Category Science

New Glenn blasts off Blue Origin Blue Origin’s reusable New Glenn rocket has successfully launched and reached orbit, though engineers failed to safely land the first-stage rocket booster back on Earth as hoped. Even so, the company’s first launch to…

A few minutes after 2:00 A.M. EST, a hulking, 320-foot-tall rocket slipped its tethers at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and heaved itself into the sky on a bluish-white pillar of flame, briefly turning night into day along the…

January 15, 2025 4 min read Wildfires Started by Daily Human Activities Are Often More Destructive Fast-moving fires, such as the recent ones in the Los Angeles area, and those started by humans, whether accidentally or not, are often some…

January 15, 2025 3 min read Biden Opens Publicly Owned Land to Data Centers Run on Clean Energy President Biden issued an executive order to permit data centers on federal lands in a move aimed at bolstering clean energy and…

Stone plaques with sun motifs found on Bornholm island, Denmark Antiquity Publications/John Lee, National Museum of Denmark Hundreds of mysterious engraved “sun stones” unearthed in Denmark may have been ceremonially buried because a volcanic eruption in about 2900 BC made…

January 15, 2025 3 min read Why Are U.S. TikTok Users Signing Up for RedNote? Thousands of U.S. TikTok users are joining China-based app RedNote, spawning memes, jokes and confusion  By Ben Guarino edited by Dean Visser A TikTok creator…

Analysis and Technology The Chinese social media apps Red Note and Lemon8 have become popular alternatives for TikTok users ahead of a US government ban on TikTok. But government restrictions loom over those apps too By Jeremy Hsu US TikTok…

January 15, 2025 4 min read How the Polar Vortex Can Bring Arctic Blasts to the U.S. Vast weather patterns can carry blasts of frigid air far from the polar regions—here’s how it works By Meghan Bartels edited by Andrea…

At the end of October 2024, a grey gloom descended over the British Isles. Nothing unusual there. But this murky shroud was particularly persistent, even for the UK. Some regions barely saw the sun for a fortnight. Residents of the…

January 15, 2025 4 min read Does Fact-Checking Work? Here’s What the Science Says Communication and misinformation researchers reveal the value of fact-checking, where perceived biases come from and what Meta’s decision could mean By David Adam & Nature magazine…