\nLike a pig out of hell<\/p>\n
\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/jKJLiYcVzU8TmvAD5mnP4a.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
An Archaeotherium fossil at an auction in London in 2011. The photo is for illustrative purposes only. (Image credit: Peter Macdiarmid\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Patrick<\/a> here, back from my trip to the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 85th Annual Meeting (SVP 2025). Yesterday, I teased a story about “hell pigs,” and here it is. Preliminary research presented at SVP has found that extinct North American “hell pigs” could crush hard materials, like bones, while their smaller counterparts likely sheared softer material, like flesh.<\/p>\n Archaeotherium, nicknamed “hell pig,” was a group of vaguely hoggish-looking animals that roamed North America from about 37 million to 23 million years ago, and could be as tall as humans while standing on four legs. Researchers have known of their existence since 1850, but now, a new tooth analysis reveals that their feeding strategies were more varied at the species level than previously documented.<\/p>\n You can read the full “hell pig” story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Patrick Pester<\/p>\n Trending News Writer<\/p>\n 2025-11-14T14:45:21.189Z On this day 30 years ago\u2026<\/p>\n On Nov. 14, 1985, a paper came out in Nature \u2014 and the buckyball was born. Formally called the buckminster fullerene, the molecule consisted of 60 carbon atoms aligned in a geodesic dome-like shape.<\/p>\n In many ways, the molecule’s discovery exemplifies what’s great about science. Buckyballs were discovered and created in a lab during an incredibly productive 10-day period. Serendipity, teamwork and inspiration played a huge role in the team’s findings.<\/p>\n And yet, none of that work would have been possible without painstaking, incremental findings that built up over years across diverse disciplines such as material science, laser physics and astrochemistry.<\/p>\n The team that ultimately earned the Nobel Prize for their work was the first to put all the different strands together into a coherent picture of “the most perfect molecule in existence.” But it turns out that other teams had previously proposed and even produced 60-carbon molecules by accident.<\/p>\n You can read all about the discovery of buckyballs here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tia Ghose<\/p>\n Editor-in-Chief (Premium)<\/p>\n 2025-11-14T14:07:01.523Z Here’s a roundup of all the stories Live Science has published so far (that we haven’t already mentioned):<\/p>\n 2025-11-14T14:02:43.375Z If that last artificial intelligence<\/a> post left you with a chill at the thought of humanity\u2019s dystopian future, here\u2019s a (literal) pick-me-up.<\/p>\n Russia\u2019s first-ever AI humanoid robot with artificial intelligence, called AIdol, fell flat on its face on stage during its Nov. 10 debut at an event in Moscow.<\/p>\n The robot\u2019s pratfall forced staff at the robotics firm Idol to pull a curtain in front of the malfunctioning machine while they raced to fix it. The soundtrack to the film Rocky played in the background.<\/p>\n \ud83d\ude01 Nothing unusual \u2014 just Russia\u2019s much-hyped humanoid AI robot collapsing on stage during its debut presentation.Apparently, it couldn\u2019t handle Russian reality. pic.twitter.com\/czFlclTYX5November 11, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n 2025-11-14T12:43:00.792Z \n (Image credit: Getty Images)<\/p>\n We’ve written before about how effective artificial intelligence<\/a> chatbots can be at gaming their users<\/a>, and the truly<\/a> pernicious<\/a> effects<\/a> interacting with them can have on vulnerable people. Just last month OpenAI (currently facing multiple lawsuits alleging its chatbot ChatGPT drove vulnerable users to suicide<\/a>) released data suggesting that hundreds of thousands of its users are signalling mania or psychosis with their inputs<\/a>.<\/p>\n With AI psychosis on the rise, Rolling Stone has published this disturbing long-read<\/a> of a spiral-obsessed online cult intent upon awakening consciousness inside chatbots through obscure, ritualistic prompts.<\/p>\n 2025-11-14T11:54:33.154Z \n China’s Tiangong space station. (Image credit: China Manned Space Agency)<\/p>\n In another feat of orbital daring do, China has returned its Shenzhou-20 mission astronauts in little over a week since they were first stranded on the Tiangong space station<\/a>.<\/p>\n It’s an impressive return time, especially given that the last notable orbital stranding of NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams took the agency nine months to bring them home<\/a>. It goes without saying that they’re very different circumstances, of course. It’s not a race, guys (okay it may very well be a race<\/a>).<\/p>\n Read Patrick’s<\/a> story on their return here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2025-11-14T11:49:30.202Z \n The New Glenn Rocket launching from the Cape Canaveral space force station on Thursday (Nov. 13). (Image credit: Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo\/<\/a>Getty Images)<\/p>\n Good morning science fans. We’re back with news that Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket nailed its launch yesterday, sending two NASA probes to Mars to study how the now-barren planet lost its atmosphere.