Science & Earth

Patagonia stopped selling Atlantic mackerel after local stocks declined and has switched to smoked Chilean jack mackerel sourced from recovering South Pacific fisheries.

Artemis II will be the U.S.'s first crewed trip around the moon in more than 50 years and will carry Victor Glover and Christina Koch as the first Black and first female astronauts to make the lunar flyby.

A brief warm spell brought highs into the 60s with abundant sunshine in the D.C. area, but a cold front will cool temperatures and may bring some wintry precipitation early next week.

NASA announced a 2027 Artemis docking test in low-Earth orbit to exercise Orion with commercial lunar landers, and said it would cancel an SLS upper-stage upgrade to focus on higher production and flight rate.

Earthshine is sunlight reflected from Earth that faintly illuminates the Moon's dark side, most visible around the new Moon and slim crescent phases; it peaks in Northern Hemisphere spring with a smaller peak in Southern Hemisphere spring.

NASA plans to standardize the Space Launch System into a single configuration to raise launch frequency, with the agency aiming for launches as often as every 10 months; contractors have been briefed and Boeing publicly signaled at least some support.

Rain soaked into the Sierra Nevada snowpack and refroze, raising California’s median snow water equivalent from 70% to 75% between Monday and Wednesday, according to UC Berkeley monitoring reported by SFGATE. Statewide snowpack remains at about 61% of average peak, with regional differences reported.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a water plan tied to Senate Bill 72 that sets a 9 million acre-feet supply target for 2040 and calls for improved data and planning. The proposal emphasizes conservation, stormwater capture and recycling, and the Department of Water Resources will convene an advisory group with its first meeting in April.

Researchers report that rete ridges form after birth and that a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathway helps build these structures; the team used pig skin as a model.

NASA announced that Artemis 3 will no longer land astronauts and will instead perform an Earth-orbit rendezvous in 2027; the agency now plans the first crewed lunar landing for Artemis 4 in 2028.

A study of humpbacks breeding around New Caledonia found that as populations recovered, females increasingly favored older males, who generally sang more elaborate songs; researchers reached this conclusion using genetic analysis of skin samples and song observations.

NASA announced an overhaul of the Artemis program that adds a 2027 in‑orbit docking test (relabelled Artemis III) and targets a crewed lunar landing in 2028 as Artemis IV, while cancelling the Boeing-developed Exploration Upper Stage.

For the first time since June 8, 2022, the Earth-facing side of the sun recorded consecutive spotless days, ending a 1,335-day streak, but new sunspots rotated into view a few days later and experts say Solar Cycle 25 is waning yet remains active.

NASA announced a revised Artemis schedule that adds a 2027 orbital docking test for a lunar lander and aims for one or two crewed moon landings in 2028.

National Weather Service probability maps show widespread chances of snow across the Northeast on Friday, with local totals up to 11 inches and winter storm warnings in parts of northern New York and Vermont.

Award-winning astrophotographer Josh Dury photographed a rare six-planet alignment from England on Feb. 24, 2026, using an ultra-wide fisheye lens to span nearly 180 degrees; Mars was not part of the parade.

In December, Babawru, one of three surviving Akuntsu women, gave birth to a boy, and officials say the child represents hope for the Akuntsu people and for protection of their territory.

Forecasters place the chance of a new El Niño at roughly 50–60% by early fall, and experts say its development would increase the likelihood of record-high global temperatures, possibly making 2027 the warmest year on record.

James Webb captured new images of the planetary nebula PMR 1 showing a split, brain-like interior divided by a dark vertical lane, and the nebula lies about 5,000 light-years away with the composite spanning roughly 3.2 light-years.

A study found winter PM2.5 levels in parts of the Balkans among the highest in Europe, often exceeding Beijing, and the article notes more than 3,000 premature deaths per year in Bosnia and Herzegovina linked to fine particle pollution.

Unstable spring temperatures and variable rainfall across the southeastern U.S. are prompting experts to advise waiting for steadier soil temperatures and forecasts before planting warm-season vegetables.

A six-planet alignment is expected soon after sunset on Saturday, Feb. 28, visible toward the western sky about 30–60 minutes after sunset; several planets will sit low near the horizon and a nearly full waxing gibbous moon (90.6% illuminated) may make some planets harder to see.

NASA astronaut Mike Fincke said he experienced a medical event aboard the International Space Station on Jan. 7, and NASA arranged an early return for Crew-11 that splashed down Jan. 15 so he could receive advanced medical imaging and care.

An annular solar eclipse created a visible 'ring of fire' over Antarctica on Feb. 17, 2026, with the Concordia Research Station providing a rare ground-based view; peak annularity lasted about two minutes and partial phases spanned roughly two hours.

A Glendale resident reports a mountain lion grabbed her five-and-a-half-year-old shih tzu, Declan, outside her home and carried the dog into nearby hills; wildlife officials have urged caution in foothill neighborhoods, including avoiding nighttime walks and keeping pets leashed.

A study in Science finds many North American bird species are declining at accelerating rates, with average counts down about 304 birds per survey route (roughly a 15% drop) since the late 1980s; declines are strongest in warmer areas and regions of intensive agriculture.

Midweek temperatures climbed to about 18C and a Saharan dust plume tinted the sky, but forecasts show rain and cooler, unsettled conditions returning over the weekend into early March.

Punch, an orphaned Japanese macaque at Ichikawa City Zoo, has become a viral sensation after clutching an IKEA stuffed orangutan as a comfort object; researchers note his behavior echoes decades of primate attachment studies.

A nearly complete, well-preserved skeleton of a crow-sized alvarezsaur, Alnashetri cerropoliciensis, was found in sandstone at La Buitrera in northern Patagonia and published in Nature; the specimen was a small female that died at about age four and was rapidly buried by a sand dune.

A new simulation study models planetesimals as clouds of pebble-sized particles and finds that spinning clouds can produce binary planetesimals that spiral together and gently fuse into contact binaries, or 'space snowmen.' The simulations produced contact binaries in about 4% of runs, and the results were published Feb. 19 in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.