SCIENCE

The eruption of the undersea volcano near Tonga over the weekend was incredibly explosive but also relatively brief.

The Biden administration says it will significantly expand efforts to stave off catastrophic wildfires that have been torching areas of the U.S. West by more aggressively thinning forests around “hot spots” where nature and neighborhoods collide.

The European Space Agency has narrowed down the candidate list for its next generation of astronauts, including dozens who have a physical disability.

Despite sitting almost on top of the volcano that erupted so violently, the Pacific nation of Tonga appears to have avoided the widespread devastation that many initially feared.

Auction house Sotheby’s Dubai has unveiled a diamond that’s literally from out of this world.

Scientists warn that omicron’s whirlwind spread across the globe practically ensures it won’t be the last worrisome coronavirus variant.

Scientists have concluded that a meteorite from Mars contains no evidence of ancient Martian life.

Two U.S. science agencies say 2021 was the sixth hottest year on record globally, part of a long-term warming trend.

British scientists hunting down coronavirus variants have a new mission: sharing their expertise with others around the world.

A judge is weighing whether a Georgia county can move ahead with buying land for a commercial spaceport or must first give voters a shot at a special election to approve the deal.

As smoke poured through the halls a New York City high-rise on Sunday, killing 17 people, tenants were faced with a life or death decision: Should they stay put or try to escape.

A snowy owl apparently touring iconic buildings of the nation’s capital is captivating birdwatchers who manage to get a glimpse of the rare, resplendent visitor from the Arctic.

“We’re working like the dickens to make sure we get a deal done today so I’m hopeful,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Sunday during a nationally-televised interview.

NASA's new space telescope has opened its gold-plated, flower-shaped mirror, the largest and most sensitive ever launched.

The tallest mountain in the Galapagos islands is erupting, spewing lava down its flanks and clouds of ash over the Pacific Ocean.

Twenty of Yellowstone National Park’s renowned gray wolves roamed from the park and were shot by hunters in neighboring states in recent months.

The White House’s top official on environmental justice is stepping down a year after President Joe Biden took office with an ambitious plan to help disadvantaged communities and overhaul policies that have historically hurt them.

China has recommitted itself to completing its orbiting space station by the end of the year and says it is planning more than 40 launches for 2022, putting it roughly level with the United States.

Californians won't be able to water their lawns for 48 hours after rainstorms or let their sprinkles run onto the sidewalk under new mandatory water restrictions.

In a story published January 4, 2022, about the James Webb Space Telescope, The Associated Press erroneously reported when the universe’s first stars and galaxies were created.

NASA's new space telescope is doing well more than a week after liftoff, following a pair of problems overcome by ground controllers.

Paleoanthropologist Richard Leakey, known for his fossil-finding and conservation work in his native Kenya, has died at 77.

A 16-year-old with autism recently got the chance to meet the first mice in the world engineered to have the same genetic abnormality he has.

The immune-compromised patient could benefit from Paxlovid. So might the unvaccinated. Here’s why there won’t be enough for everyone.

A thaw-out is coming for the frozen Seattle and Portland, Oregon, but not before another round of snow that could compound problems for a region more accustomed to winter rain than arctic blasts.

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Louisiana researchers have identified 14 new species of shrews on an Indonesian island where seven in that genus were previously known.

Authorities on one of Spain’s Canary Islands have declared an official end to a volcanic eruption that started in September.

The world's largest and most powerful space telescope has blasted off on a high-stakes quest to behold light from the first stars and galaxies.

Authorities rescued one driver early Thursday but were unable to save two more from a submerged car in a flooded underpass south of San Francisco as a storm rolled through California.

Pfizer’s vaccine has been authorized by U.S. regulators for younger children, and millions of teens already safely received the shot.

Two new British studies provide some early hints that the omicron variant of the coronavirus may be milder than delta.

Researchers studying the wreckage of the last U.S. slave ship on the Alabama coast have made a surprising discovery.

The Israel Antiquities Authority says it's discovered remnants of two shipwrecks off the Mediterranean coast, replete with a sunken trove of hundreds of silver and bronze coins and Roman and medieval artifacts.

A Japanese space tourist says he felt his 12-day mission to the International Space Station was too short and he would love to stay a week more.

China is defending its international scientific exchange programs in the wake of the conviction of a Harvard University professor charged with hiding his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program.

A Harvard University professor charged with hiding his ties to a Chinese-run recruitment program has been found guilty on all counts in a federal court in Boston.

High wind will keep NASA's newest space telescope on the ground for at least another day.

The new omicron variant took only a few weeks to live up to dire predictions about how hugely contagious it is but scientists don’t yet know if it causes more severe disease even as the world faces exploding cases just before Christmas.

“We do the science and they do the suspects,” said Larry Langford, spokesman for the Chicago Fire Department, of the distinct roles both the police and fire departments play while investigating arson.

A federal agency on Monday granted a license for a launchpad that would fly commercial rockets from coastal Georgia.

Biogen is slashing the price of its Alzheimer’s treatment months after the drug debuted to widespread criticism for an initial cost that can reach $56,000 annually.

Moderna said Monday that a booster dose of its COVID-19 vaccine should offer protection against the rapidly spreading omicron variant.

A Japanese billionaire, his producer and a Russian cosmonaut have safely returned to Earth after spending 12 days on the International Space Station.

The rapidly-spreading omicron variant may soon leave U.S. doctors without two of the standard treatments they’ve used to fight COVID-19.

