Science & Earth

The U.S. Drought Monitor reports that California has 0% abnormal dryness for the first time since December 2000 after a series of strong winter storms; officials say reservoirs are largely refilled and near-term wildfire risk is low.

A standing-room session at CES’s Foundry paired fusion researchers Dr. Tammy Ma and Dr. Alex Creeley with comedians Randy and Jason Sklar to discuss recent fusion milestones and the technology’s long-term potential.

A total solar eclipse will pass over parts of Spain on August 12, 2026, with the path of totality crossing northwest to southeast and including several cities and the Balearic Islands. The article reports this will be the first total eclipse visible in Spain since 1905 and that local authorities expect increased visitor interest.

Storm Goretti crossed the United Kingdom and France, producing measured wind gusts above 120 mph and widespread power outages that affected nearly half a million customers.

President Trump issued a presidential memorandum withdrawing the United States from 66 international organizations and treaties, including the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

China's EAST tokamak held plasma stably at about 1.3–1.65 times the Greenwald Limit, and the results were published Jan. 1 in Science Advances as evidence for a plasma‑wall self‑organization pathway to higher densities.

Eric and Wendy Schmidt announced funding for four telescopes called the Schmidt Observatory System, including a 3.1-meter space telescope named Lazuli slated to begin operations around 2029. The package also includes three ground-based, modular arrays — Argus, a large radio array (DSA), and LFAST — with an open-data plan.

A PLOS One study compared 24 teeth from three individuals at Dmanisi with 559 teeth from other hominins and found dental variation that groups into two sets, which the authors say could indicate more than one species lived at the site about 1.8 million years ago.

Researchers report chemical traces of plant-derived poisons on quartz arrow tips from Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, in a layer dated to about 60,000 years ago, and identify alkaloids consistent with plants in the Amaryllidaceae family. The finding, published in Science Advances, pushes back confirmed evidence of poison weapons by tens of thousands of years.

James Ward found a 2.09-carat brown diamond at Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas on Dec. 30 while visiting with his wife and two sons; park officials said crater diamonds form in the upper mantle and are brought to the surface by ancient volcanic pipes.

SpaceX is targeting a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral today between 1:29 p.m. and 5:29 p.m. to deploy 29 Starlink satellites, and weather services report highly favorable conditions.

A nearly 10,000-year-old purpose-built pyre was found at Hora 1 beneath Mount Hora in northern Malawi and identified as Africa's oldest known intentional human cremation. Archaeologists recovered about 170 bone fragments believed to belong to an adult woman and report cut marks and the absence of skull fragments consistent with ritualized treatment.

Juneau has nearly 40 inches of snow on the ground and declared an emergency while crews and volunteers work to remove snow ahead of rain expected Thursday.

Astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope confirmed a starless, gas-rich dark-matter cloud called Cloud-9 near the galaxy Messier 94; its neutral hydrogen core spans about 4,900 light-years and holds roughly one million solar masses of gas.

Authorities say a dead whale was found on the bow of a ship at Gloucester Marine Terminal on Jan. 4 and the animal was tentatively identified as a fin whale while NOAA's Office of Law Enforcement is investigating.

Georgia Tech students have built data tools to help Birds Georgia map and visualize bird-window collisions in Atlanta, supporting the group's effort to push for bird-safe building policies.

Relocating deer from the Horseshoe Lake wildlife refuge and importing animals from other states helped Illinois rebuild its white-tailed deer population; estimates rose from near zero around 1900 to about 600,000–700,000 today.

The Met Office has issued yellow warnings for snow and ice as northern and north‑eastern Scotland enters a ninth consecutive day of snowfall; many schools remain closed and some roads and a stretch of railway are disrupted.

The Colorado Basin River Forecast Center reports water supply forecasts are generally well below normal after a warm, dry winter; Lake Powell was about 26% full as of Wednesday.

The CIA told a FOIA requester it can neither confirm nor deny the existence of records about the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, and Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has publicly questioned that response while noting NASA has called the object a natural comet.

DREO introduced its TurboCool misting fan series at CES 2026, using roughly 17‑micron droplets designed to evaporate quickly and limit wetness. The company plans to sell three TurboCool models on DREO.com in March 2026.

Ohio's bald eagle population rose from just four nesting pairs in 1979 to 964 confirmed nests in 2025, aided by the 1972 DDT ban and coordinated conservation efforts.

Storm Goretti brought hurricane‑force gusts, including a 159 km/h reading at the Isles of Scilly, and cut power to about 380,000 households in France while disrupting schools and rail services.

A study sampling water every six hours above a Red Sea reef found that coral reefs impose clear daily cycles on nearby microbial communities, with midday peaks in Symbiodiniaceae signals and nighttime increases in microscopic predators.

A Boston Globe opinion piece argues that the UN's annual COP meetings and the 1.5°C target have not meaningfully changed global emissions trends and that the recent Belém conference may have cost Brazil up to $1 billion.

Storm Goretti left about 380,000 households in France without electricity and brought extraordinary wind gusts in Manche; schools in northern regions were closed and authorities issued safety warnings.

A 2025 study published in Advances in Atmospheric Science found the world's oceans absorbed an additional 23 zettajoules of heat, the largest annual increase since modern measurements began, and the eighth consecutive year of rising ocean heat content.

Storm Goretti brought thundersnow to parts of Wales, prompting an amber snow warning and causing school closures, power outages and transport disruptions.

City, tribal and state officials issued emergency and disaster declarations as an atmospheric river is forecast to bring snow then rain to Juneau, raising flood, landslide and avalanche concerns and prompting coordination for resources.

About 2,000 adult European oysters and 30,000 juvenile spat were placed on the Belfast Lough seabed in a first-of-its-kind seabed deployment in Northern Ireland, led by Ulster Wildlife with support from Belfast Harbour and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs.