Orcas filmed smashing giant sunfish into thousands of pieces
Orcas in the Gulf of California were documented dismantling a dead sunfish by gripping it with their fins while charging into it at high speed. The behavior, observed in two separate encounters, resulted in the carcass being blasted into thousands of pieces.
NASA Puts Google’s Gemma Large Language Model in Orbit
Google's Gemma 3 language model was deployed in orbit aboard a YAM-9 satellite to analyze imagery from the satellite's own sensor in the first in-orbit demonstration of a vision-language model. The system, called NAVI-Orbital, uses a compressed 4-bit format of Gemma 3 and allows scientists to upload text prompts to spacecraft instead of requiring structured commands through operations teams.
How AI helps scientists design the next generation of medicines
AI systems are helping scientists design new medicines by analyzing biological data to identify promising drug candidates more efficiently than traditional methods. This accelerates the development process, which historically required many years and significant investment before most candidates failed to reach patients.
Antarctica may give the world decades to prepare for rising seas
Scientists can now reliably forecast Antarctic ice loss through the middle of this century, giving governments time to prepare for sea level rise. After 2050, unstable ice retreat could accelerate dramatically and become much harder to predict.
NASA will test SpaceX and Blue Origin Moon landers before the next lunar landing
NASA will conduct separate rendezvous and docking tests with prototype lunar landers from Blue Origin and SpaceX during the 2027 Artemis III mission. Orion astronauts will practice the complex maneuvers required for future crewed Moon landings with both vehicles in orbit.
NASA’s Webb telescope discovers giant planet hiding in one of astronomy’s most famous systems
A giant planet concealed by cosmic dust in the Beta Pictoris system was discovered through detection of carbon monoxide, water vapor, and methane in its atmosphere. Webb's method of identifying atmospheric traces provides a new approach for locating exoplanets that remain hidden within dust disks.
New bird species identified on remote Indonesian island
A songbird previously classified as a single species across two Indonesian island groups is actually two distinct species, according to recent research. The Babar Islands and Tanimbar Islands, located approximately 135 kilometers apart in the eastern Banda Sea, each host separate populations of this bird.
Genome tool places large genetic sequences precisely in rice and tobacco without DNA breaks
A new genome tool enables precise insertion of large genetic sequences into rice and tobacco plants without creating DNA breaks. The technique overcomes previous limitations in plant biotechnology by allowing scientists to add complex genetic information to support crop improvements and pharmaceutical production.
A longer, hotter reality surrounds marine heat waves, research reveals
Marine heat waves persist longer and reach higher temperatures than previously characterized, with researchers developing a framework to measure cumulative heat exposure including warm periods before and after the events. The new approach treats these temperature increases as extended processes requiring time and energy rather than isolated incidents.
Marine animals first colonized empty seashells about 470 million years ago
Marine animals first occupied empty mollusk shells as habitats approximately 470 million years ago. This colonization of shell interiors represented a significant ecological change that created a new niche in developing marine ecosystems.
Light-driven chemistry method could create antiviral compound libraries 10 to 100 times larger within weeks
A light-driven chemistry method enables scientists to create nucleoside analog libraries 10 to 100 times larger within weeks instead of years. These compounds mimic DNA and RNA building blocks and are used to treat viral infections like HIV and hepatitis.
Water-surface vortices drive tiny rotors without electricity, magnets or chemicals
Water-surface vortices can rotate floating objects without electricity, magnets, or chemicals, as demonstrated by researchers from KIT and SINANO. The team showed that fluid flow at a water surface alone generates controlled miniature rotations in a fixed direction.
NASA to Showcase Agency’s Newest Wind Tunnel in Virginia
NASA is opening its first new wind tunnel in more than 40 years at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The facility, called the Flight Dynamics Research Facility, will be showcased at a media tour and ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 31.
Why a New England city is building tunnels to protect an imperiled salamander
Keene, New Hampshire is constructing tunnels to help wood salamanders safely cross a street during their spring migration. The city deployed crews with flashlights to monitor the amphibians' movements on a rainy March night.
Smithsonian ornithologist John Rappole reconsidered why birds migrate
Ornithologist John Rappole challenged the view that migratory songbirds were temporary tropical visitors by examining their year-round ecology. He demonstrated that these birds spent significant time in tropical forests during winter months, warranting greater scientific attention to their non-breeding habitats.
