It's certain that recently discovered asteroid 2024 YR4 will swing close to Earth in 2032. The chances of an impact remain low — but with relatively limited observations so far, the odds are in flux.

This week, the earliest runestone ever to be reliably dated may have been carved by a woman, a “gorilla-like” human relative that lived some 1.4 million years ago has been revealed by a jawbone, and an Antarctic fossil dating back 68 million years proves the existence of dinosaur-era ducks.