Today's Science News

January 30, 2026

SpaceX launches Starlink satellites from two coasts in two days - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 25 Starlink satellites lifted off from California on Jan. 29, 2026.

A Laser Ruler for Sharper Black Hole Images - Researchers at KAIST have developed a breakthrough technology that could dramatically improve our ability to image black holes and other distant objects.

Treasures found on HS2 route stored in secret warehouse - Archaeological finds from the planned HS2 train line have been shown exclusively to the BBC.

Extreme January Cold - Following a significant winter storm, frigid temperatures lingered in late January 2026 across a vast swath of the U.S.

Venus Might Harbor Massive Subsurface Lava Tunnels - It’s 2050 and you’re living on Venus.

A New Theory for What Really Powers a Flare - Solar flares are one of the most closely watched processes in solar physics.

NASA Johnson Celebrates 25 Years in Space with Community Day - NASA’s Johnson Space Center brought the International Space Station’s 25-year legacy to the public on Jan. 24, 2026, during a community day event in Houston.

AI tools help decode how TCM formulas work - Researchers highlight how AI enhances understanding of Traditional Chinese Medicine formulas, optimizing herbal combinations and accelerating mechanistic research.

A 20-year-old cancer vaccine may hold the key to long-term survival - Two decades after a breast cancer vaccine trial, every participant is still alive—an astonishing result for metastatic disease.

New Research Reveals the Ingredients for Life Form on Their Own in Space - A new study led by researchers from Aarhus University showed that amino acids spontaneously bond in space, producing peptides that are essential to life as we know it.

January 29, 2026

The First Time Tobacco Executives Admitted Smoking Is Bad for You - The moment the science finally came to light The post The First Time Tobacco Executives Admitted Smoking Is Bad for You appeared first on Nautilus .

Social Media Habits Are Easy to Form — And Easier to Break Than You Might Think - Learn more about how and why we form social media habits and some ways you can break your own social media habits.

Landslide Causes 1,500 Residents to Evacuate Small Sicilian Town - Learn more about the landslide that’s left some homes teetering on the edge of a cliff.

Adult Polar Bears in Svalbard Are Gaining Fat Even as Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks - Learn how polar bears in the Arctic’s Barents Sea are maintaining healthy fat reserves despite sea ice loss in a warming climate.

Ammonia-Bearing Compounds Discovered at Surface of Jupiter’s Moon Europa - Advanced analysis of decades-old data from NASA’s Galileo spacecraft identifies ammonia-bearing compounds discovered on the surface of Jupiter’s moon Europa,

The Star That Wasn't Dying After All - Astronomers have solved a bit of a mystery that had them questioning whether one of the most extreme stars ever observed was about to explode.

NASA Analysis Shows La Niña Limited Sea Level Rise in 2025 - Description This graph shows the rise in global mean sea level from 1993 to 2025 based on data from a series of five international satellites.

NASA Fires Up Nuclear Future for Deep Space Travel - NASA has completed its first major testing of nuclear reactor hardware for spacecraft propulsion in over 50 years, marking a crucial step toward faster, more capable deep space missions.

Astronomers watch 1st black hole ever imaged launch a 3,000‑light‑year‑long cosmic jet from its glowing 'shadow' - "It is amazing to see that we are gradually moving towards combining these breakthrough observations across multiple frequencies and completing the picture of the jet launching region."

This Popular Culinary Mushroom Turns Meals into Visions, Making People See “Little Elves” - Openly sold in and widely eaten in Asia, Lanmaoa asiatica can cause bizarre, highly specific hallucinations, challenging what we know about fungal toxins.

NASA Heat Shield Technology Enables Space Industry Growth - Using cutting-edge material licensed from NASA, a protective heat shield manufactured in-house by Varda Space Industries for the first time enabled one of its

First Direct Evidence Suggests the Universe’s Primordial Soup Behaved Like a Liquid - Learn how physicists recreated the early universe’s primordial soup, known as quark-gluon plasma, and discovered how it responds when particles race through it.

