Science & Earth

Artemis 2 completed a crewed lunar flyby in early April 2026 with four astronauts aboard; scientists say the mission is a test of systems and is gathering human and environmental data to inform future Artemis landings and lunar research.

Astronomers report that the red giant SDSS J0715-7334 is the most chemically pristine star known, with an extremely low metallicity, and its composition provides evidence that dust-driven cooling helped form low-mass stars.

New Hampshire is home to an estimated 5,600 black bears distributed across much of the state, with higher densities in northern and central forests; state monitoring, regulated hunting, and public outreach help keep the population stable and reduce conflicts.

Shuggie's Trash Pie in San Francisco builds dishes from upcycled ingredients such as oat‑milk pulp flour and offcuts like beef hearts to keep food out of the dumpster, and experts on NPR say cutting food waste is an important climate solution because food systems produce about one third of global warming pollution.

Reid Wiseman will command Artemis 2, a 10-day lunar flyby scheduled no earlier than April 1, and he says the moon is "all I think about" as he prepares with his three crewmates.

Artemis II recently traveled to the moon, and Jim Head, a Brown University planetary geoscientist who worked on the Apollo missions, told WBZ-TV he finds the crew's excitement "inspirational" and hopes it will inspire a new generation of scientists.

Astronaut Kellie Gerardi and husband Steven Baumruk have welcomed their second daughter, whom they introduced as Maxine Quinn (nicknamed "Max Q"); Gerardi shared an Instagram reel of the first moments on April 5 and revealed the name on April 6 after a years-long IVF journey she has documented publicly.

The Salton Sea region holds large lithium reserves and companies are developing extraction projects while residents and environmental groups raise concerns about water use, air quality, and health. A 2024 lawsuit challenging Imperial County approvals was dismissed and that decision is currently under appeal.

During Artemis II's close lunar flyby the crew will witness an Earthset, a drawn-out solar eclipse, and an Earthrise while losing radio contact with Earth for roughly 40 minutes.

Artemis II is expected to surpass Apollo 13's distance record by about 4,100 miles during a six-hour flyby that will let the crew observe the moon's far side and features such as the Orientale Basin.

A three-orca pod not previously recorded in Salish Sea catalogs was seen near Vancouver and Seattle in March; researchers matched photos to Alaska sightings and assigned them identifiers T419, T420 and T421.

Four participants — an astronaut, an astrobiologist and two Opinion editors — discuss Artemis II, lunar geology and the scientific, economic and geopolitical questions around returning humans to the moon.

Dubai Municipality will invest Dh348m (about $94.7m) to build 35 parks across 23 residential communities in 2026 as part of the Dubai Parks and Greenery Strategy and the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan.

A special issue of The American Journal of Gastroenterology reviews current studies on AI across gastroenterology, reporting mixed results for polyp detection, faster AI‑assisted capsule endoscopy review, LLM‑based decision tools, and discussions of ethical and legal concerns.

Heavy rain and storms across Afghanistan have caused floods and landslides that the Disaster Management Authority says killed 77 people and injured 137 over the past 10 days; homes and major roads have been damaged and more rain is forecast.

The White House posted on X that "America will never give up the moon" as NASA advances plans for a permanent lunar base while the Artemis II circumnavigation proceeds.

Early observations from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory revealed more than 11,000 previously unknown asteroids and provided more precise orbits for tens of thousands of additional objects, including dozens of new near-Earth objects and several hundred trans-Neptunian objects.

Showers and gusty winds from a cold front moved across Maryland, with the heaviest rain expected to clear by mid-afternoon. Cooler, breezy conditions are forecast through Tuesday before a warmer trend later in the week.

Artemis II is more than halfway to the moon and aims to travel farther than Apollo 13; the mission's onboard toilet has been unreliable since liftoff, and crew are using backup urine collection bags while engineers investigate a suspected ice blockage.

A fossil deposit from the Jiangchuan Biota in southwestern China has yielded more than 700 carbonaceous film fossils dated about 554–539 million years ago, showing diverse soft-bodied animals present before the Cambrian explosion.

Orion's main engine completed a 5-minute-50-second translunar injection burn, placing four astronauts on a free-return trajectory that will loop around the Moon on Monday and return for a Pacific splashdown on April 10.

Three cheetah cubs were born in Kuno National Park, bringing India's reintroduced cheetah population to 38, officials said; the animals are African cheetahs that were first introduced in 2022 amid earlier concerns about mortality and leopard competition.

Marine archaeologists in Copenhagen Harbor located the wreck of the Danish flagship Dannebroge and recovered part of a sailor's lower jaw during monthslong excavations announced on the 225th anniversary of the 1801 Battle of Copenhagen.

A magnitude 5.8 earthquake in Afghanistan caused a home to collapse in the Gosfand Dara area of Kabul province, killing eight members of one family. A child of about two years was the only survivor and was reported injured.

Sandy soils drain quickly and contain very little organic matter, which limits root growth and nutrient retention; drought‑tolerant grasses such as tall fescue, bermudagrass and zoysiagrass are commonly cited as better fits, and adding organic matter is recommended to improve establishment.

A study in American Antiquity reports two-sided gaming pieces used by Native Americans at least 12,000 years ago and identifies 565 confirmed dice artifacts from across North America.

A 20-year-old fisherman at Hermosa Beach stripped to his underwear and waded into the surf to cut a hook from a juvenile great white shark, then helped return it to the water, according to video and local reports.

Stony Brook planetary geologist Timothy Glotch is one of 10 scientists NASA selected to help plan research for upcoming Artemis missions, including locating minerals and water ice near the lunar south pole for a 2028 mission.

NASA says Artemis II performed a translunar engine burn about 25 hours after liftoff, putting the Orion capsule on a free-return path to a lunar flyby expected Monday.

The Artemis II crew released photos of Earth on their second day in space while more than 90,000 miles from Earth; the 10-day mission is testing the spacecraft in a deep-space environment ahead of future Moon and Mars missions.