Science

FILE - The moon covers the sun during a total solar eclipse Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, in Cerulean, Ky. On April 8, 2024, the sun will pull another disappearing act across parts of Mexico, the United States and Canada, turning day into night for as much as 4 minutes, 28 seconds. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley, File)

April’s total solar eclipse is a month away. Here’s why it’s worth the watch and how to stay safe

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MARCIA DUNN

A map of April 2024’s total solar eclipse

Safety first: How to watch April’s total solar eclipse that will cut across North America

What you can expect to experience during April’s total solar eclipse

A gorilla family is observed by people visiting the Fort Worth Zoo in Fort Worth, Texas, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. Researchers will be standing by to observe how animals’ routines at the zoo are disrupted when skies dim on April 8. They previously detected other strange animal behaviors in 2017 at a South Carolina zoo that was in the path of total darkness. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

How do animals react during a total solar eclipse? Scientists plan to find out in April

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CHRISTINA LARSON

How bad are flu, COVID-19 and RSV? These charts show how respiratory viruses are spreading in the US

Spring is nearly here, but the 2023-24 respiratory virus season isn’t over yet. Viral activity from flu, COVID-19 and RSV has fallen from the peak, but levels remain elevated.

SpaceX's mega rocket Starship launches at dawn in the haze on it's third test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, Thursday, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

SpaceX comes close to completing test flight of mega rocket but loses spacecraft near end

Support teams work around the SpaceX Dragon Endurance spacecraft shortly after it landed with NASA astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency astronaut Andreas Mogensen, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, and Russia cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov aboard in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Pensacola, Fla., Tuesday, March 12, 2024. (Joel Kowsky/NASA via AP)

Four astronauts from four countries return to Earth after six months in orbit

This photo provided by researcher Roman Garba shows a heavily weathered flake artifact at the Korolevo I archaeological site in western Ukraine in August 2023. Stone tools found in the area are the earliest evidence of early human presence in Europe, dating back to 1.4 million years ago, according to research published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. (Roman Garba via AP)

Ancient stone tools found in Ukraine date to over 1 million years ago, and may be oldest in Europe

Cancer survivor Kailani Greenwood, who became pregnant through IVF, stands outside the capitol in Montgomery, Ala., during a rally on Feb. 28, 2024. She’s been trying to stay hopeful that IVF will resume at her clinic. But each day brings fresh reminders of the court decision. She works as a physician assistant in surgical breast oncology, and many of her patients hope to preserve their fertility too. (AP Photo/Kim Chandler)

IVF gave hope to patients trying to build their families. The turmoil in Alabama put that in doubt

Plumes of smoke rise from volcanic activity between Hagafell and Stóri-Skógfell, Iceland, on Saturday, March 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Marco di Marco)

A volcano in Iceland is erupting for the fourth time in 3 months, sending plumes of lava skywards

In case you missed it

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SpaceX comes close to completing test flight of mega rocket but loses spacecraft near end

SpaceX’s mega rocket has flown higher and farther than ever before. The nearly 400-foot Starship blasted off from Texas on Thursday on the third test flight. But the spacecraft was lost near the end of its hourlong trip. (14 March 2024)

On Now

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A map of April 2024’s total solar eclipse

A total solar eclipse will cross North America in April. This animated map shows the path of totality across parts of Mexico, the U.S. and Canada. (Feb. 29) (AP Animation: Panagiotis Mouzakis and Marshall Ritzel)

FILE - Blake Davis, 10, of Coral Springs, Fla., looks through solar glasses as he watches the eclipse, Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Fla. After April 8, 2024, there won’t be another U.S. eclipse, spanning coast to coast, until 2045. That one will stretch from Northern California all the way to Cape Canaveral, Florida. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

On Now

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Safety first: How to watch April’s total solar eclipse that will cut across North America

Sunglasses won’t cut it during the April 8 eclipse. Special eclipse glasses are crucial for safely observing the sun as the moon marches across the late morning and afternoon sky on April 8, covering more and more and then less and less of our star. (AP Video/Shelby Lum)

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2:05

What you can expect to experience during April’s total solar eclipse

On April 8, a total solar eclipse will cross North America. It will be the last one visible from the contiguous United States until 2044. Here’s what viewers should expect to see during each stage of the eclipse. (Feb. 16) (AP video: Christine Nguyen)

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2:03

How do animals react during a total solar eclipse? Scientists plan to find out in April

Researchers will observe how animals’ routines at the Fort Worth Zoo are disrupted during the April 8 total solar eclipse. The moon’s shadow will sweep across North America including from Texas to Maine. (March 8)(AP Video by Kendria LaFleur/Erik Verduzco. Produced by Mary Conlon)

Space

FILE - Visitors hold their hands out to receive the sun's energy as they celebrate the Spring equinox atop the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico, Thursday, March 21, 2019. Spring gets its official start Tuesday, March 19, 2024, in the Northern Hemisphere. On the equinoxes, the Earth's axis and orbit line up so both hemispheres get the same amount of sunlight. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

The spring equinox is here. What does that mean?