Halley wasn't the first to figure out the famous comet. An 11th-century monk did it first, new research suggests. - An 11th-century monk saw the famous "Halley's comet" first as a child and later as an adult, new research finds.

Zero Tumors, Zero Resistance: The Breakthrough That Could Change Pancreatic Cancer - Researchers at the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre have achieved complete pancreatic tumor elimination in mice using a novel three-drug combination, paving the way for new treatment strategies against this challenging cancer.

Europa’s Ice Shell (Artist’s Concept) - Description This artist’s concept depicts a cutaway view showing Europa’s ice shell.

Artemis 2 SLS wet dress rehearsal latest news: NASA preps for critical test ahead of astronaut launch to the moon - Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026: Follow NASA's last major test of SLS before the launch of Artemis 2 and a crew of astronauts around the moon.

Rocket Lab launches Korean disaster-monitoring satellite after long delay - Rocket Lab launched a South Korean disaster-monitoring satellite from New Zealand on Thursday (Jan. 29), about six weeks later than originally planned.

NASA Awards Help Inspire Future Innovators Through STEM Engagement - NASA has awarded more than $5 million to 29 institutions nationwide to expand and strengthen science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) learning beyond the classroom.

NASA-ISRO Radar Mission Peers Through Clouds to See Mississippi River Delta - A new image from the NISAR mission shows off the satellite’s ability to reveal details of Earth’s surfaces.

What Sets Off Bomb Cyclones - This storm category includes some nor’easters, which seem likely to grow even more chaotic in coming decades The post What Sets Off Bomb Cyclones appeared first on Nautilus .

Finding A Frozen Earth In Old Data - Finding Earth-like planets is the primary driver of exoplanet searches because as far as we know, they're the ones most likely to be habitable.

New 'Starfleet Academy' episode 'Vox in Excelso' shows that Klingons are the most versatile species in 'Star Trek' - Think Klingons are just loudmouthed louts with terrible table manners?

'Previously unimaginable': James Webb telescope breaks own record again, discovering farthest known galaxy in the universe - The James Webb Space Telescope has confirmed the most distant, early galaxy in the known universe.

US government declassifies Cold War-era 'JUMPSEAT' spy satellites - The National Reconnaissance Office just revealed the existence of its "JUMPSEAT" line of spy satellites, eight of which launched to Earth orbit between 1971 and 1987.

Nitrate in drinking water linked to increased dementia risk while nitrate from vegetables is linked to a lower risk, researchers find - Research identifies that vegetable-sourced nitrate decreases dementia risk, while animal-sourced nitrate increases it, highlighting dietary impact on brain health.

South Carolina's measles outbreak nears 790 cases — making it the biggest in decades - Nearly 790 people, primarily children, have been infected in South Carolina's ongoing measles outbreak, officials report.

I Am Artemis: Doug Parkinson - Doug Parkinson’s face lights up as he starts telling his story, how someone from  Wisconsin now plays a part in the team that will help land the first Artemis astronauts on to the Moon.

Your Lifespan May Depend Much More on Genes Than Previously Thought - Your Lifespan May Depend Much More on Genes Than Previously Thought: Research published today shows a bigger impact of genetics on aging than previously thought

What ice fishing can teach us about making foraging decisions - Social density increases likelihood of sticking with a location.

NASA's Juno spacecraft spots the largest volcanic eruption ever seen on Jupiter's moon Io - "What makes the event even more extraordinary is that it did not involve a single volcano, but multiple active sources."

Can Morality Survive Climate Collapse? - Megha Majumdar’s acclaimed novel A Guardian and a Thief explores a near-future where scarcity forces hard choices The post Can Morality Survive Climate Collapse?

NASA's Artemis 2 crewed mission to the moon shows how US space strategy has changed since Apollo – and contrasts with China's closed program - The United States is no longer competing against a single rival in a largely symbolic race.

New OpenAI tool renews fears that “AI slop” will overwhelm scientific research - New "Prism" workspace launches just as studies show AI-assisted papers are flooding journals with diminished quality.

