2025 was hotter than it should have been

The past three years have been the world’s hottest on record by far, with 2025 almost tied with 2023 for second place. With that energy came extreme weather, from flash flooding to powerful hurricanes and severe droughts. Yet, by most indicators, the planet should have been cooler in 2025 than it was.

How old is the universe? The oldest stars give us a clue

Researchers have proposed a new way to address the Hubble tension by comparing estimates of the universe’s age rather than its expansion rate.

Why woodpeckers rarely get rattled

Woodpeckers are well known for striking tree trunks with remarkable force and precision. These birds deliver thousands of high-speed impacts per day, generating mechanical loads that would destabilize the skulls of most other birds.

Scientist patents invention that can reduce damage from earthquakes

A newly granted patent unveiled an innovative energy-dissipation device designed to protect buildings, infrastructure, and sensitive equipment from earthquakes, strong winds, and man-made vibrations.

Marsupials found alive after 6,000 years of extinction [? Two marsupial species, previously thought to be extinct for over 6,000 years, have been discovered living in the remote rainforests of the Vogelkop Peninsula in Papuan Indonesia.] == yjc
14 stunning images from the 2026 World Nature Photography Awards

The 2026 competition saw entries from 51 countries across six continents. Here are 14 of the gold medal–winning photos from the competition.

== very slow loading, not sure what to make of it just yet
How a Music Streaming CEO Built an Open-Source Global Threat Map in His Spare Time

Frustrated by fragmented war news, Anghami’s Elie Habib built World Monitor, a platform that fuses global data, like aircraft signals and satellite detections, to track conflicts as they unfold.

Cheaper EV batteries? How a fabrication tweak makes sulfur work in solid-state cells

New batteries must be powerful, but also affordable enough for industry to adopt on a massive scale. As a battery component, sulfur—low-cost, abundant and with a high theoretical specific capacity—seems tailor-made for the challenge. But so far, that theoretical capacity has stayed theoretical.

Satellite study of 2.2 million thunderstorms shows how to predict their formation

Climate change is bringing more intense rainfall, and improving forecasting and warnings to communities globally will save the lives of people and livestock as well as better protect property and infrastructure. Thunderstorms caused around 30,000 deaths and $500 billion in economic losses between 2010 and 2019, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

Black soldier fly larvae show promise for safe organic waste removal

People and animals create lots of waste that is usually sent to landfills, incinerated, or stored in engineered ponds such as manure lagoons.

Four decades of data give unique insight into the sun’s inner life

Every 11 years, the sun goes through a cycle of magnetic activity and is at its calmest during “solar minimum”—few sunspots, weaker magnetic fields, and a more uniform surface.

How AI could end online anonymity

The internet is rife with anonymous accounts as users adopt pseudonyms, sometimes for genuine reasons like speaking freely, and other times for nefarious ones. But this era of online privacy could be coming to a close.

Killer whale moms struggle to regain body fat with more offspring

One and a half years of pregnancy, up to two years of nursing, then hunting and sharing food with their adult children who never leave.

Did the first human ancestor originate in the Balkans? New fossil shows evidence of bipedalism

Walking on two legs has long been considered a milestone in human evolution and one of our most defining characteristics. Until now, researchers assumed that the first humans originated in Africa and that bipedalism developed there around 6 million years ago.

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What happens if truth is lost?

Behind every breakthrough, there is a quest for truth. This desire is wired into humans—an insatiable curiosity about the world. Questions about truth have perplexed philosophers for thousands of years, but many focus on distinguishing fact from fiction.

iPhone-Hacking Toolkit Is Now in the Hands of Foreign Spies and Criminals

A highly sophisticated set of iPhone hijacking techniques has likely infected tens of thousands of phones or more. Clues suggest it was originally built for the US government.

Cognitive speed training linked to lower dementia incidence up to 20 years later

Adults age 65 and older who completed five to six weeks of cognitive speed training—in this case, speed of processing training, which helps people quickly find visual information on a computer screen and handle increasingly complex tasks in a shorter time period—and who had follow-up sessions about one to three years later were less likely to be diagnosed with dementia, including Alzheimer’s disease, up to two decades later.

Brain scans reveal why you can’t resist a snack, even when you’re full

No amount of fullness could switch off the brain’s response to delicious-looking food. This suggests that food cues may trigger overeating in the absence of hunger.

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Tiny recording backpacks reveal bats’ surprising hunting strategy

Deep into the Panamanian night, the forest hums with sound. Chirping insects form a steady backdrop, rain softly trickles from leaves. Somewhere above a stream, frogs call into the darkness.

== UK perspective, but…
The wonders of daisies: The buffet we walk on

The common or lawn daisy, Bellis perennis, is probably familiar to most people living in temperate climates. But there may be a few things you do not know about this fascinating and perhaps underestimated flower.

