Charles Q. Choi, Live Science

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Earth & Conservation

The world's first nuclear fusion plant has now reached 50 percent completion, the project's director-general announced Dec. 6.

The World’s First Nuclear Fusion Plant Nears Completion

The oldest evidence of life on Earth ever discovered may lie within rocks that are 3.95 billion years old, a new study finds.

Oldest Known Life on Earth Found in 3.95-Billion-Year-Old Rocks in Labrador

Whiskey connoisseurs have long thought that mixing a few drops of water with the drink could enhance its flavor.

Here's Why Whiskey Tastes Better With a Little Water

Animals

The most complete extinct-ape skull ever found reveals what the last common ancestor of all living apes and humans might have looked like, according to a new study.

Ancient Skull Shows What the Last Common Ancestor of Apes and Humans Looked Like

Gadgets

Space & Innovation

Just as aircraft flying at supersonic speeds create cone-shaped sonic booms, pulses of light can leave behind cone-shaped wakes of light.

Ultrafast Camera Captures 'Sonic Booms' of Light for First Time

Astrophysics

For the first time, physicists have shown that atoms of antimatter appear to give off the same kind of light that atoms of regular matter do when illuminated with lasers, a new study finds.

Bizarre Antimatter Looks Surprisingly Like Regular Matter

History

The ancient relative of humanity dubbed "Lucy" may have been one of a harem of gals who mated with a single male, according to research that suggests her species was polygynous.

Human Ancestor 'Lucy’ Was Likely Part of a Female Harem

Cats are famous for their fastidious self-grooming, but the way their tongues are able to get them so clean has remained somewhat of a mystery.

Tiny 'Claws' on a Cat's Tongue Work Like Velcro to Clean Fur

For all their infamous raiding and plundering, the Vikings who attacked from Scandinavia might have been just a bunch of lonely-hearted bachelors, new research suggests.

The Real Reason for Viking Raids: A Lack of Eligible Women

After analyzing the crater from the cosmic impact that ended the age of dinosaurs, scientists now say the object that smacked into the planet may have punched nearly all the way through Earth's crust, according to a new study.

Dino-Killing Asteroid May Have Punctured Earth's Crust

A device that was implanted in a man's brain has restored his feelings of touch, according to a new study.

Brain Implant Restores Sense of Touch in Medical First

New craters are forming on the surface of the moon more frequently than scientists had predicted, a new study has found.

Charles Q. Choi, Live Science

Latest Posts From Charles

The World’s First Nuclear Fusion Plant Nears Completion

Nuclear fusion promises to be a clean source of energy, but it is expensive, technologically complex, and far from being deployed on a commercial scale.

Oldest Known Life on Earth Found in 3.95-Billion-Year-Old Rocks in Labrador

Grains of graphite found within ancient rocks in northeast Canada are at least 200 million years older than signs of life previously discovered in Greenland.

Here's Why Whiskey Tastes Better With a Little Water

Whiskey enthusiasts also often add a few drops of water before drinking it, but how dilution might help its taste was not clear until now.

Ancient Skull Shows What the Last Common Ancestor of Apes and Humans Looked Like

The 13-million-year-old infant skull was unearthed in Kenya in 2014 and will help researchers understand how climate, ecology, geography, and other factors were key to evolution.

Ultrafast Camera Captures 'Sonic Booms' of Light for First Time

The new technology used to make this discovery could one day allow scientists to image live activity in the brain.

Bizarre Antimatter Looks Surprisingly Like Regular Matter

Shining lasers onto antimatter could help solve the mystery of why there is so much less antimatter than normal matter in the universe.

Human Ancestor 'Lucy’ Was Likely Part of a Female Harem

Fossil footprints suggest that Lucy's ancient human species was polygynous, with groups of females mating with a single male.

Tiny 'Claws' on a Cat's Tongue Work Like Velcro to Clean Fur

Scientists figure out how the small structures make short work of tangles.

The Real Reason for Viking Raids: A Lack of Eligible Women

Since powerful men monopolized women at the time, unwed men sought matches of their own.

Dino-Killing Asteroid May Have Punctured Earth's Crust

The space rock that ended the reign of the dinosaurs may have traveled through the planet farther than we thought.

Brain Implant Restores Sense of Touch in Medical First

Electrodes electrically stimulated neurons in Nathan Copeland's brain to recreate his perception of touch, while bypassing his spinal cord injury.

Moon Craters Appearing Faster Than Thought

Could falling space rocks imperil future moon missions?