<\/p>\n The first stage of the booster fell back to the Atlantic Ocean, acing a truly impressive landing on Blue Origin’s recovery ship. New Glenn’s previous two launches were scrubbed by Earth weather and then space weather, but the new SpaceX competitor twice shuffled its launch windows until it found the right moment.<\/p>\n If you want to learn more, read the full story by Space.com here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ben Turner<\/p>\n Acting Trending News Editor<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T23:36:04.242Z That’s all for the U.S. team, but the U.K. will be back online with science news tomorrow morning.<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T22:33:08.176Z \n A new DNA analysis is bolstering a theory that Hitler had a micropenis. (Image credit: Bettmann\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n A new documentary is bolstering the long-held theory that Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler had a micropenis.<\/p>\n The documentary, which is set to air Saturday (Nov. 15) on Channel 4 in the U.K., investigates the DNA extracted from a bloodstained scrap of the couch Hitler was on when he killed himself. They used Y-chromosome analysis to confirm the blood came from the dictator, the iPaper reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n The findings show Hitler may have had Kallmann syndrome<\/a>, a disorder caused by a mutation in a gene called PROK2. This gene encodes a protein called gonadotropin-releasing receptor hormone (GnRH), which plays a key role in the development of genitalia and testes in utero, and is also crucial during puberty. While symptoms occur on a spectrum, in men Kallmann syndrome is associated with a lack of facial hair, lack of sense of smell, undescended testes and an unusually small, or “micro,” penis.<\/p>\n In fact, rumors and past reports had long circulated implying or outright stating that Hitler had only one testicle, and a 2016 analysis of medical records suggested he had a micropenis and hypospadias, a condition in which the opening of the urethra is not at the tip of the penis, our managing editor Laura<\/a> reported at the time<\/a>.<\/p>\n The documentary also suggested that Hitler had a number of genes that have been linked to psychiatric disorders, including ADHD, autism, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Of course, none of these conditions would explain why he was a genocidal monster.<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T21:25:35.639Z \n Ultraprocessed foods have been linked with increased rates of precancerous polyps in a study of female nurses in the U.S. (Image credit: Peter Dazeley\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Eating more ultraprocessed food has been linked to a higher risk of polyps, or precancerous lesions that can lead to colon cancer, The Guardian reported<\/a>. That’s according to new research that drew data from a large study of female nurses in the U.S.<\/p>\n The study authors suggest this link may partly explain a rise in colon cancer among young women, but in my mind, the case isn’t closed. It’s true that the rates of certain cancers have been rising in younger people<\/a> \u2014 and colon cancer is one of them.<\/p>\n But it’s devilishly difficult to tease apart cause and effect for cancer, which is caused by myriad factors and can take decades to develop. And there have been a number of other hypotheses for the rise in colon cancer risk, including a toxin produced by gut bacteria<\/a>, rising obesity rates<\/a>, and antibiotic usage<\/a>, our health editor Nicoletta<\/a> previously reported.<\/p>\n Adding to the confusion, there’s not a single, agreed-upon definition for an ultraprocessed food<\/a> \u2014 and emerging research suggests that there may be differences in the health harms of, say, yogurt versus soda<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T20:57:43.647Z \n Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket takes off from Cape Canaveral on Nov. 13, 2025. (Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n In a historic launch, Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket<\/a> lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:56 p.m. EST, carrying a payload of NASA equipment bound for Mars.<\/p>\n Riding aboard the rocket are NASA’s ESCAPADE spacecraft \u2014 a pair of twin satellites that will orbit Mars in order to study the effects of solar weather on the Red Planet\u2019s atmosphere. The mission will hopefully help scientists determine how Mars lost much of its atmosphere in the ancient past.<\/p>\n This was the second launch of the 321-foot-tall (98 meters) New Glenn rocket, which completed its first mission in January.<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T19:53:18.178Z \n An image of the New Glenn rocket launching from Cape Canaveral in January 2025. Space and Earth weather and technical glitches delayed the launch this week by several days. (Image credit: Miguel J. Rodriguez Carrillo\/<\/a>Getty Images)<\/p>\n Jeff Bezos’ space exploration company Blue Origin is finally getting a crack at its delayed space launch. Everything is go for the 321-foot-tall (98-meters) rocket, which had previous launches scrubbed due to technical glitches and poor weather \u2014 both in space and on Earth.<\/p>\n The rocket is set to launch in just a few minutes, during an 88-minute-window that opens at 2:57 EST, Spaceflightnow reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n Live Science sister site Space.com is streaming the launch live.