Headlines

Did gravitational tides cause Earth's extinctions?

Life on Earth took a long evolutionary journey that eventually created us, the purportedly intelligent species that dominates the planet. But there was no grand plan or design, only happenstance, nature and luck. Life on Earth suffered multiple extinctions, but got up, dusted

Laser experiments push helium to record shock pressures

Deep inside gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn, hydrogen and helium coexist under pressures millions of times greater than Earth's atmosphere. Under those conditions, helium may separate from hydrogen and influence a planet's internal heat flow, structure and magnetic field.

Free love in communes? Not quite, says researcher

The myth of the sexually liberated life of communes is persistent, even though research shows a different reality. According to postdoctoral researcher Anna Heinonen of the University of Eastern Finland, the idea that roommates would have very free sexual relationships with

Image: Roman Telescope arrives at Kennedy Space Center

In this photo from June 21, 2026, NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope arrives at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard NASA's Pegasus barge. After offloading and transportation to the spaceport's Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, Roman will undergo

When glaciers disappear, so do deities

In a recent viewpoint published in Nature Climate Change, six researchers from South America, Asia and Africa examine how glacier retreat in the Andes, Himalayas and other high-altitude regions is reshaping the cultural and spiritual life of different glacial communities.

Images: Perseverance reaches 'marathon' milestone on Mars

NASA's Perseverance rover appears as a green speck on the Martian surface on June 13, 2026, a day before the robotic explorer marked a distance milestone, having traveled a full marathon (26.2 miles, or 42.195 kilometers) on the Red Planet. Perseverance reached that distance