March 2026 Total Lunar Eclipse: Your Questions Answered - A total lunar eclipse will redden the Moon on March 3, 2026.

50-year-old NASA jet crashes in flames on Texas runway — taking it out of the Artemis II mission - New footage shows one of NASA's WB-57 research jets spewing out flames and smoke as it skids across a runway during an emergency landing near Houston.

5,000-year-old rock art from ancient Egypt depicts 'terrifying' conquest of the Sinai Peninsula - Archaeologists have found 5,000-year-old ancient Egyptian rock art in the Sinai Desert that depicts the conquest of the region.

RNA droplets may have accelerated prebiotic Earth's development of complex molecules - The origin of life from Earth's primordial chemistry has long fascinated and perplexed us.

This trio of 'Star Trek: Starfleet Academy' cadets weren't Trekkies before the show, but they are now (interview) - "It's like when you watch 'The Lord of the Rings.'

The Milky Way's Center is a Difficult Target, But It Can't Deter the Roman Telescope - The Milky Way's Galactic Center and Bulge are shrouded in thick dust and tightly-packed with stars.

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.

DAILY DOSE: Wearables Reveal the Real “Minimum Dose” of Exercise; Little Red Dots and the Black Hole “Cocoon Phase” - Recent studies reveal insights on black holes' mass alterations, exercise minimums for health benefits, Greenland sharks' aging resilience, trauma's biological aging impacts, tumor senescence mechanisms, Europa's ice thickness, and dark oxygen research in deep seas.

Stone Age teenager was mauled by a bear 28,000 years ago, skeletal analysis confirms - The mystery of a Stone Age teenager's death has been solved — 80 years after he was found in an ancient burial ground in Italy.

Polar bears on Norwegian islands fatter and healthier despite ice loss, scientists say - Scientists think that Svalbard bears have adapted to recent ice loss by eating more land-based prey.

Jupiter's moon Europa has an ice shell about 18 miles thick — and that could be bad news for alien life - Using data gathered by NASA's Juno Jupiter orbiter, scientists estimate that Europa's ice shell is about 18 miles thick — which could make it hard for nutrients to get down to its buried ocean.

Best Lego NASA sets 2026: Build NASA's finest from the Apollo 11 Rover to Artemis 2 - We've rounded up the best Lego NASA sets to suit a range of budgets and ages.

The 10 best sci-fi TV Shows of the 1990s - From "The X-Files" to "Farscape," drift back three decades with us as we reminisce over the last great run of science fiction on the small screen.

Why Waiting in Line Makes Stuff Seem More Valuable - New research explains why we like hard-earned rewards more The post Why Waiting in Line Makes Stuff Seem More Valuable appeared first on Nautilus .

Ancient DNA reveals 12,000-year-old case of rare genetic disease - Researchers led by the University of Vienna and Liège University Hospital Centre have identified genetic variants associated with a rare inherited growth disorder in two prehistoric individuals who lived more than 12,000 years ago.

States want to tax fossil fuel companies to create climate change superfunds - As climate costs rise, states are passing legislation so fossil fuel can pay their share.

February 2026 night sky: What to see and what you need - The best of February’s stargazing events — with key dates and the must-have gear to see them at their best.

Why Do Humans Get Acne, and Is it Unique to Us? Here’s What to Know - Learn more about what causes acne in humans and how it can sometimes impact animals, too.

Satellite sees river flow across the globe | Space photo of the day for Jan. 29, 2025 - Along with this stunning image is the first-ever global estimate of river water discharge and overall sediment suspension.

Drones could achieve 'infinite flight' after engineers create laser-based wireless power system that charges them from the ground - A new system will enable operators to use laser beams to top off batteries while drones are in midflight.

Goodbye Goldilocks: Scientists may have to look beyond habitable zones to find alien life - Scientists may need to broaden their horizons in their search for alien life.

