Today's Science News

January 18, 2026

Mysterious iron ‘bar’ discovered in famous nebula - A team of astronomers discovered a bar-shaped cloud of iron in the Ring Nebula, highlighting new details using advanced observational techniques.

Astronomers confirm earliest Milky Way-like galaxy in the universe, just 2 billion years after the Big Bang - Astronomers have confirmed the earliest barred spiral galaxy in the universe, a Milky-Way-like structure that existed just 2 billion years after the Big Bang.

Breast cancer risk markers linked to physical activity in adolescent girls - Recreational physical activity in adolescent girls may positively influence breast tissue and stress biomarkers, impacting future breast cancer risk.

Viruses that evolved on the space station and were sent back to Earth were more effective at killing bacteria - Near-weightless conditions can mutate genes and alter the physical structures of bacteria and phages, disrupting their normal interactions in ways that could help us treat drug-resistant infections.

Flowers shape the spread of viruses among wild bees, new study finds - A study reveals that flowering plant composition impacts virus spread among wild bees, highlighting the importance of habitat management for their health.

Prehistoric Peter Pan Syndrome - In older countries it has become common for young people to live with their parents until, and sometimes well after, they get married.

Why is flu season so bad this year? - Flu season in the U.S. is particularly bad this year, and a new branch of the flu family tree may be to blame.

Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown gets a release date, bringing roguelite survival action to the Delta Quadrant - Get stranded in the Delta Quadrant all over again when Star Trek Voyager – Across the Unknown warps in on February 19th.

'Starfleet Academy' isn't the first time that 'Star Trek' tried to go back to school - The new teen-led Paramount+ TV show isn't Trek's first attempt to study at the Academy.

Does antimatter 'fall up'? - While we know antimatter falls down, we don't yet know if it falls at the exact same acceleration as regular matter does.

What is below Earth, since space is present in every direction? - When my colleagues and I send them out to explore our solar system, it's important for us to understand the 3D map of our space neighborhood.

How the ancient Romans managed their wealth (it wasn't just by hiding hoards) - How did Romans invest their wealth in ancient times?

NASA launches Pandora telescope, taking JWST's search for habitable worlds to a new level - The James Webb telescope's search for habitable exoplanets is getting a big boost from its new star-watching companion, Pandora.

New moon of January 2026 brings prime views of Jupiter, Saturn and winter stars tonight - With the moon out of the way on Jan. 18, bright Jupiter and Saturn become stand-outs in the January night sky.

How Having Kids Makes Parents Disgust-Proof - All those dirty diapers make it pretty hard to get grossed out about anything else The post How Having Kids Makes Parents Disgust-Proof appeared first on Nautilus .

The real danger of Tylenol has nothing to do with autism - While social media continues to circulate claims linking acetaminophen to autism in children, medical experts say those fears distract from a far more serious and proven danger: overdose.

Strange discovery offers 'missing link' in planet formation: 'This fundamentally changes how we think about planetary systems' - A decade of observations of four planets around the young planetary system V1298 Tau revealed a rare, long-sought missing link in planet formation.

New molecular design strategy improves efficiency and selectivity in electrocatalytic reactions - More efficient and sustainable energy conversion technologies, among other applications, hinge on lowering the amount of energy needed to trigger specific reactions on the surface of electrodes.

Hubble Telescope watches star blast out jet of hot gas 32 light-years long - The protostar is launching the longest outburst ever seen at 32 light-years long.

James Webb telescope spots 'failed stars' in a breathtaking cluster near Earth — Space photo of the week - The James Webb Space Telescope captured a colorful portrait of a nearby stellar cradle, revealing a wealth of insights about countless stars.

The Ring Nebula is hiding a giant structure made of iron - A huge bar of iron has been discovered lurking inside the iconic Ring Nebula.

Could there ever be a worldwide internet outage? - We've all dealt with bad internet connections.

