Science

Scientists say a species of bacteria rewrites the history of when an infectious and potentially deadly disease first arrived in the Americas. And it was long before the arrival of European explorers.
Researchers from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, with help from a U.S. university, recently announced in a news release that a second species of bacteria is also responsible for the disease known as leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, in the Americas.
In years past, many believed that the bacterium known as Mycobacterium leprae caused leprosy and that it was only spread in America by early European explorers and settlers.
However, the revelation of a second bacterium puts that theory of blaming the settlers on its head, as an existing strain was already on the continents calling the New World home.
FIRST KNOWN CASE OF RARE MPOX STRAIN CONFIRMED IN UNITED STATES
The bacterium Mycobacterium lepromatosis existed and infected humans for 1,000 years prior to Europeans arriving, researchers sa..

An underwater volcano off the Oregon coast could erupt late this year, scientists say.
The volcano, known as Axial Seamount, is more than 4,900 feet beneath the Pacific Ocean and 300 miles off the Oregon coast, but it is showing signs it will soon erupt for the first time since 2015.
The volcano is formed by a hot spot, an area in the Earth’s mantle where hot plumes of molten material rise upward into the crust, the University of Washington’s College of the Environment said in an April blog post. As the crust moves over the top of the mantle, the hot spot stays put, which results in long chains of volcanoes over time.
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“Over two-thirds of the Earth’s surface was formed by volcanic eruptions at these mid-ocean ridges,” said Maya Tolstoy, a marine geophysicist and dean of the university's College of the Environment. “Axial Seamount is a direct result of these fundamental processes that contin..

Oceans around the globe have become darker over the last two decades, leaving researchers fearful for their marine inhabitants, according to a new study.
Professor Thomas Davies of the University of Plymouth said in a study published in the Global Change Biology journal there is growing concern for the marine ecosystem.
Satellite data from NASA’s Ocean Color Web data portal showed 21% of the planet’s oceans had darkened between 2003 and 2022.
According to Davies, the majority of marine life lives in the photic zones of the ocean, which is where sufficient light penetrates to stimulate photobiological processes.
RARE COLOSSAL BABY SEA CREATURE CAUGHT ON CAMERA FOR THE FIRST TIME
The photic zone, which is 200 meters deep, is where global nutrients and carbon budgets sustain the planetary fish markets.
This is the area where light reaches marine life that lives closer to the surface of the ocean.
These ocean inhabitants rely on both the moonlight and sunlight for hunting, mating, reproduc..

A team of scientists at the Institute for Advanced Study School of Natural Sciences in Princeton, New Jersey, might have found a new dwarf planet, potentially leading to more evidence of a theoretical super-planet.
The scientists announced in a news release that they have found a trans-Neptune Object(TNO), code-named 2017OF201, located past the icy and desolate region of the Kuplier Belt.
The TNO, which are described as minor planets that orbit the sun at a greater distance than Neptune, were found on the edge of our solar system.
While there are plenty of other TNOs in the solar system, what makes 2017OF201 special is its large size and extreme orbit.
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One of the team leads, Sihao Cheng, along with Jiaxuan Li and Eritas Yang from Princeton University, made the discovery.
The team used advanced computational methods to identify the object’s distinctive trajectory pattern in the sky.
“The object’s ap..

Scientists say that they have formulated a way to help people in stressful and demanding work environments track their brainwaves and brain usage — an electronic tattoo device, or “e-tattoo,” on the person's face.
In a study posted in the science journal Device, the team of researchers wrote that they found e-tattoos to be a more cost-effective and simpler way to track one’s mental workload.
Dr. Nanshu Lu, the senior author of the research from the University of Texas at Austin, wrote that mental workload is a critical factor in human-in-the-loop systems, directly influencing cognitive performance and decision-making.
Lu told Fox News Digital in an email that this device was motivated by high-demand, high-stake jobs such as pilots, air traffic controllers, doctors and emergency dispatchers.
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Lu also said ER doctors and robot/drone operators can also leverage this technology for training and performance enhancement..

Soviet-Era spacecraft crashes back to Earth after 53 yearsExperts says the chances were exceedingly low for anyone being hit by the spacecraft debrisThis photo provided by researcher Jane Greaves shows the planet Venus, seen from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Akatsuki probe in May 2016. ((J. Greaves/Cardiff University/JAXA via AP)
The US Space Command has yet to confirm the spacecraft's whereabouts.

Google working to decode dolphin communication using AIGoogle has developed a new AI model called DolphinGemma to detect dolphin vocalization patternsGoogle is using artificial intelligence (AI) to try and understand how dolphins communicate with one another – with the hope that one day humans could use the technology to chat with them. (iStock)
Google has teamed up with researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Wild Dolphin Project (WDP), a Florida-based non-profit which has been studying and recording dolphin sounds for 40 years, to build the new AI model called DolphinGemma.
A zookeeper wearing a protective mask looks inside the mouth of a dolphin at the zoologic park “Planete Sauvage” in Saint-Pere-en-Retz, outside Nantes, on May 6, 2020. Dolphins are one of the smartest animals on Earth and have been revered for thousands of years for their intelligence, emotions and social interaction with humans. (LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)

Wolf made famous in ‘Game of Thrones’ brought back from 12,500-year extinction, US company claimsScientists used genome-editing and cloning technologies to rebirth the wolvesA Dallas-based company claims to have brought back wolves that last roamed the Earth more than 12,500 years ago and became widely known due to the hit HBO series “Game of Thrones.” (Colossal Biosciences )
Scientists used genome-editing and cloning technologies to rebirth the wolves. (Colossal Biosciences )
A dire wolf at 5 months old. (Colossal Biosciences )

‘Well-preserved’ baby mammoth dating back to Ice Age dissected by scientists: photosFemale mammoth was around 1 year old when she diedA live broadcast of scientists performing a necropsy on the 50,000-year-old baby mammoth nicknamed “Yana” is seen on a screen at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk on March 27, 2025. (STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)
Scientists perform a necropsy on the 50,000-year-old baby mammoth nicknamed “Yana” at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk on March 27, 2025. (STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)
Scientists perform a necropsy on the 50,000-year-old baby mammoth nicknamed “Yana” at the North-Eastern Federal University in Yakutsk on March 27, 2025. (STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images)

Spectacular blue spiral light brightens up night sky, likely from Space X rocketMany social media commenters likened the stunning display to a spiral galaxyMany social media commenters likened the stunning display to a spiral galaxy (MedicaChristian/TMX)
A mysterious spiraling blue light likely caused by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket illuminated the night skies over Europe on Monday. (MedicaChristian/TMX)
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from the launch pad at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida on March 14, 2025. (SpaceX/NASA)