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Why did passenger pigeons die out?
In the 19th century, passenger pigeons were so numerous that hunters competed to shoot as many as possible. But the last passenger pigeon died in the Cincinnati Zoo over 100 years ago. How did it all go so wrong?
January 18, 2018
Meteor lit up Michigan night skies
A brilliant fireball lit up skies in the U.S. state of Michigan Tuesday night and caused the equivalent of a magnitude 2.0 earthquake.
January 17, 2018
Supercomputer insights on mysterious black hole jets
Scientists used the Blue Waters supercomputer to show that a black hole's relativistic jets and accretion disk both may be spinning - and precessing over time - around an axis separate from the black hole itself.
January 17, 2018
Drone recon finds ancient Silk Road irrigation system
Scientists used drones to map a previously-unknown, 1,600-year-old irrigation system that allowed farming in arid northwest China, one of world’s driest climates.
January 16, 2018
Is Arctic warming behind year’s crazy winter weather?
An atmospheric scientist who studies the Arctic explains why – because of global warming – the U.S. may be in for longer cold spells in the winter.
January 13, 2018
What was that bright flash over Russia?
A flash seen over a wide swath of Russia on January 7 at first caused fears of a U.S. air strike on North Korea. For now, the flash is unexplained.
January 10, 2018
Largest known prime number discovered
The new prime number, discovered by a collaborative computer project, is nearly one million digits larger than the previous record prime number.
January 9, 2018
Ocean plastic killing marine turtles
Hundreds of marine turtles die every year after getting tangled in trash - such as plastic ‘six pack’ holders and discarded fishing gear - in oceans and on beaches.
January 7, 2018
Scientists unearth 1st direct evidence of 1st Americans
Genetic analysis of DNA of an infant found at an Alaskan archaeological site is evidence of a previously unknown population of ancient people in North America.
January 6, 2018
How deep is your snow?
It’s really hard to measure snowfall accurately. The National Weather Service relies on more than 8,000 volunteers with rulers.
January 5, 2018
