Science

Scientists on Wednesday sealed ancient chunks of glacial ice in a first-of-its-kind sanctuary in Antarctica in the hope of preserving these fast-disappearing records of Earth’s past climate for centuries to come. The two ice cores taken from Europe’s Alps are the first to be stored in a purpose-built snow cave on the frozen continent that

WASHINGTON — Congress has approved a fiscal year 2026 spending bill that largely restores funding proposed for deep cuts to NASA while canceling one major mission. The Senate voted 82-15 Jan. 16 to pass a “minibus” appropriations bill combining three spending measures, including the Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) bill. The CJS measure funds NASA,

NASA and the US Department of Energy have reaffirmed their joint project to develop a nuclear fission reactor for the surface of the Moon. According to an announcement from the space agency, the two bodies hope to complete the development phase – likely including testing on Earth – of this facility by 2030. The reactor

Some mosquitoes have become increasingly reliant on human blood, new research shows – and it’s probably our own fault. A sampling study of the bloodsuckers in Brazil has found that as biodiversity drops, mosquitoes are more likely to hunt us down. It makes sense, really: As human activity pushes other animals out of the region,

HELSINKI — Chinese commercial firm CAS Space launched its first Lihong-1 suborbital flight and recovery test mission, seeing a successful parachute descent of the capsule. Lihong-1 lifted off at 3:00 a.m. Eastern (0800 UTC) Jan. 12 from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The mission used a solid rocket with grid fins at

A nearby galaxy has been caught draining itself of star-forming fuel, with vast streams of superheated material twisting away from the supermassive black hole at its core. The galaxy, called VV 340a, offers us a rare glimpse into one way black holes curtail star formation in their host galaxy, from a relatively close vantage point

The global security environment is becoming more volatile, not less. The war in Ukraine grinds on. China is increasingly assertive in the Indo-Pacific. The Middle East remains unstable. North Korea continues to test missiles and challenge regional stability. Together, these dynamics are straining the international system in ways not seen since the early Cold War.

It looks like NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission has come to a bureaucratic end. The mission was to be the crowning achievement in the study of Mars and all the questions surrounding its ancient habitability. But the US Congress has drastically cut the mission’s funding, effectively canceling the mission as it was intended. Despite decades

In recent years, the way drivers interact with cars has fundamentally changed. Physical buttons have gradually disappeared from dashboards as more functions have been transferred to touchscreens. Touchscreens in vehicle dashboards date back to the 1980s. But modern cars consolidate functions into these systems far beyond what we’ve seen before, to the point where a

Lunar night survival becomes an imperative “Surviving the lunar night has crossed a critical threshold: what was once a ‘nice-to-have’ is now the imperative for any serious lunar mission. We’re seeing this ‘survive, operate, thrive’ progression play out in real time: we’ve proven we can land repeatedly, now we’re focused on surviving that brutal two-week

A new investigation of the early Universe led by Poland’s National Centre for Nuclear Research has just found that there may be an interaction between two of the most elusive components of the cosmos. By combining different kinds of observations, cosmologists have shown that what we see is more easily explained if neutrinos, aka ‘ghost

Turin, Italy — Jan. 11, 2026 — The 12U CubeSat LIDE (LIve DEmonstration) has successfully completed its first months of on-orbit operations following its launch July 23, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. Early results confirm the mission’s ability to support 5G connectivity from space, advancing efforts

We’re constantly told that spending time in nature is good for the body and the mind alike. A large body of research shows multiple health benefits from contact with nature, ranging from stress reduction to an improved immune system and even improved academic achievement in children. But not everyone is getting these benefits. Some people

Humans have always been fascinated with space. We frequently question whether we are alone in the Universe. If not, what does intelligent life look like? And how would aliens communicate? The possibility of extraterrestrial life is grounded in scientific evidence. But the distances involved in travel between the stars are vast. If we do contact

WASHINGTON — A SpaceX Falcon 9 launched a trio of NASA astrophysics small satellites along with dozens of commercial spacecraft on a rideshare mission Jan. 11. The Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California at 8:44 a.m. Eastern on a mission SpaceX dubbed “Twilight.” The 40 spacecraft aboard began deployment 61