<\/a><\/p>\n 2025-11-13T19:32:32.433Z \n A new telescope image of the comet C\/2025 K1 (ATLAS) shows it has broken into pieces following its recent close approach to the sun.\u00a0 (Image credit: Gianluca Masi \/ The Virtual Telescope Project)<\/p>\n Striking new images show the “other” Comet ATLAS (C\/2025 K1) breaking apart.<\/p>\n Scientists initially thought the comet, which is unrelated to the interstellar comet 3I\/ATLAS, survived its recent close approach to the sun. But the new images, from The Virtual Telescope project<\/a>, show that isn’t so.<\/p>\n The cause of its disintegration remains somewhat unclear, Ben<\/a> reported. You can read all about the other ATLAS’s demise \u2014 and how we know it really happened \u2014 in the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T18:24:04.063Z \n A depiction of the asteroid belt. A company has proposed collecting and mining precious metals from asteroids using a giant bag. (Image credit: Mode-list via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Tia<\/a> here with news that a startup wants to collect asteroids and space junk in giant, inflatable trash bags. Asteroids are rich in valuable metals, so in theory, scooping these up could provide a way to turn space trash into space treasure, CNN reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n The startup, TransAstra, has tested a mini-prototype of its “CaptureBag,” and says the company is now aiming to test a bigger version.<\/p>\n But how feasible is it? And is this the only solution to space junk?<\/p>\n Live Science senior writer Harry Baker<\/a> previously wrote about another effort to capture space junk\u2014 hoovering them up with a tractor beam.<\/p>\n You can read about those tractor beams here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tia Ghose<\/p>\n Editor-in-Chief (Premium)<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T17:17:27.757Z That\u2019s me signing off for the day. It\u2019s over to Tia<\/a> for more updates from our U.S. team. Until tomorrow!<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T17:16:43.882Z \n A beached sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus). (Image credit: Charlie Phillips\/Splashdown\/REX\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n A bit of unbelieve-blubble science history for you now. On this day, 55 years ago on the Oregon Coast, state officials decided to dynamite the carcass of a beached sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) to remove it from the shore of the coastal town of Florence.<\/p>\n The result was pure carnage, retired Oregon Coast reporter Larry Bacon told Oregon Public Broadcasting<\/a>.<\/p>\n “All of a sudden there was this hundred-foot geyser of blood, blubber and sand going up into the sky,” Bacon said. “It was like a blubber snowstorm with tiny particles of blubber floating down after the big chunks.”<\/p>\n Witnessing the spectacle also gave KATU-TV reporter Paul Linman inspiration for one of the greatest alliterations ever broadcast, when he said that “the blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds.”<\/p>\n If you want more suitably melancholic reporting on cetacean beachings, check out this FT Weekend Magazine longread on why encountering stranded whales can be so profoundly affecting<\/a> (warning: it\u2019s paywalled).<\/p>\n Ben Turner<\/p>\n Acting Trending News Editor<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T17:13:04.428Z Hi there, Staff Writer Sascha<\/a> here with an underwater volcano update. It turns out that the Axial Seamount might not erupt until mid-to-late 2026<\/a>. Scientists previously said an eruption was imminent back in December 2024. But after months of mixed messages, it appears the volcano is biding its time.<\/p>\n What’s interesting about Axial is that the level of ground inflation needed to trigger an eruption seems to increase with every eruption. Ground inflation is caused by magma rising and pooling beneath the surface of a volcano, once a certain threshold is reached, the magma erupts out.<\/p>\n The reason for the increase with every eruption at Axial may be that magma compresses the crust when it rises, making it harder for a subsequent wave of magma to rise in the same spot years later, Bill Chadwick<\/a>, a research associate at Oregon State University who runs a blog about Axial<\/a>, told me over email. Scientists think Iceland’s Krafla volcano behaves like this, too.<\/p>\n You can read my story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T15:53:18.623Z \n Hurricane Melissa over the Caribbean. (Image credit: Handout via Getty Images)<\/p>\n The Caribbean is facing a growing threat from super hurricanes, meteorologist Jeff Masters writes<\/a> for Yale Climate Connections. It’s an issue we’ve encountered again and again in our reporting, as climate change causes hurricanes like Melissa to grow stronger, do so faster<\/a>, and become ever more dangerous<\/a> than before.<\/p>\n In fact, recent hurricane seasons have led some scientists to suggest that we may need to introduce an extra Category 6 to capture the destructiveness of some of these superstorms, as Sascha<\/a> wrote about in this story<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T15:13:17.960Z \n (Image credit: Ian Waldie via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Sorry to Patrick, the good people of Birmingham, and British bronze bull sculptors \u2014 but New York did it better.<\/p>\n While we\u2019re on the topic of imitation, did you see who\u2019s at the top of Billboard\u2019s Country Singles<\/a> chart? His name is Breaking Rust, his song is “Walk My Walk”, and he\u2019s not real<\/a>.