Science

Crew 12 mission astronauts, from left, pilot Jack Hathaway, Russian cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev, commander Jessica Meir and ESA astronaut Sophia Adenot, of France, leave the Operations and Checkout building before heading to pad 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Friday, Feb. 13, 2026, on a mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Four new astronauts arrive at the International Space Station to replace NASA’s evacuated crew

The International Space Station returned to full strength with Saturday’s arrival of four new astronauts...
Roxann Specht’s 2024 note about choosing to compost her body after her death shows her husband Jerry Specht’s agreement to do the same. He wrote: “The same for me as well!” In 2025, Jerry died and Roxann carried out his wishes. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Human composting offers an environmentally friendly end. Some are pushing to legalize it in Illinois.

This green approach avoids the release of smoke from cremation and the leaking of fluids...
Rush hour traffic moves on the Kennedy Expressway on Dec. 17, 2024. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Trump administration dismantles US ability to fight climate change; environmentalists vow to appeal

In the Midwest, climate change is fueling extreme heat, toxic algal blooms in the Great...
Alysa Liu of Team United States competes in the Women's Short Program on day zero of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Ice Skating Arena on February 06, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

A conversation with the UIC professor who heads up sports sciences for US Figure Skating

Lindsay Slater Hannigan, who is director of the University of Illinois at Chicago's Human and...
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz listens as President Donald Trump speaks about TrumpRx in the South Court Auditorium in the Old Eisenhower Executive Office Building on the White House campus, Thursday, Feb. 5, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

‘Take the vaccine, please,’ a top US health official says in an appeal as measles cases rise

A leading U.S. health official on Sunday urged people to get inoculated against the measles...
People ski at Wilmot Mountain ski resort in Wilmot, Wisconsin, on Jan. 29, 2026. The resort, located just over the Wisconsin border, uses a combination of real and artificial snow. (Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune)

From the Olympics in Italy to skiing the Wisconsin slopes, the race is on to adapt to warming winters

Unseasonably warm temps in Italy and a reduced snowpack will require 2 million cubic yards of...
This photo provided by NASA shows the Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket with the Orion spacecraft atop a mobile launcher at Launch Complex 39B, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Jim Ross/NASA via AP)

NASA begins a practice countdown for its first moonshot with astronauts in more than 50 years

NASA began a two-day practice countdown Saturday leading up to the fueling of its new...
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists members, from left, Jon B. Wolfsthal, Asha M. George and Steve Fetter, reveal the Doomsday Clock, set to 85 seconds to midnight, during a news conference at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace on Jan. 23, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

‘Doomsday Clock’ moves closer to midnight over threats from nuclear weapons, climate change and AI

Earth is closer than it's ever been to destruction, a science-oriented advocacy group said Tuesday...
Kristen Boyer and her 3-year-old son, George Boyer, watch as Amelia Gray, a 9-year-old polar bear, swims at Brookfield Zoo on Jan. 8, 2026. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

Brookfield Zoo leads effort to protect polar bears as Trump opens Arctic refuge to oil drilling

Brookfield Zoo, which has cared for generations of polar bears, hopes to offer guidelines for...
People walk the Lakefront Trail along Lake Michigan while ice forms in Monroe Harbor on Jan. 22, 2026, as frigid weather descends on Chicago. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Great Lakes ice resurges this winter, but unpredictable shifts threaten businesses and ecosystem

Those whose livelihoods depend on ice and the fish and microorganisms in the lakes are...
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