Science & Earth

A paper in Geophysical Research Letters reports that global warming has accelerated since 2015, estimating about 0.35°C of warming in the decade to 2025 versus roughly 0.2°C per decade between 1970 and 2015, and notes 2024 exceeded 1.5°C for one year compared with pre-industrial averages.

Conservationists, perfumers and biotech firms are collaborating to recreate or preserve scents from endangered and extinct plants, and some partnerships are directing funds to conservation. Techniques range from working with herbarium specimens and DNA traces to lab-grown molecules that mimic rare natural aromas.

Officials say the Potomac River is safe for recreation after weeks of testing following a major sewer line failure that released about 243 million gallons; some state advisories and independent tests still show occasional bacteria spikes.

Bloomberg finds that countries with steady government support and a continuous domestic supply chain — notably China, Russia and India — are expanding nuclear capacity, while the US and parts of Europe face aging fleets, delayed projects and higher costs.

Recent progress in tokamak experiments — including reports that China's EAST reactor surpassed the Greenwald density limit and the arrival of ITER's final central solenoid module in France — reflects coordinated gains in fusion science, materials research and computing, while significant technical and economic challenges remain.

New England Aquarium aerial surveys recorded three blue whales over two days off southern New England, including two about 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard; researchers said such sightings are uncommon for this population.

Wildlife officials say a released California condor pair tracked in Redwood National Park may be caring for an egg, which would be the first nesting recorded in Northern California in more than a century.

Florida wildlife officials rescued an injured mother manatee and her calf after the adult was struck by a boat propeller; both animals were reported safe following the operation.

Officials reported Medina Lake fell to 'dead pool' in April 2025 with capacity near 2.5%, and data showed the lake surface was about 86 feet below full capacity by February.

Denmark's culture ministry said it will study whether gastronomy can be formally recognized as an art form, a proposal supported by chef Rasmus Munk and some of the country's Michelin-starred restaurants.

Artemis II will be NASA's first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years, and the rocket's 212-foot core stage was built at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans East.

The New England Aquarium reported two blue whales about 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard during an aerial survey, and a separate sighting occurred the previous day at Lydonia Canyon. The aquarium said such sightings are rare in southern New England and noted they took place amid changes to federal fishing protections in the area.

The Federal Court of Appeal restored the 2021 order adding plastic manufactured items to Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, keeping the Single-use Plastics Prohibition Regulations in force. The federal government said the judgment confirms its authority to regulate certain plastic products based on a national science assessment of plastic pollution.

A total lunar eclipse on March 3 will produce a 'blood moon' visible across parts of the Americas, Europe, Asia and Oceania, with totality lasting about 58 minutes.

A Nature study reports hundreds of previously unknown Asgard genomes from deep-sea vents and shallow coastal sediments, and finds some lineages carry genes linked to oxygen metabolism, suggesting parts of the group could tolerate or use oxygen.

A study in Nature found about 90% of reviewed assessments underestimated coastal water baselines by roughly 1 foot on average, which could increase land inundation and place tens of millions more people at risk if seas rise a little more than 3 feet.

A satellite study finds Antarctica lost nearly 5,000 square miles of grounded ice from 1992 to 2025, and about 77% of the continent’s coastline showed no detectable grounding-line migration over the same period.

The World Meteorological Organization retired the name Melissa after the destructive 2025 Atlantic hurricane, marking the 100th Atlantic name retired; it will be replaced by Molly in the 2031 season.

U.N. data reports about 4,510 objects were launched in 2025, and there are roughly 12,000 active satellites orbiting Earth today.

Researchers released the first known video of a southern sleeper shark filmed in near-freezing Antarctic waters; the animal was recorded at about 1,640 feet in water near 34°F. Scientists say the shark’s slow metabolism and tissue chemistry help it tolerate cold, and that warmer water corridors or broader ocean warming may explain the sighting.

Singapore has designated 2026 as the "year of climate adaptation" and will begin a national plan to strengthen resilience to heat, floods and potential water and food shortages; Environment Minister Grace Fu warned that global tensions are raising the urgency of adaptation.

Environment Minister Andrew Muir has proposed withdrawing special regulatory arrangements for NI Water and introducing stronger pollution fines as part of wider water quality reforms.

The Supreme Court of Colombia dismissed a cassation appeal after AI-detection software flagged the filing as largely AI-generated, and subsequent tests using the same and other detectors returned high AI scores for the court's own ruling and for older documents.

A total lunar eclipse will turn the moon red and will be visible Tuesday across parts of the Americas, eastern Asia and Australia; totality is expected to last about an hour.

Italian historian Ivan Malara identified handwriting likely belonging to Galileo in a 1551 copy of Ptolemy's Almagest held by the National Central Library of Florence, and handwriting experts said the annotations resemble Galileo's writing; Malara plans to submit a paper to the Journal for the History of Astronomy.

Blue Skies Space's Mauve satellite captured a five-second visible and ultraviolet observation of the star eta Ursa Majoris on Feb. 9, and the company says science operations and data delivery will begin after instrument checks are completed.

San Diego County's Water Authority approved an initial agreement to explore selling some Colorado River water to Arizona and Nevada, drawing on supplies tied to the Carlsbad desalination plant; further approvals from regional and federal agencies are required.

A TikTok video posted Feb. 22 by user @michellemaradiaga8 shows Horsetail Fall glowing orange like a firefall and has more than 1.4 million views; the National Park Service says the effect appears in mid-to-late February when the waterfall is flowing and the setting sun backlights it.

A Johns Hopkins study found a hardy desert bacterium survived pressures intended to simulate ejection from Mars and could withstand conditions associated with interplanetary transfer.

Researchers described Acanthochitona feroxa, a newly identified chiton species from specimens collected off South Korea, based on differences in shell features and mitochondrial genomes.