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736 articles · page 15 of 16 · The Science front page
NASA's Roman Space Telescope is now in the commissioning phase of its three-month journey from Earth to Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), where engineers will methodically turn on, adjust, and calibrate the observatory's systems before science operations can begin.
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, a $4.3 billion observatory featuring a 300-megapixel camera and a refurbished spy mirror, launched Sunday from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, beginning a mission to unravel the Universe's most enigmatic forces. The telescope's vast field of view—100 times wider than Hubble's—will complement the James Webb Space Telescope's deep-field studies, marking only the second NASA-led astrophysics mission to launch this century after Webb's 2021 debut.
NASA launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope overnight, a mission designed to peer back across 11 billion years of cosmic history and test whether the leading model of dark energy — the mysterious force accelerating the universe's expansion — is fundamentally wrong. Recent data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) and the Dark Energy Survey have raised tantalising hints that dark energy may not be constant, but weakening over time, a finding that would require astrophysicists to rewrite their understanding of the cosmos.
President Donald Trump unexpectedly dialed into NASA's post-launch news conference for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Sunday morning at Kennedy Space Center, interrupting the standard briefing to congratulate the mission team.
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched successfully aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 30, 2026, beginning a three-month, one-million-mile journey to the second Sun-Earth Lagrange point. The observatory will survey billions of galaxies from its vantage beyond the Moon, with scientists hoping its data will illuminate dark energy and reveal exoplanets directly.
A world-first clinical trial led by Australian researchers has found that taking statins — a common cholesterol-lowering medication — can reduce the risk of a heart attack or stroke in otherwise healthy people aged over 70, with a low risk of serious side effects.
A world-first clinical trial has found that a widely used cholesterol-lowering medication significantly reduces the risk of a major cardiovascular event in people who have previously had a heart attack, according to researchers.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Friday establishing the United States Space Academy, a new national institution intended to educate and train engineers, operators, and service members for the growing space sector. The academy will be located at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and a presidential commission chaired by NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman will deliver recommendations within 120 days.
President Trump awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor to the four Artemis II crew members during a ceremony Friday at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, recognizing the first astronauts to fly around the Moon since the Apollo era.
A team of scientists has unearthed a 30-million-year-old fossilised fruit in Australia that upends previous assumptions about the arrival and evolution of the Melastomataceae plant family on the continent, offering new insights into the region's ancient botanical history.
A growing body of evidence and clinical experience is leading doctors to fundamentally rethink how they manage antidepressant withdrawal, moving away from the belief that symptoms are typically mild and short-lived to a more nuanced approach that acknowledges potentially severe and prolonged effects for some patients, according to a recent report in New Scientist.
A new analysis of the world's seed vaults, including the famous Svalbard Global Seed Vault, has uncovered a disturbing realization: many of these repositories of agricultural biodiversity are not as secure or comprehensive as previously thought, potentially jeopardizing efforts to safeguard food supplies against climate change, pests, and geopolitical instability.
A startup called Generation Lab is promoting an injectable combination of two existing drugs it claims can block the systemic spread of aging in the bloodstream and restore youth to multiple tissues. The company, founded by scientist Irina Conboy, has already begun administering the treatment to a small group including its CEO and founder, who report benefits such as improved vision, stamina, and hand grip. However, the claims are met with widespread skepticism due to the company's refusal to disclose the drug names, its plan for pay-to-play clinical trials, and its association with a doctor who previously promoted treatments deemed fraudulent by the FDA.
A major new study has found that recent strong El Niño climate patterns, including the ‘Godzilla’ event currently developing in the Pacific, have been intensified by the burning of fossil fuels, with the brewing phenomenon projected to push 50 million people into acute hunger by the end of next year.
NASA has debuted a bold new paint scheme on one of its T-38 Talon jets, the supersonic trainers flown by astronauts for over half a century. The Artemis-themed livery, unveiled August 27, 2026, features a black-and-white base with blue and red stripes, the Artemis program logo, and a moon graphic on the rear fuselage — a visual statement of the agency's renewed push to return humans to the lunar surface.
A chemical testing lab has begun analyzing black-market peptides sold via social media, finding that many products contain dangerously high doses that could pose serious health risks. The laboratory's move comes amid a boom in demand for unapproved peptide products touted for anti-aging, muscle growth, and weight loss, with regulators struggling to keep pace.
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope successfully launched from Florida on Sunday, carrying a repurposed spy satellite into space on a mission to explore dark energy, exoplanets, and the hidden structure of the cosmos. The launch came just hours after President Donald Trump, who had twice proposed canceling the project, phoned into NASA's post-launch press conference to celebrate the achievement.
