Science & Earth

NOAA issued a G4 'Severe' geomagnetic storm watch after a coronal mass ejection; the aurora may be visible as far south as Alabama Monday night.

A Nature Medicine study reports that neurofeedback training helped some people increase activity in deep reward regions of the brain, and those with higher ventral tegmental area activity showed higher antibody levels after a hepatitis B vaccine; researchers say the finding may relate to mechanisms behind the placebo effect.

Astronaut Jeremy Hansen will be the first Canadian to travel beyond low Earth orbit as mission specialist on NASA's Artemis II, with a launch window identified as early as Feb. 6; the Canadian Space Agency will accept public questions for Hansen until Jan. 23.

Martin Luther King Jr. advocated a guaranteed annual income as a means of addressing economic inequality, and recent research finds strong support for universal basic income among lower-income white Americans while opposition is higher among wealthier whites with elevated racial resentment.

The High Seas Treaty entered into force on January 17, 2026, creating a legally binding framework to protect biodiversity in international waters; more than 80 countries have ratified it.

Researchers in the United Kingdom and Austria developed GyroSwin, a machine-learning tool that can reduce plasma turbulence simulation times from hours or days to minutes or seconds; developers say it preserves sufficient accuracy and can handle greater complexity.

Bill McKibben said rising electricity bills may influence the 2026 midterm elections, and U.S. average electricity prices rose about 12.8% between January and October 2025, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

A University of Copenhagen team reports that small red points seen in James Webb Telescope images are young black holes enshrouded in dense ionized gas, based on a study published in Nature on January 14.

NASA rolled its 32‑story Space Launch System rocket from the Vehicle Assembly Building to launch pad 39B as teams begin pad checkouts and prepare for a wet dress rehearsal ahead of a possible February Artemis II flight.

Australia is advancing national packaging reforms led by the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation to improve packaging recyclability, increase recycled content and support a circular economy for plastics. Independent analysis cited by APCO projects environmental and economic benefits by 2030, including lower emissions and reduced landfill.

NASA began moving the Artemis II SLS and Orion stack to Launch Complex 39B on Jan. 17, and NASA says the earliest launch window for the crewed around-the-Moon mission opens Feb. 6.

The article explains that late winter is a common time to prune plants that bloom on new wood and lists 14 shrubs, trees and perennials that typically respond well to this timing; it highlights basic pruning aims such as removing dead or damaged branches, cutting suckers, and thinning to promote stronger stems.

Weeks of heavy rain have caused flooding across Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe, with more than 100 people reported dead and further heavy rain expected through the weekend.

Webb observations of the Circinus Galaxy show about 87% of infrared emission from hot dust originates near the supermassive black hole rather than from dusty outflows, researchers report.

Torrential rains have caused widespread flooding across southern Africa, with officials reporting more than 100 deaths and large-scale damage in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe; rescue and evacuation operations are ongoing and more rain is forecast.

Researchers combined satellite observations and glacial-motion models to produce a higher-resolution map of bedrock beneath Antarctica, showing features such as alpine valleys and deeply eroded troughs. The study is published in Science and authors say the new topography will help refine projections of ice loss and sea-level rise.

Researchers reported a single‑chip surface acoustic wave 'phonon laser' that produced vibrations near 1 GHz; the work led by Matt Eichenfield and collaborators was published in Nature on Jan. 14.

Hubble images from January 14, 2026 show a bright halo and a Sunward-directed anti-tail around interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, and Avi Loeb has highlighted an unusual jet pattern after processing the images with a rotational-gradient filter.

The article lists nine dog breeds commonly associated with high prey drive and explains that prey drive is an instinctive sequence of chasing behaviors shaped by selective breeding.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation projects Lake Mead's elevation at about 1,036.5 feet at the end of November 2027, a level lower than recent end-of-month records. The reservoir is currently reported at 33% capacity with roughly 8.7 million acre-feet in storage as states prepare to renegotiate Colorado River agreements that expire at the end of 2026.

NASA rolled out the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft as the first step for Artemis II, a crewed flight that will carry four astronauts around the moon and return within ten days. A wet dress rehearsal to practice fueling is scheduled for the end of January and the mission is set to launch no later than April.

Researchers report intact, healthy retinas in Greenland sharks more than 100 years old, and their visual pigment is tuned to blue light suited for deep water.

The Cruise Lines International Association has a net‑zero by 2050 pledge, and new low‑emission ships plus tighter port and fuel rules are accelerating trials of sails, batteries and alternative fuels.

Najash rionegrina is a roughly 90‑million‑year‑old snake fossil from Patagonia that preserved a pelvis and well-developed hindlimbs, and later CT studies found a mix of lizard-like and snake-like skull features indicating prolonged limb retention in some early snakes.

A market report projects the green water treatment chemicals market to grow from USD 1.70 billion in 2025 to USD 2.25 billion by 2029 at a 7.2% CAGR, driven by tighter environmental rules, water scarcity, and demand for bio‑based, low‑toxicity solutions.

Mission managers approved Crew-11's return; Dragon will undock from the Harmony module at 5:05 p.m. EST Wednesday and is scheduled to splash down off the coast of California at 3:41 a.m. Thursday.

A four-person Crew-11 team will return to Earth early after an undisclosed medical issue; NASA said the affected astronaut is "absolutely stable."

A bipartisan minibus spending bill that allocates $24.4 billion to NASA for fiscal 2026 passed both chambers of Congress and was sent to President Trump; the measure restores most science funding and preserves many missions while Mars Sample Return remains canceled.

Researchers combined Ice Flow Perturbation Analysis with satellite measurements to produce a continent-wide map of Antarctica's bed, showing thousands of subglacial hills, valleys and large-scale features; the results were published in Science.

A new Nature Microbiology study reports that people with auto-brewery syndrome can have higher stool ethanol and altered gut microbes that produce alcohol; researchers say stool-based testing and enzyme-focused treatments are being explored as possible paths forward.