If your windowsills are anything like mine, they are filling up with the first batches of seed sowings for the year ahead. The challenge is that seedlings raised in the cosseted environment of the great indoors are notoriously prone to growing long and leggy, often collapsing just a few weeks after sprouting. But could a…
January 7, 2026 4 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Weird, Wobbling Black Hole Jets Can Shape Entire Galaxies A wobbling jet from a giant, voracious black hole is suppressing star formation in a distant galaxy—and astronomers have never seen anything quite like it before By Jacek Krywko edited by Lee Billings An artist’s…
Artist’s impression of the BepiColombo spacecraft flying by Mercury ESA/ATG medialab We will finally begin to untangle Mercury’s mysteries in 2026, as the BepiColombo spacecraft descend into orbit around the solar system’s innermost planet. BepiColombo consists of a pair of spacecraft from both the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)….
January 8, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm This Newly Discovered Asteroid, Almost Half a Mile Wide, Just Set a New Speed Record A giant asteroid has sent astronomers into a spin, setting a record for how fast it rotates on its axis By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron NSF–DOE…
One of the low-density planets compared with Earth NASA Four planets orbiting a newly born star in our galaxy are so light that they have the density of polystyrene, and could provide a key missing link in helping us understand how the most common planetary systems form. This solar system is unusual when compared with…
January 10, 2026 1 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm NASA Announces Return Date for Evacuating ISS Astronauts Four ISS crew members are set to touch down on Thursday after NASA announced the first medical evacuation in the space station’s history By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron The International Space Station, as…
Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary Universal Pictures Well, those little green shoots of recovery I forecast last year have flowered. This year is set to bring tighter scripts, cheaper projects (which is good, because studios can take more chances) and a more enjoyable cinema-going experience all round. On 16 January, 28 Years Later: The…
Number enthusiasts may be looking to the new year with a touch of melancholy. Another perfect square like 2025 (452 = 2,025) won’t occur again until 2116 (462 = 2,116). The year 2027 will be a prime number. By comparison, our current year, 2026, seems almost boring. But that’s a misconception. The On-line Encyclopedia of…
An artist’s impression of CarbSAR orbiting Earth Oxford Space Systems A new UK satellite is about to launch, wearing the latest in high‑tech knitwear. Called CarbSAR, it is due to go into orbit on Sunday, where it will deploy a mesh radar antenna produced on a machine more commonly found in a textiles factory. “It’s…
January 8, 2026 2 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm Do Monkeys Make Faces on Purpose? A new study suggests that primate facial expressions may not just be reflex By Cody Cottier edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier Macaques’ threatening grins and friendly lip-smacks may be partially intentional. Christophe Lehenaff/Getty Images Facial expressions are central…
