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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Some of the most intriguing science fiction springs from eerie, real-life phenomena. Case in point, the mutant parasite in the video game series “The Last of Us.” Creators of the franchise, which includes a show on HBO, got the idea from a type of fungus that hijacks the brains

By Ella Nilsen, Soph Warnes, CNN (CNN) — Household energy bills will be higher over the next decade now that Republicans have passed their tax and spending bill, according to a new analysis. President Donald Trump and Republicans are phasing out tax credits that lower the cost to build wind and solar, which are now

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — A rocky outcrop in a remote corner of northern Quebec appears serene in its eerie isolation on the eastern shore of Canada’s Hudson Bay. But over the past two decades, this exposed remnant of ancient ocean floor, known as the Nuvvuagittuq Greenstone Belt, has been a heated scientific battleground

By Issy Ronald, CNN London (CNN) — Scientists have discovered a new species of dinosaur — one that was dog-sized and roamed what is now the United States around 150 million years ago alongside familiar dinosaurs like stegosaurus and diplodocus. The Enigmacursor mollyborthwickae, as researchers named it, was about the same size as a Labrador

CNN By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — A private astronaut mission that just took flight has exposed a new twist in a lingering — and potentially dangerous — issue at humanity’s most frequently visited destination in space. Axiom Space Mission 4, or Ax-4, lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:32 a.m.

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — A private astronaut mission that just took flight has exposed a new twist in a lingering — and potentially dangerous — issue at humanity’s most frequently visited destination in space. Axiom Space Mission 4, or Ax-4, lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 2:32 a.m. ET

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — A glob of 99 million-year-old amber has preserved an ancient fly in horror show fashion: with the mushroom-like fruiting body of zombie fungus bursting forth from its head. The insect, along with a second specimen of a young ant infected with a similar fungus, are two of the oldest

By Marlowe Starling, CNN (CNN) — Behavioral ecologist Michael Weiss was browsing through new drone footage of the orca pods he studies in the Salish Sea when he spotted one of the killer whales carrying something green in its mouth and noticed an unusual behavior: Some orcas were rubbing against each other for up to

By Andrew Freedman, CNN (CNN) — The intensifying and expansive heat wave affecting around 150 million people in the United States from Wisconsin to Washington, DC, bears the hallmarks of human-caused global warming. Hundreds of daily temperature records are threatened during the next few days, particularly along the East Coast, and some all-time June high

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — The first test images from a groundbreaking observatory named for trailblazing astronomer Vera Rubin have captured the light from millions of distant stars and galaxies on an unprecedented scale and revealed thousands of previously unseen asteroids. While the National Science Foundation initially released only a couple of images and

CNN By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — The first test images from a groundbreaking observatory named for trailblazing astronomer Vera Rubin have captured the light from millions of distant stars and galaxies on an unprecedented scale and revealed thousands of previously unseen asteroids. While the National Science Foundation initially released only a couple of images

By Kameryn Griesser, CNN (CNN) — Whether it’s answering work emails or drafting wedding vows, generative artificial intelligence tools have become a trusty copilot in many people’s lives. But a growing body of research shows that for every problem AI solves, hidden environmental costs are racking up. Each word in an AI prompt is broken

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — Tens of thousands of years ago, our species — Homo sapiens — mingled and interbred with other prehistoric humans: our distant cousins, the Neanderthals and Denisovans. Hundreds of Neanderthal fossils give us a good idea of their appearance, lives and relationships, but so little is known about Denisovans that

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Scientists are trying to solve a decade-long mystery by determining the identity of anomalous signals detected from below ice in Antarctica. The strange radio waves emerged during a search for another unusual phenomenon: high-energy cosmic particles known as neutrinos. Arriving at Earth from the far reaches of the cosmos,

By Jacopo Prisco, CNN (CNN) — Each year, a tiny species in Australia makes a grueling 620-mile (1,000-kilometer) nighttime migration, and it’s pulling off the feat in a way only humans and migratory birds have been known to do, a new study has found. Bogong moths looking to escape the heat travel in the spring

By Ella Nilsen, Bill Weir, CNN Chief Climate Correspondent SOUTHERN MAINE (CNN) — Colin Goodson knows more about energy than most people. The tall, bearded Mainer is an engineer on an offshore oil drilling ship in the Gulf of Mexico. But when it came time for him to build a home in Southern Maine, Goodson

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — An enigmatic skull recovered from the bottom of a well in northeastern China in 2018 sparked intrigue when it didn’t match any previously known species of prehistoric human. Now, scientists say they have found evidence of where the fossil fits, and it could be a key piece in another