Scientists sent viruses to space and they evolved in surprising ways - When scientists sent bacteria-infecting viruses to the International Space Station, the microbes did not behave the same way they do on Earth.

A once-in-a-generation discovery is transforming dairy farming - A Michigan dairy farm took a gamble on a new kind of soybean—and it paid off fast.

When does the Nasa Moon mission launch and who are the Artemis II crew? - The first crewed Moon mission in 50 years could launch in February, ahead of a future lunar landing.

Nasa's mega Moon rocket arrives at launch pad for Artemis II mission - Final preparations now get underway for the first crewed mission to the Moon in more than 50 years.

January 17, 2026

A New Census of Dwarf Galaxies Shows More Massive Black Holes than Previously Thought - A new census of more than 8,000 galaxies finds active black holes rising in frequency with galaxy mass, jumping sharply in galaxies similar in mass to the Milky Way.

This is SPARDA: A self-destruct, self-defense system in bacteria that could be a new biotech tool - A bacterial defense system called SPARDA employs kamikaze-like tactics to protect cells and could be useful in future biotechnologies.

Your Infant Knows Exactly What Your Baby Talk Means - It may help infants learn vowel sounds The post Your Infant Knows Exactly What Your Baby Talk Means appeared first on Nautilus .

NASA rolls Artemis 2 rocket to the pad ahead of historic moon launch - On Saturday (Jan. 17), the rocket that will launch the Artemis 2 astronauts around the moon rolled to the pad for its historic mission, which could lift off just a few weeks from now.

Romans regularly soaked in filthy, lead-contaminated bath water, Pompeii study finds - A study of limescale buildup in an early bathing facility at Pompeii has revealed that the water was replaced only once per day.

Gender ambiguity was a tool of power 4,500 years ago in Mesopotamia - Gender-ambiguous people in ancient Mesopotamia were powerful and important members of society more than four millennia ago.

Spaceflight Prematurely Ages Astronauts - New research looks at the effects of spaceflight on biological age The post Spaceflight Prematurely Ages Astronauts appeared first on Nautilus .

Hubble Snaps Stellar Baby Pictures - Newly developing stars shrouded in thick dust get their first baby pictures in these images from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope.

Egg-Laying Monotremes Like the Platypus Are the Evolutionary Oddities of the Mammal World - Discover more about the egg-laying monotremes of Oceania and the ancient traits they still carry. 

Space.com headlines crossword quiz for week of Jan. 12, 2026: What is an Einstein-Rosen bridge more commonly known as? - Test your space smarts with our weekly crossword challenge, crafted from Space.com's biggest headlines.

This Week In Space podcast: Episode 193 — A History of Tomorrow - On Episode 193 of This Week In Space, Rod Pyle and Tariq Malik talk with NASA Chief Historian Dr. Roger Launius about the space agency's past.

'The scientific cost would be severe': A Trump Greenland takeover would put climate research at risk - Trump's calls for a takeover of Greenland puts open scientific collaboration that is helping our understanding of the threat of global sea-level rise at risk.

Why the Do Nothing Challenge Doesn’t Do Much for You - Boredom lab researcher James Danckert says our collective obsession is misplaced The post Why the Do Nothing Challenge Doesn’t Do Much for You appeared first on Nautilus .

1 month until a 'ring of fire' annular solar eclipse puts on a show — mostly for penguins - The first solar eclipse of the year will take place on Feb. 17, 2026.

Artemis 2 rocket rollout latest news: Giant NASA moon rocket arrives at launch pad - Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026: See our latest news and updates on NASA's Artemis 2 moon rocket rollout to the launch pad.

Science news this week: ISS medical evacuation, Mars Sample Return canceled, and woolly rhino flesh found in permafrost wolf - Jan. 17, 2026: Our weekly roundup of the latest science in the news, as well as a few fascinating articles to keep you entertained over the weekend.

Is there anything 'below' Earth in space? - Earth and its neighbors orbit the sun on a relatively flat plane.

