Science & Earth

Logan Airport recorded a 2025 average wind gust of 30.6 mph and 165 days with gusts of 30+ mph, roughly 100 more blustery days than the long-term average.

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has halted the relicensing process for two reactors at the Hamaoka plant after Chubu Electric Power Co. acknowledged it fabricated seismic hazard data; the company has appointed external lawyers to investigate.

Researchers measured gases from halite crystals dated about 1.4 billion years ago and report roughly ten times modern carbon dioxide and about 3.7% of modern oxygen.

A study using seismic stations in Antarctica detected more than 360 glacier seismic events from 2010 to 2023, with about 245 located near the marine end of Thwaites (the Doomsday Glacier) and peak activity during a 2018–2020 speed-up of the glacier's ice tongue.

Astronomers tracked four young planets around the 20-million-year-old star V1298 Tau, measured unusually low densities and modest masses using transits and transit-timing variations, and report the planets are losing atmospheres and are likely to contract into super-Earths and sub-Neptunes.

Community trackers found 22-year-old Mafuko with two newborn sons in Virunga National Park, and park staff reported the mother and babies appeared well; Virunga says extra monitoring and protection measures are in place to support the young family.

Researchers report that infected ant pupae emit a scent that causes worker ants to unpack and disinfect them, which results in the pupae's death. Experiments that transferred the scent to healthy pupae produced the same unpacking response.

A dense fog advisory covers 16 New Jersey counties until 10 a.m., excluding five northeastern counties; clearing is expected later with west-northwest winds and gusts around 20–30 mph and highs in the upper 40s to low 50s.

A study published in Science Advances reports that microbubbles forming on plastic surfaces in rivers and oceans can break off tiny plastic particles into surrounding water, and the article cites an estimate that about 130 million metric tons of plastic waste enter human bodies and the environment each year.

The Met Office has issued yellow ice and snow warnings across much of the UK ahead of Storm Goretti, and snow has already caused school closures and transport disruption.

Prokaryotics and Basilea announced a joint program to develop a novel broad‑spectrum antifungal aimed at severe invasive infections caused by Candida, Aspergillus and rare molds; Basilea will fund development and hold an exclusive global license after a clinical candidate is selected, and Prokaryotics may receive milestone payments and royalties.

Satellite imagery shows an algal bloom in the Hartbeespoortdam reservoir growing, shifting, and fading between June 2022 and July 2023; researchers link blooms mainly to phosphorus in runoff and warmer water temperatures.

Environmental groups opposed an EPA proposal to extend closure deadlines to October 2031 for 11 coal plants, including three in Illinois and one in northwest Indiana. The EPA says the extension addresses grid reliability and has extended the public comment period to Feb. 6 before finalizing the rule.

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Michigan report fully programmable, light-powered robots about 200×300×50 micrometers in size that can swim, sense temperature, follow simple programs, and operate for months.

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.