A new study suggests that the comet that rambled past us from another star last year likely originated in a cold, isolated corner of the galaxy that had yet to gel into its own solar system. Astronomers reported the findings Thursday. Comet 3I/Atlas is only the third interstellar visitor to be confirmed and quite possibly the oldest. Discovered last summer, it's now well past Jupiter on its way out of our solar system for good. A team led by the University of Michigan used an observatory in Chile to study the comet last fall. Findings were published in Nature Astronomy.

A Republican senator juggling three roles — lawmaker, doctor and political candidate seeking reelection — has walked a fine line as he questioned Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Sen. Bill Cassidy supported Kennedy's confirmation as health secretary but is a strong vaccine advocate and has clashed with him over vaccine policies. Kennedy was a longtime anti-vaccine activist before entering politics and has moved to dramatically scale back vaccine guidance in the Trump administration. Wednesday's hearings come as Cassidy faces a competitive primary election in his home state of Louisiana in less than a month. Cassidy asked Kennedy about the rise of vaccine-preventable diseases like measles as he took a tough but measured posture throughout his questioning.

There’s a surprising amount of science in a bag of potato chips. Researchers have spent decades developing chipping potatoes that can grow in all kinds of climates, avoid diseases and pests, sit in storage for months and still deliver a satisfying crunch. There are about 50 varieties of potatoes used for chips in the U.S. right now. A Michigan State University professor who developed five new potato varieties for chips in the the last 15 years is currently growing seeds for commercial testing of another. It's a bioengineered potato that can maintain a proper sugar balance when stored at colder temperatures to prevent rotting. he also has developed disease-resistant potato varieties for farmers in Africa.

Four decades after the nuclear disaster at Ukraine’s Chernobyl power plant, wildlife is thriving again in what became the exclusion zone created by the forced mass evacuations of the population. Wolves, bears and lynx have rebounded in the radioactive landscape, along with a rare breed of horses native to Mongolia. Scientists say it shows nature’s ability to recover when human activity is removed. Hidden cameras have revealed the animal population adapting by using abandoned buildings for shelter. Chernobyl remains too dangerous for people but has become an unexpected refuge — and research site — for resilient ecosystems shaped by disaster and war.

The Lyrid meteor shower is expected to bring fiery streaks to the night sky. The shower peaks Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Ten to twenty meteors are generally visible per hour. The show will be visible across the globe, but views will be best in the Northern Hemisphere. Meteor showers happen when Earth plows through debris trails left behind by space rocks. To see the Lyrids, go outside after midnight and look to the northeastern sky. Avoid looking at your phone to let your eyes get used to the night sky. The meteors will look like trails of light.

The Artemis II astronauts who ignited a lunar renaissance are giving high marks to their moonship for its performance during reentry — especially the heat shield. They held their first news conference Thursday since returning to Earth. Speaking from Houston, the three Americans and one Canadian said their lunar flyby puts NASA in a better position to land a crew on the moon in just two years and set up an eventual moon base. The first lunar crew in more than a half-century launched April 1 and became the most distant travelers ever from Earth as they whipped around the moon's far side.

A new study finds the worrisome rise in colorectal cancer deaths among younger adults is concentrated in people with less education. That suggests socioeconomic factors could be driving the problem. The researchers found that over the last 30 years, the rise in colorectal cancer deaths in young adults occurred almost entirely in people with less than a four-year college degree. Of course, getting a college degree doesn’t protect you from getting colon cancer. Rather, experts say, people without degrees tend to earn less money, have poorer diets, exercise less and get less medical care. The paper was published Thursday in JAMA Oncology.

Scientists for the first time have measured the instantaneous mind-blowing power of jets blasting from a black hole. The international team reported Thursday that the jet power from Cygnus 1-X, a relatively close black hole-star system, is equivalent to 10,000 suns. And the jet speed is roughly half the speed of light. Cygnus X-1 features not only a black hole but a blue supergiant star, its constant companion. This binary system is located in our Milky Way’s Cygnus, or swan, constellation. The findings appear in the journal Nature Astronomy.

With NASA's lunar comeback a galactic-sized smash, the space agency already has the next Artemis flight in its sights. In a mission recently tacked on for next year, Artemis III’s yet-to-be -named crew will practice docking their Orion capsule with a lunar lander in orbit around Earth. Then it will be on to Artemis IV's astronaut moon landing in 2028. NASA threw a Texas-sized welcome home party in Houston on Saturday for the four Artemis II astronauts who flew around the moon last week. The three Americans and one Canadian returned to Earth on Friday to close out humanity's first lunar voyage in more than a half-century.