A 690-million-kilometer journey through space ends for Australia’s SpIRIT mission
After more than 25 months of successful operations in space, the SpIRIT mission has ended, marking a major milestone for Australia’s growing space capability. Led by the University of Melbourne, in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, the Space Industry Responsive Intelligent Thermal (SpIRIT) nanosatellite exceeded its original two-year design life. ⌘ Read more

Travel far, breed hard, and die young: Short-eared owls and why they should be studied
This Journal of Raptor Research issue focuses on movement ecology—how and why raptors move. This can include classic movements like migration, as well as nomadism. ⌘ Read more

Tiny Purgatorius fossils in Denver Basin hint at early primate spread southward
New minuscule fossils of Purgatorius, the earliest-known relative of all primates—including humans—have been unearthed in a more southern region of North America than ever before, and the breakthrough is providing paleontologists with fresh clues about evolution. The work appears in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. ⌘ Read more

Modern twist on wildfire management methods has a bonus feature that protects water supplies
Wildfires are among the most economically costly natural disasters and are becoming more severe and frequent due to global warming. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimates that global damage from wildfires was on average $106 billion per year between 2014 and 2023. The US is especially prone: the 10 most costly wildfires since 1970 all happened there, with the 2025 wildfires aroun … ⌘ Read more

Low fertility may not be an economic threat, researchers argue
In their piece, published in Nature Human Behaviour, IIASA Distinguished Emeritus Research Scholar Wolfgang Lutz and IIASA Senior Researcher Guillaume Marois, who is also an associate professor at the Asian Demographic Research Institute of the Shanghai University, respond to political and public concern over declining birth rates in highly developed countries. While low fertility is increasingly framed as a crisis, associated with population ag … ⌘ Read more

Oman ophiolite study suggests subduction zones can lock away CO₂
A research team led by a Keele scientist has shed new light on how a mysterious rock formation in Oman was created, which could reveal new details about Earth’s ability to store carbon dioxide (CO2). The study, led by Dr. Elliot Carter in Keele’s School of Life Sciences, in collaboration with the Universities of Ottawa and Manchester, looked at geological evidence from Oman to better understand processes that occur in subduction zones, w … ⌘ Read more

Greenhouse gas fluxes in Everglades provide path for maximizing carbon capture via water management
The Florida Everglades is a complicated climate actor. The 1.5-million-acre wetland system remains a carbon sink, removing an average of 13.7 million metric tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year, but the system also releases methane. In a new study, Yale School of the Environment scientists have analyzed the greenhouse gas fluxes in its mangroves and fresh-water marshes, providing a … ⌘ Read more

ISS photo captures Atlantic sunglint 263 miles up, showing mirror-like ocean glare
“Sunlight” beams off a partly cloudy Atlantic Ocean just after sunrise as the International Space Station orbited 263 miles above on March 5, 2025. This is an example of sunglint, an optical phenomenon that occurs when sunlight reflects off the surface of water at the same angle that a satellite sensor views it. The result is a mirror-like specular reflection of sunlight off the water and back at the satellite sensor or astrona … ⌘ Read more

Study suggests fire ant baiting in Queensland may help invaders spread faster
A provocative new international study published in Austral Ecology warns the massive “broadcast baiting” campaign currently used to combat Red Imported Fire Ants (RIFA) in south-east Queensland may be doing more harm than good. ⌘ Read more

NASA’s MAVEN detects first evidence of lightning-like activity on Mars
While sifting through the extensive data collected by NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft over the last decade, scientists discovered a familiar type of electromagnetic signal commonly caused by lightning. This rare find represents the first direct indication of lightning activity on Mars. The team recently published their findings in Science Advances, where they describe the event and why it’s so di … ⌘ Read more

Superfluids emerge in 2D moiré crystal formed from time, study predicts
Conventional crystals are materials in which atoms arrange themselves in repeating spatial patterns. Time crystals, on the other hand, are phases of matter characterized by repeating motions over time without constantly heating up, breaking a physical rule known as time-translation symmetry. ⌘ Read more