<\/p>\n Artificial intelligence (AI) generated music is finally breaking into the mainstream, as this New Yorker article details<\/a>. It turns out that humans are actually pretty bad<\/a> at telling whether something is a chatbot or another person, and the same rule seems to apply to music too \u2014 with one recent survey showing that 97% of human listeners<\/a> cannot tell the difference between human-made or synthetic songs.<\/p>\n It\u2019s probably not great news if you\u2019re a fan of human creativity, but I can\u2019t help but suspect a confounding factor in that so much popular music is fairly formulaic anyway.<\/p>\n Ben Turner<\/p>\n Acting Trending News Editor<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T13:34:55.582Z Patrick<\/a> here with an on-the-ground update from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 85th Annual Meeting (SVP 2025) in Birmingham, England. The international paleontology conference has entered its second day, with a smorgasbord of new research on offer.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, a lot of that research is under embargo, which means that I\u2019m not allowed to tell you about it yet.<\/p>\n But there are some things I can say. For example, have you ever heard of a “Hell Pig”? They\u2019re from the genus Archaeotherium, which were extinct North American mammals that looked like pigs (the pig part) with the larger species appearing to have crushed bones with their teeth (the hell part).<\/p>\n A hellish pig indeed, though Archaeotherium was technically more closely related to hippos and whales than pigs.<\/p>\n The embargoes mean that taking pictures inside the conference is tricky, so here’s a photo of Birmingham’s famous ‘Brummie the Bull’, which I didn’t take, because the bull is a 17-minute walk from the conference centre, and that seemed too far for a photo.<\/p>\n \n Bronze bull sculpture at the Bull Ring shopping center in Birmingham, England. (Image credit: Education Images\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images) Patrick Pester<\/p>\n Trending News Writer<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T12:52:30.057Z Here\u2019s a roundup of all the other stories Live Science has published so far.<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T12:16:33.403Z Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket is targeting yet another launch window today, this time between 2:57 p.m. to 4:25 p.m. EST. Extreme space weather stopped it last time<\/a>, Earth weather the time before. Will it be third time lucky for Jeff Bezos\u2019s historic launch and the NASA mission<\/a> on board?<\/p>\n NG-2 Update: We are scheduled to launch tomorrow, November 13, with a launch window from 2:57\u20134:25 PM EST \/ 19:57\u201321:25 UTC. The live webcast starts here at T-20 minutes. pic.twitter.com\/Dp9uqykdzANovember 13, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n 2025-11-13T11:53:22.994Z The weather in space had better calm down before I run out of puns (I\u2019m already dipping into my worst). A trio of solar outbursts blanketed the Northern Hemisphere with curtains of shimmering auroras last night, making for some stunning photos<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you took any good photos you\u2019d like to share, drop us an email here<\/a><\/p>\n \n Last night (Nov. 12) the aurora borealis lit up the sky over Daqing, Heilongjiang Province of China. (Image credit: VCG\/VCG via Getty Images)<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T10:44:57.234Z Good morning science fans. We\u2019re back again with news that China could be close to returning its astronauts, stranded in the Tiangong space station after a space debris incident last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n I wrote a story on preparations for their return<\/a> last night. Now, an aerospace closure issued around Inner Mongolia\u2019s Dongfeng site for the early hours of the morning EST on Friday (Nov. 14) could hint at an imminent return \u2014 if not of the astronauts themselves, then at least of their potentially faulty Shenzhou-20 return capsule.<\/p>\n More news on this as we get it. In the meantime, check out this story on the growing problem of overcrowding in Earth\u2019s orbit<\/a> and this on the first-of-a-kind instance of space cooperation<\/a> between China and the U.S. to avoid a potential satellite collision.<\/p>\n \n The Shenzhou-20 crew \u2014 Wang Jie (left), Chen Zhongrui (center), and Chen Dong (right). (Image credit: PEDRO PARDO\/AFP via Getty Images) Ben Turner<\/p>\n Acting Trending News Editor<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T00:07:16.799Z The U.S. West Coast is signing off for the evening, but the U.K. team will be back online bright and early their time with all the latest science news. Until then!<\/p>\n 2025-11-13T00:00:31.110Z \n The Pleiades, a star cluster in the constellation Taurus, may be bigger than once thought. (Image credit: Giulio Ercolani \/ Alamy)<\/p>\n The Pleiades, also known as the Seven Sisters, seems to have way more siblings than we thought.<\/p>\n Astronomers used data on star spin velocity from the Gaia and TESS space telescopes to determine the famous star cluster is actually 20 times bigger than we thought, containing thousands of fainter stars lurking among the brightest seven. The new method could reveal hidden stellar families and complex structures linking stars that were once thought to be independent, researchers say.