Gene sleuths suggests wide virus spread from Boston meeting
NEW YORK (AP) — A meeting at a hotel in Boston last February may have ignited the spread of the pandemic virus to some 19,000...
Jakob van Zyl, key Jet Propulsion Laboratory engineer, dies
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) — Jakob van Zyl, an engineer who held crucial positions at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was involved in numerous space exploration...
Can mosquitoes spread the coronavirus?
Can mosquitoes spread the coronavirus? No. While mosquitoes can spread some diseases, most notably malaria, experts say COVID-19 is not among them. The U.S. Centers...
Testing traps to control lovely but destructive lionfish
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — The quest is on for a better way to kill beautiful but brutally destructive lionfish than shooting them one by one...
Damage from whopper hurricanes rising for many reasons
A destructive storm is rising from warm waters. Again. America and the world are getting more frequent and bigger multibillion dollar tropical catastrophes like Hurricane...
Heal the country? Disease specialists running for Congress
BOSTON (AP) — A background in science — specifically, infectious disease and epidemiology — may not spring to mind as a key selling point for...
Elon Musk wants YOU to build a brain-computer interface
Elon Musk isn’t content with electric cars, shooting people into orbit, populating Mars and building underground tunnels to solve traffic problems. He also wants to...
Does a face mask protect me, or just the people around me?
Does a face mask protect me, or just the people around me? It likely provides protection for both. Studies on the new coronavirus and other...
Health agencies’ credibility at risk after week of blunders
WASHINGTON (AP) — The credibility of two of the nation’s leading public health agencies was under fire this week after controversial decisions that outside experts...
Japan’s ‘flying car’ gets off ground, with a person aboard
TOKYO (AP) — The decades-old dream of zipping around in the sky as simply as driving on highways may be becoming less illusory. Japan’s SkyDrive...
A wobble, luck and preparations lessened Laura’s devastation
LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) — Hurricane Laura was a monster storm that could have, even should have, wreaked much more destruction than it did, except...
Scientists on Arctic mission make unplanned detour to pole
BERLIN (AP) — A German icebreaker carrying scientists on a year-long international expedition in the high Arctic has reached the North Pole, after making an...
UN: Discussions with Russia on COVID-19 vaccine under way
LONDON (AP) — The World Health Organization’s Europe office said it has begun discussions with Russia to try to obtain more information about the experimental...
Florida Keys to release modified mosquitoes to fight illness
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Sometime next year, genetically modified mosquitoes will be released in the Florida Keys in an effort to combat persistent insect-borne...
Record melt: Greenland lost 586 billion tons of ice in 2019
Greenland lost a record amount of ice during an extra warm 2019, with the melt massive enough to cover California in more than four feet...
3 large corrals approved for western US wild horse roundups
RENO, Nev. (AP) — The federal Bureau of Land Management has approved construction of three new corrals to hold more than 8,000 wild horses captured...
Science Says: Climate change, people stoke California fires
If you want to build a fire, you need three things: Ignition, fuel and oxygen. But wildfire in California is a much more complex people-stoked...
Science foundation discusses funding giant Hawaii telescope
HONOLULU (AP) — The National Science Foundation has launched an informal outreach to Hawaii about possible funding efforts for the stalled Thirty Meter Telescope project....
Birth of panda cub provides ‘much-needed moment of pure joy’
WASHINGTON (AP) — Delivering a “much-needed moment of pure joy,” the National Zoo’s giant panda Mei Xiang gave birth to a wiggling cub Friday at...
Will heat stop the spread of new virus? No one really knows
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — As outbreaks of the new coronavirus that first emerged in China continue to spread in more than 100 countries — particularly...
Mexico: Monarch butterflies drop 53% in wintering area
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The number of monarch butterflies that showed up at their winter resting grounds decreased about 53% this year, Mexican officials said...
UN: Last year was second-warmest and decade was hottest ever
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Last year was the second warmest on record, the past decade was the hottest in human history and January was the...
It’s cloudy with a chance of iron rain at hot, faraway world
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — At one hot, faraway world, it’s always cloudy with a chance of iron rain. That’s the otherworldly forecast from Swiss...
Widow of Yuri Gagarin, first human in space, dies at 84
MOSCOW (AP) — The widow of Yuri Gagarin, the first human to fly to space, died Tuesday. She was 84. Russia’s space agency Roscosmos announced...
Scientist links 2 state outbreaks with genetic fingerprints
SEATTLE (AP) — A U.S. scientist is helping public health authorities understand and track the coronavirus, turning up clues about how it arrived and spread...
