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Science

The latest science news, photos and videos covering space, the environment, human development and more.

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Seeing red: Mosquito vision tailored to our skin, researchers find

Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are a public health scourge. Understanding how they home in on us could help develop traps and give people new tools to prevent being bitten.
Mosquito
Mosquito

In worst case climate, rain and storm surge combine often for extreme flooding

A study published Thursday found that the changing nature of storms like hurricanes could play a larger part than scientists had expected in worsening floods. 
Sudden rain shower soaks a couple with water while riding out of a flooded neighborhood in LaPlace, La., on Aug. 30, 2021 in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.
Sudden rain shower soaks a couple with water while riding out of a flooded neighborhood in LaPlace, La., on Aug. 30, 2021 in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida.

'Rocked': NASA scientists brave bumpy flights into winter storms

Last weekend’s nor’easter canceled flights, forced power outages and tangled traffic throughout the Northeast. It was the hammering storm researchers had been waiting for.
A P-3 Orion landing at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.
A P-3 Orion landing at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia.

Pfizer-BioNTech co-founders give exclusive look into creation of Covid-19 vaccine

NBC News’ foreign correspondent Molly Hunter meets the co-founders of Pfizer-BioNTech in a rare sit-down interview at their headquarters in Germany giving an exclusive look into the creation of the first FDA-approved Covid-19 vaccine. 
Pfizer-BioNTech co-founders give exclusive look into creation of Covid-19 vaccine
Pfizer-BioNTech co-founders give exclusive look into creation of Covid-19 vaccine

A newly identified 'highly virulent' HIV strain is 'no cause for alarm,' scientists say

The newly identified, more infectious strain of HIV likely began circulating in the Netherlands in the 1990s and responds well to treatment, according to researchers.
A medical assistant draws blood from a patient on National HIV Testing Day at a Planned Parenthood health center on June 27, 2017 in Miami.
A medical assistant draws blood from a patient on National HIV Testing Day at a Planned Parenthood health center on June 27, 2017 in Miami.

The race is on to save the Great Salt Lake. Will it be enough?

The shrinking of the lake poses serious economic and health risks. A dry lakebed could send arsenic-laced dust into the air that millions breathe.
"Spiral Jetty" at the Great Salt Lake
"Spiral Jetty" at the Great Salt Lake

How much Covid immunity is out there? Figuring out is crucial — and complicated

Understanding what protections our immune systems have built up so far is key to knowing how the world could emerge from the pandemic.
Pedestrians in New York on Jan. 11, 2022.
Pedestrians in New York on Jan. 11, 2022.
4d ago

Crashing Nemo: NASA plans watery end for space station in 2031

NASA will aim for a remote stretch of the Pacific Ocean nicknamed the "Spacecraft Cemetery" because it's a frequent target to safely de-orbit defunct spacecraft.
The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab that took place following its undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port on Nov. 8, 2021.
The International Space Station is pictured from the SpaceX Crew Dragon Endeavour during a fly around of the orbiting lab that took place following its undocking from the Harmony module’s space-facing port on Nov. 8, 2021.

477-mile lightning bolt spanning 3 states sets world record

The April 2020 flash across Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi overtook the previous max set in Brazil in 2018, meteorology group says.
Image: Lightning
Image: Lightning

In measuring climate change, it’s not just heat, it’s humidity

Researchers say temperature by itself isn’t the best way to measure climate change’s weird weather and downplays impacts in the tropics.
Rainfall In Dhaka As Cyclone Jawad Weakens
Rainfall In Dhaka As Cyclone Jawad Weakens
5d ago

Gay penguins raise newly hatched chick at New York zoo

Elmer and Lima, male residents of the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse, had been incubating an egg laid by one of the zoo’s female penguins. 
A new penguin chick is being raised by a pair of gay male penguins at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo.
A new penguin chick is being raised by a pair of gay male penguins at the Rosamond Gifford Zoo.

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