Archaeology

In this handout photo released on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023, Senior Researcher at the National Museum of Denmark Mads Dengso Jessen holds a window glass fragment from the Viking Age, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Sept. 8, 2023. Over the past 25 years, archaeologists have found glass fragments in six excavations in southern Sweden, Denmark and northern Germany and have analyzed fragments of glass panes to reach the conclusion: Vikings had windows with glass-panes. (John Fhær Engedal Nissen/The National Museum of Denmark via AP)

Vikings had windows, another shift away from their image as barbaric Norsemen, Danish museum says

Biology

From left, John Benson, UNL assistant professor of vertebrate ecology, and John Carroll, Director of the University of Nebraska's School of Natural Resources, install a nesting box for flying squirrels on Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021, on UNL's East Campus in Lincoln, Neb. (Gwyneth Roberts/Lincoln Journal Star via AP)

Duck! Flying squirrels take to the air in Nebraska city

Natural History

FILE -- Water flies from a sprinkler on a lawn in Sacramento, Calif., on July 8, 2021. State regulators proposed on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, delaying new conservation rules aimed at reducing the amount of water people use on their lawns. The rules would be enforced with water agencies, not individuals. Water agencies had asked for more time to comply. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, File)

California proposes delaying rules aimed at reducing water on lawns, concerning environmentalists

The Protein Problem

Dave Pirazzini smells cultivate chicken before sampling it at GOOD Meat's Alameda, Calif., headquarters on Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023. The company's cultivated chicken, which is grown from animal cells, is approved for sale in the United States and Singapore. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

How ‘lab-grown’ meat cultivated from animal cells could offer another sustainable food option

Meat cultivated from cells — with no need to raise and slaughter an animal — is starting to show up in restaurants around the world. But can it be made cheaply enough to displace animal agriculture?

Jose Carlos, an employee at the Sitio Gimaia Tauare owned by Neilanny Maia, harvests cocoa fruits by hand, for processing by the De Mendes Chocolates company, on the island of Tauare, in the municipality of Mocajuba, Para state, Brazil, Friday, June 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)

Saving Brazil’s rainforest starts with helping people and businesses make a living off cleared land

The sun sets as Meredith Ellis looks at cattle with her son, GC, 6, on their ranch in Rosston, Texas, Thursday, April 20, 2023. Ellis has seen how global warming is altering her land. She calls it an "existential crisis," the backdrop to the endless to-do list that comes with regenerative ranching. After a long day, she likes to take a moment to remember why she does it. Standing with her 6-year-old son on a cool evening, they watch over a gate as dozens of cows graze amid the lush grass and a setting sun. "I could stand here all evening," she says. "I just love them." (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Beef is a way of life in Texas, but it’s hard on the planet. This rancher thinks she can change that

Cows walk together in the village of Anndiare, in the Matam region of Senegal, Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

What pastoralists in Senegal and Mongolia can teach us about adapting to a changing environment

Lars Obendorfer, owner of "Best Worscht in Town" sausage holds up vegan curry wursts in one of his branches in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023. “There was downright hostility between the meat eaters and the vegans,” he says. “And I just couldn’t understand it, and I said, ‘knock off the arguing.’” (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

Plant-based products haven’t converted US meat-eaters. Could new recipes win them over?

More from the project

Can we feed the world without starving the planet? Meet the innovators trying to solve this problem

In the quest to produce more food with almost no land, Singapore provides a glimpse into the world’s food future

We reshaped the planet so that we can feed ourselves. But now we’re running out of suitable land

Demand for seafood is soaring, but oceans are giving up all they can. Can we farm fish in new ways?

Eating less meat would be good for the Earth. Small nudges can change behavior

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4 new astronauts head to the International Space Station for a 6-month stay

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First US moon lander in half a century stops working a week after tipping over at touchdown

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Our ancient animal ancestors had tails. Why don’t we?

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Toppled moon lander sends back more images, with only hours left until it dies

A toppled moon lander is still beaming back pictures, as its nears the final hours of its life. Intuitive Machines posted the latest photos of the moon’s unexplored south polar region Tuesday.

Sideways moon landing cuts mission short, private US lunar lander will stop working Tuesday

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Astronomers spot new tiny moons around Neptune and Uranus

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Here’s a look at moon landing hits and misses

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The Odysseus moon lander tipped over at touchdown, and that’s limiting the data it’s sending back

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AP PHOTOS: Total solar eclipses through the decades

The complete shrouding of our sun by the moon has mesmerized humanity for millennia — a moment in time when skies darken and stillness creeps in.

The Odysseus lander gets the US back on the moon for the first time since Apollo 1972

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Old European satellite plunges harmlessly through the atmosphere over the Pacific

An old Earth-observing satellite has fallen out of orbit and harmlessly burned up. The European Space Agency says its satellite broke apart over the Pacific on Wednesday, halfway between Hawaii and Alaska.

Private US spacecraft enters orbit around the moon ahead of landing attempt

A private U.S. lunar lander is in orbit around the moon, a day before it will attempt to land on the surface.

Astronomers find what may be the universe’s brightest object with a black hole devouring a sun a day

Astronomers have discovered what may be the brightest object in the universe. The record-breaking quasar has a black hole at its heart that’s so big and growing so fast that it swallows the equivalent of a sun a day.

NASA’s final tally shows spacecraft returned double the amount of asteroid rubble

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Another lunar lander rockets toward the moon for a touchdown attempt

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Nearly half of the world’s migratory species are in decline, UN report says

A new United Nations report says nearly half of the world’s migratory species are in decline. Many songbirds, sea turtles, whales, sharks and other migratory animals move to different environments with changing seasons.

Astronauts from Turkey, Italy and Sweden return to Earth, ending private space station trip

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NASA climate satellite blasts off to survey oceans and atmosphere of a warming Earth

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Saturn’s Death Star-looking moon may have vast underground ocean

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A skyscraper-size asteroid will buzz by Earth today, but no need to worry

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Hungry sea otters are helping save California’s marshlands from erosion

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Are insects drawn to light? New research shows it’s confusion, not fatal attraction

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NASA’s little helicopter on Mars has logged its last flight

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Once unknown emperor penguin colonies have been spotted in Antarctica — though some are moving away

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Astronauts from Turkey, Sweden and Italy launch to space station on latest chartered flight

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Largest deep-sea coral reef to date is mapped by scientists off the US Atlantic coast

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US company’s lunar lander will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere after failed moonshot

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