Science

An "exceptional" dust cloud from the Sahara is choking parts of Europe, the continent's climate monitor said on Monday, causing poor air quality and coating windows and cars in grime.

Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said the latest plume, the third of its kind in recent weeks, was bringing hazy conditions to southern Europe and would sweep northward as far as Scandinavia.

Donald Trump is doubling down on his claim that babies are executed "after the ninth month" as part of his argument against abortion rights.

Trump released a video Monday declining to outline a national abortion policy, and instead saying he believed it should be decided at the state level. In that video, he said that people are aborting babies after the ninth month — a claim that has been dismissed by experts.

A thick bloom of varying hues drifts in the turquoise waters of Aragua in Venezuela, a surreal vision attributed to climate change that has decimated fishing stocks.

"It is like there are flowers in the sea. This has never happened before," said Elvis Morillo, 59, a fisherman in the northern village of Chuao, where verdant mountains hug the Caribbean coast.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) proclaimed last week that an earthquake in the northeastern United States Friday, followed by today's solar eclipse, was a "sign from God."

It sent "The View" co-hosts into peals of laughter and mockery.

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On April 8, millions of glasses-clad onlookers will, for the second time in seven years, hold their breath. As the celestial odds align, the Earth and moon will be in the perfect position to blot out the sun across the U.S., along with the solar power that makes up an increasing share of our energy mix. With eclipses anticipated decades in advance, local utilities have had time to prepare for the big day. From little Vermont to hulking Texas, how the eclipse will impact the energy grid paints a picture of energy progress, but also how we still depend on fossil fuels to stay resilient.

Eclipse mania is sweeping across North America as a breathtaking celestial event on Monday promises a rare blend of commerce, science -- and celebration.

The Moon's shadow will land on Mexico's Pacific coast at 2:07 pm ET (1807 GMT), then speed northeast across a 15-state swath of the United States and on to Canada, exiting the continent over Newfoundland just under an hour and a half later.

Despite the recent cancellation of a next-generation U.S. nuclear plant, backers of the carbon-free power source remain hopeful new projects will come on line by the end of the decade.

Late last year, the US energy company NuScale announced it was pulling the plug on a small modular reactor (SMR) project in the western state of Idaho.

The amount of plastic waste littering the Earth's ocean floors could be up to 100 times the quantity floating on the surface, according to a study published this week.

Researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)—an Australian government agency—and the University of Toronto in Canada found that up to 11 million tons of plastic are polluting the planet's ocean floors, including microplastics and larger objects like fishing nets, cups, and bags.

South Korea put its second domestically made spy satellite into orbit, Seoul's defense ministry said Monday, after it launched from an American space center on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The satellite successfully communicated with an overseas ground station shortly afterwards, the ministry said.