A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SUNSPOT: Big sunspot 4551 has a 'beta-gamma-delta' magnetic field that harbors energy for X-class solar flares. Any explosions today will be geoeffective because the sunspot is directly facing Earth.

The world’s widest glacier – Thwaites glacier in Antarctica – is already collapsing at an alarming rate due to ocean warming, with worrying implications for global sea-level rise. Now, a new study shows that it will continue to lose ice for at least the next 150 years, even under the impossible scenario of extremely cool oceans. This means that future ice loss from the glacier is unavoidable, even under the most optimistic climate mitigation scenarios.

Defense prime contractor BAE Systems announced that it has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) to design and demonstrate ultra-compact radio-frequency (RF) terminals for a space-based data layer. BAE Systems’ solution utilizes its family of space-hardened software-defined radios (SDRs), designed to maintain reliable communications through severe electromagnetic interference, active adversary jamming, and cosmic radiation belts. Key engineering characteristics include: - Multi-Orbit Operational Range: Designed to support communications and data relay across diverse orbital tiers, spanning from low Earth orbit (LEO) out to geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO). - Miniaturized SWaP Profile: Compact form factor optimized to minimize size, weight, power, and cost (SWaP-C), enabling integration aboard space-constrained small satellites as well as large prime mission spacecraft. - Dynamic Inter-Payload Pointing: Utilizes an open Application Programming Interface (API) to direct rapid, precise beam-steering and terminal pointing between communicating orbital payloads. - Qualification Standards: Systems will undergo rigorous space-characterization testing to satisfy military-grade encryption, cybersecurity, and environmental hardening baselines.

Stellar cores called white dwarfs come in an astonishing array of colors, including what scientists say is the first known green star and the reddest star ever found, new research reveals. The varying amounts/compositions of accreted material and white dwarf temperatures allow for a diverse array of colors, including green.

USC scientists have discovered a way to create a potentially renewable supply of genetically engineered immune cells that can attack cancer and strengthen the body's natural defenses. By growing and modifying immature immune cells rather than mature ones, researchers developed a system that can continuously produce tumor-fighting cells inside the body.

Even under general anesthesia, the human brain can analyze language, recognize different types of words, and predict what comes next in a story, according to a surprising discovery by Baylor researchers. The findings challenge our understanding of consciousness and suggest that the unconscious brain is far more capable than scientists previously realized.

A scorching hot planet nearly 320 light-years from Earth has provided the first direct evidence for a fundamental assumption about how planets form. Astronomers discovered that WASP-189b shares an important chemical characteristic with its host star, supporting a long-standing idea that also helps scientists investigate potentially habitable worlds. The breakthrough came from the first simultaneous measurement of gaseous magnesium and silicon in an exoplanet's atmosphere, using the Gemini South telescope, part of the International Gemini Observatory, which is partially funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and operated by NSF NOIRLab.

Amazon Leo demonstrates satellite internet for U.S. Army Demonstration at Aberdeen, Maryland, achieved peak download speeds above 400 Mbps.

NASA's Perseverance rover breaks record for off-planet driving on Mars. - Rover has logged 28.1 miles (45.2 km) driving on Mars; - It surpassed the previous mark set by another NASA rover; - Perseverance has operated on Mars since February 2021; - It also has exceeded the driving distance of lunar rovers; https://npub1jt06qhv32xt20gy32tar74u8rh4l6s3wr5nc43d0ye48pse4pv0sdh25p6.blossom.band/148f825c22031f10a67adf398c6c646ebd00848b8781d67f9c80da1cb71e9267.avif

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has revealed an ancient galaxy cluster with an unexpectedly dense concentration of dark matter, challenging theories about how the universe developed. The discovery also uncovered a surprising connection between scattered starlight and invisible dark matter that could transform how astronomers study the early cosmos. This image shows a distant galaxy cluster as it has been observed by NASA’s JWST. At over 10 billion light-years away, the cluster XLSSC 122 is the most distant known example of a cluster found to act as a strong gravitational lens, magnifying and distorting images of yet more distant galaxies behind it.

Mozambique's Montepuez ruby mine and Balama graphite mine are scheduled for IRMA audits between October and November 2026, reflecting growing interest in responsible mining standards across Africa.

Coating mitochondria with Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) may help them perform specific functions while still retaining their ability to produce energy. The technology could one day help transfer healthy mitochondria into damaged cells, although its effectiveness in transplantation remains unproven.

In their work, researchers at Harvard University and other institutions introduced the idea of quantum birthmarks, statistical traces of initial states and early development that persist in quantum systems that do not exchange information with their surroundings. They showed mathematically that evolving states in isolated quantum systems retain statistical traces of their past, limiting their ability to achieve the complete loss of memory expected in classically ergodic systems. They described these persistent traces of history as quantum birthmarks.

Dmitrii Vavilov at the University of Washington in Seattle and his colleagues analysed some of the first data collected by the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile, which began a 10-year survey of the sky in June 2026. From a sample of more than 9000 asteroids, they measured the rotation of 260, based on a change in their brightness caused by the spinning asteroids’ irregular shapes. Of these, 66 were deemed to be super-fast rotators, spinning quickly enough to complete a rotation in less than 2.2 hours, a limit at which asteroids should no longer be able to hold themselves together under their own gravity.

Using spectral data from the Hobby-Eberly Telescope in Texas, astronomers have traced gas from the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, only the third object of its kind ever observed, out to more than 85,000 km from its nucleus. The data suggest the gas flows at about half the speed typical of solar system comets, and the spectrum shows unusually strong signals of iron and nickel.

Planets are supposed to form alongside their stars, but new research suggests that planets may also be born later, from the debris of a dying star, and one such unique alien world may be sitting very close to HS 0209+0832, a hot, young white dwarf located 270 light-years away in the constellation of Cetus.

Astronomers using the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope have captured the first time-resolved, medium-resolution spectra of WISE J085510.83-071442.5, an ultracool brown dwarf just 7.4 light-years away, and found that its atmosphere is anything but static.

Lockheed Martin on Friday unveiled PAC-3 Edge, a missile interceptor designed to defend against hypersonic and advanced missile threats, as the U.S. military looks to strengthen its capabilities to counter emerging aerial threats.

Scientists in Vienna have achieved a major breakthrough in timekeeping by creating the world’s first self-stabilizing nuclear clock, a technology that could eventually surpass even the most precise atomic clocks. Instead of relying on electrons in atoms, the clock uses the tiny nuclei of thorium atoms, which are far less sensitive to outside disturbances. Researchers have demonstrated that it can operate steadily for more than 24 hours without intervention.

Space communications startup AnySignal expands into undersea market. AnySignal, Andrenam plan to develop acoustic modems that would allow submerged systems to exchange data with remote operators through surface buoys and satellite networks, aiming to make it easier to move data from the ocean to operators anywhere in the world.