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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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UK IVF couples use legal loophole to rank embryos based on potential IQ, height and health
British fertility clinics raise scientific and ethical objections over patients sending embryos’ genetic data abroad for analysisWhat is polygenic embryo screening in IVF and does it work?Couples undergoing IVF in the UK are exploiting an apparent legal loophole to rank their embryos based on geneti
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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.
Invention Challenge Brings Student Engineers to NASA JPL
Now in its 26th year, the event brings teams of middle and high school students to the lab to compete with home-built contraptions. Teenagers wielding power tools and plywood demonstrated their engineering prowess at the annual Invention Challenge at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern Cali
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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.
NASA Wins Second Emmy Award for 2024 Total Solar Eclipse Broadcast
NASA’s broadcast of the April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse has won an Emmy Award for Excellence in Production Technology. At the 76th Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards on Dec. 4, in New York City, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences announced the win. Walt Lindblom and Sami Aziz accepted th
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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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Comet 3I/ATLAS from beyond solar system carries key molecule for life
Astronomers have discovered that 3I/ATLAS is carrying methanol and other chemicals that were probably important in the origin of life
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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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Science journal retracts study on safety of Monsanto’s Roundup: ‘Serious ethical concerns’
Paper published in 2000 found glyphosate was not harmful, while internal emails later revealed company’s influenceThe journal Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology has formally retracted a sweeping scientific paper published in 2000 that became a key defense for Monsanto’s claim that Roundup herbic
Testing Drones for Mars in the Mojave Desert
Researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory monitor a research drone in this September 2025 photo. This flight occurred in Dumont Dunes, an area of the Mojave Desert, as part of a larger test campaign to develop navigation software that would guide future rotorcraft on Mars. The work was among
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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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Tattooing may trigger localised damage to the immune system
There is relatively little information on the long-term health effects of tattooing, but a couple of recent studies suggest the art form might trigger prolonged inflammation
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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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Hunter-gather groups are much less egalitarian than they seem
There is a widespread belief that altruism and equality drive social behaviour in traditional hunter-gatherer societies, but the truth is more surprising and complex