What Brown-Colored Lake Water Does to Fish - Some populations of important fish respond better to it than you’d think The post What Brown-Colored Lake Water Does to Fish appeared first on Nautilus .

Biodegradable bark–plastic composite lets engineers predict product lifetime from tensile tests - Old trees are learning new tricks with the advent of composite materials.

Critical moment when El Niño started to erode Russia's Arctic sea ice discovered - Scientists discover a tipping point that took place in 2000, where El Niño’s effect on sea ice loss in Siberia was amplified.

Early Universe's supermassive black holes grew in cocoons like butterflies - During cocoon phase, young, supermassive black holes are surrounded by high-density gas.

Romans used human feces as medicine 1,900 years ago — and used thyme to mask the smell - A new study shows that organic residues from a Roman-era glass medicinal vial came from human feces.

Everyone experiences malicious joy now and then - Called schadenfreude, feeling happy when we see someone else’s pain is typically harmless.

Reveals a previously unknown mechanism of genetic transcription - Researchers at IOCB Prague discovered a new molecular mechanism for gene transcription initiation involving alarmones, enhancing understanding of RNA processes under stress.

AI tool reveals hundreds of 'anomalies' in Hubble telescope archives — and some defy classification - AI helped researchers probe the Hubble Space Telescope's archive to find strange celestial objects, including some indescribable by science.

James Webb Space Telescope reveals new origin story for the universe's 1st supermassive black holes - Recent James Webb Space Telescope data confirms a decade-old theory that the universe's earliest supermassive black holes formed without stars.

Self-powered composite material detects its own cracks - A new multifunctional composite made of carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) and piezoelectric materials can use vibrations to self-detect tiny cracks.

How Plant Cell Walls Quietly Guide Stem Cell Growth - A new study reveals that plant cell walls actively regulate stem cell division timing, influencing growth patterns and plant structure.

Tiny mammals are sending warning signs scientists can finally read - Small mammals are early warning systems for environmental damage, but many species look almost identical, making them hard to track.

What’s Really Going On Inside Jupiter? New Models Offer Clues - Jupiter’s atmosphere and clouds have mesmerized stargazers for centuries, as their multi-colored, swirling layers can easily be viewed from powerful telescopes on Earth.

A breakthrough that turns exhaust CO2 into useful materials - Scientists have created a device that captures carbon dioxide and transforms it into a useful chemical in a single step.

Dark Energy Survey Data Reveals the Tighest Estimates Yet on Cosmic Expansion - The Dark Energy Survey Collaboration collected information on hundreds of millions of galaxies across the Universe using the U.S. Department of Energy-fabricated Dark Energy Camera, mounted on the U.S. National Science Foundation Víctor M. Blanco 4-meter Telescope at CTIO, a Program of NSF NOIRLab.

These Animals Are Expertly Adapted to the Cold - Some species wield natural antifreeze to survive brutal temperatures The post These Animals Are Expertly Adapted to the Cold appeared first on Nautilus .

January 28, 2026

Why Middle-Aged Americans Can’t Find Happiness - Welcome to the real midlife crisis in the US The post Why Middle-Aged Americans Can’t Find Happiness appeared first on Nautilus .

NASA and SpaceX move up launch of Crew-12 astronauts to Feb. 11 as relief crew after ISS medical evacuation - NASA and SpaceX are proceeding ahead of schedule with their next astronaut launch to the International Space Station, which is currently operating with a skeleton crew.

A New Vaccine Platform Could Cut Development Timelines From Months to Weeks - Learn how doctors are developing a new platform that uses bacteria and protein design to speed early vaccine testing and production.

Bright Streaks on Mercury Suggest That It's Not a Dead Planet, but Geologically Active  - Learn about the bright streaks that may represent recent geological activity on Mercury, which has been considered a dead planet in the past.

Teenage girl who lived in Italy 12,000 years ago had a rare form of dwarfism, DNA study shows - In 1963, researchers unearthed two Stone Age skeletons that were buried in an embraced position in a cave in Italy.

