Science

2025 Ranks Among Hottest Years on Record, Even as La Niña Offered Little Relief

New datasets show 2025 among the three warmest years globally and the fourth-warmest in the U.S., with oceans, ice and extremes reflecting sustained warming.

#climatechange, #globalwarming, #lanina, #extremeweather, #noaa

NASA Taps Seven U.S. Firms to Mature Tech for Habitable Worlds Telescope

NASA awarded seven U.S. companies three-year contracts to advance optics, coronagraphs and servicing tech for the proposed Habitable Worlds Observatory.

#nasa, #exoplanets, #space-telescope, #optics, #coronagraph

China’s EAST Tokamak Pushes Past Greenwald Density Limit in ‘Density-Free’ Fusion Regime

Researchers running China’s EAST tokamak report stable plasmas up to 65% above the Greenwald density limit, hinting at new operating space for ITER-like reactors.

#fusion, #tokamak, #china, #iter, #plasma

Hubble Spots a ‘Failed Galaxy’: Dark-Matter Cloud Cloud‑9 Has Gas but No Stars

Near galaxy M94, Hubble confirms Cloud‑9: a dark‑matter halo filled with hydrogen yet essentially starless, matching long‑predicted ‘failed galaxies.’

#hubble, #darkmatter, #galaxies, #astronomy, #cosmology

Greenland’s Prudhoe Dome Was Ice-Free 7,100 Years Ago, Study Finds, Raising New Warnings on Future Melt

Sediments drilled from beneath northwest Greenland show Prudhoe Dome vanished in the early Holocene, implying modest warming could spur major ice loss.

#greenland, #icesheet, #sealevelrise, #climatechange, #glaciology

Scientists Add 260 New Species to the Record — Even as Many Near Extinction

Kew Gardens and the California Academy named more than 260 new plants, fungi and animals in 2025, highlighting discovery in a time of rapid biodiversity loss.

#biodiversity, #newspecies, #conservation, #taxonomy, #climatechange

Met Office Finds Winter Warmth Bringing More Flowers to Britain and Ireland

A decade of New Year Plant Hunt records shows each 1°C rise in Nov–Dec temperatures brings about 2.5 more wild plant species into bloom.

#climatechange, #phenology, #botany, #metoffice, #citizenscience

Astronomers Precisely Weigh a Rogue Planet After a Lucky Gaia Flyby

A brief microlensing flare seen from Earth and ESA’s Gaia let researchers measure the mass and distance of a Saturn-like rogue planet 10,000 light-years away.

#astronomy, #exoplanets, #gaia, #microlensing

SpaceX opens 2026 with Falcon 9 launch of Italy’s COSMO-SkyMed radar satellite

A reused Falcon 9 lofts Italy’s CSG-3 radar satellite from California, highlighting dual-use Earth observation and Europe’s reliance on U.S. launchers.

#spacex, #earthobservation, #italy, #satellite, #reusablerockets

Scientists forecast a mid-century ‘peak glacier extinction’ as thousands vanish each year

New modeling projects glacier losses will peak around mid-century, with 2,000–4,000 glaciers disappearing annually depending on emissions cuts.

#glaciers, #climatechange, #globalwarming, #watersecurity, #alps

Webb Spots Earliest Known Supernova After Gamma-Ray Burst From Cosmic Dawn

A gamma-ray burst flagged by the SVOM telescope led Webb to the earliest confirmed supernova, showing massive stars died in familiar ways just 730 million years after the Big Bang.

#astronomy, #space, #jwst, #supernova, #gammarayburst

Astronomers Observe Unprecedented 7-Hour Gamma-Ray Burst

Record-breaking gamma-ray burst challenges existing models, suggesting new cosmic explosion mechanisms.

#gamma-ray, #astronomy, #space, #astrophysics

6-Million-Year-Old Antarctic Ice Unearthed, Unveiling Earth's Ancient Climate

Scientists discover 6-million-year-old ice in Antarctica, revealing ancient climate insights, extending ice core record significantly beyond previous limits.

#antarctica, #climatechange, #icecore, #science, #ancientclimate