A viewer's video, shared with "Chicago Tonight," shows his encounter with a coyote in Columbus Park while walking his two dogs. Coyote mating season has begun, which means the urban animals may behave aggressively.

Scientists at the University of Chicago are hoping a new, highly sensitive camera they're developing for the South Pole Telescope will reveal new information about the early universe. The camera measures something that's nearly 14 billion years old: radiation left over from the Big Bang.

It’s 2016 and we’re still three metaphorical minutes away from global doom. The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists say global warming and nuclear weapon proliferation pose serious threats to mankind.

The Chicago River is now visible via Google Street View. A small team spent nearly 10 hours documenting the waterway with a 360-degree camera in October. Here's what it looks like.

The onset of the Great Depression stalled a nearly complete diorama project conceived in the 1920s. Emily Graslie, the Field's chief curiosity correspondent, made it her mission to complete it nearly 90 years later. She joins us to discuss the project.

For the first time in a decade, five planets will be visible at the same time in the pre-dawn sky – and you won't need a telescope to see them.

Evidence of a distant ninth planet in our solar system, electronic implants that can monitor brain injury then melt away, and how more sleep may reduce diabetes risk. Rabiah Mayas of the Museum of Science and Industry is back to review some of the hottest stories in the world of science.

New reports show that Earth’s surface temperature last year was its highest since modern temperature record keeping began in 1880. The global record was also broken in 2014, although 2015 saw dramatic increases by comparison.

Earlier this month, North Korea claimed to have successfully detonated its first hydrogen bomb as a "self-defense against the U.S." While it was known that the secretive, totalitarian dictatorship had atomic weapons, the assertion to have successfully tested a far more powerful hydrogen bomb has been greeted with skepticism.

Two organizations have joined forces to release nearly 200,000 fish into the Chicago and Calumet waterways over the past two years.

Alice, the famous smelly flower of the Chicago Botanic Garden, is bearing fruit – hundreds of them.

Birds not ordinarily found in Chicago visit the region during the winter to utilize natural – and man-made – resources.

The Shedd Aquarium recently announced a new arrival at the Chicago institution and it's definitely not the creature you'd expect it to be. We went to the Shedd to investigate its latest rescue, named Peach.

The Penn State astronomer will discuss his involvement in an astrological event from 2014 which many at the time speculated to be a sign of alien life. 

Last month, Elon Musk's SpaceX successfully landed one of its Falcon 9 rockets back onto its launch pad. In November, Jeff Bezos’ company Blue Origin landed its sub-orbital capsule New Shepard. Space enthusiast and Fermilab physicist Don Lincoln recently wrote a column on the Musk versus Bezos competition and shares his insights.

Starting Jan. 1, items placed in the city’s blue recycling carts must be loose. That means no plastic bags. Learn more about Chicago's rules for recycling.