<\/p>\n Similar data could also be used to reveal whether our own sun is part of an extended stellar family, Space.com reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T22:53:32.066Z \n An illustration of the XMM-Newton satellite studying a monster stellar explosion (Image credit: D. Ducros; ESA\/XMM-Newton, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO)<\/p>\n There’s some bad news for the prospect of life outside our solar system: scientists say they’ve spotted a dwarf star about 40 light-years from Earth belching out an ultrapowerful coronal mass ejection (CME).<\/p>\n That monster blast of plasma was powerful enough to rip the atmosphere off any planets that happened to be orbiting the star. Stars like these, called M-dwarfs, are dimmer than the sun, which means their habitable zones are much closer. And yet, this class of star is also more volatile, meaning any planet that could harbor life would be regularly lashed by punishing solar flares. Whether life could evolve \u2014 and survive \u2014 on such a planet is uncertain.<\/p>\n Of course, there are many other solar systems that could harbor life, so the search for extraterrestrials isn’t over yet<\/a>. But the new detection may mean the most common type of star in the Milky Way is less hospitable to life than we thought.<\/p>\n You can read more about the violent CME here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T21:56:01.980Z \n A bathymetric image of the Axial volcano, which scientists initially predicted would erupt this year. (Image credit: NOAA)<\/p>\n This past year, news outlets, including Live Science, widely reported that the Axial Seamount off Oregon’s coast would likely erupt this year<\/a>. Now, geologists have said an eruption is unlikely at least until 2026.<\/p>\n The seamount has already erupted three times: in 1998, 2011 and 2015, staff writer Sascha Pare<\/a> reports. The initial prediction that it would erupt in 2025 was based on its inflation rate, or how fast the chamber beneath the volcano was filling with magma. Geologists thought the volcano would erupt when that inflation rate reached the level seen in 2015. But that inflation rate has now slowed.<\/p>\n Predicting volcanic eruptions is tricky, but a new model that accounts for the underlying physics could make those predictions more reliable, Sascha reports.<\/p>\n You can read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T19:55:57.080Z \n The 146,000-year-old cranium of an individual with Denisovan mitochondrial DNA discovered in northeastern China. (Image credit: Fu et al, Cell (2025) CC-by-4.0<\/a>)<\/p>\n One of the biggest unanswered questions in anthropology is how the Denisovans, mysterious human relatives that lived in Asia and died out around 30,000 years ago, fit into our tangled family tree<\/a>.<\/p>\n New research is providing tantalizing clues, staff writer Sophie Berdugo<\/a> reports. Researchers looked at ancient skeletons from Asia that were between 45,000 and 766 years old and found that the prehistoric people of Japan, called the Jomon, had almost no Denisovan DNA.<\/p>\n Modern East Asians have on average about 0.1% Denisovan DNA, but there are wide variations between populations; Papua New Guineans, for example, have up to 5% Denisovan DNA<\/a>.<\/p>\n So what do the new findings tell us about how Denisovans migrated and mated with Homo sapiens? One possibility is that Denisovans existed at such low numbers that many H. sapiens in Asia never encountered them. Or it’s possible this genetic data tells us something about the routes early human populations took across Asia.<\/p>\n You can read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T18:39:47.293Z \n The U.K. just announced a plan to phase out animal safety testing over the next several years. (Image credit: Zero Creatives\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n Hi everyone, Tia<\/a> here with an update that the U.K. has announced it will move to phase out animal testing.<\/p>\n U.K. science minister Lord Patrick Vallance told the BBC<\/a> that they’ve developed a plan to phase out animal testing for certain safety testing by the end of the year, and to reduce the use of dogs and primates by 35% by 2030. In 2020, about 2.88 million animals were used in testing in the country.<\/p>\n But is that safe, and would it be feasible in the U.S.? In fact, the U.S. already has regulations that set us on a similar path. In 2023, Live Science health editor Nicoletta Lanese<\/a> reported that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had removed the requirement for animal testing for new drugs.<\/p>\n On paper, that would mean a drug could enter human clinical trials without being tested in animals, but in practice, not much is likely to change soon. That’s because replacements such as computer models of organ systems, and “organs-on-a-chip” are still very new. Before lab rats can be phased out, companies will need to be convinced those alternatives are as good as, or better than, animal testing \u2014 and crucially, they’ll need to know that the FDA views those tests as reliable, experts told Lanese.<\/p>\n You can read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T17:45:24.884Z The UK team are just about ready to slip into our pyjamas and nightcaps now, as we all do on this side of the pond. In the meantime, we\u2019re leaving you in the capable hands of Live Science\u2019s Managing Editor Tia<\/a> for your updates. See you again tomorrow.