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By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — If the near-Earth asteroid Bennu were to collide with Earth in the future, the space rock could cause substantial global damage, even though it’s a fraction of the size of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs, according to new research. Astronomers estimate that Bennu has a 1 in

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — A near complete skull fossil found in Antarctica has revealed the oldest known modern bird — a mallard duck-size creature related to the waterfowl that live by lakes and oceans today, a new study has found. The 68 million-year-old fossil belongs to an extinct species of bird known as

By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — Some great apes realize when a human partner doesn’t know something and are capable of communicating information to them to change their behavior, a new study shows. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University studying bonobos found that they would point to where treats were hidden if they could see their

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — About 3.8 billion years ago, two massive canyons likely formed on the moon in a span of less than 10 minutes, according to new research. The extraordinary formations, each comparable in size to Earth’s Grand Canyon, are hidden on the far side of the moon — the side that

By Laura Paddison, CNN (CNN) — Images from space reveal an enormous X-shaped building rising up from rocky terrain in southwestern China. This is a huge nuclear fusion research facility, analysts say, and it could be a sign China is leaping ahead in the quest to harness this futuristic energy source. It could also mean

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — Often referred to as the world’s most famous medieval artwork, the Bayeux Tapestry is both an intricate illustration of the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and a historical enigma. Several mysteries still surround the dazzling embroidery, including the identity of its maker, but

By Hassan Tayir, CNN Hong Kong (CNN) — China plans to send a flying robot to the far side of the moon next year to search for the frozen water that could hold the key to future lunar exploration, as the country pushes forward with its ambitious space program. The robotic “flying detector” will be

By Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — The US Army Corps of Engineers opened two dams on Friday in Central California and let roughly 2.2 billion gallons of water flow out of reservoirs, after President Donald Trump ordered the release with the misguided intent to send water to fire-ravaged Southern California. Trump celebrated the move in

By Issy Ronald, CNN London (CNN) — Eleven endangered male frogs that traveled 7,000 miles (11,000 kilometers) in a bid to save their species from extinction have “given birth” to 33 froglets at London Zoo. Originally from Parque Tantauco, a remote part of an island off the coast of Chile, the Darwin’s frog species is

By Catherine Nicholls, CNN (CNN) — The arrival of a baby swell shark at an aquarium in Louisiana has caused a wave of excitement, after the egg hatched despite the fact that no male sharks appear to have been involved. Shark pup Yoko was born in early January, Shreveport Aquarium said, having hatched from an

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Sending a spacecraft to a near-Earth asteroid, gathering dust and rock from its surface, and returning the rare cache to our planet has been one of NASA’s boldest feats yet. And now, the daring OSIRIS-REx mission is bearing scientific fruit. When the spacecraft completed its long journey home more

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN (CNN) — The Blue Ghost lunar lander has captured its first images of the moon from the spacecraft’s orbit around Earth, the Texas-based company Firefly Aerospace announced this week. The two images — which the company posted Monday on the social media platform X — features a view of the moon

By Laura Paddison and Ella Nilsen, CNN (CNN) — There’s a saying that in a big city you are never more than six feet away from a rat. It’s an urban myth, but scientists are warning cities across the globe are becoming far rattier, and the boom is primarily driven by one factor: climate change.

By Julianna Bragg, CNN (CNN) — Corals aren’t necessarily known for their fancy footwork — or even having feet. But scientists have observed a free-living mushroom coral, Cycloseris cyclolites, actively “walking” toward blue light waves in a way that’s reminiscent of the pulsed swimming motion of jellyfish, a new study has revealed. Most corals are

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Space agencies are keeping a close eye on a recently discovered asteroid that has a small chance of impacting Earth. Named 2024 YR4, the asteroid has a 1.2% chance of hitting our planet on December 22, 2032, the European Space Agency and NASA have found. But that also means

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, who have been on an unexpectedly monthslong assignment after serving on Boeing’s Starliner crewed test flight, conducted a spacewalk Thursday. The duo ventured outside the International Space Station to remove degraded radio communications hardware and collect samples that may show whether microorganisms exist

By Katie Hunt, CNN (CNN) — Archaeologists investigating a roughly 5,000-year-old tomb in southwestern Spain say the women laid to rest there were buried with a staggering number of white beads that would have been threaded together to form elaborate, shimmering outfits. Beads appear regularly in the archaeological record as a form of adornment, currency

By Ashley Strickland, CNN (CNN) — Researchers have detected organic compounds and minerals necessary for life in unprecedented samples collected from the near-Earth asteroid Bennu, adding evidence to the idea that asteroids likely delivered the building blocks of life to our planet early in its history. The samples are also providing a window into understanding

By Jack Guy, CNN (CNN) — An amateur fossil hunter has uncovered a piece of animal vomit dating back 66 million years on a beach in Denmark. Peter Bennicke noticed a “strange small cluster of lily pieces in a piece of chalk” at Stevns Klint in eastern Denmark, according to a statement from Geomuseum Faxe,

By Jackie Wattles, CNN (CNN) — In a post on the social media platform X, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk claimed Tuesday that the Biden Administration left two astronauts “stranded” and said President Donald Trump has asked SpaceX to step in to rescue them. But NASA already put such a plan in place months ago when