Synchronous fireflies, known as Photuris frontalis, blink in the woods near the Congaree River on Wednesday, May 15, 2024, in Columbia, S.C. Sam Wolfe for NPR hide caption
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Firefighters work against the advancing Lake Fire in Los Olivos, Calif., on Saturday, July 6, 2024. Eric Thayer/AP hide caption
NASA's Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope is set to launch in 2027. This innovative telescope is designed to investigate long-standing astronomical mysteries, such as dark energy, the force behind the universe's expansion. NASA hide caption
This mysterious energy is everywhere. Scientists still don't know what it is
Launched in 1990, a major goal of the Human Genome Project was to sequence the human genome as fully as possible. In 2003, project scientists unveiled a genome sequence that accounted for over 90% of the human genome — as complete as possible for the technology of the time. Darryl Leja, NHGRI/Flickr hide caption
The dubious consent question at the heart of the Human Genome Project
Peter Nyongesa walks through the mangroves to monitor his beehives in the Bangladesh slums in Mombasa, Kenya, on May 30, 2024. The 69-year-old Nyongesa recalled how he would plead unsuccessfully with loggers to spare the mangroves or cut only the mature ones while leaving the younger ones intact. So he has turned to deterring the loggers with bees, hidden in the mangroves and ready to sting. Gideon Maundu/AP hide caption
An image released by the FDA shows bottles containing tianeptine and other compounds. Authorities have urged gas station store owners and others not to sell the products, with names like Neptune's Fix, Za Za and Tianaa, citing serious health risks. FDA hide caption
An electric car and a plug-in hybrid car charge at a public charging station on October 12, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. Sean Gallup/Getty Images hide caption
Misinformation ads about electric vehicles are targeting voters in swing states
The skull of a 150-million-year-old fossil of Stegosaurus specimen at Sotheby's in New York. The fossil was dubbed "Apex" by the paleontologist who discovered it. Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Environmental activists rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 after it ruled against the Obama administration's plan to cut climate-warming emissions at the nation's power plants. The Supreme Court has since further limited the power of federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption
Despite the passage of a federal law allocating money to wildfire victims, Yolanda Cruz is still waiting for her FEMA claim to be resolved more than two years after the largest wildfire in New Mexico's history. Kirk Siegler/NPR hide caption
This image from video provided by SpaceX shows the upper stage engine of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which blasted off from California on Thursday. SpaceX/AP hide caption
Two interacting galaxies, dubbed the Penguin and the Egg, are seen in more clarity and detail than ever, after NASA released a new image (right) from the James Webb Space Telescope. An older image from the Hubble Space Telescope is seen at left. NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI hide caption
Researchers found that AI could increase the creativity of individual writers, but it also led to many similar stories. Moor Studio/Getty Images hide caption
Google Vice President Majd Bakar speaks on-stage during an annual conference in San Francisco with the back drop of a massive data center. Josh Edelson/Getty Images hide caption
Some of the reusable items to avoid single use plastics. Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR hide caption
Teens are following skincare trends on TikTok. Some dermatologists are wary
Pump jacks extract oil from beneath the ground in North Dakota on May 19, 2021. The federal government announced a $241.5 million settlement with Marathon Oil on Thursday for alleged air quality violations at the company's oil and gas operations in the Forth Berthold Indian Reservation in North Dakota. Matt Brown/AP hide caption
Researchers found 16 different kinds of metals in the tampons they examined, including heavy metals like lead and arsenic. Getty Images hide caption
Tom Waddington, who is rowing across the Atlantic Ocean, filmed an hours-long encounter with what he believes were long-finned pilot whales. He enjoyed their visit — until one smacked into his small boat. @tomwaddington_skier hide caption
Valerii Plotnikov (left) from the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Sakha, Yakutsk, Russia, and Daniel Fisher of the University of Michigan examine a woolly mammoth unearthed during a 2018 expedition. Love Dalén hide caption
Cats scratching furniture may not be inevitable. Getty Images hide caption
In this Sept. 5, 2019 photo, a shark warning sign is seen at Newcomb Hollow Beach in Wellfleet, Mass. Susan Haigh/AP hide caption
This February 2022 photo provided by U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows snakes in bags found hidden in a man's clothes at the San Ysidro, Calif., port of entry. On Tuesday, officials in China said a man was caught trying to smuggle more than 100 snakes into that country. U.S. Customs and Border Protection/AP hide caption