Scared of spiders? The real horror story is a world without them

Members of the arachnid class—think spiders, scorpions and harvestmen (daddy long legs)—are often the targets of revulsion, disgust and fear. Yet, they are crucial for ecosystems to thrive.

== another look from a different angle
How long do civilizations last?

It is one of the most famous questions in science, and it was asked, as legend has it, over lunch. Enrico Fermi, the physicist who helped build the first nuclear reactor and whose name graces a unit of length so small it makes an atom look generous, was chatting with colleagues about the possibility of alien life when he suddenly asked “where is everybody?”

Arabic document from 17th-century rubbish heap confirms existence of semi-legendary Nubian king

Old Dongola was once the capital of Makuria, a Christian Kingdom located in modern-day Northern Sudan. However, by the mid-14th century, it entered what is known as “the Dark Ages” in Sudanese history, no longer serving as the capital of Makuria. Very little is known about the succeeding three centuries and the gradual period of Arabization and Islamization of ancient Nubia.

== yjc, there are definitely some good ones here
15 spectacular images from Underwater Photographer of the Year awards

This year’s contest received almost 8,000 entries from photographers around the world. The UPY contest is based in the UK and celebrates marine life there, although submitted images can be taken anywhere in the world.

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The 19th Century Silent Film That First Captured a Robot Attack

The 45-second-long, one-reel short Gugusse et l’Automate – Gugusse and the Automaton – was made nearly 130 years ago. But the subject matter still feels timely.

Superagers’ ‘Secret Ingredient’ May Be the Growth of New Brain Cells

There has been an ongoing debate about whether adult humans continue to generate new neurons in the hippocampus – the memory center of the brain. Scientists used to assume that the brain you were born with was the brain you were stuck with for life.

A Smashing New Proposal About Saturn’s History Might Explain Its Iconic Rings and Some of Its Odd Moons

A crash involving the planet’s largest moon, Titan, and a hypothetical moon may have triggered a curious sequence of events.

North America’s Bird Populations Are Shrinking Faster. Blame Climate Change and Agriculture

Billions fewer birds are flying through North American skies than decades ago and their population is shrinking ever faster, mostly due to a combination of intensive agriculture and warming temperatures, a new study found.

Galileo’s Handwritten Notes Discovered in a Medieval Astronomy Text

Discovery sheds new light on how famed astronomer came to lead a scientific revolution.

Why tropical cyclones’ rainfall surges before landfall

The study found that, across all ocean basins, storm intensities and latitude bands, rainfall systematically increases before landfall. Crucially, this surge is not directly caused by sea-surface warming. Instead, it is driven by land–sea contrasts that emerge as the storm nears the coast.

== for those of us in the North West
Stress-testing the Cascadia Subduction Zone reveals variability that could impact how earthquakes spread

The Cascadia Subduction Zone is unusually quiet for a megathrust fault. Spanning more than 600 miles from Canada to California, the fault marks the convergence of the Juan de Fuca and North American plates.

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.

== fair of technical jargon
HFC electrolyte delivers energy-dense lithium battery that keeps running at -50 °C

The electrolyte material in electrochemical energy storage devices, such as lithium batteries, helps to carry charge between the cathode and anode. This is facilitated by solvents that help to dissolve lithium salts. Electrolyte solvents in batteries have traditionally used oxygen- and nitrogen-based ligands.

Could Mars soil block Earth microbes? ‘Water bears’ offer a clue

Tardigrades, commonly known as water bears, may be better suited by a new name: Tardiguardians of the Galaxy. Unlike the fictional ragtag team of unenthusiastic heroes, the microscopic animals are providing real insight into how humans could adapt extraterrestrial resources to support space exploration, as well as whether such resources could help protect against the Earthly contaminants that humans might shed.

A new scientific discipline to ensure humanity’s deep future

Will humanity extend into the far future? It’s likely many of us think it should. The problem is that each of us, individually and collectively, act otherwise—we are destroying the environment and climate at every turn.

Greenland’s largest glacier could soon reach a tipping point, scientists say

Greenland’s largest glacier, Jakobshavn Glacier, may be edging closer to a critical threshold as meltwater runoff from the Greenland Ice Sheet accelerates in ways not seen in over a century.

‘World’s Largest Battery’ Soon At Google Data Center: 100-Hour Iron-Air Storage

The new facility will be powered by 1.9 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy from wind and solar, coupled with a 300-megawatt battery, claimed to be the ‘world’s largest’, with a 30-gigawatt-hour (GWh) capacity and 100-hour duration.

Startup Plans April Launch for a Satellite to Reflect Sunlight to Earth at Night

Here in the 21st century, we humans are on the cusp of turning night into day — and bidding good night to the stars that have guided us home for thousands of years.

Rubin Observatory Has Started Paging Astronomers 800,000 Times a Night

Rubin Observatory launches real-time alerts for night sky monitoring.