Stephanie Pappas

Rare earth elements are necessary for modern technology, including green energy, but they only come from a few sources around the globe. New research has discovered them hiding in coal mines in the U.S.

New research in marine mammals suggests the virus is increasingly adapting to mammalian hosts.

An atmospheric phenomenon known as STEVE has a secret twin that appears before the break of dawn and flows in the opposite direction, new research finds.

A surge in cases of a rare autoimmune disease during COVID-19 waves in England led to the discovery of a new syndrome.

An odd earthquake swarm has struck the region between the Czech Republic and Germany, far from any tectonic plate boundary.

A new study of seismic data from Antarctica finds that the mantle may be stranger and more variable than previously believed, with pieces of ancient crust that have been dragged down by tectonic forces.

The planet's magnetic field may have collapsed around 600 million years ago, enabling a major oxygenation event and perhaps supercharging evolution.

Human societies that experience downturns do a better job of recovering from later disasters, new research finds.

What would it be like to fall past the event horizon of a black hole? A new NASA simulation provides a peek into the bizarre physics of spaghettification.

In recent experiments, rat brain cells filled in for lost neurons in mouse brains, raising new possibilities for growing donor tissues across species.

Every spring, creepy black 'spiders' sprout up on Mars as buried carbon dioxide ice releases dusty geysers of gas. New ESA images show the phenomenon has begun in the strange Inca City formation.

The oldest firm age yet for Earth's magnetic field suggests that it developed before a solid planetary core, 3.7 billion years ago.

The near-Earth asteroid Kamo'oalewa, which orbits alongside our planet as a 'minimoon,' may have originated from Giordano Bruno crater on the far side of the moon, new research suggests.

Researchers suggest that the famed Golconda diamonds, including the Hope Diamond and Koh-i-noor, may have originated from a volcanic outcrop nearly 200 miles from where they were mined.

The volcanic surface of Jupiter's huge moon Io got a stunning close-up thanks to NASA's Juno mission.

A quick flip from El Niño to La Niña is coming soon, but what does that mean for the U.S.?

On many exoplanets, the best clue that life is present may be a purple hue. New research into some of Earth's most extreme bacteria explains why.

Tombaugh Regio — the large, pale heart that dominates Pluto's terrain — is made of nitrogen ice that accumulated after a huge, slow-motion impact, new research suggests.

A large extinction in the midst of the expansion of life during the Cambrian period was caused by the tectonics of a supercontinent, new research argues.

Celebrated theoretical physicist Peter Higgs, best known for predicting the existence of the Higgs boson, has died at the age of 94 after a short illness.

The Parkfield section of the San Andreas fault is sending mixed messages before a time of expected increased seismic risk.

Totality, the moment when the moon completely covers the sun's face, is the climax of a total solar eclipse. Here's what time totality starts in all 13 states where the total solar eclipse will be visible on April 8, and what to expect when the big moment arrives.

A clinical trial of a new method to activate and kill HIV in the body shows small success, but it's not yet a cure.

A simulated form of carbon called BC8, or 'super-diamond', could be 30% tougher than normal diamonds, but synthesizing it on Earth won't be easy.

Record earthquake activity off the coast of Vancouver Island hints at the birth of new oceanic crust.