A new 'crystalline sponge' for drug discovery: APF-80 illuminates materials design - Many natural compounds that act on the human body provide active ingredients for medicines or clues for developing them, and they play a crucial role in pharmaceutical research.

Elastic strain engineering boosts green hydrogen production with affordable catalysts - Researchers from IMDEA Materials Institute have demonstrated improved and more affordable catalytic materials used to produce green hydrogen.

How much of your body could you lose — and still survive? - Five vital organs are essential for life, but survival is more medically complex.

AI maps the hidden forces shaping cancer survival worldwide - Researchers have turned artificial intelligence into a powerful new lens for understanding why cancer survival rates differ so dramatically around the world.

Tiny earthquakes are revealing a dangerous secret beneath California - Scientists are uncovering a hidden and surprisingly complex earthquake zone beneath Northern California by tracking swarms of tiny earthquakes that are far too weak to feel.

Crew-11 astronauts arrive in Houston after 1st-ever medical evacuation from ISS - The four astronauts of SpaceX's Crew-11 mission made it to Houston today (Jan. 16), just a day after their unprecedented medical evacuation from the International Space Station.

Managers on alert for “launch fever” as pressure builds for NASA’s Moon mission - "I’ve got one job, and it’s the safe return of Reid, Victor, Christina, and Jeremy."

An endocrinologist tried a new weight loss approach and it worked - A simple change in how primary care clinics approach weight management is delivering big public health wins.

January 16, 2026

Analysis of Chang'e-6 Samples Addresses Mysteries About the Far Side of the Moon. - Our nearest neighbor, the Moon, is still something of a mystery to us.

Antarctica’s Ice Sheet Shrouds a Vast Landscape of Alpine Valleys and Ice Rivers - Discover the mysterious world beneath Antarctica’s thick ice sheet, mapped in unprecedented detail.

NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 to Discuss Space Station Science Mission - After 167 days in space, the crew members of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-11 mission will hold a news conference at 2:15 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Jan. 21, at the agency’s

Scientists are rethinking bamboo as a powerful new superfood - Bamboo shoots may be far more than a crunchy side dish.

Watch NASA roll huge Artemis 2 moon rocket out to the launch pad today - NASA will roll its Artemis 2 moon rocket out to the launch pad on Saturday (Jan. 17), and you can watch the slow-moving action live.

Mini Earthquakes Expose Hidden Tectonic Features Buried Beneath Earth's Surface  - Learn about the movement of tectonic plates off the coast of northern California, a process that could incite major earthquakes.

A Simulated Asteroid Impact Reveals the Strength of Iron-Rich Rocks - Physicists at the University of Oxford have contributed to a new study which has found that iron-rich asteroids can tolerate far more energy than previously thought without breaking apart - a breakthrough with direct implications for planetary defence strategies.

Plants Are Constantly Communicating, and Biodiversity Shapes the Message - Learn how plants communicate through chemical signals, and why losing biodiversity can disrupt these hidden communication networks.

Archaeologists find a supersized medieval shipwreck in Denmark - The sunken ship reveals that the medieval European economy was growing fast.

Congress passes $24.4 billion NASA budget, rejecting Trump's deep cuts - Congress just approved a $24.4 billion budget for NASA for this year, rejecting the deep cuts that President Trump had proposed last spring.

444-Million-Year-Old Microscopic Fossils Reveal Early Seafloor Recovery After Mass Extinction - Learn how microscopic fossils reveal that tiny seafloor organisms were already feeding and recycling nutrients soon after one of Earth’s largest mass extinctions.

Exploring Where Planets Form With The Hubble Space Telescope - This collection of new images taken by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope showcases protoplanetary disks, the swirling masses of gas and dust that surround forming stars, in both visible and infrared wavelengths.

What You Need to Know About NASA’s Artemis II Moon Mission - NASA is weeks away from sending astronauts farther than any crew has traveled before, with the agency’s second mission in its Artemis campaign.

