Science & Earth

Kepler Communications launched 10 Canadian-built satellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 flight that also carried NASA’s Pandora exoplanet telescope; deployment of all payloads was confirmed about 2½ hours after liftoff.

Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope report a barred spiral galaxy, COSMOS-74706, dated to about 11.5 billion years ago, and presented the finding at the AAS meeting on Jan. 8, 2026.

Researchers identified new diterpene esters in roasted Coffea arabica that inhibited α‑glucosidase in laboratory tests, with some showing lower IC50 values than the drug acarbose. The team used a three-step, activity‑focused workflow combining NMR and LC‑MS/MS; the work appears in Beverage Plant Research.

Researchers at UBC Okanagan developed a dual-layer membrane that lab tests show captured nearly all microplastics and more than 98% of nanoplastics in landfill leachate.

Environment Canada warns of strong winds across Newfoundland from Sunday night into Tuesday, with yellow and orange warnings in effect and coastal snowfall up to 40 cm on the west coast.

A Dalhousie student made textured clay pots from locally foraged clay, seeded them with kelp spores in a lab, and placed the pots at Cranberry Cove as an underwater art installation; Nova Scotia kelp populations have declined amid warmer ocean temperatures.

The Vancouver Aquarium opens a permanent gallery called Amazing Axolotls that expands its axolotl display and highlights the species' biology, cultural roots and conservation concerns.

Global average temperatures exceeded 1.5°C in 2024 after reaching about 1.48°C above pre-industrial levels in 2023, and some wildfires in British Columbia are reported to still be burning underground.

A birder with the Yukon Bird Club reported seeing four white-tailed ptarmigan on Boxing Day at Haeckel Hill during the 2025 Christmas Bird Count, and organizers say the long-running census helps document shifts in bird populations.

Researchers at Jeonbuk National University developed a triboelectric nanogenerator design using hierarchical porous two-dimensional copper nanosheets that reportedly improves electrical output and mechanical stability, and the material can be produced by a scalable spray-coating method.

The Outdoor Recreation Council of BC listed the Fraser River stretch between Mission and Hope as one of B.C.'s most endangered in 2026, citing urbanization and development; conservation groups have made land purchases recently but ORCBC says a coordinated conservation plan is lacking.

Researchers at the University of Guelph, partnered with Agriculture and Agri‑Food Canada, are developing an AI-driven hybrid greenhouse and vertical system to grow strawberries year-round and are finalists in the Weston Family Foundation's Homegrown Innovation Challenge.

The Vancouver Aquarium opens a permanent gallery called "Amazing Axolotls!" on Jan. 11, 2026, expanding its axolotl display to showcase the species' biology, cultural roots and conservation. The IUCN reports there may be roughly 50–1,000 axolotls left in the wild, now surviving naturally only in the canals of Xochimilco.

Environment and Climate Change Canada laid 52 Fisheries Act charges against Terrapure Environment for alleged discharges into the St. Lawrence Seaway between 2020 and 2023, and the City of Sainte‑Catherine faces 38 related charges; both are due in court on Feb. 19.

University of Calgary researchers showed second-harmonic generation in diamond by using tiny crystal defects, and the results were published in December 2025.

Canada updated travel advice warning travellers to Australia about severe heat and humidity; Australia's Bureau of Meteorology has active heatwave and fire-weather warnings through Jan. 11 in several regions.

NASA postponed a planned ISS spacewalk after a crew member developed a medical issue; the astronaut is reported to be in stable condition and mission control is assessing whether to end Crew 11’s mission early.

Pandora is a small NASA satellite, stowed on a SpaceX rocket that could lift off as early as this Sunday, built to observe known exoplanet-hosting stars in both visible and infrared light. Its dual-instrument approach is designed to help separate genuine atmospheric signals from variability in the parent stars.

XRISM resolved the iron Fe Kα emission from the molecular cloud G0.11-0.11 and identified X-ray fluorescence, which the authors report indicates past strong X-ray flares from Sagittarius A* a few hundred to around a thousand years ago.

Pawsitive Inc.'s PawsitiveTouch pairs the TouchOne wearable with software that uses neuroscientific principles and artificial intelligence to interpret and influence dogs' emotional states, and the company says the patented system delivers curated vibroacoustic stimuli intended to promote calmness.

A team measured masses for four close-in planets around the young star V1298 Tau and found they are very low-density "super-puff" worlds; the researchers report that stellar stripping over time can shrink such planets into the hot super-Earths that are commonly observed.

Three people are unaccounted for as bushfires in Victoria burned large areas and authorities declared a 'catastrophic' fire danger, with evacuations, school closures and a state-wide fire ban put in place.

Canada's OSIRIS instrument on Sweden's Odin satellite has collected upper-atmosphere measurements since 2001, observing ozone, aerosols and nitrogen dioxide between about 7 and 90 km altitude.

A nearly six-metre-high snow pavilion made from Clear Lake ice blocks will open this weekend at Riding Mountain National Park and is intended to support winter activities and year-round tourism.

A judge set aside the province's approval of the Skeena forest licence transfer after finding the government failed to uphold the 'honour of the Crown' toward the Gitanyow; the court ordered the province to reconsider the transfer with deeper consultation.

A Canadian-led team using ALMA observed SPT2349-56 about 12 billion years ago and found a compact infant cluster of more than 30 galaxies surrounded by gas far hotter than models predicted.

A new study using the LakeM2ARS model finds that small, seasonal ice covers could have insulated lakes on early Mars and slowed evaporation, helping explain Curiosity’s evidence of past liquid water despite a fainter young Sun.

Université Laval researchers ran a human predator‑prey game in Éco‑Laurentides, dividing participants into prey, mesopredators and apex predators to run 30‑minute simulations; their paper, published in Methods in Ecology and Evolution, found players often used strategies similar to wild animals. The team and outside scientists say the exercise is a useful teaching and exploratory method but cannot replace field observations of real animals.

Congress's 2026 appropriations do not support the existing Mars Sample Return program and allocate $110 million for Mars-related technology development; the plan for returning Perseverance's cached samples is undetermined at this time.

The Met Office issued a rare red warning for parts of southwest England as Storm Goretti approached, and the government sent emergency cell-phone alerts to people in affected areas.