Page Updated: Monday, February 23, 2026 11:47 AM ET

Live Science - Science

2,000-year-old skulls reveal people in ancient Vietnam permanently blackened their teeth - a stylish practice that persists today - By - Kristina Killgrove - published - 21 February 26 - In a study of 2,000-year-old skulls from Vietnam, archaeologists discovered that iron was the primary component that dyed teeth black.

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Ancient 'Asgard' microbe may have used oxygen long before it was plentiful on Earth, offering new clue to origins of complex life - By - Kenna Hughes-Castleberry - published - 20 February 26 - A new study suggests that ancient microbes once cast as oxygen haters may have actually learned to use the gas, offering a clue to how the first complex cells - and, eventually, all plants and animals - evolved.

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'Universal' nasal-spray vaccine protects against viruses, bacteria and allergens in mice - By - Nicoletta Lanese - published - 20 February 26 - In an early animal test, a new nasal-spray vaccine has shown promise against a variety of germs and a common allergen, scientists report.

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Medicine & Drugs

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Artemis II update: NASA targets March 6 for launch of historic moon mission following successful 'wet dress rehearsal' By - Brandon Specktor, Ben Turner - published - 20 February 26 - NASA is targeting March 6 as the earliest possible launch date for the Artemis II mission to the moon following a successful 'wet dress rehearsal' on Thursday.

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Your own voice could be your biggest privacy threat. How can we stop AI technologies exploiting it? By - Drew Turney - published - 20 February 26 - Voices contain countless cues about their owners, and new research suggests that computers might use them to facilitate a range of bad behaviors.

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A coffin holding a dead 'princess' fell from an eroded cliff over 100 years ago - archaeologists just solved a major mystery about her - By - Kristina Killgrove - published - 20 February 26 - Dendrochronological analysis of a mysterious log coffin that tumbled from a cliff a century ago reveals clues to life in Roman-era Poland.

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Bungled Boeing Starliner mission was the highest order of mishap that put stranded astronauts at risk, report says - By - Ben Turner - published - 19 February 26 - The 2024 Starliner mission, which left astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams stranded in space for nine months, has received NASA's worst mishap classification in a damning report.

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Archaeology -- Did modern humans wipe out the Neanderthals? New evidence may finally provide answers.

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Planets -- How long do most planets last?

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Human Evolution -- What are ghost lineages, remnants of the past that still exist in our DNA today?

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Human Evolution -- 10 things we learned about Neanderthals in 2025

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Arts & Entertainment -- Live Science crossword puzzle #31: First person to walk on the moon - 11 across

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Planet Earth -- China turns desert into carbon sink, a viking giant in a mass grave, real-life inception, and a Valentine's gift idea from nature

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Evolution -- 'Maybe they're waiting for something that only happens thousands of years later': The hidden life 'sleeping' deep beneath Earth for millions of years

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Arts & Entertainment -- Daily sudoku: Take a break with this classic numbers puzzle

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Neanderthals -- 'More Neanderthal than human': How DNA from our long-lost ancestors affects our health today

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Animals -- 50 mind-blowing science facts about our incredible world

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Human Evolution -- 10 things we learned about our human ancestors in 2025

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Human Evolution -- Human origins quiz: How well do you know the story of humanity?

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Geology -- Scientist accidentally stumbles across bizarre ancient 'wrinkle structures' in Morocco that shouldn't be there

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Particle Physics -- Historic search for 'huge missing piece' of the universe reveals new secrets of particle physics

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NASA set to roll Artemis rocket back for urgent repairs after yet another delay - By - Patrick Pester - published - 23 February 26 - NASA is about to roll its Artemis II moon rocket back to the Vehicle Assembly Building to fix a helium flow issue that guarantees astronauts won't fly around the moon in March.

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Scientists spot 'rule-breaking' black hole growing 13 times faster than should be possible - By - Ivan Farkas - published - 22 February 26 - An ancient, fast-feeding quasar is breaking the rules of how black holes consume matter and generate galaxy-shaping jets.

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Ultrafast quantum chemistry engine could speed up the development of new medicines and materials - By - Skyler Ware - published - 22 February 26 - The powerful software can reduce the time needed to simulate reactions with large molecules from weeks to just minutes.

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Rare 'planetary parade' will return to the evening sky this week - By - Jamie Carter - published - 22 February 26 - Six planets will shine together in the evening sky on Feb. 28. Here's how to get the best view before they disappear.

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Scientists may have seen a star collapse directly into a black hole without exploding first - By - Evan Gough - published - 21 February 26 - A new study looked at how a massive star in the Andromeda Galaxy disappeared due to the formation of a black hole

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'The limits of human longevity have still not been reached,' study suggests - By - Florian Bonnet, Carlo Giovanni Camarda, France Mesle, Josselin Thuilliez - published - 21 February 26 - A new study, analyzing 450 regions in western Europe, focused on where the oldest people end up residing across the continent.

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'Thermodynamic computer' can mimic AI neural networks - using orders of magnitude less energy to generate images - By - Anna Demming - published - 21 February 26 - Researchers generated images from noise, using orders of magnitude less energy than current generative AI models require.

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Scientists propose new plan to 'catch' comet 3I/ATLAS - but we have to act fast - By - Matthew Williams - published - 21 February 26 - A new study explores the challenges of catching interstellar comets like comet 3I/ATLAS

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Emerging embryo-selection technologies are currently 'little more than snake oil.' But someday, they could widen social inequities. By - Daphne O. Martschenko, Sam Trejo - published - 21 February 26 - Book - In the book "What We Inherit," experts unpack long-standing myths about genes and how those myths could shape public opinion around emerging embryo-selection technologies.

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China's kung fu robots, physicists' re-creation of the Big Bang soup, a teenager buried with her father's bones on her chest, and mathmeticians puzzle over AI taking their jobs. By - Ben Turner - published - 21 February 26 - Science news this week - Feb. 21, 2026: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

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'Proof by intimidation': AI is confidently solving 'impossible' math problems. But can it convince the world's top mathematicians? By - Kit Yates - published - 20 February 26 - AI could soon spew out hundreds of mathematical proofs that look "right" but contain hidden flaws, or proofs so complex we can't verify them. How will we know if they're right?

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Neanderthals: Facts, news, features and articles about our extinct human relatives

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Ancient China: Facts, news, features and articles about the most powerful ancient civilizations in the world

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Lotus shoes: Tiny footwear for Chinese women whose feet were bound as children

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How menopause affects the brain - and what we still don't know

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'Some of them have accuracy that's close to zero': Experts unpack the promise and pitfalls of genetic tests aimed at consumers

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