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Science history: Female chemist initially barred from research helps helps develop drug for remarkable-but-short-lived recovery in children with leukemia — Dec. 6, 1954
In December 1954, Gertrude Elion and colleagues described a new compound they had developed that sent children with leukemia into remission. It would guide a new approach to "rational drug design."
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Science news this week: A human population isolated for 100,000 years, the biggest spinning structure in the universe, and a pit full of skulls
Dec. 5, 2025: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.
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3 astronauts settle into their new life in orbit | On the International Space Station this week Dec. 1-5, 2025
Newly arrived and soon-to-depart members of Expedition 73 prepared for what is to come next during this, their final week all together aboard the International Space Station.
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NASA's next-gen Roman Space Telescope is fully built. Could it launch earlier than expected?
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is now fully assembled and ready to begin launch preparations this summer.
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Every space and sci-fi game at the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted 2025
Our friends at PC Gamer hosted a fantastic show looking at the future of video games, and these are our favorite space and sci-fi picks from it.
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NASA spacecraft tracks comet SWAN in incredible 40-day timelapse — and even glimpses interstellar invader 3I/ATLAS (video)
NASA imaged Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) every four minutes for nearly 40 days, marking the longest any comet has been tracked with such frequency.
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Scientists capture 51 images showing exoplanets coming together around other stars: 'This data set is an astronomical treasure'
The Very Large Telescope's SPHERE instrument captured unprecedented images of 51 dusty rings shaping young planetary systems.
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'Torchwood: Children of Earth': Why the 2009 mini-series is the greatest thing ever to come out of the 'Doctor Who' universe
Ahead of 'The War Between the Land of the Sea', we look back at a drama that rewrote the rules of the Whoniverse.
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CDC panel, stuffed with vaccine skeptics, votes to end recommendation for universal newborn hepatitis B vaccination
The CDC's vaccine committee has voted to roll back a universal recommendation that newborns be vaccinated against hepatitis B, which is one of public health's major success stories.
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'We have lost a lot of time.' Former NASA chief says US needs to start over with moon landing plans or risk losing to China
Former NASA chief Michael Griffin told the U.S. Congress that while China is making great strides in its plan to reach the moon, the United States has "stuck to a plan that does not make sense."
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Giant sunspot on par with the one that birthed the Carrington Event has appeared on the sun — and it's pointed right at Earth
A massive new sunspot complex, dubbed AR 4294-4296, has emerged on the sun and is facing directly at Earth. The dark patch is on par with the infamous sunspot that birthed the 1859 Carrington Event — but, for now, it's staying quiet.
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Blue Origin's next space tourism flight will break new ground for people with disabilities
Blue Origin's upcoming NS-37 space tourism launch has special significance: One of the passengers is Michi Benthaus, who will become the first wheelchair user in space.
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A huge helium shortage is looming — but ancient rocks in Earth's crust may be hiding massive reservoirs
For decades, helium has been produced with natural gas, generating huge carbon emissions. Now, geologists are looking for new helium sources — and finding enormous "carbon-free" reservoirs that could revolutionize the industry.
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Mars orbiter sees 'butterfly' crater spread its wings on the Red Planet
A new view of Mars showcases a dramatic impact crater on the Red Planet with its debris wings unfurling across the surface like a butterfly in flight.
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The 1st Global Space Awards honors late Apollo 13 astronaut James Lovell on Dec. 5
The Global Space Awards will be held at London's Natural History Museum on Dec. 5.
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Seeing a bull's-eye in the desert | Space photo of the day for Dec. 5, 2025
Is this really a crater in the Saharan Desert?
Architects gain a new superpower for complex curved designs
A researcher from the University of Tokyo and a U.S.-based structural engineer developed a new computational form-finding method that could change how architects and engineers design lightweight and free-form structures covering large spaces. The technique specifically helps create gridshells, thin,
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New 'physics shortcut' lets laptops tackle quantum problems once reserved for supercomputers and AI
Physicists have transformed a decades-old technique for simplifying quantum equations into a reusable, user-friendly "conversion table" that works on a laptop and returns results within hours.
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December's 'Cold Moon' rises: See breathtaking images of the final full moon of 2025
December's "Cold Moon" rose on Dec. 4 as it neared its closest point to Earth in its monthly orbit.
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Could aging eggs be 'rejuvenated'? New tool may help pave the way to fertility-extending treatments
Scientists invented a new experimental system to study how age-related changes in egg cells make them more prone to chromosomal errors.