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![A woman in shown lying on her side in bed. She is awake and staring into the distance. Natural light appears to be streaming across her face.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vtUCQNsMc2ksudszqhigad-320-80.jpg)
Fatal familial insomnia: a genetic condition where people never sleep again
By Emily Cooke published
As fatal familial insomnia progresses, patients completely stop sleeping and enter a coma-like state that results in death within months.
![close up illustration of the surface of an influenza virus](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/7e2HboKoCshVXub9fCLq5f-320-80.jpg)
Person in Louisiana hospitalized with H5N1 in nation's 1st severe case
By Nicoletta Lanese published
A person in Louisiana has been hospitalized with the United States' first serious case of H5N1 bird flu, following 60 milder cases this year.
![A centuries-old tile floor is being excavated by archaeologists. In a gap, there are dozens of sawed-off cattle bones.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/KNxX7dhRCPLDuEYvdMs7B8-320-80.jpg)
Centuries-old floor patched with sliced bones discovered in the Netherlands
By Kristina Killgrove published
DIY-ers in northern Holland filled a large gap in a tile floor with precisely sliced cow bones several centuries ago.
![an image of PDS 70B](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/wBQmiS8rsK4HsodzZmMuSV-320-80.jpg)
Surprise discovery in alien planet's atmosphere could upend decades of planet formation theory
By Sharmila Kuthunur published
The odd atmosphere of a fledgling exoplanet is causing astronomers to question leading theories of how planets form.
![Two smiling astronauts pose in a circular doorway on the International Space Station](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5Ui44EKNnnfqDPEaHM5Ywn-320-80.jpg)
Boeing Starliner astronauts could spend nearly 300 days stuck in space — is that a new record?
By Brandon Specktor last updated
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams will spend at least nine consecutive months aboard the International Space Station after their Boeing Starliner spacecraft returned to Earth empty. Is their extended spaceflight record-setting?
![a mastodon jaw in the dirt](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/QtyLcKhri3BbTFpJ7j6ghR-320-80.jpg)
'I knew they were something special': New York homeowner discovers mastodon jaw fossils in backyard
By Patrick Pester published
A New York homeowner, in Scotchtown, Orange County, was "thrilled" to find mastodon fossils in their backyard, which museum staff plan to study to learn more about the last ice age.
![An image of an astronaut in a space suit doing a space walk](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nWT5CHhpV7L7y7nxZQ85mf-320-80.jpg)
'Stranded' NASA astronauts' return to Earth delayed until at least 'late March' 2025 due to SpaceX capsule issues, NASA reveals
By Stephanie Pappas published
Due to a delay with SpaceX's Dragon capsule, NASA's Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who were meant to spend 10 days in space in June 2024, will now not return to Earth until late March 2025 at the earliest, NASA announced.
![A view of Earth's atmosphere at sunrise, with yellowish-orange light illuminating the clouds.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/sPVZyeYGEJkSYSXKWXqFnN-320-80.jpg)
Scientists say sprinkling diamond dust into the sky could offset almost all of climate change so far — but it'll cost $175 trillion
By Sascha Pare published
The geoengineering scheme, known as stratospheric aerosol injection, would not be cheap, but scientists say it could buy us some time until we reach net-zero carbon.
![A zoomed in photo of the firefly sparkle galaxy](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nENiFNSFeT3FTYmoWVkFxE-320-80.jpg)
James Webb telescope spies stunning 'Firefly Sparkle' galaxy — a baby clone of the Milky Way being 'assembled brick by brick' in the early universe
By Harry Baker published
The James Webb Space Telescope has captured an image of a baby, Milky Way-like galaxy that formed more than 13 billion years ago. This "Firefly Sparkle" galaxy could reveal how our own galaxy evolved.
![a variety of gold tongues and nails](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/dMYQjRmfXWDoLQNQSHEAjd-320-80.jpg)
13 ancient Egyptian mummies found with gold tongues to help them talk in the afterlife
By Owen Jarus published
More than a dozen ancient gold tongues have been discovered in a cemetery at the site of Oxyrhynchus in Egypt.
![The moon with a distant Earth in the background](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/EWU2ENVR9TVXXJkqpTj8QZ-320-80.jpg)
New study confirms the moon is older than we realized — and reveals why we previously got it wrong
By Harry Baker published
Scientists have shown that a "remelting event" more than 4.3 billion years ago "reset" the internal clock of most lunar rocks, which has helped obscure the moon's true age.
![A reconstruction of a 4 legged animal identified as the oldest known gorgonopsian in life.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/hsVfszDkNdHwCBG3VwCjNg-320-80.jpg)
270 million-year-old saber-toothed predator from 'ghost' lineage looked like a bald dog
By Patrick Pester published
Fossils of the oldest saber-toothed predator are helping researchers understand the evolution of early mammal relatives called gorgonopsians and our shared origins in the therapsid group.
![Bose QuietComfort earbuds and headphones](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/TpDCxpx72W7bq45x9nR7YR-320-80.jpg)
Stuck on gift ideas? These excellent noise-canceling headphones are still 43% off
By Anna Gora published
Deals Save $150 on the excellent Bose QuietComfort headphones this holiday season.
![A close-up photo of iceberg A23a floating on the sea](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/d2p5VUxiqcFuXowssdXmki-320-80.jpg)
40-year-old 'mega' iceberg — the largest on Earth — is on the move after being trapped in a giant vortex for months
By Harry Baker published
The "megaberg" A23a is on the move again after spinning in one spot for months on end. This is the ice slab's second great escape in as many years after being stuck in place for the first 37 years of its existence.
![An X-ray of a man's pelvis showing the faint outline of a bone inside his penis](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vja2F4YLxVA8TxthyTeYPW-320-80.jpg)
Diagnostic dilemma: A man's penis was turning to bone
By Mindy Weisberger published
A man in his 60s went to the emergency room after a fall and ended up being diagnosed with a rare disorder of the penis.
![Four doctors looking down during surgery.](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/vuf7U8uDDNmmBVq5o7m4RW-320-80.jpg)
'She was waiting for a 1-in-a-million match': Alabama woman is the 3rd patient to ever get a pig kidney
By Nicoletta Lanese published
An Alabama woman underwent a transplant procedure to get a new kidney from a gene-edited pig.
![a satellite image of the Earth centered on the North Pole](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/5REHCqe9QTePGaatX8fftC-320-80.jpg)
The position of the magnetic north pole is officially changing. Why?
By Skyler Ware published
The updated version of the World Magnetic Model was released on Dec. 17, with a new prediction of how the magnetic north pole will shift over the next five years. Here's why it was changed.
![an artist's rendering of a black hole](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/Nrq9EdQqhYjCe932B7jnnV-320-80.jpg)
Scientists followed a mysterious signal — and found 2 black holes gorging on something like never before
By Andrey Feldman published
While investigating a mysterious radiation signal unlike any seen before, astronomers may have uncovered a rare pair of binary supermassive black holes with a truly monstrous appetite.
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