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When a critter spends 17 years underground, it's not easy to study. So as Brood X cicadas break out, they're followed closely by researchers who must cram a lot of work in about six weeks.

Something went boom in outer space and sent radioactive stardust our way, and it's just been found at the bottom of the ocean.

If you've spent any time around cats, you've seen them curl up in cozy spaces. A new study on feline cognition shows that they also like to sit in snug squares created by a kind of optical illusion.

Biologists say newly efficient and accurate gene sequencing techniques have allowed them to fairly quickly detail full genomes and find overlooked genes in a broad range of 25 important species.

Scientists in Michigan went out in the dead of night to dig up part of an unusual long-term experiment. It's a research study that started in 1879 and is handed from one generation to the next.

From fish in jars to rare seeds and microbes, hundreds of millions of biological specimens are stored around the U.S., and caretakers are trying to make them accessible for future research.

Octopuses have an "active" phase of sleep, the kind that might involve dreaming, but they probably don't have long, complicated dreams like people do.

NASA is counting down to what should be the final major test of the massive rocket it is building to put the first woman and the next man on the moon.

Lightning strikes may have supplied a key ingredient that allowed life to emerge on early Earth, according to a new study of "fossilized" lightning.

A signed, sealed but not delivered letter from 1697 has finally been read with the help of a high-tech scan that looked inside without breaking its seal.

Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to endorse the emergency use of a single dose of a vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson. A study showed it was 66% effective in the U.S.

A precise record of the last major reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles can be found in ancient trees. Researchers say this event 42,000 years ago had a huge impact on the planet and ancient humans.

Tattoo artists are unhappy about a new ban on blue and green pigments in Europe, while scientists say the basic science of tattoo ink is still fairly mysterious.

A seashell found in a French cave appears to have been modified by prehistoric people so that it could be used like a trumpet, making it a new addition to the Stone Age orchestra.

A new study shows that naked mole rats speak with distinct dialects that appear to be learned — and reveal what group they belong to.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, scientists this year made significant progress in understanding how respiratory viruses can be transmitted from one person to another through the air.

This has been a tough year for pretty much everyone on Earth. But things have been going much better in space. One of the big milestone was for NASA and the commercial company SpaceX.

Ice is usually ephemeral; it doesn't last that long before melting. But some ice on our planet has stayed frozen for millions of years, according to scientists on a quest to find the oldest ice.

The emergence of COVID-19 started scientists on a yearlong crash course to learn how the coronavirus might travel through the air and how to stop it. They learned a lot, and quickly.

A historic telescope collapsed in Puerto Rico. The enormous Arecibo telescope made scientific discoveries and has been featured in movies. Its collapse is an emotional blow for many Puerto Ricans.