This image shows the Sun in visible light. It was taken by the Polarimetric and Helioseismic Imager (PHI) onboard the Solar Orbiter spacecraft on 22 March 2023. The instrument collected red light with a wavelength of 617 nanometres.
European Space Agency
Solar Orbiter captures the highest-resolution images of the sun’s surface yet
English Heritage curator Dr Frances McIntosh examines a rare Roman knife handle cast in the shape of a secutor gladiator, which has been discovered in a river at Corbridge Roman Town on Hadrian’s Wall in Northumberland.<br />English Heritage plans to display the knife handle at Corbridge Roman Town in 2025, alongside other finds from the River Tyne.
English Heritage
Rare 2,000-year-old knife handle found at Hadrian’s Wall offers glimpse into gladiator life
The SpaceX Starship lifts off from Starbase near Boca Chica, Texas, on November 19, 2024, for the Starship Flight 6 test. (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA / AFP) (Photo by CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images)
Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
SpaceX calls off nail-biting catch attempt as booster splashes down to Earth
The frozen mummy of <em>Homotherium latidens</em> (Owen, 1846), specimen DMF AS RS, no. Met-20-1, Russia, Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Indigirka River basin, Badyarikha River; Upper Pleistocene: (A) external appearance; (B) skeleton, CT-scan, dorsal view.
courtesy Prof. Alexey V. Lopatin
Baby saber-toothed cat mummy found in Siberia with intact skin, fur and toes is ‘mind-blowing,’ scientists say
Shot_2_edit2.jpg
Oliver Hull
Earth ring theory may shed light on an unexplained ancient climate event, scientists say
The first panel of this artist's concept depicts how Uranus's magnetosphere (its protective bubble) was behaving before Voyager 2's flyby. The second panel shows that an unusual kind of solar weather was happening at the same time as the spacecraft's flyby, giving scientists a skewed view of Uranus's magnetosphere.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
NASA’s only visit to Uranus happened during a rare cosmic occurrence
The moon rises behind an observation deck in New York City as seen from Hoboken, N.J., Friday, Nov. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Seth Wenig/AP
Look up this weekend for a celestial double feature
Fig3a.jpg
Chloé J.L. Fourreau/Proceedings of the Royal Society B
Long-lost ocean worms photobomb tiny seahorses, surprising scientists
The lunar farside as never seen before! LROC WAC orthographic projection centered at 180° longitude, 0° latitude
NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Findings from the first lunar far side samples raise new questions about the moon’s history
Nauka docks to the Zvezda service module iss065e212164 (July 29, 2021) --- Russia's "Nauka" Multipurpose Laboratory Module is pictured shortly after docking to the Zvezda service module's Earth-facing port on the International Space Station with the Brazilian coast 263 miles below. In the foreground, is the Soyuz MS-18 crew ship docked to the Rassvet module.
NASA
‘Possibility of a catastrophic failure’: Inside the space station leak problem that has NASA worried

Editor's picks

In 1922, American chemist, Thomas Midgley, Jr. discovered tetraethyl, an antiknock agent in gasoline, which led to the establishment of the ethyl gasoline industry. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
Corbis/Getty Images
Once celebrated, an inventor’s breakthroughs are now viewed as disasters — and the world is still recovering
GettyImages-698572974.jpg
3D Illustration Getty Images/NASA
‘Dyson spheres’ were theorized as a way to detect alien life. Scientists say they’ve found potential evidence
KARS, TURKIYE - MAY 18: A view of moon, appearing in the sky in the evening hours in Kars, Turkey, on May 18, 2024. (Photo by Omer Tarsuslu/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Omer Tarsuslu/Anadolu/Getty Images
Why scientists say we need to send clocks to the moon — soon
B8C6TT MEXICAN AXOLOTL
Stephen Dalton/Avalon.red/Alamy Stock Photo
Why axolotls seem to be everywhere — except in the one lake they call home

Space

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This is an image of the planet Uranus taken by the spacecraft Voyager 2 in 1986. The Voyager project is managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
New Uranus research suggests what’s known about the planet could be wrong
Alien-like signal from 2023 has been decoded. The next step is to figure out what it means
The Northern Taurid meteor shower could produce fireballs. Here’s how to watch
NASA astronauts on readjusting to life on Earth: ‘It’s hard to sit’

Archaeology

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2_battlefield_spy_imagery CREDIT US Geological Survey.jpg
US Geological Survey
Archaeologists identify centuries-old battle site in Iraq using declassified spy satellite images
Scans help solve a 3,000-year-old mystery of a high-status Egyptian woman
Researchers are learning more about ‘Zosia,’ the 17th century ‘vampire’ buried with a blade over her neck
DNA analysis upends long-held assumptions about Pompeii victims’ final moments

Life

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No one has been killed by a funnel-web spider since the antivenom was introduced.
Ken Griffiths/iStockphoto/Getty Images
Why Australian zoo is asking Sydney residents to catch deadly funnel-web spiders
‘Mystery mollusk’ found in the ocean’s midnight zone is unlike anything researchers have seen before
Emperor penguin turns up on Australian beach, thousands of miles from home
Students discover and publish unexpected proof for 2,000-year-old mathematical theory

Paleontology

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Terror-bird_11_6.jpg
Degrange et al.
Ancient ‘terror birds’ were giant apex predators. Suspected new species is among the largest ever known
Stunning fossil preserved in fool’s gold reveals newly identified 450 million-year-old species
Stunning fossil trapped in amber reveals previously unknown species that lived during the time of dinosaurs
World’s largest arthropod lived 300 million years ago. Now, fossils show what it really looked like