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Science News

Latest science news, discoveries and scientific developments.

A distant supercluster of galaxies points to self-interacting dark matter
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A distant supercluster of galaxies points to self-interacting dark matter

Seven billion light-years from Earth, there is an unexpected cluster of galaxies. It has two regions in the process of colliding with each other with a combined mass of more than two quadrillion solar masses. Given its mass, the distant cluster has been nicknamed El Gordo, the Fat One. What makes it unusual is that it's extraordinarily large for that period of the universe. How did such a large supercluster form so early?

📅 2026-10-16 18:00:08    •    Phys.org
NASA's Hubble spies spiral's edge
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NASA's Hubble spies spiral's edge

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image features the edge-on, intermediate spiral galaxy NGC 1827, located roughly 37 million light-years away in the constellation Columba, the Dove. Hubble captured the image as part of a survey looking at 260 satellite galaxies around 22 Milky Way–like host galaxies within a radius of about 32 million light-years from Earth. Hubble has already observed 111 of these satellite galaxies. The remaining galaxies will take an additional 149 Hubble orbits, one orbit for each galaxy, to observe.

📅 2026-10-16 17:40:08    •    Phys.org
Forecasting 'tipping points' with AI climate simulation
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Forecasting 'tipping points' with AI climate simulation

The writer Malcolm Gladwell popularized the term "tipping points" to refer to the moment when a trend or social behavior crosses a threshold and rapidly spreads everywhere. In physics, tipping points occur when systems—say, Earth's climate—reach an unstable point and topple over into a sea of change that is sometimes irreversible. Examples include global warming or the melting of polar ice caps.

📅 2026-10-16 17:40:01    •    Phys.org
Machine learning analysis of gene regulation reveals new dimension of biological variability
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Machine learning analysis of gene regulation reveals new dimension of biological variability

Changes in our genes affect health risks from heart disease to cancer, but how those genes are turned on and off is just as crucial to health. What's more, almost all genes occur as two copies—one from each parent—that aren't necessarily turned on and off in sync. When that differential gene regulation goes awry, it can cause serious health problems.

📅 2026-10-16 17:20:06    •    Phys.org
Wetland reclamation brings limited agricultural gains but high flood exposure
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Wetland reclamation brings limited agricultural gains but high flood exposure

Wetland reclamation has long been regarded as a strategy to meet growing food demand, given the favorable soil and water conditions of wetlands. However, the trade-off between potentially greater crop production and the ecological cost of lost wetlands—especially involving flood regulation—has not been well understood.

📅 2026-10-16 17:20:01    •    Phys.org
Ancient fungus unlocks secret support system in major food crops that could transform farming practices
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Ancient fungus unlocks secret support system in major food crops that could transform farming practices

Arabidopsis thaliana, a small flowering mustard plant used worldwide as the primary genetic model in plant biology, was long believed incapable of forming relationships with underground fungal networks. New research published in Current Biology led by professor Katie Field demonstrates for the first time that it can establish a fully functional, resource-sharing partnership with an ancient soil fungus known as a Mucoromycotina fine root endophyte (MFRE).

📅 2026-10-16 17:00:01    •    Phys.org
Japan is launching a mission to Mars’s largest moon Phobos
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Japan is launching a mission to Mars’s largest moon Phobos

Artist’s representation of the MMX SpacecraftJAXA We may be on the verge of solving the mystery of the Martian moons. On 20 October, the Martian Moons eXploration (MMX) spacecraft launches towards the larger of the two moons, Phobos, with the goal of bringing back a sample that may finally explain how Phobos and its sibling, Deimos, formed. MMX will launch from Tanegashima Space Center in Japan. If all goes to plan, it should arrive at Mars in August 2027, entering an orbit that keeps it alongside Phobos so it can build a detailed map of the surface. Along the way, it will also observe the surface of Deimos. Once the map is complete enough, the spacecraft’s operators at the Japan Aerospace E...

📅 2026-10-16 17:00:00    •    New Scientist
Wind emerges as overlooked factor in ecosystems' carbon uptake and water loss
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Wind emerges as overlooked factor in ecosystems' carbon uptake and water loss

Wind does more than sway trees. It also plays an important role in determining an ecosystem's water-use efficiency—defined as the amount of carbon an ecosystem absorbs per unit of water lost. Water-use efficiency is an important measure of how ecosystems balance growth and water availability.

📅 2026-10-16 16:56:51    •    Phys.org
NASA satellites observe historic 2026 El Niño
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NASA satellites observe historic 2026 El Niño

A phenomenon rarer than a solar eclipse and more powerful than any single storm system is unfolding this fall, and NASA is tracking it closely.

📅 2026-10-16 16:44:08    •    Phys.org
AI designs working molecular scissors that recognize and cut selected protein targets
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AI designs working molecular scissors that recognize and cut selected protein targets

Proteases are naturally occurring enzymes that break down proteins into peptides and even single amino acids. They are useful in medicine and industrial processes, where they clean tissue, digest waste and help in the manufacture of everyday products. Now scientists have used artificial intelligence to design new versions from scratch.

📅 2026-10-16 16:40:06    •    Phys.org
Elon Musk unveils Tesla's 'flying' car
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Elon Musk unveils Tesla's 'flying' car

Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled what he described as a "flying" car, equipped with thrusters, during a livestreamed event at his SpaceX rocket company's facility on Thursday.

📅 2026-10-16 16:20:11    •    Phys.org
Matching wastewater treatment to local demand could help China tackle water scarcity
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Matching wastewater treatment to local demand could help China tackle water scarcity

Wastewater reclamation is increasingly regarded as an alternative water source to mitigate water scarcity in China. However, expanding wastewater treatment capacity alone may not be enough to ease this scarcity, since wastewater supply, treatment facilities and reuse demand are not always geographically aligned.

📅 2026-10-16 16:20:06    •    Phys.org
One-step rapid syphilis test uses layered nanoparticles to detect infection earlier
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One-step rapid syphilis test uses layered nanoparticles to detect infection earlier

Penicillin has cured syphilis cases since 1943, but symptoms of the sexually transmitted infection, known as "the great imitator," mimic many other diseases and can come and go without treatment while the infection keeps causing harm. If it remains undetected, it can spread to partners and to babies during pregnancy, causing lifelong effects.

📅 2026-10-16 16:00:05    •    Phys.org
Can social media bans protect young people's mental health? Early research suggests that bans aren't the answer
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Can social media bans protect young people's mental health? Early research suggests that bans aren't the answer

The year 2026 has been an expensive one for social media platforms. Since March, YouTube and Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, have settled or paid out in multiple lawsuits totaling more than $17 billion for allegedly acting negligently, deliberately designing their platforms to hook kids and misleading the public about safety and privacy. If these suits are any indication of how states and the public are starting to view social media platforms, more may follow.

📅 2026-10-16 16:00:01    •    Phys.org
Physics-guided AI reconstructs hidden patterns inside ultrathin magnets from external fields
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Physics-guided AI reconstructs hidden patterns inside ultrathin magnets from external fields

To build faster and more energy-efficient computers, researchers need to understand nanoscale magnetic materials. But looking inside these tiny magnets is surprisingly difficult: Modern microscopes only measure the magnetic field outside the material, not the magnetic pattern inside. Because many different internal patterns can produce the exact same field, working backwards has long been a challenge.

📅 2026-10-16 15:40:12    •    Phys.org