<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T17:44:41.430Z \n Wang Jie, Chen Zhongrui and Chen Don wave to the cameras before launching into space (Image credit: PEDRO PARDO\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n We\u2019ve recieved an update from the China Manned Space Agency on preparations to bring its stranded astronauts home. The only hitch is that there\u2019s no word on when yet. Nonetheless, crew and engineers are carrying out tests and drills for an eventual return, so we\u2019ll let you know as soon as we do.<\/p>\n You can read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ben Turner<\/p>\n Acting Trending News Editor<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T17:35:13.207Z While solar activity has made it a good week for auroras, things aren’t looking so spectacular for Blue Origin, whose mission to launch a pair of Mars-bound NASA spacecraft aboard the New Glenn rocket has been scrubbed for the second time this week. The first time it was because of bad weather on Earth, this time it\u2019s due to bad weather in space.<\/p>\n NG-2 Update: New Glenn is ready to launch. However, due to highly elevated solar activity and its potential effects on the ESCAPADE spacecraft, NASA is postponing launch until space weather conditions improve. We are currently assessing opportunities to establish our next launch\u2026November 12, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n There is no indication yet as to when the next launch window will be, but we’ll be keeping an eye out for it. You can read our full report on the mission here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T16:44:16.271Z \n Professor Iris Grunwald demonstrating the new remote stroke surgery robot. (Image credit: University of Dundee.)<\/p>\n If you can’t get to a doctor where you are, perhaps there’s one all the way across the Atlantic who might soon be able to help. Well, at least some point in the future.<\/p>\n Medical researchers at the University of Dundee in Scotland have performed the world’s first transatlantic thrombectomy<\/a> (the removal of a blood clot from a blocked blood vessel) by using a joystick connected to a cutting-edge robot located roughly 4,000 miles (6,440 kilometers) away in the Baptist Medical Center in Jacksonville, Florida.<\/p>\n The surgery was performed on a human cadaver, not a live patient, but could open up a path for doctors to save more people who have had ischemic strokes (strokes that block blood supply to the brain) \u2014 especially when time is vitally of the essence when it comes to the treatment.<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T16:14:47.529Z \n Yann LeCun at the VivaTech conference in Paris, France, on May 22, 2024. (Image credit: Benjamin Girette\/Bloomberg via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Meta’s chief AI scientist, Yann LeCun, is leaving the company to found his own startup in the coming months, the Financial Times has reported<\/a>. Described as one of the three “Godfathers of AI”, LeCun received the 2018 Turing Award for his work on deep learning \u2014 the field of artificial intelligence<\/a> that has proved critical to the development of today’s Large Language Models.<\/p>\n LeCun’s departure comes as Meta shifts away from fundamental research into AI and toward building products based on existing technology, Bloomberg reports<\/a>. His next venture will likely focus on building AIs that use “world models” to take spatial data from the real world and better navigate it.<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T15:58:38.117Z \n A nurse assistant prepares a malaria vaccine at Uganda’s Apac General Hospital on April 8, 2025. (Image credit: Hajarah Nalwadda via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Africa is finally getting its own major drug regulator. The African Medicines Agency (AMA), was launched on Monday (Nov. 10) and is headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda.<\/p>\n The agency\u2019s launch is a vital step for Africa, which contains the greatest levels of genetic diversity on the planet yet is often underserved by globally-approved treatments that are less effective or even harmful for some people of African ancestry.<\/p>\n Regulators at the new agency will work at shaping the science conducted to improve the health of the rapidly growing and urbanizing continent.<\/p>\n Check out the full comment by Nature here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ben Turner<\/p>\n Acting Trending News Editor<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T15:11:37.009Z As mentioned earlier, the skies over much of the U.S. (and even parts of Mexico) were dazzled by beautiful aurora last night. Did you get a chance to see them? Don’t worry if you were too busy snoozing to poke your head out the window (yep, we get it, it’s cold), our friends over at Space.com just published this jaw-dropping selection of images<\/a> of last night\u2019s display.<\/p>\n I’ve dropped a few below, but there are plenty more to be found in the article. And if this inspires you to brave the elements with your camera next time, you won’t have to wait long \u2014 the aurora should be in full flow tonight.