A SpaceX rocket has carried 52 Starlink internet satellites into orbit from California.

The Senate hearing lasted more than three hours and witnessnes and lawmakers weren't wearing masks.

NASA is shooting for next Friday to launch its newest space telescope.

Federal wildlife officials say two species of rare, winged insects in the Rocky Mountains will need several thousand acres of glaciers and snowfields if they are to survive a warming world that’s threatening them with extinction.

U.S. health officials are endorsing “test-to-stay” policies that allow close contacts of students infected with the coronavirus to remain in classrooms if they test negative.

In Germany, a train passes a railroad crossing surrounded by floodwaters.

Health officials say pets and another animals can get the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, but the risk of them spreading it to people is low.

Residents on the Spanish island of La Palma are daring to hope that a volcanic eruption is over after almost three months.

Water leaders in California, Arizona and Nevada have signed an agreement to further reduce their take of Colorado River water to help stave off wider, mandatory cuts in the future.

Washington must enforce phase one trade deal with China, and will raise broader policy concerns with Beijing, USTR Katherine Tai is expected to say on Monday.

University of California San Francisco researchers have developed a method of translating signals from the brain to the vocal tract into words on a screen.

Merrick Garland said investigating the source of a massive leak of taxpayer information behind a ProPublica article will be one of his top priorities.

Hundreds of choirs have had to cancel rehearsals after the government said singing poses a health risk.

SAN ANTONIO — A 24-year-old Plant City woman was arrested Saturday after leading troopers on a high-speed chase in a stolen Cadillac, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Rachael Stefancich was “nearly fully unclothed,” troopers say, and may have been driving for more than two hours when she was captured after a highway patrol cruiser pushed the stolen vehicle off State Road 52. It was ...

Researchers at the site of the catastrophic 1986 nuclear explosion in Ukraine have detected a spike of neutrons in an underground room at the power plant.

A vehicle mileage tax could be on the table in talks about how to finance the White House's expected multi-trillion-dollar infrastructure proposal, according to Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "When you think about infrastructure, it's a classic example of the kind of investment that has a return on that investment," he said. This is a jobs vision as much as it is an infrastructure vision, a climate vision and more." "A so-called vehicle-miles-traveled tax or mileage tax, whatever you want to call it, could be a way to do it," he said. Democrats have slowly pivoted away from a gasoline tax in favor of a mileage tax amid a simultaneous, climate friendly effort to encourage consumers to drive electric cars.

Pete Buttigieg speaks at the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation nomination hearings to examine his expected nomination to be Secretary of Transportation in Washington. The U.S. Senate on Tuesday confirmed Pete Buttigieg as Transportation secretary, handing the former presidential candidate a wide array of challenges — from President Joe Biden's environmental priorities to the Covid-19 pandemic. Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, last week easily won approval from the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, following a largely friendly hearing. In its first two weeks, the Biden administration has already taken a hard line on transportation measures that aim to curb the spread of Covid-19. On Tuesday, the U.S. government started requiring passengers to wear masks on airplanes, trains, buses, ferries and other forms of transportation.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said on Wednesday that banning President Donald Trump was the "right decision for Twitter," but admitted that the internet shouldn't be controlled by a handful of private companies. He wrote that if a company like Twitter makes a decision that people don't like, they can go elsewhere, creating an inherent check on its power. "This concept was challenged last week when a number of foundational internet tool providers also decided not to host what they found dangerous," Dorsey wrote. Dorsey said the inconsistent policies and lack of transparency undermine the efforts to create an open internet. "The reason I have so much passion for #Bitcoin is largely because of the model it demonstrates: a foundational internet technology that is not controlled or influenced by any single individual or entity," Dorsey wrote.

China has successfully launched a pair of satellites into space to learn more about gravitational waves , or echoes in space-time from huge mergers or cosmic events. China has successfully launched a pair of satellites into space to learn more about gravitational waves, or echoes in space-time from huge mergers or cosmic events. (Image credit: VCG/VCG via Getty Images)From their orbits, the satellites will monitor the entire sky for events that generate gravitational waves , which could include cosmic confluences such as neutron stars merging or black holes coming together, Science said. The new mission launched on a Long March 11 rocket developed by the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corp., and the launch was the 355th mission of the Long March series, Chinese state sources said. The moon mission was performed by the China National Space Administration, while the new gravitational waves mission is under the science-focused National Space Science Center.

A new study published in Science magazine asks how self-driving cars should act. More than 75 percent of participants in one survey favor cars that would sacrifice one passenger rather than kill 10 pedestrians. But overall, the study found people prefer to ride in a driverless car that protects passengers at all costs. CBS News contributor Nicholas Thompson, editor of NewYorker.com, joins "CBS This Morning" to explain the study's findings and why it is challenging to program ethics into machines.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson joins CBSN to discuss the new film "The Martian" and whether or not the science in the film stands up to reality.

In this weekend's box office hit, Matt Damon plays an astronaut stranded on Mars after his crew is hit by a sandstorm. But is the drama realistic about science? Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History, joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss what the movie got right and wrong.

Can science turn back the clock on the aging process? Doctors Jon LaPook and Holly Phillips join “CBS This Morning: Saturday” to discuss the week’s top medical news including new research on the science of aging.

Investing in science pays off "The best investment is in pure science," Eduardo Hardy, ALMA's director of North American operations, tells Bob Simon. ALMA is the world's most powerful radio telescope and has cost $1.3 billion.