More than 1,000 volunteers in 25 countries, including a major contingent in Switzerland, buried cotton underpants for two months as part of a citizen science project to map soil health. The results, published in the journal Plants People Planet, reveal that land management practices significantly affect soil life and quality, offering a low-cost method for monitoring a critical resource.
New satellite imagery analyzed by scientists has revealed that a combination of a rock landslide and a glacial collapse likely triggered the catastrophic floods that swept through parts of Nepal and Tibet in recent weeks, claiming dozens of lives and destroying infrastructure. The findings, reported by researchers using high-resolution satellite data, offer a more precise understanding of the sequence of events that led to the sudden release of water from a high-altitude lake.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved daraxonrasib, a new targeted therapy for pancreatic cancer, a disease that kills more than 90% of patients within five years. Clinical trial data show the drug significantly extends survival in patients with a specific genetic mutation, prompting oncologists to describe it as a long-awaited breakthrough.
In a landmark achievement for quantum physics, scientists have directly imaged the quantum fluctuations of empty space—the ephemeral particles that pop in and out of existence in the vacuum. The breakthrough, reported by ScienceAlert, provides the first visual confirmation of a phenomenon long predicted by quantum field theory but previously only inferred indirectly through effects like the Casimir force and the Lamb shift.
Neurosurgeons at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London have completed what is believed to be the world's first successful AI-assisted operation to remove a brain tumour, preserving the vision of 48-year-old patient Rhys Hibbert. Details of the May surgery were announced on Thursday as Hibbert recovered, marking a milestone in the integration of artificial intelligence into live surgical procedures.
A new study suggests that an alternative method of producing milk could use up to 96% less land than conventional dairy farming, potentially transforming the environmental impact of one of the most resource-intensive agricultural sectors. The research, which has not yet been published in full, points to cellular agriculture—growing milk proteins in bioreactors—as a route to dramatically reduce land use, though questions about cost, scalability, and consumer acceptance persist.
Scientists using a novel technique called tidal tomography have detected a massive thermal anomaly deep beneath Mars' surface: the mantle under the southern hemisphere is up to 750°F hotter than that of the north, according to a study published Wednesday in Nature. This discovery adds a crucial new clue to the decades-old puzzle of why the red planet's northern half is dominated by low-lying plains, while the south is covered in highlands miles higher in average elevation.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a first-in-class targeted therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer, marking a significant milestone in the treatment of one of the deadliest cancers. The approval, announced August 26, provides a new option for patients with tumors harboring a specific genetic mutation, addressing a long-standing gap in therapies for advanced disease.
A gastroenterologist has outlined five specific warning signs that indicate abdominal pain may require urgent hospital attention, in an article syndicated across three major Australian news outlets including The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and Brisbane Times. The advice, authored by Dr Trisha Pasricha, seeks to clarify a common but often confusing medical dilemma: when a stomach ache is more than just indigestion.
NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has arrived at the SpaceX hangar at Launch Complex 39A at Kennedy Space Center, following its transport from the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility on Tuesday. The spacecraft, encapsulated in its payload fairing, is scheduled to lift off no earlier than Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026, atop a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket.
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a groundbreaking new oral drug, daraxonrasib, for the most common form of pancreatic cancer, offering patients a targeted therapy against a disease that has long resisted effective treatment. The expedited approval marks a significant milestone in the fight against one of the deadliest cancers.
A new study suggests that people who consumed less sugar in early childhood may have longer telomeres—the protective caps at the ends of chromosomes—adding about two years to their life expectancy. The research, published August 26, 2026, links early-life dietary sugar intake with cellular aging, highlighting the long-term health impact of nutrition in infancy.
Researchers have demonstrated that two separate genetic codes can operate at the same time inside a cell, a breakthrough that could dramatically accelerate synthetic biology by eliminating the need to re-engineer entire genomes. The work, which has not yet been tested in living cells, offers a novel shortcut to expand the chemical building blocks of life.
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) — psychiatry's most widely used diagnostic reference — is finally getting a biological upgrade after decades in which its diagnoses of mental illness relied entirely on symptom descriptions rather than biological measures, according to a report by Anand Kumar published in The Conversation and republished by Ars Technica this week.
A Seattle-based company has announced an ambitious plan to extract helium-3 from the Moon's surface, claiming it could collect the equivalent of 15,000 years of solar wind bombardment in just four hours. The effort, reported by Ars Technica, targets an isotope prized for its potential in nuclear fusion power generation, but faces significant technical and economic challenges.
A large observational study tracking more than 180,000 postmenopausal women in the UK has found that those who used hormone replacement therapy (HRT) were 10% less likely to be diagnosed with dementia and 16% less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease compared to those who never used it. The findings, published by researchers analysing UK health records, add to a long-running debate about the cognitive effects of menopausal hormone treatments, though experts caution the results do not prove causation.