<\/p>\n \n Northern lights above Wisconsin farmland. (Image credit: Ross Harried\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Northern lights visible from Florida’s Space Coast!!! pic.twitter.com\/H8myGLhKbONovember 12, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n Social Links Navigation<\/p>\n <\/a><\/a><\/a>Editor-in-Chief<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T14:24:58.884Z \n A saber-toothed skull model. (Image credit: Future)<\/p>\n Patrick<\/a> here, reporting live from the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology 85th Annual Meeting (SVP 2025) in sunny old Birmingham, England (it’s raining).<\/p>\n Scientists from around the world have gathered for the conference, which covers all things paleontology. I’ve been listening to dinosaur talks for most of the morning, during which researchers have presented new and recently published findings, including one on the oldest-known dome-headed dinosaur<\/a>.<\/p>\n But it’s not all about dinosaurs. Here’s a picture of a saber-toothed skull model from upcoming research (currently super secret).<\/p>\n Patrick Pester<\/p>\n Trending News Writer<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T13:32:05.383Z Here\u2019s a roundup of all the stories Live Science has published so far (that we haven\u2019t already mentioned).<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T12:52:21.543Z \n A composite view of the galaxy cluster MACS J0416 taken with the James Webb and Hubble space telescopes. (Image credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI, Jose Diego (IFCA), Jordan D’Silva (UWA), Anton Koekemoer (STScI), Jake Summers (ASU), Rogier Windhorst (ASU), Haojing Yan (University of Missouri))<\/p>\n Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope<\/a> (JWST) may have finally captured faint glimmers of light from the universe\u2019s very first stars. Known as Population III, or dark stars<\/a>, they are believed to have coalesced from the first clottings of hydrogen, helium and dark matter<\/a>, just a few hundred million years after the Big Bang<\/a>.<\/p>\n Astronomers still debate over what the signals from these stars should look like, meaning this detection likely won\u2019t be certain for some time. But if scientists keep spotting good candidates like this, they could learn some crucial insights into how the first galaxies in our universe took shape.<\/p>\n You can read the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T12:21:50.146Z \n A bumblebee balances on a flower. (Image credit: Ademoeller\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n The internet has spent years taunting us journalists to learn to code<\/a>. Now, in a shocking betrayal, scientists and bees have beat us to it.<\/p>\n In a first-of-its-kind study, scientists have trained bumblebees to read rudimentary Morse code signals<\/a> to find sugary rewards. It demonstrates an impressive neurological capacity among insects for sensing timing, and could mean that evolution has hard-wired their tiny brains for decoding simple codes \u2014 there\u2019s hope for journalists yet.<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T12:08:13.003Z \n South Africa’s MeerKAT telescope, which is made up of an array of 64 radio dishes. (Image credit: SARAO\/MeerKAT)<\/p>\n I signed off yesterday promising an update on the comet 3I\/ATLAS<\/a>, so here it is.<\/p>\n Astronomers at South Africa’s MeerKAT radio telescope have detected the first radio waves emanating from the interstellar visitor. Read that sentence alone and click away from this blog, and you might think it\u2019s further evidence that the comet is a trojan horse stuffed to the brim with little green men.<\/p>\n But alas, the signal is actually further evidence that the comet is perfectly natural in its origins.<\/p>\n Why? Check out Senior Staff Writer Harry\u2019s <\/a>full story<\/a> for the lowdown.<\/p>\n 2025-11-12T12:06:42.426Z \n The aurora borealis is set to blanket a large chunk of the United States tonight. (Image credit: Arterra via Getty Images)<\/p>\n Good morning, science fans. For those of you chasing auroras all night, we hope you got some rest. We blogged about the solar eruptions barrelling into Earth\u2019s magnetosphere here yesterday, but it turns out they were triggered by the most powerful solar flare of the year.<\/p>\n As three solar outbursts (or coronal mass ejections if you want to make them sound fancy) continue to spark geomagnetic storms, we\u2019re set to see the northern lights as far south as northern California and Alabama tonight.<\/p>\n If you take any pictures of the lights and would like to share them with us, give us an email here<\/a>. In the meantime, check out the full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ben Turner<\/p>\n Acting Trending News Editor<\/p>\n 2025-11-11T18:31:36.573Z It’s time for the UK side of Live Science to retire for the day. Keep your eyes on the site for one more 3I\/ATLAS update coming soon. And until tomorrow!<\/p>\n 2025-11-11T18:07:11.167Z![\"Patrick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/6MdC6yKREXznshN5CZXSHU.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nChemists discover the most perfect molecules<\/p>\n![\"Tia](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/NiKGXW38DbfSzfj2cEGT5X.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nLive Science roundup<\/p>\n
\nRobot crashes on stage<\/p>\n
\nSpiralling into the AI-byss<\/p>\n![\"Ai](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/hiNSq3e2f9CJXpGbwFtz4H.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\nChina’s stranded astronauts return<\/p>\n![\"China's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/EV5ctdHdFVqMQ5gTPMapmh.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\nIf at first you don’t succeed, try, try aGlenn<\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/WESJGeVT9sXTp8LeDtsMM6.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/TDL6D6zAT3NQxfDveP5Z8U.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nSigning off<\/p>\n