Artemis 2 update: NASA to wheel historic, 11 million-pound rocket to the launch pad this weekend - NASA's Artemis 2 rocket will roll out Saturday (Jan. 17) ahead of a possible Feb. 6 launch.

Astronomers searching for alien life are sharpening our cosmic clocks. Here's why - Tiny delays in pulsar signals measured by SETI scientists could aid the search for gravitational waves and extraterrestrial life.

NASA hopes to launch Artemis 2 astronauts to the moon next month, but it's going to be tight: 'This is not a rush' - NASA hopes to launch its crewed Artemis 2 moon mission in early February, but everything will have to go right to hit that ambitious target.

Helping AI systems recover from mistakes and find optimal solutions - Asari AI developed EnCompass, a framework improving AI agents' error recovery and search strategies, reducing code complexity and enhancing accuracy.

NASA Develops Blockchain Technology to Enhance Air Travel Safety and Security - Through a drone flight test at NASA’s Ames Research Center, researchers tested a blockchain-based system for protecting flight data.

Meet a trio of intrepid cadets boldly joining 'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy' (interview) - 'I think walking onto the bridge and sitting on the captain's chair blew my mind.'

Why Some 80-Year-Olds Remember Like 50-Year-Olds - A large genetic study reveals why some people in their 80s retain youthful memory, showing “super agers” are less likely to carry Alzheimer’s-risk genes and more likely to harbor protective variants.

SpaceX launches its 1st national security mission of 2026, sending US spy satellites to orbit - SpaceX will launch its first national security mission of the year tonight (Jan. 16), and you can watch the action live.

DAILY DOSE: Specially Designed “TimeVault” Cells Stores Old RNA Like a Molecular Diary; Alpha Brain Waves and “Body Ownership”. - Researchers engineer vault structures in cells to record gene activity, linking past behaviors to future states in molecular biology.

Why Mars is Actively Manufacturing Poison - Chemistry on other worlds varies widely from that on Earth.

Famed archaeologist Zahi Hawass says he's close to finding Nefertiti's tomb in new documentary - Zahi Hawass says he hopes to discover the tomb of Nefertiti before he retires, and he believes he's getting close.

How Coastlines Shape the Extinction Risk for Marine Invertebrates - Invertebrates that lived on north-south coastlines had better chances of survival The post How Coastlines Shape the Extinction Risk for Marine Invertebrates appeared first on Nautilus .

Watch SpaceX Crew-11 spacecraft blaze a fiery trail through the sky during medical evacuation from ISS (video) - Four ISS crewmembers were brought home a month early due to an undisclosed but non-emergency "medical concern".

A Real-Life Robot Learned to Lip-Sync Thanks to AI - Columbia Engineering developed a flexible robotic face that learns lip movements for realistic speech synchronization, advancing humanoid robots' social interaction capabilities, while addressing potential ethical concerns.

Study reveals how many hours of video games per week might be too many - Excessive gaming over 10 hours weekly negatively impacts diet, sleep, and body weight in young people, according to a recent study.

NASA's Mars Sample Return is dead, leaving China to retrieve signs of life from the Red Planet - NASA's plans for Mars sample return are effectively cancelled as part of a bill approved by the U.S. Congress, ending efforts to collect Perseverance rover samples that could contain evidence of alien life.

Protostars Carve Out Homes In The Orion Molecular Cloud - Young protostars populate the cloudy regions in the Orion Molecular Cloud complex in these images from the Hubble Space Telescope.

'Zombie' cells may drive common form of epilepsy - Scientists are unraveling the role of senescent cells in a common form of epilepsy, and it could point to new treatments.

Forced closure of premier US weather-modeling institute could endanger millions of Americans - From high-wind forecasts and wildfire behavior to floods, aviation hazards, air quality and space weather, science developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research informs decisions that aim to reduce risk.

