Science & Earth

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.

Sitka Gold released assays from 11 new diamond holes at the Rhosgobel discovery, including DDRCRG-25-027 which returned 156.9 m of 1.00 g/t Au with higher-grade subintervals, and the company reports gold mineralization traced across roughly 1.1 km of strike with additional assays pending.

Hubble observations show Cloud-9 is a starless neutral-hydrogen cloud about 4,900 light‑years across with an inferred dark matter mass near five billion suns.

Forecasters say a heatwave will push temperatures up to 45C across southeastern Australia, raising extreme bushfire risk and increasing strain on energy networks.

A rare run of six major solar eclipses begins in 2026 and continues through 2028, including total eclipses on Aug. 12, 2026; Aug. 2, 2027; and July 22, 2028.

A joint report from the San Francisco Bay Joint Venture and Point Blue Conservation Science finds many shorebird species in the Bay Area have declined over the past two decades, with some species showing declines of about 25% to 86% since 2006.

The Associated Press reports Russia may be developing a system to release thousands of pellets into the orbit used by Starlink satellites, which could create uncontrolled debris that threatens many satellites.

NASA reports that Jupiter reaches opposition and its brightest appearance on January 10, and the Beehive Cluster (M44) will be visible in evening skies throughout January.

A PNAS study led by Steven Benner proposes that RNA could form in basalt-hosted, intermittently wet aquifers containing borate, activated phosphate, and stabilized organic sugars, and analysis of samples from asteroid Bennu returned by OSIRIS-REx detected ribose and glucose that relate to prebiotic chemistry.

Rains are forecast to end by late Tuesday, followed by drier, warmer weather and possible Santa Ana winds this weekend.

NOAA reported western U.S. snow cover fell to its lowest levels since satellite records began in 2001, with about 90,646 square miles covered as of Dec. 7; several mountain regions are below half their median snow levels, and officials say a single early-season storm can still change snowpack.

A magnitude 6.5 earthquake was reported near Acapulco, Mexico, and officials reported landslides, structural damage and at least two deaths.

The article reports the Trump administration cut funding tied to the research icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer and questions claims that the Thwaites ('Doomsday') glacier will cause large near-term sea-level rise.

Record king tides combined with heavy rain flooded streets in Marin County, with water reported up to 3 to 4 feet, and a flood advisory was in place for the San Francisco area until 2 p.m. Sunday.

Artemis II is scheduled no earlier than Feb. 6, 2026, to carry four astronauts around the moon, and multiple Commercial Lunar Payload Services robotic missions from Blue Origin, Intuitive Machines, Firefly and Astrobotic are planned across 2026.

The January full 'wolf moon' is a supermoon that peaks at 5:03 a.m. ET on Jan. 3 and will look about 14% larger; its brightness may reduce visibility of the Quadrantid meteor shower, which also peaks overnight into Saturday morning.

More whales are spending extended time near New York and reports of strandings have risen, with many animals showing signs of vessel strikes or fishing-gear entanglement.

The National Weather Service reports Albuquerque's 2025 average temperature was 60.8°F, the highest on record, and the year included multiple daytime and nighttime temperature records along with below-normal precipitation.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 is scheduled to lift off from Vandenberg at 9:09 p.m. EST tonight carrying a COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation Earth-observing satellite for the Italian Space Agency and Ministry of Defence; live coverage begins about 15 minutes before launch.

NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center says a minor to moderate geomagnetic storm could make the northern lights visible across 18 states Friday night, with the aurora viewline reported to skim northern Oregon.

Breakthrough Listen used the Green Bank Telescope to scan 3I/ATLAS near its Dec. 18 close approach and reported no credible narrowband radio technosignatures; initial candidates were traced to human-made interference.

About 1,000 light-years away, astronomers have imaged a very large disk of gas and dust that is forming planets. Hubble’s first visible-light picture shows unusual, wispy filaments concentrated on one side of the disk.

President Trump posted a photo of a dead bird on Truth Social and blamed windmills for bald eagle deaths. The image was taken in Israel and experts say the bird is a kestrel, not a bald eagle.