Author: CHRISTINA LARSON AP science writer

WASHINGTON — Muddy footprints left on a Kenyan lakeside suggest two of our early human ancestors were nearby neighbors some 1.5 million years ago. The footprints were left in the mud by two different species “within a matter of hours, or at most days,” said paleontologist Louise Leakey, co-author of the research published Thursday in […]

WASHINGTON — Long before the ancient Maya built temples, their predecessors were already altering the landscape of Central America’s Yucatan peninsula. Using drones and Google Earth imagery, archaeologists have discovered a 4,000-year-old network of earthen canals in what’s now Belize. The findings were published Friday in Science Advances. “The aerial imagery was crucial to identify […]

WASHINGTON — It’s a treat to see a supermoon. But that bright glowing orb will still be almost full when the Leonid meteor shower peaks this weekend, likely obscuring all but the brightest meteors in most locations. The Leonids are known for their high-speed meteors, which can travel at up to 44 miles per second […]

WASHINGTON — Scientists can’t know precisely when a volcano is about to erupt, but they can sometimes pick up telltale signs. That happened two years ago with the world’s largest active volcano. About two months before Mauna Loa spewed rivers of glowing orange molten lava, geologists detected small earthquakes nearby and other signs, and they […]

WASHINGTON — Two sister meteor showers are already flashing across night skies — and will peak a week apart. The Southern Taurids will reach their zenith early Tuesday morning and the Northern Taurids on Nov. 12. While the two showers only produce around five visible meteors per hour under ideal viewing conditions, they are often […]

WASHINGTON — Earth’s moon will soon have some company — a “mini moon.” The mini moon is actually an asteroid about the size of a school bus at 33 feet (10 meters). When it whizzes by Earth on Sunday, it will be temporarily trapped by our planet’s gravity and orbit the globe — but only […]

WASHINGTON — The red-cockaded woodpecker, an iconic bird in southeastern forests, has recovered enough of its population to be downlisted from an endangered species to a threatened one, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday. “The downlisting of the red-cockaded woodpecker marks a significant milestone in our nation’s commitment to preserving biodiversity,” said Interior […]

WASHINGTON — A huge fish in the Mekong River thought to be extinct has been spotted three times in recent years. “The giant salmon carp is like a symbol of the Mekong region,” said Chheana Chhut, a researcher at the Inland Fisheries Research and Development Institute in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The predatory fish can grow […]

WASHINGTON — The Orionids — one of two annual meteor showers from Halley’s comet — peak early Monday. A bright waning moon may make them difficult to spot. The Orionid meteor shower can be unpredictable. It shines like a fireworks display in some years, but is fairly slow in other years. This highly variable shower […]

WASHINGTON — As if the largest bug to ever live – a monster nearly 9 feet long with as many as 64 legs – wasn’t terrifying enough, scientists could only just imagine what the extinct beast’s head looked like. That’s because many of the fossils of these creatures are headless shells that were left behind […]