Science

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Neanderthal skeleton unearthed in an Iraqi cave already famous for fossils of these extinct cousins of our species is providing fresh evidence that they buried their dead – and intriguing clues that flowers may have been used in such rituals. A view of the entrance to Shanidar Cave in the foothills

ATHENS (Reuters) – A humanoid figure dressed as a maid holds a jug in its right hand and, as hidden gears click and whirr, lifts it and pours wine into a cup a bystander has placed into the palm of its left. The automatic servant of Philon from the 3rd century BC, is seen at

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Scientists examining the genomes of West Africans have detected signs that a mysterious extinct human species interbred with our own species tens of thousands of years ago in Africa, the latest evidence of humankind’s complicated genetic ancestry. FILE PHOTO: Yinka Sotomi stands atop Oluma Rock, a spiritual site for the Yoruba tribe,

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A vaguely hourglass-shaped icy object called Arrokoth residing in the far reaches of the solar system – the most distant body ever explored by a spacecraft – is giving scientists intriguing clues about the formation of the planets including Earth. FILE PHOTO: A composite image shows the Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth from

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – One of the largest turtles that ever lived prowled the lakes and rivers of northern South America from about 13 million years ago to 7 million years ago – and this car-sized freshwater beast was built for battle. The huge extinct freshwater turtle Stupendemys geographicus, that lived in lakes and rivers in

PARIS (Reuters) – Franco-British biotech company Novacyt (ALNOV.PA) says it can offer a coronavirus test that is faster than rival methods by focusing on a narrow sequence of DNA coding, as it fights stiff competition to turn the outbreak into a business opportunity. Police in protective gear wait to evacuate residents from a public housing

U.S. President Donald Trump makes remarks during the White House Business Session with the nation’s governors in the State Dining Room of the White House, Washington, DC, U.S., February 10, 2020. REUTERS/Mike Theiler WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House on Monday asked Congress for $25.2 billion for NASA in 2021, the agency’s biggest budget in

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new probe built by NASA and the European Space Agency set off on a blazing hot journey to the sun on Sunday to take the first close-up look at the star’s polar regions, a mission expected to yield insight into how solar radiant energy affects Earth. The Solar Orbiter spacecraft lifted

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – NASA and the European Space Agency are gearing up to send a new probe toward the sun to take a unique look at its blazing poles, an unprecedented view expected to help researchers grasp how the star’s vast bubble of energy affects Earth and humans in space. The Solar Orbiter is due

European Space Agency Solar Orbiter Project Manager Cesar Garcia discusses the agency’s science mission to the sun during a pre-launch news conference at Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, February, 7, 2020. REUTERS/Steve Nesius WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A new spacecraft built jointly by U.S. and European space agencies is ready for a blazing journey

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The world’s last woolly mammoths, sequestered on an Arctic Ocean island outpost, suffered from serious genetic defects caused by generations of inbreeding that may have hampered traits such as sense of smell and male fertility in the doomed population. FILE PHOTO: A visitor looks at a complete mammoth skeleton that is displayed

A Soyuz rocket carrying a batch of 34 OneWeb satellites blasts off from a launchpad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan February 7, 2020. Russian State Space Corporation ROSCOSMOS/Handout via REUTERS MOSCOW (Reuters) – The UK firm OneWeb launched 34 satellites from Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early on Friday as part of its effort to provide

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Fireflies are under threat globally, with familiar hazards such as habitat loss and pesticides compounded by another peril: humankind’s ubiquitous nighttime artificial light that plays havoc with their balletic nocturnal courtship, scientists said. FILE PHOTO: Fireflies seeking mates light up in synchronized bursts inside a forest at Santa Clara sanctuary near the

FILE PHOTO: The Boeing CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, atop a ULA Atlas V rocket, stands at launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida December 19, 2019. REUTERS/Steve Nesius/File Photo (Reuters) – Boeing narrowly missed a “catastrophic failure” during its December flight test of an unmanned space taxi that was

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. astronaut Christina Koch, who led the first all-female spacewalk in 2019, landed in Kazakhstan on Thursday after a record stay on the International Space Station, ending a 328-day mission expected to yield new insights into deep-space travel. FILE PHOTO: The International Space Station (ISS) crew member Christina Koch of the U.S.

FILE PHOTO: The International Space Station (ISS) crew member Christina Koch of the U.S. gestures after donning space suits shortly before their launch at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan March 14, 2019. REUTERS/Shamil Zhumatov (Reuters) – A capsule carrying a crew of three from the International Space Station, including record-setting United States astronaut Christina Koch, landed