Science

When the volcanic island of Santorini experienced a protracted series of tremors earlier this year—culminating in a 5.3-magnitude quake that prompted the evacuation of more than 10,000 residents—many observers attributed the seismic unrest to tectonic faulting in the southern Aegean. However, a recent study led by University of Oregon geophysicist Dr. Emilie Hooft reveals that the quakes were in fact driven by deep magma injection, providing fresh insights into the island’s volcanic plumbing and improving forecasts of future volcanic hazards.

In Hobart's cold lab, where temperatures drop to –20 °C, scientists from the Australian Antarctic Program are analyzing the first ice core samples from their “Million Year Ice Core” project. These one-meter ice cylinders, taken from 150 meters deep on the Antarctic Plateau, contain tiny air bubbles that hold Earth's atmosphere from 4,000 years ago. Although these initial samples are just the beginning, they are crucial for paleoclimate research. This marks the start of a deeper exploration, aiming to reach over 3,000 meters below the ice surface, potentially revealing Earth's climate history up to two million years back.

Astronomers have uncovered the most distant “radio mini-halo” ever observed—a vast, diffuse cloud of high-energy particles enveloping a galaxy cluster some 10 billion light-years away. This remarkable finding, co-led by Université de Montréal astrophysicist Julie Hlavacek-Larrondo and Durham University’s Roland Timmerman, doubles the previous record for mini-halo distance and offers an unprecedented glimpse into the energetic processes that shaped galaxy clusters during the universe’s formative eras. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, the discovery promises to deepen our understanding of how massive cosmic structures evolved under the influence of energetic particle populations.

A revolutionary fossil‐digitization technique has uncovered a vast assemblage of squid beaks dating back 100 million years, overturning long-held beliefs about early marine ecosystems.

In a landmark achievement for astronomy, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has directly imaged an exoplanet with a mass comparable to Saturn, marking the lightest world yet to be seen through direct observation. The planet, designated TWA 7b, orbits a young star 110 light-years from Earth and was detected using a novel coronagraphic technique that suppresses starlight to reveal faint planetary companions. Published today in Nature, the discovery opens a new window onto the early stages of planetary system evolution.

A groundbreaking new analysis of fossil forelimb bones has upended longstanding ideas about when and how the ancestors of mammals shifted from sprawling, reptile-like locomotion to the upright gait characteristic of modern mammals. Published today in PLOS Biology, the study led by Dr. Robert Brocklehurst and Professor Stephanie Pierce of Harvard University shows that the evolution of parasagittal (upright) posture was neither a simple, linear progression nor an early adaptation—but rather a late, dynamic radiation of diverse postural strategies among stem mammals.

NASA is breaking new ground with its Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. This initiative supports bold ideas that could revolutionize space exploration. NIAC funds early-stage projects that blur the line between science fiction and reality. The 2025 awardees include projects on life-support systems for deep-space missions, Martian water purification, cellular therapies to combat radiation, and digitally engineered spacesuits. Each project offers groundbreaking potential for future crewed missions and real-world benefits on Earth.

Three newly identified sea spider species have unveiled an extraordinary survival strategy: farming methane-oxidizing bacteria directly on their bodies. This remarkable symbiosis, described in a study published in PNAS, challenges our understanding of deep-sea ecology and offers insight into life in the ocean’s darkest, most inhospitable environments.