Seth Borenstein

AP Science Writer

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses the 76th Session of the U.N. General Assembly, New York, Sept. 21, 2021.

Billionaires in Space Draw UN Chief's Ire

He lamented “billionaires joyriding to space while millions go hungry on Earth.”

Proposal for the Mars Dune Alpha habitat on Mars, August 2021.

Want to Pretend to Live on Mars?

NASA has a job for you.

Illustration depicting a black hole swallowing a neutron star.

Cosmic Gulp: Astronomers Watch Black Hole Swallow Neutron Star

The most dense object in the universe vanished in a split-second.

Illustration depicting Earth, center, with the Sun in the background.

Can ET See Us? Study Finds Many Stars with Prime Earth View

Feeling like you are being watched?

This 2019 photo provided by NOAA shows the Mauna Loa Atmospheric Baseline Observatory.

Carbon Dioxide Levels Hit 50% Higher than Preindustrial Time

And the average rate of increase is faster than ever.

Eric Lander speaks during an event at The Queen theater, Wilmington, Del., Jan. 16, 2021.

New Science Chief Wants Next Pandemic Vaccine Ready in 100 Days

The development of "plug-and-play" platforms could allow vaccines to be ready weeks after recognizing a potential outbreak.

Combination of satellite images showing methane plumes from natural gas sites in Aliso Canyon, north of Los Angeles, Oct. 26, 2015, and the Permian Basin, Texas, Nov. 8, 2020.

Cutting Methane Key to Curbing Dangerous Warming

A UN report says dramatically reducing the potent greenhouse gas is the world’s best hope to limit the worst of global warming.

Nikolai Bondar works on the LHCb Muon system at the European Organization for Nuclear Research Large Hadron Collider facility outside Geneva in 2018.

Experiments Defy Physics Rulebook

Preliminary results could reveal major problems with how physicists understand the universe at the subatomic level.

A gondola at a Harvard University facility in Cambridge, Mass., March 2021.

Panel Weighs Cooling Tech as Climate Back-Up

The National Academy of Sciences isn't recommending solar geoengineering — yet.

The morning sun seen through a blanket of smog outside New Delhi, India, Jan. 2, 2021.

UN Says Countries' Carbon Pledges Nowhere Near Enough

The U.N.’s climate chief is telling nations to go back and try harder.

October 2018 illustration showing one of Carbon Engineering's air contactor assemblies to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The Real Math Behind 'Net Zero' Carbon Emissions

If you are adding to pollution, you need to subtract, too.

Image from video animation depicting a powerful X-ray burst erupting from a magnetar, Nov. 2020.

Astronomers Find Cosmic Radio Burst Source

A lucky Caltech astronomer helped spot one of the fast, powerful bursts with handmade antennas.