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Life

Here are 8 remarkable scientific firsts of 2024

Making panda stem cells, mapping a fruit fly’s brain and witnessing a black hole wake up were among the biggest achievements of the year.

Neuroscience

The message-sending part of neurons may be blobby, not smooth

Axons can be shaped like strings of pearls, research in mice and people show. How that shape may influence brain signaling is not yet clear.

Anthropology

Britain’s largest ancient massacre may have included cannibalism

Bones recovered from a natural shaft unveil a 4,000-year-old massacre of men, women and children, possibly part of a cycle of revenge killings.

Space

These discoveries in 2024 could be groundbreaking — if they’re true

Did microbes ever live on Mars? Did an "elevator" help build Egypt’s first pyramid? Some signs pointed to yes this year, but confirmation is still needed.

Health & Medicine

Cancer screening and quitting smoking have saved nearly 6 million lives

Prevention, screening and treatment advances combined stopped 5.94 million deaths from cancer in the United States from 1975 through 2020.

Anthropology

Humans have linked emotions to the same body parts for 3,000 years

3,000-year-old clay tablets show that some associations between emotion and parts of the body have remained the same for millennia.

Space

The 2024 eclipse gave a rare view of the sun. Here’s a peek at early data

Teams are starting to analyze data from the total solar eclipse to learn more about the sun’s corona, gravity waves and changes in Earth’s ionosphere.

Planetary Science

NASA’s Perseverance rover found a new potential setting for Martian life

Now atop Jezero Crater, the robotic explorer found quartz indicative of habitable environments and possibly the oldest rocks yet seen in the solar system.

Life

The ‘Blob,’ an unprecedented marine heat wave, killed 4 million seabirds

Millions of other animals may have perished too, suggesting the die-off event might be one of the worst in modern times.

Genetics

Neandertal genes in people today came from hook-ups around 47,000 years ago

Most present-day humans carry a small amount of Neandertal DNA that can be traced back to a single period of interbreeding, two genetic analyses find.

Health & Medicine

These are the viruses that defined 2024

Here’s the latest on mpox, bird flu, dengue and other viral outbreaks that flared up this year.

Earth

Earth’s inner core may be changing shape

Earthquake data suggest that all or small patches of the inner core's surface may be swelling and contracting.