As the planet warms, past episodes of the natural weather phenomenon may no longer be a reliable guide of how the next one plays out. By RAYMOND ZHONG Forecasters say a powerful El Nino weather pattern could form later this year, with a chance of becoming one of the strongest in three decades. The winds above the Pacific are shifting, the ocean is releasing stored-up heat, and a cascade of effects on rain, droughts and wildfires could be on its way. The National Oceanic and A

In an undated rendering from Ko Arimatsu/NAOJ, an artist’s impression of the trans-Neptunian object 2002 XV93 occulting a background star. Observations of that star revealed gradual fading and recovery of starlight, evidence of a thin atmosphere around the object, astronomers reported on Monday, May 4. (Ko Arimatsu/NAOJ via The New York Times) By KENNETH CHANG A small world about 300 miles wide and 3.5 billion miles from the sun — nearly as far away as Pluto — appears to be s

A photo provided by Elizabeth Weiss shows Nick Pope in 2011. Pope, who investigated UFO sightings for Britain’s Ministry of Defense and later made him one of the world’s most respected ufologists, died on April 6 at his home in Tucson, Ariz. He was 60. (Elizabeth Weiss via The New York Times) By MICHAEL S. ROSENWALD Nick Pope, who investigated UFO sightings for Britain’s Ministry of Defense, a position that turned him from skeptic to believer and later made him one of the wor

An emperor penguin on Antarctica’s Ross Sea ice shelf, Jan. 16, 2011. Populations of emperor penguins are declining as climate change causes the sea ice the birds need for survival to retreat, according to researchers. (Andy Isaacson/The New York Times) By RACHEL NUWER Emperor penguins, the world’s largest and perhaps most recognizable penguin species, have joined the list of wildlife endangered by global warming, the International Union for Conservation of Nature announced

In an undated image from Kathryn Killackey, an artist’s reconstruction of a site in Turkey 15,800 years ago, based on evidence from archaeological excavations by University of Liverpool researchers. New research pushes the first genetic evidence of dogs back by 5,000 years and suggests that hunter-gatherer groups may have acquired dogs from one another. (Kathryn Killackey via The New York Times) By EMILY ANTHES In the waning days of the last ice age, when humans were still hu

Calliope, an orphaned manatee that had spent three years in Cincinnati for rehabilitation, mingles with others of her kind moments after being released back into the wild at Three Sisters Springs, in the Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge in Florida on Feb. 13, 2024. Since the start of the year, at least 31 of the sea cows — as the manatees are colloquially known — have been struck and killed by boats in Florida. (Jason Gulley/The New York Times) By JOHNNY DÍAZ In early M

Years of testing, emergency systems and sensors have gone into protecting the Artemis II astronauts heading to the moon. (NASA via The New York Times) By KATRINA MILLER Rocket failures, oxygen leaks, space debris and scorching heat: These are just a few of the risks that NASA’s Artemis II astronauts face as the first humans to return to the moon in more than half a century. Since NASA first attempted to send people beyond the safety of Earth, spaceflight has been a death-defy

In an image provided by NASA, an artist’s concept of Phase 3 of the proposed moon base. After years of talking about lunar outposts in vague terms for sometime in the indefinite future, leaders of the space agency on Tuesday put a continuing American presence at the moon solidly on their road map for the coming decade, setting out specific plans and timelines. (NASA via The New York Times) By KENNETH CHANG NASA is getting serious about building a base on the moon. After year

A photo provided by the Field Museum shows Matt von Konrat, the head of the botanical collections at the Field Museum, in his laboratory in Chicago, Feb. 26, 2026, examining tiny bits of dirt and moss collected in Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip, Ill., in 2009. A group of scientists and law enforcement officials are pointing to the role moss can play to help solve crimes. (Field Museum via The New York Times) By SAMANTHA DRAKE A remote forest in south central Pennsylvania seems to

An image provided by Joschua Knüppe shows a life reconstruction of the forearm of Manipulonyx reshetovi, a bird-like dinosaur. A fossil of the dinosaur was discovered in Mongolia in 1979. (Joschua Knüppe via The New York Times) By JACK TAMISIEA Under the cover of darkness 67 million years ago, a dog-size dinosaur crept up to the nest of a bigger, unsuspecting contemporary. Its goal: to snatch a large egg. The tiny thief had a handy hack to get to that meal: a multitooled fore