Europe, Russia postpone joint rover mission to Mars
BERLIN (AP) — The European Space Agency and Russia’s Roscosmos said Thursday they are postponing a planned joint mission to Mars until 2022, in part...
Giant Hawaii telescope cost estimate increases to $2.4B
HONOLULU (AP) — The cost to build a giant telescope that’s unpopular among many Native Hawaiians is now estimated to have ballooned by a billion...
Stuck home? Planets, moon providing predawn entertainment
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Stuck at home this week? The planets and our moon are providing some early morning entertainment. Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and...
As virus shuts down cities in Europe, pollution drops
BERLIN (AP) — The European Union’s space agency’s earth-observation satellites have detected a significant reduction in the pollutant nitrogen dioxide, a byproduct of the use...
SpaceX puts 60 satellites into orbit despite engine failure
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX launched 60 more of its internet satellites into orbit Wednesday despite an engine failure shortly after liftoff on a...
Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden, who circled moon, dies at 88
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Apollo 15 astronaut Al Worden, who circled the moon alone in 1971 while his two crewmates test-drove the first lunar...
‘Wonderchicken’ fossil reveals ancestor of today’s birds
New York (AP) — A tiny fossil skull nicknamed “Wonderchicken” is giving scientists a rare glimpse at early ancestors of today’s birds. It may be...
Media faces challenges in covering coronavirus outbreak
NEW YORK (AP) — Covering the coronavirus story requires careful navigation and constant attention. News organizations trying to responsibly report on the growing health crisis...
Greens, Thunberg say EU climate law lacks ambition
BRUSSELS (AP) — Climate activists and Green members of the European Parliament are urging the European Union to be more ambitious as the bloc gets...
Virus halts pilgrimages to Mecca, Friday prayers in Iran
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The coronavirus outbreak disrupted Islamic worship in the Middle East as Saudi Arabia on Wednesday banned its citizens and other residents...
EU commission unveils climate law amid criticism
BRUSSELS (AP) — Amid fierce criticism from environmental activists, the European Commission unveiled plans Wednesday for its first ever climate law, which will act as...
Japan suspends annual funding for Hawaii telescope project
HONOLULU (AP) — Japan suspended its yearly funding for a giant telescope project in Hawaii, citing an ongoing stalemate over its construction. Japan is not...
Senators reach $2B deal to boost conservation, parks
WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate leaders and the Trump administration have reached an election-year deal to double spending on a popular conservation program and devote more...
Great Barrier Reef enters crucial period in coral bleaching
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Great Barrier Reef is facing a critical period of heat stress over the coming weeks following the most widespread coral...
Meet Perseverance: Mars rover gets name ahead of July launch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s next Mars rover finally has a name. Perseverance, a six-wheeled robotic explorer, will blast off this summer to collect...
Hundreds attend service for NASA pioneer Katherine Johnson
HAMPTON, Va. (AP) — Three black astronauts joined hundreds of other mourners Saturday at a memorial service for pioneering African American mathematician and NASA researcher...
Boeing hit with 61 safety fixes for astronaut capsule
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing faces 61 safety fixes following last year’s botched test flight of its Starliner crew capsule, NASA said Friday. NASA...
SpaceX launches station supplies, nails 50th rocket landing
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — SpaceX successfully launched another load of station supplies for NASA late Friday night and nailed its 50th rocket landing. The...
Facebook reports 4Q profit, user growth despite challenges
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook had a strong fourth quarter, making more money on advertising and adding more users despite challenges around regulation, privacy and...
Record sales push Tesla to 2nd straight quarterly profit
DETROIT (AP) — Record electric vehicle sales in the fourth quarter helped to push Tesla Inc. to its second-straight quarterly profit, giving bullish investors optimism...
Uber, Lyft confirm Phoenix airport business as usual for now
PHOENIX (AP) — Ride-hailing companies Uber and Lyft say they won’t change their service at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport until Arizona’s highest court rules...
Apple, Broadcom told to pay Caltech $1.1B in patent lawsuit
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A federal jury on Wednesday decided that Apple Inc. and Broadcom Inc. must pay $1.1 billion to the California Institute of...
Pompeo reassures Britain on US relations after Brexit
LONDON (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that the U.S. and Britain would retain and enhance their special relationship once the...
Ginni Rometty, 1st female CEO at IBM, to step down in April
ARMONK, N.Y. (AP) — Ginni Rometty, the first female CEO in IBM’s century-long history, is leaving the helm in April. Rometty, 62, will remain IBM’s...
IBM CEOs over the century; first and only woman is leaving
IBM has had just one female CEO in its century-long history. Ginni Rometty took over the helm in January 2012. IBM announced Thursday that she’s...