NASA exoplanet probe tracks interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS to gauge its spin - The interstellar visitor may still have a few things to tell us before it leaves our solar system.

New study of chemical reactions in space 'could impact the origin of life in ways we hadn't thought of' - The complex building blocks of life can form spontaneously in space, a new lab experiment shows.

Hidden Underwater Volcanoes May Explain Half of Earth’s Triassic Extinctions - Learn how geological clues preserved in ancient oceans link repeated volcanic eruptions to Triassic marine extinctions.

Chile's Paranal Observatory Saved from Industrial Development - After months of protests led by Nobel laureate Reinhard Genzel, the American energy company AES Andes has abandoned plans to build a massive solar and wind facility just kilometres from one of the world's premier telescope sites.

US individuals traveling from strongly blue or red US counties may favor everyday travel to like-minded destinations - A study reveals that residents from politically strong counties tend to travel to like-minded destinations, contributing to political polarization.

Solving the Century Old Puzzle of Our Galaxy's Neighborhood - Nearly a century after Edwin Hubble discovered the universe's expansion, astronomers have finally explained the nagging mystery of why most nearby galaxies rush away from us as if the Milky Way's gravity doesn't exist?

Mercury May Not Be "Dead" After All - Researchers using machine learning have discovered hundreds of mysterious bright streaks on Mercury's surface that appear to be caused by gases escaping from the planet's interior.

Animal Offerings and Painted Walls Reveal Secrets of the Ancient Roman Cult Site Nida  - Learn about the cult district of Nida, an ancient cult site uncovered under Frankfurt that archaeologists are calling one of the most significant Roman discoveries in Europe.

How Earth's atmosphere and climate come together to create a polar vortex - To understand what Americans are experiencing with this winter blast, we need to look more than 20 miles above the surface of Earth, to the stratospheric polar vortex.

Listening to Angry Human Voices Could Throw Off a Dog's Balance - Learn more about how human voices, whether happy or angry, can impact a dog's balance. 

How Richard Feynman Found the Root of the Challenger Disaster - The famed physicist’s persistence led him to uncover shocking failures The post How Richard Feynman Found the Root of the Challenger Disaster appeared first on Nautilus .

Can AI detect cognitive decline better than a doctor? New study reveals surprising accuracy - Designed to assist rather than replace doctors, a new autonomous tool scans clinical notes to highlight patients who may need urgent follow-up for cognitive decline and potential dementia.

430,000-year-old wooden handheld tools from Greece are the oldest on record — and they predate modern humans - Archaeologists have found the oldest-known surviving examples of handheld wooden tools.

See the Milky Way glow with the stars of the Summer Triangle above Egypt's Black Desert - Deneb, Vega and Altair are among the brightest stars in the night sky.

Do Dwarf Galaxies Merge In The Milky Way's Halo? - Our current understanding of the Cosmos shows that structures emerge hierarchically.

New Study Throws a Wrench in Our Understanding of Memory - Some types of memories may not be stored as differently as we thought The post New Study Throws a Wrench in Our Understanding of Memory appeared first on Nautilus .

Cats Rarely Meow at Other Cats — Do They Save Their Voices for Us? Here's What We Know - Learn more about the complicated ways cats communicate and how new research is trying to understand the power behind the meow. 

SpaceX targeting mid-March for 1st flight of bigger, more powerful Starship 'Version 3,' Elon Musk says - SpaceX plans to launch the 12th test flight of its Starship megarocket in six weeks, according to Elon Musk.

Giving AI the ability to monitor its own thought process could help it think like humans - Today's best AI systems don't have a good grasp on their own thought process, but a new model might allow them to tap into metacognition

Proteins before planets: How space ice may have created the 1st building blocks of life - "We used to think that only very simple molecules could be created in these clouds.

Next-generation AI 'swarms' will invade social media by mimicking human behavior and harassing real users, researchers warn - Artificial intelligence experts have warned that AI "swarms" are poised to infiltrate social media by deploying agents that mimic human behavior and exploit our tendency to follow the herd.

