Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. Total solar eclipses have come and gone, but skygazers have reason to continue looking up; The meteor shower will peak this week just before the full moon rises. The bright orb may steal some of… Read More »
Editor’s Note: CNN Films “Blue Carbon: The Hidden Power of Nature” takes viewers from the mangroves of Vietnam to the salt marshes of France to investigate a powerful new ally in the fight to slow climate change. It will premiere on Sunday, April 21st at 9pm ET/PT. An oceanfront startup in western Singapore is building… Read More »
Editor’s Note: A version of this story appeared in CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. To get it in your inbox, Sign up for free here. As Earth Day approaches and the Wonder Theory newsletter celebrates its third anniversary in your inbox, I look to the future with hope. We all start somewhere. Encouragement and the… Read More »
In California’s boom-and-bust climate, Death Valley has offered some of the strangest sights in the last few years. Some of the area’s perennial creosote bushes died during a severe drought that will negatively affect the region until 2022. Then, the remnants of Hurricane Hilary and torrential downpours from subsequent storms revived the annual wildflowers from… Read More »
An artist’s rendering of a Mars sample return mission. NASA is preparing to deliver its response to this challenging report released last September by the Mars Sample Return Independent Review Board, including implementing next steps for the program. On Monday, April 15, NASA shared his recommendations for a path forward for the agency’s costly Mars… Read More »
A chatbot acts hostile. The test version of the Roomba vacuum cleaner collects images of users in their private situations. A black woman is incorrectly identified as a suspect based on facial recognition software; this software tends to be less accurate at identifying women and people of color. These events are not just disruptions, but… Read More »
Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific breakthroughs and more. Astronomers have detected a rainbow-like phenomenon occurring on a planet outside our solar system for the first time, and it could reveal new information about alien worlds. Observations by the European Space Agency’s Cheops space… Read More »
Bees play by rolling wooden balls, apparently for fun. The cleaner wrasse fish appears to recognize its own face in an underwater mirror. Octopuses appear to respond to anesthetic drugs and will avoid environments where they may have suffered in the past. All three of these discoveries occurred in the last five years; This suggests… Read More »
A chatbot acts hostile. The test version of the Roomba vacuum cleaner collects images of users in their private situations. A black woman is incorrectly identified as a suspect based on facial recognition software; this software tends to be less accurate at identifying women and people of color. These events are not just disruptions, but… Read More »
Earlier this year, NASA announced it was delaying the moon launch of crewed Artemis 2 until September 2025, a drill exercise in preparation for the 2026 Artemis 3 mission that will land astronauts near the moon’s south pole. One reason for the 10-month delay was getting to the bottom of the reentry heat shield data.… Read More »