CNN – World

By Jack Guy, CNN Humans’ ability to walk upright on two legs may have evolved in trees, rather than on the ground, according to scientists studying wild chimpanzees in Tanzania. This contradicts the widely accepted theory that prehistoric human relatives evolved to walk on two legs because they lived in an open savanna environment, according

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN The best chance to see the strongest meteor shower of the year is on its way this week. The Geminids, known for bright, intensely colored meteors, have been streaking across the night sky since late November, and the shower will peak the night of December 13 through December 14, according to

By Katie Hunt, CNN The battle against the single-use plastic bag may not be won but it’s definitely under way. Restrictions on their use are in place in almost a dozen US states and in many other countries around the world. And in many cases, these efforts have been successful at eliminating new sales of

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN Resting at the bottom of Mjøsa, the largest lake in Norway, a shipwreck from hundreds of years ago is in almost perfect condition, frozen in time. The vessel, with its unique stem posts and overlapped planks, reveals a moment in the lake’s maritime history and is estimated to date between the

By Jackie Wattles, CNN The Artemis I mission — a 25½-day uncrewed test flight around the moon meant to pave the way for future astronaut missions — came to a momentous end as NASA’s Orion spacecraft made a successful ocean splashdown Sunday. The spacecraft finished the final stretch of its journey, closing in on the

By Jackie Wattles, CNN The Artemis I mission — a 25½-day uncrewed test flight around the moon meant to pave the way for future astronaut missions — is coming to an end as NASA’s Orion spacecraft is expected to make an ocean splashdown Sunday. The spacecraft is finishing the final stretch of its journey, closing

Story by Reuters The effects of human activity from climate change to pollution are “devastating” marine life, with nearly a tenth of underwater plants and animals assessed so far threatened with extinction, the latest Red List of Threatened Species showed on Friday. The report’s release coincides with a UN summit on nature in Montreal where

By Scottie Andrew, CNN What’s in a swear? The world’s filthiest words typically refer to something vulgar or taboo, for one. But there’s something else swears across the world’s languages have in common. They’re all missing the more melodic consonant sounds you’re more likely to hear in a lullaby than in a colorful reaction to

By Jackie Wattles, CNN Japanese fashion mogul Yusaku Maezawa has picked eight passengers that he said will join him on a trip around the moon, powered by SpaceX’s yet-to-be-flown Starship spacecraft. The group includes American DJ Steve Aoki and popular space YouTuber Tim Dodd, better known as the Everyday Astronaut. The mission, called Dear Moon,

By Ashley Strickland, CNN The exoplanet 55 Cancri e goes by several names, but the rocky world located 40 light-years from Earth is most known for its reputation as a “hell planet.” This super-Earth, so named because it’s a rocky planet eight times as massive and twice as wide as Earth, is so scorching hot

By Ashley Strickland, CNN An unusual bright blast of light detected by multiple telescopes in December 2021 was the result of a rare cosmic explosion that created a wealth of heavy elements such as gold and platinum. The gamma-ray burst, called GRB 211211A, lasted about a minute. Gamma-ray bursts are considered among the strongest and

By Ashley Strickland, CNN More than a year and a half after its first flight on Mars, the Ingenuity helicopter has set a new record. The little 4-pound (1.8-kilogram) chopper completed its 35th flight on December 3 and reached a new altitude record of 46 feet (14 meters). The aerial excursion lasted for 52 seconds

By Katie Hunt, CNN A core of ice age sediment from northern Greenland has yielded the world’s oldest sequences of DNA. The 2 million-year-old DNA samples revealed the now largely lifeless polar region was once home to rich plant and animal life — including elephant-like mammals known as mastodons, reindeer, hares, lemmings, geese, birch trees

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN December’s full moon, also known as the “cold moon,” will shine bright in the night sky this Wednesday, peaking at 11:08 p.m. ET. Jupiter, Saturn and Mars will also be visible in the night sky Wednesday, with an extraordinarily rare phenomenon, known as a lunar occultation of Mars, set to happen

By Taylor Nicioli, CNN Recently exposed sandbars along the drought-stricken Mississippi River have caught the attention of fossil hunters, leading to two exceptional finds from a rare ice age species. Wiley Prewitt was exploring a newly exposed area on October 26 when he came across a rather large tooth poking out of the sand. The