Many people enjoy lighting candles, incense and fireplaces in their homes to evoke the moods associated with these festive fragrances.  Burning scented products may create a cozy ambiance, and in the case of fireplaces, provide light and heat, but some experts want people to consider how doing so contributes to the quality of the air indoors.  All flames release chemicals that may cause allergy-like symptoms or contribute to long-term respiratory problems if they are inhaled in sufficient quanti

Like many holiday traditions, lighting candles and fireplaces is best done in moderation

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 27 Starlink satellites lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. The first stage then made the company's 550th landing.

Falcon 9 rocket launches Starlink satellites before making 550th SpaceX landing (video)

Assuming Google does manage to launch a prototype in 2027, will it simply be a high-stakes technical experiment – or the dawning of a new era?

Data centers in space: Will 2027 really be the year AI goes to orbit?

December's faint Ursid meteor shower returns under dark skies, offering a small chance of unexpected activity.

December's overlooked meteor shower peaks next week — will the Ursids surprise us?

An overwhelming majority of U.S. adults are satisfied with their health insurance coverage overall, including most older Americans and those on Medicare and Medicaid, according to a new NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey

Poll: Most are satisfied with their health insurance, but a quarter report denials or delays

Membraneless organelles, also called biomolecular condensates, are changing how scientists think about protein chemistry, various diseases and even the origin of life.

Cells have more mini ‘organs’ than researchers thought − unbound by membranes, these rogue organelles challenge biology’s fundamentals

Carbon dioxide emissions trap heat in the atmosphere, warming the planet. Too much CO2 can disrupt the climate and oceans.

Where America’s CO2 emissions come from – what you need to know, in charts

Twins are pretty rare, accounting for just 3% of births in the US these days. But new research shows that for primates 60 million years ago, giving birth to twins was the norm.

Twins were the norm for our ancient primate ancestors − one baby at a time had evolutionary advantages

On Episode 189 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik talk with their favorite Newspace Buccaneer, Jeffrey Manber.

This Week In Space podcast: Episode 189 — Privatizing Orbit

Dark stars are not exactly stars, and they are certainly not dark.

When darkness shines: How dark stars could illuminate the early universe

The Geminid meteor shower occurs as Earth passes through the debris from asteroid (3200) Phaethon

Watch the Geminid meteor shower peak tonight from the comfort of home with this free livestream

The annual Geminid meteor shower is set to peak this weekend, offering what is often one of the year's best and most reliable displays of shooting stars.

Geminid meteor shower, one of the year's most reliable, peaks this weekend

Super-Earth TOI-561b is about 40 times closer to its host star than Mercury is to the sun.

New findings suggest atmosphere could exist on exoplanet TOI-561b

"Archaeologists did not expect to find such well-preserved structures in such a harsh setting," geologist Yves Fouquet said.

Historic underwater structure discovered by divers off French coast

With climate change steadily dismantling the icy habitat essential to their existence, new research suggests polar bears are rapidly rewiring their own genetics in a bid to survive

Polar bears are rewiring their own genetics to survive a warming climate

A new machine learning model explores the boundary between biological and nonbiological chemistry.

Can scientists detect life without knowing what it looks like? Research using machine learning offers a new way

Like a mood ring, clothing could let future space travelers know when they've been exposed to unsafe levels of radiation.

How color-changing, bacteria-infused spacesuits could help keep future astronauts safe from space radiation

Hawaiian stargazers got a particularly special treat recently.

Comet Lemmon and Milky Way spotted over Hawaii | Space photo of the day for Dec. 12, 2025

"The natural question that comes up is: how many more space telescopes will be affected when all these constellations are launched?"

Satellite constellations could obscure most space telescope observations by late 2030s: 'That part of the image will be forever lost'

Astronomers have found the strongest evidence yet of an atmosphere around a rocky exoplanet.

James Webb Space Telescope finds strongest evidence yet for atmosphere around rocky exoplanet: 'It's really like a wet lava ball'

"We did the simplest thing that could be done — we just mapped them and pieced them together."

Scientists map of old Mars river basins for the 1st time. These could be great places to search for ancient life

The Hjortspring boat carried warriors on an attempted attack of a Danish island over 2,000 years ago. Archaeologists have new clues about where these raiders came from.

Archaeologists uncover details about the Hjortspring boat's origins

Interbreeding across species lines is one way helpful genes can spread into a bird population.

Songbirds swap colorful plumage genes across species lines among their evolutionary neighbors

Researchers recently discovered an extremely small frog species in Brazil

This Tiny Neon Frog Dwells in the Clouds

Scientists in Britain say ancient humans may have learned to make fire far earlier than previously believed, after uncovering evidence that deliberate fire-setting took place in what is now eastern England around 400,000 years ago.  Until now, the oldest confirmed evidence had come from Neanderthal sites in what is now northern France dating to about 50,000 years ago.  The discovery was made at Barnham, a Paleolithic site in Suffolk that has been excavated for decades.

Study finds humans were making fire 400,000 years ago, far earlier than once thought

Something about a warm, flickering campfire draws in modern humans

Did we start the fire? A 400,000-year-old hearth sparks new questions about human evolution

Archaeologists say they have found the oldest known instance of fire setting, a key moment in human evolution.

Ancient fire discovery marks significant milestone in human history

By Will Dunham Dec 10 (Reuters) - Scientists have discovered the oldest-known evidence of fire-making by prehistoric humans in the English county of Suffolk - a hearth apparently made by Neanderthals

Oldest evidence of human fire-making discovered at site in England

NASA has lost contact with a spacecraft that has orbited Mars for more than a decade.  Maven abruptly stopped communicating to ground stations over the weekend.  NASA said this week that it was working fine before it went behind the red planet.

NASA loses contact with its Maven spacecraft orbiting Mars for the past decade

NASA has lost contact with a spacecraft that's been orbiting Mars for more than a decade.

NASA says Maven spacecraft that was orbiting Mars has gone silent

Humanity's exploration of Mars should be organized around the search for signs of past or present Red Planet life, according to a new report from the U.S. National Academies.

1st human missions to Mars should hunt for signs of life, report says

Photos of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS show it traveling through our inner solar system. The growing collection of images has fostered intrigue around the mysterious object.

Interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS' journey through our solar system, in photos

Voyager 1, NASA’s deep-space probe, could soon become the first spacecraft to reach a historic milestone. In November 2026, the probe will be one light-day from Earth.

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