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By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — A cataclysm engulfed the planet some 252 million years ago, wiping out more than 90% of all life. Known as the Great Dying, the mass extinction that ended the Permian geological period was the worst of the five global catastrophic events in Earth’s history, more devastating, than the one

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — When archaeologist Ludovic Slimak unearthed five teeth in a rock shelter in France’s Rhône Valley in 2015, it was immediately obvious that they belonged to a Neanderthal, the first intact remains of the ancient species to be discovered in that country since 1979. However, the once-in-a-lifetime find, nicknamed Thorin

CNN By Jackie Wattles and Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A four-person crew of civilians on board SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission unlocked the hatch of their capsule and made history as the first group of non-government astronauts to conduct a spacewalk. SpaceX hosted a live webcast of the event — also known as an extravehicular

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN (CNN) — A pile of amputated limbs and the remains of several military horses have been excavated at the site of the Battle of Waterloo. The gruesome discovery was made at a farm in Belgium by Waterloo Uncovered, a UK charity that combines archaeology with veteran care. The epic battle was

By Jackie Wattles and Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — A four-person crew of civilians on board SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission unlocked the hatch of their capsule and made history as the first group of non-government astronauts to conduct a spacewalk. SpaceX hosted a live webcast of the event — also known as an extravehicular activity

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Astronomers have observed the detailed motions of giant gas bubbles on the surface of a nearby star for the first time, which rise and fall like the inside of a lava lamp. The massive hot gas bubbles are 75 times the size of the sun, and they appear to

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission kicked off early Tuesday, launching a four-person crew of civilian astronauts into orbit. And hours later they have already made history: reaching the highest orbit around Earth and surpassing a record set during NASA’s earliest days. The company confirmed that the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Two telescopes have spotted the closest pair of supermassive black holes to date. The duo, only about 300 light-years apart, were observed in different wavelengths of light using NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory and the Hubble Space Telescope. While black holes are invisible against the dark void of space, these

By Mindy Weisberger, CNN (CNN) — Picture a clock ticking so steadily that it doesn’t lose a second, even after running for 1 billion years. Scientists are now closer than ever to realizing that level of timekeeping precision, new research has revealed. Such a device would greatly surpass the capabilities of atomic clocks, which define the span

CNN By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — SpaceX’s latest mission — a bold and risky trek into Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts by a four-person crew of civilians who will also aim to conduct the first commercial spacewalk — just took flight. The mission, dubbed Polaris Dawn, lifted off at 5:23 a.m. ET. SpaceX livestreamed

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — SpaceX’s latest mission — a bold and risky trek into Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts by a four-person crew of civilians who will also aim to conduct the first commercial spacewalk — just took flight. The mission, dubbed Polaris Dawn, lifted off at 5:23 a.m. ET. SpaceX livestreamed the

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — The Europa Clipper spacecraft passed a key milestone on Monday and is on track to launch next month to explore and seek signs of habitability on one of Jupiter’s moons, according to NASA. The launch window for its journey opens on October 10. The mission passed Key Decision Point

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Well-preserved fossils of ancient large reptiles called pterosaurs have revealed that some species flew by flapping their wings, while others soared like vultures, according to a new study. Pterosaurs dominated the skies during the time of the dinosaurs and met the same deadly fate 66 million years ago after

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — Inside a highly classified facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee — the same facility that enriched uranium for the first atomic bomb in the era of the Manhattan Project — workers are turning old, unexploded warheads into fuel that will power cities. The recipe to create advanced reactor fuel involves

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Ties van der Hoeven’s ambitions are nothing if not grand. The Dutch engineer wants to transform a huge stretch of inhospitable desert into green, fertile land teeming with wildlife. His sights are set on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, an arid, triangle-shaped expanse that connects Africa with Asia. Thousands of years

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — As astronauts and engineers are fond of saying, space is hard. But that has never stopped bright minds from dreaming big. A Seattle-based company has resurrected NASA’s plans for a space plane, abandoned in 2001 due to technical difficulties. Radian Aerospace wants to replace vertical rocket launches with planes that

KABC, KCAL, KCBS, KCRA, CNN By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — The deep landslides beneath the multimillion-dollar homes in Rancho Palos Verdes moved at an almost glacial pace, until they didn’t. This affluent coastal city in Southern California, around 30 miles south of Los Angeles, has long enticed people with its Pacific Ocean views and

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — The deep landslides beneath the multimillion-dollar homes in Rancho Palos Verdes moved at an almost glacial pace, until they didn’t. This affluent coastal city in Southern California, around 30 miles south of Los Angeles, has long enticed people with its Pacific Ocean views and lush greenery. But it sits

By Jackie Wattles and Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Boeing’s Starliner capsule returned from the International Space Station Friday evening — concluding its nearly three-month stay in space. But it flew back to Earth with an empty cabin, leaving behind two test pilots who must now remain on the station for another five or six