Northern lights may be visible in 15 states tonight - Auroras may be visible from Alaska to New York tonight as an incoming stream of speedy solar wind sets the stage for some potentially dazzling northern lights.

Autonomous AI agents developed to detect early signs of cognitive decline - Mass General Brigham researchers developed an autonomous AI system that screens for cognitive impairment, achieving high specificity and promoting early detection.

Ancient mummified cheetahs discovered in Saudi Arabia contain preserved DNA from the long-lost population - Cheetahs vanished from Saudi Arabia half a century ago.

Bundle up and look up: 5 winter sky wonders every stargazer should look out for - From Orion's glowing nebula to the sparkling Pleiades, these winter targets reward anyone willing to brave the cold.

Healthcare In Space - The First Medical Evacuation From The ISS - For the first time in 25 years of continuous crewed operations, an astronaut has been medically evacuated from the International Space Station (ISS).

Scars from ancient 'megaquakes' at Cascadia subduction zone discovered in deep-sea landslides - Large subduction-zone earthquakes leave scars on the continental slope in the deep sea.

Why There’s No Single Best Way To Store Information - The math of data structures helps us understand how different storage systems come with different trade-offs between resources such as time and memory.

Jupiter has more oxygen than the sun, new simulations reveal - Jupiter harbors more oxygen than the sun, a new study finds, giving astronomers a crucial clue about how our solar system's planets formed.

Out of This World Discoveries: Space Station Research in 2025 - As Earth completed its orbit around the Sun to close out 2025, the International Space Station circled our planet more than 5,800 times.

Some Doctors Are Using Emojis With Patients More Often - Smileys are especially popular The post Some Doctors Are Using Emojis With Patients More Often appeared first on Nautilus .

NASA’s Crawler Preps for Artemis II Rollout - NASA’s Crawler-transporter 2 moves toward the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.

Study finds ocean impacts nearly double economic cost of climate change - New research shows including ocean impacts in carbon cost estimates nearly doubles the economic toll of climate change, highlighting overlooked marine damages from warming seas, declining fisheries, and threatened coastal infrastructure.

Hubble Telescope sees baby stars hard at work | Space photo of the day for Jan. 16, 2025 - An image from the Hubble Space Telescope looks at NGC 1333, which has young stars, protostars and reflection nebulas, all of which shed light on stellar evolution.

Tapping into new 'probabilistic computing' paradigm can make AI chips use much less power, scientists say - A new digital system allows operations on a chip to run in parallel, so an AI program can arrive at the best possible answer more quickly.

After a month of no answer, NASA will try hailing its silent MAVEN Mars orbiter today - MAVEN was built to last in orbit until 2030 — that's not looking likely anymore.

In Pursuit of a Psychedelic Without the Hallucination - Making magic mushrooms not quite so magic The post In Pursuit of a Psychedelic Without the Hallucination appeared first on Nautilus .

Hubble Observes Ghostly Cloud Alive with Star Formation - While this eerie NASA Hubble Space Telescope image may look ghostly, it’s actually full of new life.

How Astronauts Will Fix Their Gear Using Thin Air - Additive Manufacturing, more commonly known as 3D printing, will be an absolutely critical technology for any long-term settlement on another world.

Organic solvents enable chirality control in inorganic crystals - Chirality—often described as "handedness"—is a fundamental property of nature, underlying the behavior of molecules ranging from DNA to pharmaceuticals.

Human origins quiz: How well do you know the story of humanity? - Think you know about our human relatives?

This cosmologist studies the invisible parts of the universe - Katie Mack started out building solar-powered LEGO cars as a kid.

Say goodbye to Comet 3I/ATLAS! Watch it head for interstellar space in real-time with this free livestream today - 3I/ATLAS is heading away from the sun on an escape trajectory from our solar system.

Scientists found hidden synapse hotspots in the teen brain - Scientists have discovered that the adolescent brain does more than prune old connections.