Giant 'metal cloud' spotted in nearby star system could be hiding a second alien sun - Astronomers suspect that a massive metallic cloud swirling in a nearby star system could be hiding a giant planet or dwarf star from view, after it drastically dimmed a sun-like star for around nine months.

Rocket Lab's 'Hungry Hippo' Neutron fairing arrives at spaceport in Virginia - The "hungry hippo" fairing for Rocket Lab's new Neutron launch vehicle has arrived for integration at the company's Virginia Spaceport facilities.

NASA is preparing for simulated launch of Artemis II mega moon rocket — and it could happen as early as Saturday - NASA has announced it will fuel the Artemis II rocket as part of a simulated launch that will take place as early as Saturday (Jan. 31).

Gen Z Likes To Flirt With AI Versions Of Themselves - A  recent survey of 2,000 Americans aged 18-28 wanted to get insights on how "AI" Large Language Models are shaping behavior.  read more

'Star Wars Outlaws' scores a new prequel novel starring antagonist Jaylen Vrax and his ND-5 assassin droid - Author Mike Chen returns fans to the galaxy's grimy underworld in this thrilling crime caper book

Networks Hold the Key to a Decades-Old Problem About Waves - Mathematicians are still trying to understand fundamental properties of the Fourier transform, one of their most ubiquitous and powerful tools.

Inside Lego's Artemis 2 range: Which set delivers the best build, detail and value? - Space fans looking for a Lego Artemis set to build now have an interesting conundrum, as there are two Lego NASA Space Launch System Artemis 2 sets to choose from.

Proton-trapping MNene transforms ammonia production for food security and economic growth - With a new electrochemical synthesis via an electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR), achieving carbon-free ammonia production is closer to reality through work from Drs.

Disney+ deal ends tonight: Watch upcoming Star Wars: Maul – Shadow Lord on Disney+ for just £3.99 a month - Save 33% on this UK-only Disney+ streaming deal; it's a must-have for sci-fi fans, giving you access to the entire Star Wars and Marvel catalogues and much, much more.

Carson VX 12x50 binocular review - The Carson VX 12x50 binoculars are capable of crisp star imagery with their 50mm objective lens and 12x magnification.

Stargazing in the city: what you can (and can't) see at night - A range of gorgeous skywatching targets are visible to the naked eye in city skies.

The origin story of syphilis goes back far longer than we thought - A 5,500-year-old fossil from Colombia has scientists rethinking syphilis origins.

How smart polymer solutions transition to gels around body temperature - In the world of modern medicine, most people focus on the active pharmaceutical ingredients, which are the chemicals that specifically fight a disease's symptoms or causes.

America's 250th lights up Washington Monument | Space photo of the day for Jan. 28, 2026 - A 250th anniversary only comes once in a lifetime.

NASA research jet makes fiery 'wheels-up landing' after experiencing mechanical issue (video) - One of NASA's high-altitude WB-57 research jet made a fiery wheels-up landing on Tuesday (Jan. 27) after a mechanical issue prevented it from lowering its landing gear.

Days numbered for 'risky' lithium-ion batteries, scientists say, after fast-charging breakthrough in sodium-ion alternative - An innovative approach to battery materials could bring sodium-ion energy density and charging speeds far closer to those of lithium-ion, scientists say.

Japan lost a 5-ton navigation satellite when it fell off a rocket during launch - Imagine: You lost your car's cargo rack, but didn't notice until you reached your destination.

Renpho Lynx smart ring review: Somewhat disappointing - The first fitness tracker made by wellness giant Renpho has some strong points, but it is unlikely to make serious waves in the smart ring industry.

The Magnetic "Birdsong" of the Smallest Planet - BepiColombo is slowly uncovering more and more fun facts about Mercury as it continues its preliminary mission.

Strength-in-numbers X-ray technique can map previously unattainable atomic structures - For many decades, the method to obtain atomic-level descriptions of chemical compounds and materials—be it a drug, a catalyst, or a commodity chemical—has been X-ray crystallography.