SpaceX has announced plans to invest $100 billion in a sprawling new spaceport in Vermilion Parish, Louisiana, designed to support thousands of annual Starship launches, with construction slated to start in 2027 and the first launch targeted for 2029. The project, which would create an estimated 3,000 direct and 8,100 indirect jobs, includes five launch complexes, propellant production, and deep-water shipping capabilities, but comes with significant environmental and technical challenges given the company's mixed record and Starship's unproven reusability.
A new study published Tuesday reveals that at least 25% of former National Football League (NFL) players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head impacts, with researchers warning the true figure may be even higher. The findings underscore ongoing concerns about the long-term neurological risks of professional football.
A new molecular study has found definitive evidence that ketamine, widely used as an anesthetic and increasingly as a treatment for depression, acts on the same opioid receptors as drugs like morphine and fentanyl, raising important questions about its safety profile and potential for dependence.
Australian researchers have proposed a new class of medical micro-robots: giant cyborg cockroaches capable of firing drug-filled syringes on command, with plans to deploy them in autonomous swarms for precision medicine. The concept, described in a recent preprint, combines living insect tissue with electronic control systems to navigate complex environments such as the human gastrointestinal tract or collapsed disaster zones.
India’s long-delayed crewed space program, Gaganyaan, will finally see its first test launch this year, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman Dr V. Narayanan announced on National Space Day. The program had previously missed deadlines to fly in 2022 and 2025. If successful, India would become only the fourth nation to launch humans into space using its own vehicle, after Russia, the United States, and China.
New peer-reviewed research released today by the Murujuga Rock Art Monitoring Program (MRAMP) provides the clearest evidence to date that historic sulphur emissions from nearby industrial complexes are a likely cause of damage to the ancient rock art at Murujuga in Western Australia's Pilbara region. The site, home to an estimated 1 million to 2 million petroglyphs spanning at least 50,000 years, was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2025.
A series of large earthquakes over the past three months—including a magnitude 7.8 in the Philippines, a 7.7 in Indonesia, and multiple strong quakes in Venezuela, Colombia, and Japan—has prompted renewed public anxiety about whether our planet is becoming more seismically active. However, geophysicists analyzing global data say the evidence points in the opposite direction: 2026 is on track to record slightly fewer earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 or greater than the 40-year average.
Researchers at MIT, Harvard, and the University of Houston have developed a novel mRNA-based vaccine adjuvant that dramatically amplifies T-cell responses, showing promise in mouse models against multiple cancers and viral infections. The approach, which uses lipid nanoparticles to deliver genes that activate immune signaling pathways, could overcome a major limitation of current cancer vaccines and enhance the effectiveness of checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies.
A new study has found that at least one in four former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head impacts. The research also reports that 70% of all head impacts in football occur during practice rather than in games, raising fresh concerns about cumulative exposure during routine training.
SpaceX is dramatically reducing launch operations from Florida's Space Coast this year, a senior company official confirmed Tuesday, marking a significant shift away from the Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center pads that have made the region the world's busiest spaceport for a decade. The move signals a strategic pivot as the company redirects resources toward the forthcoming Starship program, though it has already increased activity from its West Coast facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
Two non-invasive tests for endometriosis – one analysing saliva for microRNA markers (Endotest) and another measuring electrical activity in the gut (EndoSure) – have entered three-year trials in UK general practices, aiming to dramatically shorten the average diagnostic delay of seven to nine years. While the promise is clear, clinicians caution that the evidence base is not yet sufficient for routine use outside research settings.
NASA's Pandora mission, the first satellite launched through the agency's Astrophysics Pioneers program, has begun its scientific observations, aiming to determine the atmospheric composition of at least 20 exoplanets, including the presence of hazes, clouds, and water, by disentangling planetary signals from interference caused by their host stars.
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry announced Tuesday that SpaceX will commit up to $100 billion to develop 'Starbase Louisiana,' a massive spaceport on the state's Gulf coast. The facility, which will include Starship factories, multiple launch towers, and on-site propellant production, is designed to replicate and expand upon SpaceX's existing Starbase in southern Texas.
Conservators at the Indianapolis Museum of Art are turning to chemistry to preserve the iconic glow-in-the-dark and fluorescent pigments used by late designer Stephen Sprouse, whose neon-infused creations adorned celebrities like Debbie Harry and captivated the art world. Researchers detailed their work on the photochemistry of these emissive pigments at the American Chemical Society meeting in Chicago this week, aiming to understand why the colors fade and how to stop it.
Pacific Fusion, a private fusion energy startup, has broken ground on a demonstration facility in New Mexico that it claims will generate enough energy to power itself, marking a potential milestone on the long road to commercial fusion power. The announcement, first reported by TechCrunch, brings the company into the race to prove net-positive energy from a fusion reaction.