When a US research lab accidentally created a sticky web-like substance, it turned to Peter Parker and comic-book lore for inspiration on what to do next.

H5N1 vaccines have been previously licensed, and millions are in the national stockpile. But even with the news of the country’s first human death due to bird flu, vaccination isn’t yet recommended.

Founded by crypto guru Jed McCaleb, Vast Space will run two missions to the International Space Station and aims to launch its first space station, Haven-1, by the end of 2025.

The exit will cut a huge chunk from the World Health Organization’s budget, but the short-term financial gain for the US could come at the cost of disease outbreaks flaring up across the world.

The new president’s orders will take the US out of the Paris Agreement, encourage the extraction and use of fossil fuels, and undo Biden-era policies.

Non-native grasses and eucalyptus trees brought to California centuries ago for agriculture and landscaping have reshaped the state’s fire dynamics.

To make progress on one of number theory’s most elementary questions, two mathematicians turned to an unlikely source.

Firefighting planes are dumping water from the ocean on the Los Angeles fires, but using saltwater is typically a last resort.

Essential oils, detox regimens, parasite cleanses, and raw milk have entered the disaster economy.

The profit margin on crypto mining is all about the physics of computers and energy conversion.

Alignments of five or more planets are rare—there will be two more featuring five or more planets this year, but after that the next won’t happen until 2040.

What may be the first commercially available book saved in DNA is the latest example of how consumers might use molecular data storage.

New photos of Mercury taken during the joint European and Japanese BepiColombo mission reveal fascinating details of the small rocky planet.

Calculating air pollution from wildfires and other events has become more complicated. That doesn’t mean it’s necessarily more accurate.

After the devastation of the Los Angeles fires, officials are ready to rebuild. But defending against future fires requires thinking about more than buildings.

The space agency’s Spinoff project displays the countless everyday technologies that were spurred by space-related research.

Signals from the global navigation satellite system can be jammed and spoofed, so a Google spinout is working on an alternative positioning and navigation system that uses the Earth’s magnetic field.

Melted plastic pipes and drastic water-pressure drops are potentially leaching toxic chemicals and contaminants into local supplies. Multiple water authorities in north Los Angeles have issued Do Not Drink notices.

Now that Novo Nordisk is the world’s weight-loss juggernaut, will it have to betray its first patients—type 1 diabetics?

Three exotic new species of superconductivity were spotted last year, illustrating the myriad ways electrons can join together to form a frictionless quantum soup.

The 1,100-pound mystery object landed in Kenya at the end of December. Experts are still baffled.

In early January, soil moisture in much of Southern California was in the bottom 2 percent of historical records.

The arrival of La Niña is starving California of rain, and more high Santa Ana winds could be on the way.

On January 13, Atlas C/2024 G3 will reach its closest point to the sun.