Atmospheric dust plays a dual role in Earth’s climate: it reflects some sunlight back into space while also absorbing and retaining the planet’s heat like an insulating blanket. But while dust likely cools the planet overall, that’s not the whole story. New UCLA research shows that the heat-trapping effect of airborne desert dust in the…
For millions of years, the Mississippi River flowed unchecked, carrying roughly 400 million metric tons of sediment down to Louisiana, where it spilled into the Gulf of Mexico to create new land. But in the early 20th century, a series of dams and river-training structures were built to prevent flooding — leaving the river tamed…
Lebanon’s minister for the environment has accused Israel’s military of committing “an act of ecocide” in the foreword to a report detailing the harm done to the country’s natural resources during the invasion of 2023 to 2024. Israeli military aggression “reshaped both the physical and ecological landscape” of southern Lebanon, according to the report, which…
The Trump administration has fired members of an independent board that oversees the National Science Foundation (NSF). Members of the National Science Board received an email on Friday sent from the Presidential Personnel Office “on behalf of President Donald J Trump” stating that their position was “terminated, effective immediately”. “I wasn’t entirely surprised, to be…
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A ULA Atlas V rocket launches 29 Amazon Leo satellites from Florida on April 27, 2026. | Credit: ULA A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launched 29 of Amazon’s internet satellites on Monday night (April 27), tying…
A paper in Genome Biology and Evolution discovers that the endangered Mediterranean fin whale is not completely isolated from Atlantic groups. Both Atlantic and Mediterranean populations have declined for the past 200,000 years. Considering more recent threats to the whales, this finding has important implications for conservation, particularly considering increasing anthropogenic pressures. Source: Read Full…
The bright whites of mountain snow, muted browns of the arid plains, and gem-like blues and teals of glacial lakes typically dominate the Patagonian color palette. But for a short time in the austral autumn, temperate deciduous forests add splashes of warm tones. On April 12, 2026, a break in the clouds allowed the Landsat…
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An illustration of a supermassive black hole against a background of dark matter. | Credit: Robert Lea (created with Canva) New research suggests that supermassive black holes that existed before the cosmos was 1 billion years old may…
Researchers from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M), in collaboration with international experts, have published a scientific study on how to ensure that the selection of committees and expert groups is mathematically fair and proportional, preventing significant minorities from being excluded. These findings could find applications in the political sphere, the commercial sector, or group…
Now, it’s looking more like late 2027, at the earliest, for Artemis III. “I’ve received responses from both vendors, both SpaceX and Blue Origin, to meet our needs for a late 2027 rendezvous, docking, and test of the interoperability of both landers in advance of a landing attempt in 2028,” Isaacman said Monday. Both companies…
