Science

Climate activists protest on the first day of the ExxonMobil trial outside the New York State Supreme Court building on Oct. 22, 2019, in New York City. ExxonMobil was found not guilty of misleading investors about how climate change would affect its finances.

Exxon climate predictions were accurate decades ago. Still it sowed doubt

5:31pm January 12, 2023

by Jeff Brady

Exxon's climate research decades back painted an accurate picture of global warming, according to a new scientific paper. Still, the oil company continued climate-denying policy efforts.

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Extracting DNA from Neanderthal urine — and other breakthrough technologies of the year

3:57pm January 12, 2023

MIT Technology Review has released its annual list of breakthrough technologies. NPR's Mary Louise Kelly speaks with Amy Nordrum, an editor who helped put the list together.

The UAE names the head of its main state oil company to lead COP28

3:57pm January 12, 2023

by Aya Batrawy

The United Arab Emirates is preparing to host this year's global U.N. climate summit, but its pick to lead the talks is raising eyebrows.

The first full moon of 2023 rises behind the 15 July Martyrs bridge in Istanbul, Turkey.

Science

Stargazers, here are the most exciting celestial events for 2023

10:46am January 12, 2023

by Julie Depenbrock

Astronomer Jackie Faherty outlines the most exciting sky events you can put on your calendar in 2023, from eclipses to meteor showers and more.

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A staff member for Sen. Rand Paul takes photos of her puppy, Jefferson, before a 2021 press conference on the FDA Modernization Act.

The FDA no longer requires all drugs to be tested on animals before human trials

10:05am January 12, 2023

by Joe Hernandez

In a victory for animal rights advocates, drugmakers can take their products to human clinical trials using alternative testing methods that don't involve animals.

Part of Molly Sampson's shark tooth collection – including the tooth of a megalodon from some 15 million years ago (left) – sits on display on Jan. 11. Her collection contains over 400 teeth.

Maryland girl finds ancient tooth from a 50-foot-long megalodon in the Chesapeake Bay

5:00am January 12, 2023

by Kaitlyn Radde

Budding paleontologist Molly Sampson found the 5-inch megalodon tooth near Calvert Cliffs, Md., while trying out the new insulated waders she got for Christmas.

In this April 13, 2017 photo provided by NASA, technicians lift the mirror of the James Webb Space Telescope using a crane at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The telescope is designed to peer back so far that scientists will get a glimpse of the dawn of the universe about 13.7 billion years ago and zoom in on closer cosmic objects with sharper focus.

Science

NASA's Webb telescope has discovered its first exoplanet

3:15am January 12, 2023

by Ayana Archie

The exoplanet was found using a satellite and spectrography. It has a similar size as Earth, but is much hotter and completes its orbit around its star in two days.

People who lose track of time aren't rude, researchers say — they may just be listening to their inner timekeeper instead of an external clock. Living according to "event time" has its benefits.

In praise of being late: The upside of spurning the clock

7:42pm January 11, 2023

by Pien Huang

People who lose track of time aren't rude, researchers say — they may just be listening to their inner timekeeper instead of an external clock. Living according to "event time" has its benefits.

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Grant Wahl's death at the Qatar World Cup set off conspiracy theories that persisted long after they were disproven.

Conspiracy theorists hounded Grant Wahl's family when he died. Now they're back

5:00am January 11, 2023

Grant Wahl's death at the Qatar World Cup set off conspiracy theories that persisted long after they were disproven.

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Hurricane Ian caused $112.9 billion dollars and more than 150 deaths when it slammed into south Florida in 2022, making it the costliest climate-fueled disaster in the U.S. last year.

Extreme weather, fueled by climate change, cost the U.S. $165 billion in 2022

4:56pm January 10, 2023

by Nathan Rott

The U.S. endured 18 separate billion-dollar disasters in 2022, highlighting the growing damages of human-caused climate change.

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