El Nino may return in 2026 and make planet even hotter
The warming El Niño weather phenomenon could form later this year, potentially pushing global temperatures to record heights. ⌘ Read more

Frictionless AI comes at a human cost to learning, growth and connection
Artificial intelligence is rapidly making intellectual work and social interaction easier, but that ease may come at a substantial psychological cost, according to researchers from the University of Toronto. In an article published in Communications Psychology, the authors argue that AI’s greatest strength, namely removing friction from work and relationships, is also a liability. ⌘ Read more

AI cracks Roman-era board game
A smooth, white stone dating from the Roman era and unearthed in the Netherlands has long baffled researchers. ⌘ Read more

Nanoparticle system shows promise for delivering mRNA to prevent type 1 diabetes
Research on preventing type 1 diabetes often focuses on limiting the autoimmune response that destroys the body’s ability to produce its own insulin. A new technology developed by scientists at the University of Chicago takes a different approach, centered on preserving insulin-producing beta cells by giving them the ability to protect themselves. ⌘ Read more

The wonders of daisies: The buffet we walk on
A yellow disk with rays of white—an icon of childhood drawings and a flower with healing properties. We have picnics on it, play football on it and make daisy chains out of it. ⌘ Read more

Q&A: Online degrees viewed more positively post-pandemic, research finds
COVID-19 made remote work and remote learning a new norm for employees and students. But even as many have returned to offices and schools, one of the pandemic’s quieter legacies is influencing both the workplace and the classroom: Online degrees are now held in higher regard by hiring professionals, according to new research from Virginia Commonwealth University. ⌘ Read more

Heavier hydrogen makes silicon T centers shine brighter for quantum networks
Quantum technologies, computers or other devices that operate leveraging quantum mechanical effects, rely on the precise control of light and matter. Over the past decades, quantum physicists and material scientists have been trying to identify systems that can reliably generate photons (i.e., light particles) and could thus be used to create quantum technologies. ⌘ Read more

Mapping gene regulation to better control inflammation, immunity and cancer
To further the quantitative understanding of cellular decision making, Dr. Gregory Reeves and his team in the chemical engineering department have worked to interpret how a transcription factor dictates the alteration of gene expression in cells. ⌘ Read more

How a common fungus outsmarts drugs and our immune system
Our bodies are home to millions of fungi that, for the most part, are completely harmless. However, they can sometimes change from peaceful residents into dangerous invaders. One such is Candida parapsilosis, which normally lives on our skin or in our intestinal tract but can also be found on medical devices and hospital surfaces. If it gets into a wound or onto a catheter, it can cause a serious blood infection. ⌘ Read more

Using moon dirt with 3D printing to build future lunar colonies
Simulated lunar dirt can be turned into extremely durable structures, potentially paving the way to more sustainable and cost-effective space missions, a new study suggests. Using a special laser 3D printing method, researchers melted fake lunar soil—a synthetic version of the fine dusty material on the moon surface, called regolith simulant—into layers and fused it with a base surface to manufacture small, heat-resistant objects. ⌘ Read more

Why wealth changes how we think about fair prices
When it comes to the price of financial services such as loans, mortgages, and insurance, the perception of what is “fair” has a lot to do with how wealthy you are. In the study “Seeing Like a Company or a Customer: Selective Empathy in Pricing,” appearing in American Sociological Review, authors Barbara Kiviat (Columbia University) and Carly R. Knight (New York University) examine how Americans evaluate the fairness of risk-based pricing—where consumers who are pr … ⌘ Read more

Fossil amber reveals the secret lives of Cretaceous ants
Tiny insects trapped in amber could tell us a great deal about their roles in past ecosystems: pollinators, parasites, predators, and prey. But how many of the insects preserved alongside each other reflect interactions during life, and how many are just unlucky coincidences? ⌘ Read more