Today in Science: Stranded Chinese astronauts return to Earth

A newsletter for unflinching, ever-curious science-lovers. ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

November 14, 2025—Ancient dogs had surprising physical diversity, gene editing could solve rare disorders, and a test of NASA's new vision.   —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor TODAY'S NEWS NASA's ESCAPADE mission launched atop a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Blue Origin Blue Origin successfully launched—and landed—the company's New Glenn rocket yesterday, marking a major step forward in its bid to rival SpaceX. | 2 min read The New Glenn rocket was carrying the ESCAPADE mission which will head to Mars. The success of the mission will be a test of NASA's presumptive next leader Jared Isaacman's plans to outsource more of the space agency's interplanetary science. | 4 min read City-dwelling raccoons are showing early signs of domestication—some evolving a shorter snout, which is a telltale feature of pets and other domesticated animals. | 3 min read  The same active region of the sun that produced stunning auroras visible as far south as Mexico earlier this week has erupted again, and it will likely produce auroras visible across the U.S. tonight. | 1 min read   Researchers extracted the world's oldest RNA from a frozen baby woolly mammoth discovered in the Siberian permafrost. | 3 min read  Three of the stranded Chinese astronauts have returned to Earth, leaving three more on Tiangong space station with no ride home. | 1 min read More News Explore the universe and feel the awe of science. Subscribe to Scientific American with a special discount for Today in Science readers.  TOP STORIES Diverse Dog History Researchers analyzed hundreds of dog and wolf skulls that spanned the past 50,000 years. The oldest skull with definitive dog traits (not wolf) was nearly 11,000 years old, which aligned with previous genetic estimates of when dogs evolved from wolves. But the team also found a substantial degree of diversity in the sizes and shapes of dog skulls among the oldest samples they studied. In fact, these samples showed fully half the diversity of modern dogs—a lot more than expected. What this means: For a long time, evolutionary biologists believed that humans were the sole driver of dog evolution as we selected for certain physical and personality traits in our dog companions. But the new results suggest that diversity in dogs' appearances arose independently. Nonhuman factors, perhaps climate or geography, may have influenced the diverse array of features.   Origins of a relationship: Some experts have proposed that even the tale of humans domesticating dogs may be a bit overstated. The first dogs (which were very wolf-like) may have joined up with humans on their own, following human encampments to scavenge discarded food or the remnants of big game.  Personalized Treatments Last year, researchers banded together to develop a personalized gene-editing therapy for a baby with a rare genetic disorder. Now, doctors are preparing to launch a groundbreaking clinical trial to do it again in more patients with similar rare disorders. The doctors plan to study base editing—which allows scientists for precise, single-letter changes to DNA sequences—in kids with genetic mutations that impact their ability to process ammonia. How it will work: The doctors will deploy a similar array of DNA base-editing components, including the base editor used to treat the first baby. A snippet of so-called guide RNA, which directs the base editor to the DNA, will be tailored to match each child's specific mutation. Safety data from the first baby's treatment will help the researchers to optimize the process, hopefully shortening the treatment time from six months to only about three or four.    What the experts say: "Personalized treatments are definitely the direction we need to steer towards," says Ryan Maple, executive director of the Global Foundation for Peroxisomal Disorders in Tulsa, Oklahoma. "This technology could be more than a game-changer. It could be revolutionary" for rare genetic disorders. —Andrea Tamayo, Newsletter Writer

PLAY NOW See how you score on this week's science quiz​. Plus, here's today's Spellements puzzle and a science crossword. More Games MOST POPULAR STORIES OF THE WEEK How to Identify a Prime Number without a Computer | 5 min read The World's Largest Wind Turbine Will Smash Previous Records | 3 min read Jeffrey Epstein E-mails Reveal Depth of Ties to High-Profile Scientists | 2 min read  READER SUBMISSION Megan Averill Megan Averill snapped this dreamy aurora photo on her iPhone from her parents' front yard in Elk River, Minn., on Tuesday night. Thanks for sharing, Megan! It's been fun to be on "aurora watch" this week at Scientific American. That active region on the sun just keeps on giving. The solar storm earlier this week was one of the most powerful of 2025. But it's not all fun and pretty pics. Solar flares send out all sorts of electromagnetic radiation, and strong bursts of X-rays and U.V. in the upper regions of our atmosphere knocked out radio signals across Europe and Africa this week, Space.com reported. Keep watching the skies and email me any good images: newsletters@sciam.com. Have a great weekend.   —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

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