Jan 18th, 2026 - It's quick and easy to access Live Science Plus, simply enter your email below. We'll send you a confirmation and sign you up for our daily newsletter, keeping you up to date with the latest science news. A decade of observations of four planets around the young planetary system V1298 Tau revealed a rare, long-sought missing link in planet formation. Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Flipboard Join the conversation Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Astronomers have gotten a rare glimpse at four baby planets as they're growing up, and it reveals something ... [Read More]

Jan 17th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google A pesticide level that doesn't make fish drop dead can still be doing something quieter, and potentially more damaging over time.  New research suggests that long-term exposure to very low concentrations of chlorpyrifos, a widely used insecticide, can speed up biological aging in fish and shorten their lifespan.  The effect shows up in classic cellular aging markers, even when exposure levels are too low to trigger obvious, immediate toxicity. The study, led by University of Notre Dame biologist Jason Rohr, ties real-world patterns in wild fish populations to ... [Read More]

Jan 16th, 2026 - Reading time 2 minutes Deep inside the Lauga cave network in northern Saudi Arabia, scientists stumbled upon the exquisitely preserved remains of cheetahs that date back hundreds, and even thousands, of years. The once-iconic animal of the Arabian Peninsula has been locally extinct for over 50 years, but the rare discovery could help reintroduce cheetahs into the region. A team of researchers from the National Center for Wildlife in Saudi Arabia were exploring the caves near the city of Arar when they found seven mummified cheetahs, which date from approximately 130 to 1,870 years ago. They ... [Read More]

Jan 16th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Pompeii often feels like a city paused in time. When Mount Vesuvius erupted, volcanic ash sealed streets, homes, and bathhouses almost exactly as they were nearly 2,000 years ago. This preservation has shaped modern ideas about Roman daily life, including the belief that public baths were clean, orderly, and even luxurious spaces. New research complicates that image. Evidence now suggests that bathwater in Pompeii was often far from pristine, especially before the city came under Roman control. While Roman engineering later transformed the water system and improved ... [Read More]

Jan 16th, 2026 - New dinosaur fossils were discovered at the Dinosaur National Monument, leading to the first excavation there in more than 100 years, officials revealed Friday. The National Park Service said that parking lot construction was underway in September near the Quarry Exhibit Hall in the Utah side of the park when the dinosaur fossils were uncovered. Dinosaur National Monument is located on the border between Colorado and Utah, about 300 miles west of Denver.        A portion of dinosaur-bearing sandstone was exposed when asphalt was removed on Sept. 16 by workers. ... [Read More]

Jan 16th, 2026 - Follow Earth on Google Tyrannosaurus rex has long been portrayed as a monster that rocketed to adulthood, hitting peak size in its twenties.  A new analysis paints a different picture. It suggests these predators kept growing for roughly four decades, taking far longer to reach their full bulk than scientists once thought. The study reexamines growth evidence from 17 tyrannosaur leg-bone fossils, from small juveniles to giant adults.  The team combined new ways of spotting hidden growth rings in bone with updated statistical methods to rebuild a more complete life history than ... [Read More]

Jan 15th, 2026 - Irish quantum computing startup Equal1 Ltd. said today it has raised $60 million in a new funding round led by the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund. The Dublin-based startup, which began life as a spinout from University College Dublin, is the creator of Ireland's first-ever domestic quantum processing unit or QPU, which is known as Bell-1. It  launched Bell-1 last year in an effort to make the long sought-after goal of functional quantum computers a reality. For years, the promise of quantum computing has been held back by the incredible complexity of these machines. Though companies ... [Read More]

Jan 15th, 2026 - What they saw raises an immediate question: if something this striking was hiding there, why has it been so easy to miss until now? A thin line that does not match the rest of the nebula A European team led by astronomers at Cardiff University and University College London (UCL) says it has detected a previously unknown, bar-shaped strip of glowing iron inside the Ring Nebula. The feature sits within the nebula's bright inner region, running across the middle rather than following the familiar ring-like shape. The Ring Nebula (also known as Messier 57 or NGC 6720) lies in the constellation ... [Read More]