Mapping Io’s Hidden Heat With NASA’s Juno
NASA's Juno spacecraft used its Microwave Radiometer instrument to map heat on Jupiter's moon Io during two close flybys in December 2023 and January 2024. The black lines show the instrument's footprints from the December 30 flyby that primarily covered the northern hemisphere, while blue lines represent the subsequent January flyby coverage.
NASA’s Juno Peers Beneath Io’s Surface
The Microwave Radiometer aboard NASA's Juno spacecraft detected heat rising from beneath Io's surface using low-frequency microwave channels at 0.6 and 1.25 gigahertz. These channels can penetrate approximately 6 to several kilometers below the moon's surface, unlike infrared instruments that only measure surface temperature.
Lab-grown mini brains may predict which Alzheimer’s treatments will work
Miniature brain models grown from patients' cells showed different responses to an antidepressant in Alzheimer's-related tissue. The organoids could guide personalized treatments and provide diagnostic clues through particles they release.
A strange quantum effect dramatically boosts energy transfer
A proton-assisted mechanism improves energy transfer between quantum dots and nearby molecules by briefly shifting position to coordinate electron movement. The proton returns to its original location after facilitating the triplet energy transfer through this quantum shuttle effect.
The Download: NASA’s new space telescope and OpenAI’s autonomous hacker
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will use shape-shifting mirrors to detect Jupiter-like planets when it launches as early as next month. The telescope employs adjustable mirror technology to identify exoplanets similar to those in our solar system.
How to stitch a massive wildlife corridor through the Rocky Mountains
# Summary A highway through Radium, British Columbia kills bighorn sheep regularly, with necropsies confirming vehicle collisions as the cause of death. Kent Kebe, the village's protective service manager, has removed multiple bighorn sheep carcasses from Highway 93/95.
Shape-shifting mirrors on NASA’s new space telescope could unveil Jupiters like our own
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will carry the first space-based active coronagraph, an instrument using shape-shifting mirrors to block starlight during observation. This capability will enable astronomers to detect and photograph planets similar to Jupiter orbiting distant stars.
Scientists revive a powerful antibiotic that superbugs had defeated
Researchers combined vancomycin with a small molecule called pghi-4 to restore the antibiotic's effectiveness against drug-resistant E. faecium bacteria. The pghi-4 molecule blocks a bacterial enzyme that enables resistance, allowing vancomycin to kill bacteria that had previously defeated it.
In southern India, beekeeping helps Indigenous women earn more
Fifty women in India's Western Ghats are participating in a UNESCO-backed beekeeping project launched in April 2025 to increase honey harvests and strengthen their livelihoods. The Women for Bees initiative provides these Indigenous women with more reliable income through beekeeping practices in the biodiversity hotspot region.
Coffee may protect your heart but energy drinks could harm it
Consuming up to 400 milligrams of daily caffeine, equivalent to three to five cups of black coffee, is safe and may lower heart disease and stroke risk. Energy drinks and shots with concentrated caffeine can sharply raise blood pressure and trigger irregular heart rhythms, unlike regular coffee.
Birds flying in 'V' formation save energy with flatter flaps, new research shows
Birds flying in V formation use flatter wing flaps compared to solitary flight, reducing the energy needed for sustained flight. The research from Brown University demonstrates this aerodynamic advantage occurs because trailing birds position themselves to exploit upwash from the bird ahead.
Urgent cuts to global greenhouse gas emissions needed to avoid worst sea-level rise flooding in the UK, study shows
By 2100, at least half a million additional people in the UK will face coastal flooding risk, representing a 25% increase from current levels. Research from the Met Office and University of Bristol quantified this projection based on future sea level rise scenarios.
NISAR’s L-Band Radar Reveals ‘Hummingbird’ in Antarctica
NISAR's L-band radar captured detailed imagery of Nunatak Zaterjavshijsja, a mountain peak in East Antarctica protruding through flowing ice. The obstruction creates stress patterns that heavily fracture the surrounding ice surfaces as they flow northeast toward the ocean.
NASA to Host Media Briefing on Roman Telescope, Launching Next Month
NASA will host a virtual briefing on July 29 at 2 p.m. EDT about the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope before its launch. The telescope is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center on August 30.
US-India Satellite Delivers Data, Reveals ‘Hummingbird’ in Antarctica
The NISAR satellite's L-band and S-band radar data became publicly accessible as of July 20, enabling researchers to track Earth's surface movements. The joint US-India mission continues releasing processed radar files on an ongoing basis.