Science
The Red Planet has a purple side
Oxidized iron dominates the Martian color palette. The dusty reds, ochers, browns and tans give the planet its nickname: the Red Planet. But new images of Mars' south polar region…
X-ray light is like guitar music, with frequencies sliding continuously between harmonics
Ultrashort laser pulses can be used to generate X-rays. Normally, however, only certain specific frequencies are produced. A team from TU Wien and the University of California San…
Researchers measure the environment where the first supermassive black holes formed
When the James Webb Space Telescope pointed its powerful instruments toward the early universe, scientists were surprised by what it found. At high-redshift (z) values, correspond…
‘Jaw-dropping’: Super El Niño bursts through temperature record months ahead of peak
The ‘Godzilla-level’ phenomenon is supercharging the climate crisis and will heavily impact communities across the worldThe “jaw-dropping” El Niño currently heating up the planet …
Flies, mice and humans share a walking pattern despite radically different bodies
Flies, mice and humans move in different ways because of their very different physiques, but their movements follow a common pattern— joints farther from the center of the body mo…
Tiny molecular scissors reveal how crystals bend without breaking
Crystals are usually thought of as rigid and brittle. Yet some molecular crystals can bend, jump, twist or even change shape when exposed to light. Understanding how tiny molecula…
Widely Attended Gatherings (WAGs) Determinations
2026 NAHF Enshrinement Ceremony 9.24.26.pdf An Evening with the Stars EWTS 9.16.26.pdf Maryland Space Business Roundtable 9.9.26 Virginia Aerospace Business Association (VASBA) Ga…
Nasal spray for humans may help dogs during surgery
Dr. Jun-Yan Sek, a small-animal surgical registrar at JCUVet, lecturer at James Cook University and JCU veterinary alumnus, led a study investigating the use of xylometazoline hyd…
What's keeping schoolchildren from eating local foods?
To get locally grown food onto a schoolchild's lunch tray, communities need supply chains that sort, process and package local farm products. They don't always exist.
Johnson Space Center Sparks Curiosity at Houston’s 33rd Annual Japan Festival
On Sept. 12-13, NASA’s Johnson Space Center employees brought the excitement and wonder of space exploration to Houston’s Japan Festival at Hermann Park. For more than 30 years, …
Weatherwatch: wildfires driven by global heating destroy UK bird habitats
Hot and dry summer created conditions for fires in Scotland and England that tore through vital wildlife areasMajor wildfires this summer in the Cairngorms, along the Suffolk coas…
How Florida Ties Localities’ Hands on Everything from Environmental Regulation to Worker Protections
Florida’s coastal residents know to brace for storm surge, but during 2024’s Hurricane Milton, it was inland communities that suffered some of the greatest flooding. It took three…
Photonic Legos of functional 3D thin-films unlock high-performance heterogeneous photonic integration
Photonic integrated circuits route information with optical signals instead of relying only on electrical currents. Silicon (Si) and silicon nitride (SiNx) are excellent photonic …
Tree vaccines and gene-edited butterflies among biotechnology projects funded by UK ‘invention agency’
Exclusive: The tax-funded research aims to protect British wildlife from the human-caused climate crisisVaccines for ash trees, skin treatments for newts and gene-edited swallowta…
Baby girls’ greater interest in faces offers clue to nature v nurture debate
Study finds overall differences between groups of newborns by sex that are likely to be determined by biologyThe question dates back to the first man and woman: how does the world…
Babies ‘will face almost twice as much’ extreme fire weather in Europe than great-grandparents
Children born after 2025 will experience three more years of brutally fire-conducive weather as global heating intensifiesEuropean babies will face almost twice as much extreme fi…
Genes that help flatworms regenerate their brains revealed
The human brain is terrible at healing itself from injury or disease. But some animals can harness their own cellular abilities not only to repair injuries but also to regrow thei…
AI-powered barcode unmasks 'zombie cells' in aging tissue
As we age, some of the cells in our body enter a state of senescence, in which they stop dividing but do not die. Those senescent cells can contribute to age-related disorders suc…
New Zealanders pick endangered black robin as Bird of the Year
A record number of New Zealanders turned out at the polls this month, not for national elections but to vote for their Bird of the Year—the critically endangered black robin.
Starwatch: Autumnal equinox in northern hemisphere, spring in the south
Precise moment of equinox in UK is 1.05am on Wednesday – but day and night will not be equal until FridayThe September or autumnal equinox takes place this week. It marks the astr…
APOD: 2026 September 21 – Cocoon Nebula Wide Field
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 21 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the co…
Arctic Melt Season Length Levels Off
While the sea ice melt season has lengthened dramatically in most of the satellite era, the trend unexpectedly stabilized around 2010.
Trump reportedly to form health funding board that could veto ‘woke’ initiatives
President’s latest order expected to bring NIH funding under control of Trump administration to align with agendaDonald Trump’s latest executive order is expected to establish a b…
Cooling liquids reveal self-limiting particle clusters behind glass transition
Before diving into the mystery of glass, theoretical physicist Corentin Laudicina takes us back to high school physics for a moment. Although he has spent years studying exactly w…