Recent reporting, background, and summaries from the science desk.
China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe successfully returned to Earth on June 25, 2024, carrying the first-ever samples collected from the Moon's unexplored far side. This historic achievement provides scientists with unprecedented material to unlock secrets about the Moon's geological history, formation, and the early solar system's evolution.
A U.S. FDA advisory committee has unanimously endorsed Eli Lilly's Alzheimer's drug, donanemab, signaling a major breakthrough for patients with early-stage disease. This promising treatment, which effectively slows cognitive decline by clearing amyloid plaques, now awaits the FDA's final regulatory decision later this year.
NASA's Voyager 1 probe, the farthest human-made object, has triumphantly resumed sending usable science data from all four instruments after months of technical issues, marking a monumental recovery. Engineers ingeniously bypassed a corrupted memory chip in its Flight Data Subsystem, ensuring the 46-year-old spacecraft can continue exploring the interstellar medium.
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft has successfully completed a critical thermal vacuum test, a vital step simulating deep space conditions and confirming its readiness for an October 2024 launch. This groundbreaking mission will journey to Jupiter's icy moon Europa to investigate its vast subsurface ocean and potential for extraterrestrial life.
NASA's Europa Clipper spacecraft has arrived at Kennedy Space Center, initiating final preparations for its October 10, 2024 launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. This critical mission aims to investigate Jupiter's moon Europa, specifically its vast subsurface ocean, which is considered a prime candidate for potentially harboring extraterrestrial life.
After months of transmitting garbled data, NASA's 46-year-old Voyager 1 spacecraft has triumphantly resumed full operations, once again sending valuable science data from all its instruments. This monumental recovery, achieved by ingenious engineers from billions of miles away, allows humanity's most distant emissary to continue its unprecedented study of interstellar space.
Oxford physicists have achieved a groundbreaking first, directly observing carbon-neutrino interactions using the SNO+ detector deep underground. This pivotal discovery, where solar neutrinos transformed carbon atoms into nitrogen, offers unprecedented insights into the universe's fundamental workings and opens new frontiers in nuclear and particle physics.
In a groundbreaking theoretical development, researchers propose that living cells inherently generate their own electrical signals through subtle, microscopic membrane movements, creating voltage spikes remarkably similar to those in neurons. This novel insight could fundamentally redefine our understanding of cellular processes, impacting fields from neuroscience to the development of intelligent, bio-inspired materials.
Australian scientists have achieved a significant breakthrough, identifying 32 causal genes linked to an increased likelihood of developing Long COVID, with 13 of these genes being newly associated with the condition. This pivotal discovery, led by researchers at the University of South Australia, is expected to accelerate the development of targeted treatments and personalized diagnostics for the debilitating global health challenge.
A groundbreaking new theory proposes that the universe's fundamental forces and the very origin of mass may arise directly from the dynamic geometry of hidden extra dimensions, challenging established physics. This innovative perspective suggests that mass originates from "torsion" within evolving seven-dimensional G2-manifolds, offering a novel explanation for particle properties and cosmic expansion beyond the Standard Model.
University of Iowa researchers have unveiled a groundbreaking theoretical method to "purify" photon streams, a critical advancement poised to significantly enhance the efficiency and security of future optical quantum technologies. This innovative approach strategically utilizes stray laser scatter, previously considered noise, to cancel out unwanted multi-photon emissions, paving the way for more reliable quantum computing and secure communication networks.
Scientists have identified a previously unknown species of bettong and two new subspecies of woylie from ancient Western Australian fossils, offering crucial insights into Australia's rich past biodiversity. This significant discovery, announced on December 13, 2025, is bittersweet as the new bettong species, *Bettongia haoucharae*, is believed to be already extinct, while the reclassified woylie subspecies are critically endangered, underscoring the urgent need for conservation efforts.