Biomass-derived furans offer sustainable alternative to petroleum in chemical production - A research project conducted by the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung shows how biomass can be used as a raw material for chemical products instead of petroleum.

Vitamin A may be helping cancer hide from the immune system - A vitamin A byproduct has been found to quietly disarm the immune system, allowing tumors to evade attack and weakening cancer vaccines.

Blooming Seas Around the Chatham Islands - A vibrant display of phytoplankton encircled the remote New Zealand islands.

NASA brings Crew-11 home early in rare medical evacuation - SpaceX Crew-11 splashed down safely in the Pacific after more than five months in orbit aboard the International Space Station.

A deadly chemical frozen in ice may have sparked life on Earth - Hydrogen cyanide, a toxic chemical, may have helped spark the chemistry that led to life.

Those strange red dots in James Webb images finally have an explanation - For years, strange red dots in James Webb images left scientists puzzled.

Q&A: ‘India must ready tools to prevent virus outbreaks’ - From rotaviruses to flu, vaccines are key to protecting the vulnerable and preventing future pandemics, says India’s Gagandeep Kang.

Fewer offspring, longer life: The hidden rule of mammal aging - A large international study reveals that mammals tend to live longer when reproduction is suppressed.

A Hidden Iron Bar Has Been Uncovered Inside the Ring Nebula - Learn how mapping the Ring Nebula’s light revealed a massive iron bar hidden for decades.

Landscape beneath Antarctica's icy surface revealed in unprecedented detail - Scientists believe the map could shed light on how Antarctica's vast ice sheet will respond to climate change.

January 15, 2026

NASA Enters Final Preparations for Artemis II Mission - As NASA moves closer to launch of the Artemis II test flight, the agency soon will roll its SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft to the launch pad for the first time at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida to begin final integration, testing, and launch rehearsals.

Scientists “resurrect” ancient cannabis enzymes with medical promise - Scientists have uncovered how cannabis evolved the ability to make its most famous compounds—THC, CBD, and CBC—by recreating ancient enzymes that existed millions of years ago.

As Biodiversity Dwindles, Mosquitos Turn to Human Blood - We may not be tastier, but just more abundant these days The post As Biodiversity Dwindles, Mosquitos Turn to Human Blood appeared first on Nautilus .

One protein may decide whether brain chemistry heals or harms - Tryptophan does far more than help us sleep—it fuels brain chemistry, energy production, and mood-regulating neurotransmitters.

Beneath the ice: Satellites help map Antarctica's subglacial surface like never before - Antarctica's subglacial bedrock was previously one of the least-mapped planetary surfaces in our solar system.

Giant Rats Grew 14 Times Larger Than Their Mainland Relatives 650,000 Years Ago, but Their Brains Did Not - Learn how CT scans of fossil skulls were used to trace changes in brain regions and sensory priorities in ancient giant rats.

Scientists found the soil secret that doubles forest regrowth - New research shows tropical forests can recover twice as fast after deforestation when their soils contain enough nitrogen.

Your Dog Can Likely Recognize Your Face in a Photo — Here's How We Know - Learn more about the canine temporal lobe and how it helps your dog recognize your face. 

This SETI program is chasing down its final 100 signals. Could one of them be from aliens? - SETI@home has been one of the largest citizen science projects ever, with millions of users around the world.

Walking Sharks Are Breaking the Rules of Evolution and Reproduction - Meet the walking shark, a species of shark that can walk on land, survive low oxygen environments, and reproduce without wasting energy.

Watch This Glacier Race into the Sea - High-tech radar technology offers an unprecedented look at escaping ice speeds on Greenland and Antarctica The post Watch This Glacier Race into the Sea appeared first on Nautilus .

Every 'Avengers: Doomsday' teaser trailer revealed so far - It's apparently never too early to start the MCU hype machine rolling!

NASA Adds Two F-15 Aircraft to Support Supersonic Flight Research - Two retired U.S. Air Force F-15 jets have joined the flight research fleet at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, transitioning

Red Dwarfs Are Too Dim To Generate Complex Life - New research shows that complex life is unlikely to ever exist around cool, dim red dwarfs.