Chatbots may make learning feel easy — but it’s shallow - People who use search engines gain deeper knowledge and care more about what they learn than those who rely on AI chatbots, a new study finds.

Diagnostic dilemma: Liquid-nitrogen-infused cocktail popped a man's stomach like a balloon - Liquid nitrogen can be used safely in food preparation — but one man's stomach burst after he threw back a cocktail that had been cooled with the substance.

Human-led AI opens tech jobs for refugees - AI can help displaced people avoid exploitation, but humans must call the shots, warn specialists in the field.

Dark stars could solve three major mysteries of the early universe - JWST has revealed a strange early universe filled with ultra-bright “blue monster” galaxies, mysterious “little red dots,” and black holes that seem far too massive for their age.

See February's full Snow Moon rise this weekend next to a glittering star cluster - February's full "Snow Moon" will be at its fullest on Sunday, Feb. 1, and will be best seen at moonrise.

Scientists turn tumor immune cells into cancer killers - Scientists at KAIST have found a way to turn a tumor’s own immune cells into powerful cancer fighters—right inside the body.

The hidden reason cancer immunotherapy often fails - Cancer immunotherapy has been a game-changer, but many tumors still find ways to slip past the immune system.

Why long COVID brain fog seems so much worse in the U.S. - A massive international study of more than 3,100 long COVID patients uncovered a striking divide in how brain-related symptoms are reported around the world.

The fat you can’t see could be shrinking your brain - Where your body stores fat may matter just as much as how much you carry—especially for your brain.

Sunken Thames barges create new island for birds - The National Trust describes the Northey Island project as "a bold marine engineering feat".

40 years after the space shuttle Challenger disaster, spaceflight remains far from routine - Seven astronauts lost their lives during the Challenger space shuttle disaster on Jan. 28, 1986.

Biofilms May Have Sparked Life on Earth—and Could Sustain It in Space - It's 2041 and an astronaut on Mars Station 1 orbiting the Red Planet is inspecting life support systems in the bowels of the habitat.

The "China Sky Eye" Traces Fast Radio Bursts to a Binary Star System - An international team of astronomers has uncovered the first definitive evidence that at least some fast radio bursts (FRBs) originate in binary stellar systems.

Radio waves revealed what happened before a star exploded - For the first time, astronomers have captured radio signals from a rare exploding star, exposing what happened in the years leading up to its death.

This spider’s “pearl necklace” was living parasites - What looked like a pearl necklace on a tiny spider turned out to be parasitic mite larvae.

January 27, 2026

A common parasite in the brain is far more active than we thought - A common parasite long thought to lie dormant is actually much more active and complex.

160,000-Year-Old Stone Tools Reveal Advanced Tool Making in East Asia - Learn how archaeologists dated stone tools from central China and what they reveal about when early humans in Asia began using complex tools.

Intermittent Black Hole Jets Are Like A 'Cosmic Volcano' - Supermassive black holes grow larger by accreting matter.

Stellar Fireworks at the Heart of the Milky Way - Using the South Pole Telescope, astronomers have detected powerful stellar flares erupting from stars near the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way.

The Monk Who Recognised Halley's Comet First - The comet bearing Edmond Halley's name may have been misnamed!

'Doomsday Clock' ticks 4 seconds closer to midnight as unregulated AI and 'mirror life' threaten humanity - The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists now says humanity is a metaphorical 85 seconds to global disaster.

February's 2026 Snow Moon Will Light Up the Night as Winter Rages On - Find out how to watch the upcoming Snow Moon, a full moon that will shine exceptionally bright on Feb. 1, 2026.

Cannabis Drinks Are Growing in Popularity — and Helping Some People Drink Less Alcohol - For people who aren’t interested in total abstinence, cannabis-infused beverages may offer a way to reduce alcohol use while keeping familiar rituals intact.

Astronomers discover the 'growing pains' of teenage exoplanets - "We've often seen the 'baby pictures' of planets forming, but until now, the 'teenage years' have been a missing link."