Most people know what a difficult day at work feels like. It can be tiring, draining and tense, leaving you unable to switch off. But there are also days when work feels lighter and more energising. These good days are not necessarily defined by big wins or major achievements. In fact, they tend to come

Many people remember the solar storm of May 2024, which saw auroras spread into areas that very rarely get to see them. But while millions were watching the skies, astronomers were watching the Sun itself. For more than three months, a pair of observatories, positioned on either side of the Sun, managed to track an

WASHINGTON — The Federal Communications Commission on Jan. 9 approved a second tranche of 7,500 Starlink Gen2 satellites, expanding the size of SpaceX’s authorized next-generation constellation. The commission said it authorized SpaceX to deploy and operate 7,500 additional Gen2 satellites, bringing the total number of approved Gen2 spacecraft to 15,000. The approval comes a little

Scientists with the ambitious Leonardo da Vinci DNA Project think they have potentially snagged a sample of DNA from the famed artist/inventor himself. The findings are presented in a preprint, and further tests are needed to confirm whether this is truly da Vinci’s genetic information from more than 500 years ago. The paper offers “clues

With data collected months before its main survey is due to begin, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory is already upending what we thought we knew about asteroids. In the Main Belt of asteroids between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, the telescope spotted a large asteroid spinning shockingly fast. Its name is 2025 MN45, it

AI image generators have become remarkably proficient in a very short period, capable of creating faces that are considered to be more realistic than the real thing. However, a new study points to a way that we can improve our AI-face detection capabilities. Researchers from the UK tested the face-assessing capabilities of a group of

America faces a choice in space: lead or follow. There’s no middle ground anymore. China is methodically executing a plan to dominate the moon and cislunar space. The question isn’t whether someone will control humanity’s next economic frontier — it’s whether that someone will be us or them. And if we want it to be

Ancient bones discovered in a cave in Casablanca, Morocco, could fill in some of the blanks about human evolution. The cave, known as Grotte à Hominidés, contains assemblages of jawbones, teeth, and vertebrae dating back to 773,000 years ago – a period close to when the modern human lineage began to diverge from the ancestors

A new video provides a front-row seat to a cosmic drama that has been playing out for centuries. Since 1604, when astronomers around the world recorded a new ‘star’ that appeared in the sky, humans have watched its evolution unfold. We now know that it wasn’t a new star at all, but the explosive supernova

PHOENIX — An unspecified “medical concern” involving one of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station has postponed a spacewalk and could force an unprecedented early return of part of the crew. NASA announced Jan. 7 that it was postponing a spacewalk scheduled for Jan. 8, citing a medical issue affecting one of the station’s

A pile of ancient arrowheads from southern Africa still holds traces of toxic plant residue, even after some 60,000 years. The discovery pushes back the earliest direct evidence of poisoned arrow use by tens of thousands of years. While not immediately fatal, researchers say that the poison preserved on the arrows could kill a rodent

Betelgeuse is one of the weirdest stars in the sky, but astronomers can now explain one of its most enduring mysteries. A small companion star has been confirmed, revealed by the wake it leaves as it plows through the red giant’s atmosphere. Ignoring interference from the occasional dusty sneeze, Betelgeuse’s light seems to vary according

WASHINGTON — SkyFi, a commercial geospatial intelligence firm, has added satellite imagery from Vantor to its platform, widening access to high-resolution Earth observation data for commercial and government users. The agreement, announced Jan. 7, makes Vantor products available through the SkyFi marketplace and includes the launch of a dedicated “Vantor Hub” that allows users to

In an ancient rock shelter in the heart of Malawi, archaeologists have found the world’s oldest evidence of a funeral pyre for an adult. The charred remains, 9,500 years old, reveal that the deceased was a woman aged between 18 and 60 years old when she died, and that her body was carefully prepared for

An object spotted in deep space is the strongest candidate yet for a galaxy arrested during early development. It’s been named Cloud-9, and it’s a mysterious object about 14.3 million light-years away, near the spiral galaxy M94, which appears to be completely devoid of stars. Instead, it seems to consist mostly of dark matter wrapped