Science & Earth

FEMA has paid more than $195 million for damage from the August Milwaukee-area flood and has approved over 36,500 individual assistance applications as of Jan. 6, 2026.

The Northwest Avalanche Center began publishing avalanche forecasts in 1975 and now issues daily forecasts informed by data from 52 weather stations. The article reports NWAC serves backcountry users and public agencies while facing ongoing funding and staffing uncertainty.

A reactor at the Kashiwazaki‑Kariwa plant in Niigata is scheduled to resume around Jan. 20, marking Tokyo Electric Power Company's first restart since the 2011 Fukushima accident. Currently 14 reactors are operating while others await restart approval.

The U.S. announced it will withdraw from 66 international bodies, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as part of a broader shift away from multinational climate cooperation. Officials and experts say the moves are likely to reduce U.S. influence on climate policy and scientific assessments.

Construction is under way on small modular reactor projects in Oak Ridge and other sites as federal funding and private backers increase; experts say high costs, new fuels like TRISO and a history of delays make long-term success uncertain.

A winter storm tied to a Kona Low brought snow to the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, and agencies shared video and a timelapse showing snow at the high-altitude peaks.

Researchers report they recovered male DNA with a Tuscan lineage from a red chalk drawing and other artifacts and posted a preliminary paper on bioRxiv; experts say the findings are tentative and not yet peer reviewed.

Chicago launched its first citywide recycling program, the Blue Bag, in December 1995 and discontinued it in 2008; the city's reported waste diversion rate has remained around 9% in recent years.

Logan Airport recorded a 2025 average wind gust of 30.6 mph and 165 days with gusts of 30+ mph, roughly 100 more blustery days than the long-term average.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has halted the relicensing process for two reactors at the Hamaoka plant after Chubu Electric Power Co. acknowledged it fabricated seismic hazard data; the company has appointed external lawyers to investigate.

Researchers measured gases from halite crystals dated about 1.4 billion years ago and report roughly ten times modern carbon dioxide and about 3.7% of modern oxygen.

A study using seismic stations in Antarctica detected more than 360 glacier seismic events from 2010 to 2023, with about 245 located near the marine end of Thwaites (the Doomsday Glacier) and peak activity during a 2018–2020 speed-up of the glacier's ice tongue.

Astronomers tracked four young planets around the 20-million-year-old star V1298 Tau, measured unusually low densities and modest masses using transits and transit-timing variations, and report the planets are losing atmospheres and are likely to contract into super-Earths and sub-Neptunes.

Community trackers found 22-year-old Mafuko with two newborn sons in Virunga National Park, and park staff reported the mother and babies appeared well; Virunga says extra monitoring and protection measures are in place to support the young family.

Researchers report that infected ant pupae emit a scent that causes worker ants to unpack and disinfect them, which results in the pupae's death. Experiments that transferred the scent to healthy pupae produced the same unpacking response.

A dense fog advisory covers 16 New Jersey counties until 10 a.m., excluding five northeastern counties; clearing is expected later with west-northwest winds and gusts around 20–30 mph and highs in the upper 40s to low 50s.

A study published in Science Advances reports that microbubbles forming on plastic surfaces in rivers and oceans can break off tiny plastic particles into surrounding water, and the article cites an estimate that about 130 million metric tons of plastic waste enter human bodies and the environment each year.

The Met Office has issued yellow ice and snow warnings across much of the UK ahead of Storm Goretti, and snow has already caused school closures and transport disruption.

Prokaryotics and Basilea announced a joint program to develop a novel broad‑spectrum antifungal aimed at severe invasive infections caused by Candida, Aspergillus and rare molds; Basilea will fund development and hold an exclusive global license after a clinical candidate is selected, and Prokaryotics may receive milestone payments and royalties.

Satellite imagery shows an algal bloom in the Hartbeespoortdam reservoir growing, shifting, and fading between June 2022 and July 2023; researchers link blooms mainly to phosphorus in runoff and warmer water temperatures.

Environmental groups opposed an EPA proposal to extend closure deadlines to October 2031 for 11 coal plants, including three in Illinois and one in northwest Indiana. The EPA says the extension addresses grid reliability and has extended the public comment period to Feb. 6 before finalizing the rule.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan report fully programmable, light-powered robots about 200×300×50 micrometers in size that can swim, sense temperature, follow simple programs, and operate for months.

Abiove, representing major soybean traders, said it is withdrawing from the 2006 Soy Moratorium that bars soy grown on Amazon land deforested after 2008; Mato Grosso recently removed tax benefits tied to the pact and a November Supreme Court ruling partly favored the state.

Researchers using Hubble and several ground observatories report spectral and atmospheric patterns consistent with a companion star, nicknamed Siwarha, moving through Betelgeuse's outer layers; astronomers expect a clearer chance to image the companion when it reaches greater separation in November 2027.

Traffic's 2000–2025 analysis recorded 2,551 tiger seizures affecting at least 3,808 tigers and found a shift toward trade in whole animals; experts warn current conservation efforts are not stopping illegal trafficking.

The Greater Good Charities and the New England Aquarium worked together this season to rescue and treat hundreds of cold-stunned endangered sea turtles on Cape Cod; 60 remain in long-term care at the aquarium.

Lake Shasta rose more than 35 feet since mid‑December after a string of atmospheric rivers, and the reservoir is about 79% full (roughly 132% of normal for this time of year).

Cosimo Bambi has outlined a theoretical plan for gram-scale, light‑propelled nanocraft to approach a nearby black hole and beam measurements back to Earth before being lost. The proposal faces major obstacles, including a 100‑year‑plus timeline, incomplete technology, and no currently known black hole within the roughly 20–25 light‑year range needed.

The first full moon of 2026 — the January “wolf moon” — is a supermoon occurring near perigee, so it will appear closer and, NASA says, as much as about 14% larger and 30% brighter than its smallest appearance of the year.

Rescuers located a sunken tourist boat near Padar Island and recovered a body that was taken to hospital for identification; authorities continue the search for the remaining missing boy.