Science News, AI-Analyzed

The latest Science stories — decoded across 19 dimensions.

Researcher proposes satellite to detect nuclear warheads in orbit

Areg Danagoulian, an MIT associate professor, published a proof-of-concept in Nature for an "inspector" satellite that could detect neutrons produced when high-energy protons in the inner Van Allen belt hit uranium in a thermonuclear weapon. The design filters incoming protons and uses directional detection to separate neutrons from the suspect satellite versus Earth albedo neutrons, and a modeled 2.5-mile (4 km) separation produced a detectable signal. The approach addresses a verification gap in the Outer Space Treaty as more nations expand orbital capabilities, and the author hopes others will develop prototypes.

5 min read

City Labs BOHR nuclear-powered cubesat reaches orbit

The BOHR cubesat, built by City Labs, reached orbit July 7 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 on the Transporter-17 rideshare to test the company's NanoTritium betavoltaic micropower source in space. BOHR is a pathfinder demonstration that converts beta particles from tritium decay into electricity via a semiconductor, though the cubesat still relies on solar power for operations. Funded under a Department of Defense contract and greenlit under the FAA nuclear launch approval tied to NSPM-20, the mission establishes a commercial regulatory precedent and could influence future spacecraft that need continuous power in permanently shadowed or non-solar environments.

3 min read

China spacecraft photographs near-Earth asteroid Kamo'oalewa

Tianwen-2 has returned the first close-up photograph of near-Earth asteroid 469219 Kamo'oalewa, taken about 20 km from the object after roughly 400 days and a stated 600 billion mile journey. The rock, an estimated 100 meters across and classified as an Apollo quasi-moon, orbits the sun while co-orbiting Earth and may be a fragment of the lunar surface based on 2021 mineral findings. China plans to collect samples with Tianwen-2 and return them to Earth in a capsule expected to crash-land late next year, which would add a new sample-return to international efforts.

3 min read

Euclid telescope finds ancient quasars

The European Space Agency's Euclid space telescope, launched in 2024, has released images showing two of the most ancient quasars known and a crop of 31 high-redshift quasars that trace the universe when it was about 670 million years old. The discovery more than doubles the previously known sample of such ancient quasars, which once took over a decade to assemble. Euclid's wide-area, sensitive surveys let astronomers find much fainter quasar light, giving many more targets to probe early galaxy formation and the expansion history encoded in redshift measurements.

3 min read

China's Tianwen-2 probe approaches asteroid 2016H03

China's Tianwen-2 probe has closed to within 20,000 km of asteroid 2016H03 after a roughly 400-day, more than 1 billion-kilometre journey since its May 29, 2025 launch, the Chinese state space administration said. The probe has already taken images and is now close enough to begin detailed investigations of the asteroid's morphology, material composition and internal structure, with a view to sampling at a later date. The proximity enables immediate scientific measurements and imaging, and it sets up follow-on operations aimed at later sample collection that could yield new data about small bodies.

1 min read

Pacific marine heatwave threatens U.S. coasts and storm patterns

A large marine heatwave now covers an area from the Philippines to Peru and north toward Hawaii and California, about 13.5% of Earth’s surface, after two smaller Pacific heatwaves combined. The article reports that more than 37% of the global ocean is currently experiencing marine heatwaves and that the fraction has more than tripled since the 1980s. Scientists warn the excess ocean heat could raise California sea levels, fuel a western U.S. heat dome, intensify storms across the southern and eastern U.S., and increase the likelihood of historically unusual winter storms and heavy rain.

3 min read

Researchers build synthetic SpudCell that completes life cycle

Researchers at the University of Minnesota built SpudCell, a synthetic cell assembled from lab chemicals that completes a full life cycle from birth to division. SpudCell performs many cell-like behaviors — it feeds, grows, replicates its genome, divides and undergoes selection — yet it is not self-sufficient because it cannot build ribosomes and must be supplied with proteins and enzymes. Its genome is a pared-down 90,000 base pairs split across seven DNA molecules, which can limit full genetic transfer and confine lineages to about five to ten generations. Next steps include encoding ribosome production and improving heredity.

4 min read

Hayabusa2 flies past asteroid Torifune

Japan's Hayabusa2 successfully completed a close flyby of asteroid Torifune, passing about 800 meters from the asteroid's center at roughly 6:30 p.m. Japan time to take surface photos and observe with an infrared camera and spectrometer. The probe, located about 100 million kilometers from Earth, autonomously adjusted its trajectory two hours before closest approach and avoided collision while passing at a relative speed of 5 kilometers per second. JAXA will hold a press conference after confirming the actual distance and observation success. The results may inform solar system history studies and improve high-precision control techniques relevant to planetary defense.

2 min read

Researchers map global underground fungal network

An international research team compiled 322 studies and 16,000 soil samples and used machine learning and high-resolution imaging to produce the first global map of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal networks. They estimate a total network length near 110 quadrillion kilometers and about 300 megatons of fungal carbon, equal to four to six times the mass of all living humans. The study finds these networks transport roughly 4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into soils annually, about 11 percent of human-caused emissions, and warns lower fungal density in agricultural soils may reduce carbon storage and nutrient recycling.

4 min read

Swiss glaciers begin heavy ice loss amid Europe heatwave

Switzerland's glaciers are facing accelerated ice loss after a Europe heatwave melted winter protective snow weeks early. Rhone Glacier officially reached Glacier Loss Day on June 29, and a monitoring site there lost over five feet of ice in two weeks of June. This is the second time glaciers reached loss day earlier than usual, after a similar, more critical event in 2022. Matthias Huss, director of Glacier Monitoring Switzerland, called the situation very worrying and blamed June's heatwave, estimating melt rates equivalent to filling an Olympic pool every six seconds for 14 days; Europe saw temperatures up to 40C and the WMO reported over 1,300 heat deaths this year.

2 min read

South Korea plans low-orbit satellite network and earlier moon landing

South Korea's Korea AeroSpace Administration (KASA) announced a strategy approved by the National Space Council to build a low-Earth orbit communications network of hundreds of satellites by 2035 and to bring forward the nation's first lunar landing to 2030. The government plans to send a privately developed small lunar lander on the three-stage Nuri rocket in 2030 rather than wait for a next-generation launch vehicle due in 2032, and will launch a lunar communications orbiter in 2029 plus an Earth-moon scientific probe in 2031. KASA says the program will bolster domestic manufacturing and safeguard communications sovereignty for the 6G era.

2 min read

Study finds climate change made U.S. heat wave virtually impossible

A World Weather Attribution study found that the extreme heat and humidity driven by a strong heat dome over much of the United States and southern Canada would have been virtually impossible without human-caused climate change. The researchers used climate models comparing today’s world, warmed by 2.5F (1.4C) since pre-industrial times, with a world without emissions and estimated that the current WBGT extremes are roughly one-in-200-year events today but would be about once every 5,000 years without warming. The study tested El Niño effects and found minor cooling, while forecast WBGT above 82F at some World Cup kick-offs raises safety concerns.

3 min read