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Stories
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Science
The Secret Mission To Unearth Part Of A 142-Year-Old Experiment
Scientists in Michigan went out in the dead of night to dig up part of an unusual long-term experiment. It's a research study that started in 1879 and is handed from one generation to the next.
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Technology
NASA To Test Rocket In The Next Step Towards Returning To The Moon
NASA is counting down to what should be the final major test of the massive rocket it is building to put the first woman and the next man on the moon.
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Science
Reading A Letter That's Been Sealed For More Than 300 Years—Without Opening It
A signed, sealed, but not delivered letter from 1697 has finally been read with the help of a high-tech scan that looked inside without breaking its seal.
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Health
CDC Panel Endorses Johnson & Johnson's One-Dose COVID-19 Vaccine
Advisers to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention voted to endorse the emergency use of a single dose of a vaccine made by Johnson & Johnson. A study showed it was 66% effective in the U.S.
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Science
Ancient Trees Show When The Earth's Magnetic Field Last Flipped Out
A precise record of the last major reversal of the Earth's magnetic poles can be found in ancient trees. Researchers say this event 42,000 years ago had a huge impact on the planet and ancient humans.
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Health
Friend or Foe? Naked Mole Rats Can Tell By A Unique Squeak
A new study shows that naked mole rats speak with distinct dialects that appear to be learned — and reveal what group they belong to.
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Out Of This World: 2020's Amazing Achievements In Space
This has been a tough year for pretty much everyone on Earth. But things have been going much better in space. One of the big milestone was for NASA and the commercial company SpaceX.
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Health
For Scientists Who Study Virus Transmission, 2020 Was A Watershed Year
The emergence of COVID-19 started scientists on a yearlong crash course to learn how the coronavirus might travel through the air and how to stop it. They learned a lot, and quickly.
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Technology
Scientists Discover Outer Space Isn't Pitch Black After All
Scientists have used a NASA probe way out in space, beyond Pluto, to measure visible light that's not connected to any known source like stars or galaxies.
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Health
A Disturbing Twinkie That Has, So Far, Defied Science
A Twinkie stored in a basement for eight years has been transformed by fungi, giving scientists something unusual to ponder and probe.