growth sectors for the state. “New Mexico is truly breaking barriers in the space industry,” the governor said as she opened... Read More

A U.S. astronaut set a record Saturday for the longest single spaceflight by a woman, breaking the old mark of 288 days with about two months left in her mission. Christina Koch, a 40-year-old electrical engineer from Livingston, Montana, arrived... Read More

Four historic “hidden figures” from NASA Langley Research Center will receive Congressional Gold Medals for their pioneering work during the space race and beyond. A bipartisan bill recognizing Katherine Johnson, Christine Darden, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson for their groundbreaking... Read More

ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gave an update on the progress of the company’s next-generation space vehicle, Starship, with plans to get an orbital test launch within six months and people on board within a year. In a... Read More

A federal appeals court in Portland, Oregon heard arguments this week in a lawsuit that accuses the Trump administration of endangering the future of children by its environmental policies that do little to avoid climate change. The lawsuit was filed... Read More

The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it will sharply reduce the amount of federal money supporting medical research that relies on tissue from aborted fetuses, handing a significant victory to anti-abortion groups who had lobbied for such a decision for... Read More

The remains of the schooner Clotilda, the last known vessel to carry enslaved African captives to the United States has been found near the mouth of a river that empties into Mobile Bay in Alabama. Search Inc., a Florida-based archaeology... Read More

NASA launched the final stage of its four-year program to create a national traffic management system for drones this week, a move that brings home delivery of packages, medical supplies and even pizza by small unmanned aircraft one step closer... Read More