RIO DE JANEIRO – At this time of year, rain should be soaking large swathes of the Amazon rainforest. Instead, a punishing drought kept the rains at bay, creating dry conditions for fires that engulfed hundreds of square kilometers of rainforest that usually don’t burn. The fires have turned the end of the dry season… Read More »
When Albert Einstein wrote an obituary for Emmy Noether in 1935, he described her as “an inventive mathematical genius” who—despite “many years of devoted, important work”—did not receive the recognition she deserved. Noether made groundbreaking contributions to mathematics at a time when women were barred from academia and Jews like herself faced persecution in Nazi… Read More »
Aparna Venkatesan He is an astronomer and dark sky advocate in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of San Francisco. John Barentine is an astronomer, historian, author, science communicator and founder of Dark Sky Consulting, LLC. The Moon has been a calendar, ancestor, ritual, inspiration and origin story for humanity since humankind… Read More »
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. A bold plan to genetically engineer a version of the woolly mammoth, the tusked ice age giant that disappeared 4,000 years ago, is making some progress, according to scientists involved. The long-term goal is to… Read More »
You may have a chance to see a comet this month. All you need to see Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, along with good weather and a little luck, are good binoculars or a telescope and a sky map to help you find where this celestial rogue is located. The comet is named after two of the most… Read More »
While people were trying to understand dark energy, the mysterious force causing the rapid expansion of the universe, scientists began to wonder about something quite futuristic. Can computers do better? The first results from a team using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to reveal the impact of dark energy with unprecedented precision may provide an answer:… Read More »
One of the best things about Lego is that anyone can take a handful of bricks and build something incredible. With this in mind, the Lego Ideas program allows any Lego fan to design their own Lego set and upload it to the Lego Ideas platform. There, where it will be voted on, it can… Read More »
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Often called the father of mathematics Archimedes He was one of the most famous inventors of ancient Greece, and some of his ideas and principles are still used today. But one legendary device has caused… Read More »
In much of the United States, and especially in the normally cold north, the country went through the winter months without winter. In parka strongholds Burlington, Vermont, and Portland, Maine, the thermometer never dropped below zero. The state of Minnesota called the last three months the “lost winter,” warmer than the infamous “winterless year” of… Read More »
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. A strange fossil has helped scientists discover an unusual bird that lived among dinosaurs 120 million years ago, and the find is changing the way researchers think about bird evolution. The previously unknown species was… Read More »