\nHitler’s DNA supports ‘micropenis’ rumors<\/p>\n![\"black](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/a5R4JUtMzH83Mo2WGfjR4T.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\nDo ultraprocessed foods raise colon cancer risk?<\/p>\n![\"clear](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/qAhHHqWwmyKL3neFpNqrbX.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\nLiftoff!<\/p>\n![\"new](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/pGkpq3prRzn2gkeAUYxwfG.png\")
\n<\/p>\n
\nWatch Blue Origin rocket launch live<\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n
\nSee the ‘other’ comet ATLAS break apart<\/p>\n![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/i4iQ6fa2geLyhaudgR3VSj.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\nSpace trash bag for asteroid mining?<\/p>\n![\"an](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Jb2jyet9BHwnAB5bZHfP8C.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nSigning off<\/p>\n
\nBlast Blasted Blubber<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/GxaiDnx4Q5rRGSEin4rcsM.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nAxial Seamount eruption pushed back<\/p>\n![\"sascha](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/AmMVaiMpVuLKXWrch5yAPo.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nSuper hurricane threat is growing<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/KVtpUVJqFG3NLXf9CnwVNR.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\nWhere My Country Gone?<\/p>\n![\"Cowboy](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/SNhLVEjYND3GbqtSysUduX.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nDay 2 at SVP<\/p>\n![\"Bronze](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/b7MXXqzTb36jNshZTGAAFL.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\n![\"Headshot](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/YcL6C7xa2PGLfVU6xxiwcb.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nLive Science roundup<\/p>\n
\nNew Glenn, again again<\/p>\n
\nNorthern delights<\/p>\n![\"DAQING,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/8TmTuvJhZx39e4mvrvQJR9.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\nChina\u2019s stranded astronauts could be home by Friday<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/hgdGUn48qELXqPLjHSceVR.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\nSo long, farewell<\/p>\n
\nFamous star cluster is upgraded<\/p>\n![\"Image](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/DWYRthjrMBDREYbeHXVy6J.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/zyw4jokMbX8eomNyT4ZA2E.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nVolcano off Oregon won’t erupt this year, scientists say<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mcWvuHxUFBRJ79cAMjyt8f.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nAncient people in Japan had almost no Denisovan DNA<\/p>\n![\"Denisovan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/8rTzmjaDHDazwPUFG2pFPB.png\")
\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nUK bans animal testing<\/p>\n![\"man](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/D8mN9aZL3E6MLqnWgmGa8K.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nFarewell, but not goodbye<\/p>\n
\nStranded Shenzhou-20 astronauts are preparing to come home\u2026 We just don\u2019t know when yet<\/p>\n\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nBlue Origin rocket launch scrubbed<\/p>\n
\nDoctors achieve the world’s first transatlantic stroke surgery <\/p>\n![\"Professor](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/BJ5TRx4HuDvihno5g2BXfJ.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n![\"Yann](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/kuM6wyYPQnhicZX9YR6sXS.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\nAfrica\u2019s first drug regulation agency launches<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/9sX8GGSjwgyAektsjWFqsC.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nAurora galore<\/p>\n![\"green](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/gub2foLNMRosv9MJ9PcfX.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n![\"alexander](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/XGKTYY77oBFSMencbpzUeU.jpg\")
Alexander McNamara<\/p>\n
\nLive from the SVP<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/mMMkgn6pzD5dYh3ywGKCeD.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nLive Science roundup<\/p>\n
\nJWST finds the first stars<\/p>\n![\"an](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/D7xsbebnmDG87gbExH4mZ8.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\nBumblebees learn to code<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/gYoRmjexKp9iWQvfRjYmNA.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\nComet 3I\/ATLAS is blasting out radio signals. Here\u2019s why that\u2019s proof it\u2019s not aliens.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/EqXHE3niEfHBFFFNsrfhia.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n
\nAuroring good time<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/d2SWQhuQpVcCnZGWKGi2RZ.jpg\")
\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\nOver and out<\/p>\n
\nThe reports of 3I\/ATLAS’s death\u00a0are\u00a0greatly exaggerated<\/p>\n