NASA’s first medical evacuation from space ends with on-target splashdown - This is the first time NASA has called an early end to a space mission for medical reasons.

Cyberthieves hit European Space Agency, stealing hundreds of gigabytes of data - A recent string of cyberattacks against the European Space Agency is just the tip of the iceberg, a researcher said, claiming that email credentials of ESA employees are regularly leaked online.

The First Observation of the Fiery Lifecycle of a Massive Solar Storm - “It’s a milestone in solar physics” The post The First Observation of the Fiery Lifecycle of a Massive Solar Storm appeared first on Nautilus .

New map of Antarctica reveals hidden world of lakes, valleys and mountains buried beneath miles of ice - The map shows diverse geological features shaping Antarctic glaciers from below, which can improve climate models of ice melt.

Fragment of lost tectonic plate discovered where San Andreas and Cascadia faults meet - A hidden chunk of an ancient tectonic plate is stuck to the Pacific Ocean floor and sliding under North America, complicating earthquake risk at the Cascadia subduction zone.

Giraffe in space? Eerie dark nebula takes on an uncanny shape (photo) - The shadow nebula LDN 1245 is located in the constellation Cassiopeia.

These genes were thought to lead to blindness 100% of the time. They don't. - New research finds that retinal diseases thought to map one-to-one to genetic mutations are more complicated than that.

Our model of the universe is deeply flawed — unless space is actually a 'sticky fluid,' new research hints - Our best models of the cosmos don't add up — but that could change if the universe is actually made of a viscous 'fluid,' a new paper suggests.

Rare nocturnal parrots in New Zealand are breeding for the first time in 4 years — here's why - The 2026 breeding season for endangered kākāpō could produce the most chicks in decades.

These Gravitationally Lensed Supernovae Could Resolve The Hubble Tension - Researchers used the JWST to find a pair of strong gravitationally lensed Supernovae.

NASA's powerful new Roman Space Telescope is complete — and will soon begin mission to find 100,000 alien worlds - New photos show off NASA's newly constructed Roman Space Telescope, which will soon help researchers unravel the mysteries of the cosmos.

How Dark Asteroids Die - Back in the earlier days of the internet, there was a viral video from a creator called Bill Wurtz called “the history of the entire world, i guess” which spawned a number of memorable memes, some of which are still in use to this day.

How Mars 'punches above its weight' to influence Earth's climate - "Without Mars, Earth's orbit would be missing major climate cycles.

Ancient Mummified Cheetahs Found in Saudi Caves Rewrite the Species’ History — and Its Future - Learn how seven naturally preserved cheetahs discovered in northern Saudi Arabia reveal that the Arabian Peninsula once hosted multiple cheetah lineages, raising new possibilities for reintroducing the endangered cats.

Do-it-yourself ammonia production: Renewable-powered system uses calcium to reduce emissions and scale for farmers - The last time you scrubbed a streaky window or polished a porcelain appliance, you probably used a chemical called ammonia.

Satellites spy raging bushfires in Australia | Space photo of the day for Jan. 15, 2026 - The image shows just how large and devastating these events can be.

'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy' is Hogwarts in space by way of 'Dawson's Creek', and we don't love it - The noisy fandom is about to have a field day with Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.

How to watch 'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy' online and from anywhere - Space school is officially in session and here's your center seat invitation!

'This is NASA at its finest': Crew-11 astronauts in good shape after smooth medical evacuation and splashdown, agency says - NASA leaders said the Crew-11 mission's astronaut medical evacuation shows how the agency is prepared to handle the unexpected.

Scientists watch microscopic plant 'mouths' breathing in real time with palm-sized tool - Scientists say their Stomata In-Sight tool can observe plants "breathe," which could be used to bioengineer crops that require less water, making them potentially more resilient to climate change.