Starship's first liftoff toward space created the equivalent of a volcanic eruption in the launchpad, physicist finds

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The SpaceX Starship lifts off from the launchpad during a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on April 20, 2023.
The SpaceX Starship lifts off from the launchpad during a flight test from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas in April.

PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

There's no Christmas tree shortage this year despite Canada's record wildfire season, 2 experts say

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Two people in masks touch a Noble fir Christmas tree among many other trees
Noble firs are grown throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Mars is about to disappear for 2 weeks. Here's why.

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Mars
The Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft captured this high-definition image of Mars.

NASA/JPL

10 rattiest cities in America in 2023, according to pest control experts

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A rat superimposed over an American flag.
Each year, Orkin pests ranks the 50 rattiest cities in America.

[Flag] Glasshouse Images/Getty Images; [rat] Cavan Images/Get

The Leonid meteor shower is peaking tonight, creating up to 15 shooting stars per hour. Here's how to watch.

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A stock image shows a green fireball streaking a starry sky during the Leonid meteor shower
A meteor streaks the night sky above Payson, Arizona during the Leonids meteor shower.

iStock / Getty Images Plus

NASA scientists think some planets are shrinking because powerful radiation from their cores is pushing away their atmospheres

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illustration colorful planets lined up in a long trail receding into distant space
An artist's concept shows the variety of rocky, Earth-like planets that might exist across the universe.

NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC-Caltech)

Researchers rediscovered a spiky, beaked echidna named after Sir David Attenborough that hasn't been seen for 60 years and was thought to be extinct

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Photo of a long-beaked Attenborough echidna taken at night.
The long-beaked echidna was feared to be extinct.

Cyclops Expedition, 2023.

This robotic hand could be the future of prosthetics

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Researchers at Swiss university ETH Zurich created a humanlike robotic hand using new 3D printing technology to create more sophisticated prosthetics.

Archaeologists unearth remains of 1,300-year-old ship at Norwegian burial mound suggesting maritime exploration dates back further than previously thought

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an archeologist digs on a mound
Archeaologists uncovered the remains of a pre-Viking age ship at the Herlaugshaugen burial ground this summer.

Courtesy of Geir Grønnesby, NTNU Science Museum

Photos show giant cracks breaking open streets in a town near Iceland's volcano that could erupt within hours

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Cracks emerge on a road due to volcanic activity near a police station, in Grindavik, Iceland November 11, 2023.
Cracks emerge on a road due to volcanic activity near a police station, in Grindavik, Iceland November 11, 2023.

RUV/Ragnar Visage/Handout via REUTERS

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