Science

Geology, paleontology, physics, space and the natural world

In Science, ECOnews reports on new discoveries in geology, paleontology, physics, space, health and the natural world. We explain the latest studies from universities and labs worldwide in plain language.

NASA’s Perseverance rover looks back at its own wheel tracks in Jezero Crater after reaching the 26.2-mile driving mark.

Perseverance has driven 42.195 kilometers across Mars, a marathon distance on another planet, and with that record it keeps searching for signs of ancient life among rocks that have stayed silent for billions of years

By ECONEWS

—

July 17, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Carbonized Herculaneum papyrus scroll under red laser lines during X-ray imaging alignment.

Artificial intelligence has just read a papyrus scroll carbonized by Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago, without opening or destroying it, and every recovered word feels like a secret doorway into a Roman library trapped by fire

By ECONEWS

—

July 17, 2026 at 8:45 AM

Thermometer showing temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius under a bright sun during extreme heat conditions

Scientists have recreated the legendary summer of 1976 using current weather conditions, and the result raises an uncomfortable question: What was once a historic heat wave could be much more intense today

By ECONEWS

—

July 16, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Apnoctomys conicetorum, newly discovered rodent species from Argentina near Córdoba

Scientists have just discovered a new mammal in Argentina, and the most interesting thing is that it wasn’t lost in a remote jungle, but less than 81 miles from Córdoba

By ECONEWS

—

July 15, 2026 at 12:30 PM

Rhinochimaera deep sea ghost shark with long snout, similar to newly discovered species in Costa Rica

Costa Rica has just added a “ghost shark” to its biodiversity, but this one doesn’t live on beaches or reefs: it was hiding at depths of between 1,280 and 2,580 feet in the Pacific Ocean

By Adrian Villellas

—

July 15, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Researchers working inside underground tunnel studying microbes for carbon capture

At 4,100 feet underground, in an old gold mine in South Dakota, some extremely rare microbes could do something amazing: turn CO2 from factories into solid rock

By Adrian Villellas

—

July 14, 2026 at 4:36 AM

Cracks in a house wall caused by small earthquakes in Surrey village

A town in Surrey experienced more than 100 small earthquakes between 2018 and 2019, and scientists are now investigating whether an oil well just 3 or 6 miles away might have had something to do with it

By Adrian Villellas

—

July 13, 2026 at 7:30 PM

Ancient Iberian settlement ruins in Spain showing archaeological site linked to Iron Age populations

A team from the Autonomous University of Barcelona analyzed 54 newborns who lived between 2,700 and 2,100 years ago and found a surprising clue in their DNA

By ECONEWS

—

July 11, 2026 at 3:00 PM

Technician working on an electric vehicle battery pack with exposed lithium ion cells during maintenance

An electric car’s “dead” battery may not have been as dead as it seemed, and Cornell University has just tested a method that allows up to 95% of its original capacity to be restored without damaging it

By Adrian Villellas

—

July 11, 2026 at 12:30 PM

View of Earth rising above the Moon’s surface, illustrating the concept of using the Moon as a protective barrier for space samples

According to a new scientific proposal, NASA may need a kind of “biological customs checkpoint” on the Moon before bringing samples from Mars or distant worlds back to Earth

By Adrian Villellas

—

July 11, 2026 at 4:27 AM

Deep-sea whale skeleton with scavenger animals feeding in a whale-fall ecosystem similar to the newly discovered graveyard

Scientists ventured into one of the least-explored areas of the ocean and found something no one expected: a gigantic whale graveyard stretching nearly 1,200 kilometers

By ECONEWS

—

July 9, 2026 at 7:30 PM

Engineers inspect damaged launch pad after New Glenn rocket explosion at Cape Canaveral

The new space race no longer seems like an idyllic adventure toward the stars, because in 2026, Blue Origin is rebuilding a destroyed launch pad, Relativity has its sights set on Mars, and a Chinese rocket is leaving more debris floating above Earth

By ECONEWS

—

July 9, 2026 at 6:35 PM

Illustration of flowering plants representing self-fertilization and reproductive strategies examined in a new evolutionary biology study.

For decades, it has been said that self-fertilization was like entering an evolutionary dead end, but a new study has just put a rather uncomfortable spin on that old idea

By ECONEWS

—

July 9, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Medical researchers working together in a laboratory studying antibiotic resistance and bacterial response to antimicrobial treatments.

Researchers believe they have identified one of the most dangerous aspects of antibiotic use: a point at which bacteria are more likely to develop resistance

By ECONEWS

—

July 9, 2026 at 6:30 AM

Flooded Amazon rainforest with diverse trees showing dense tropical ecosystem where Inga species coexist.

Scientists sequenced 461 trees from the Amazon and discovered a rather surprising clue: some species may be passing on defensive genes as if they were recipes for fighting pests

By ECONEWS

—

July 8, 2026 at 3:00 PM

Albert Einstein portrait associated with theories about fundamental laws of the universe and physics

For decades, Einstein had been mulling over an unsettling idea—that the most fundamental laws of the universe should not depend on arbitrary numbers—and now a study published in Physical Review Letters has just given it a rather compelling mathematical boost

By ECONEWS

—

July 8, 2026 at 9:45 AM

Green Bank Telescope tracking deep space signals under the Milky Way during Artemis II mission

An Earth-based telescope turned the Artemis II crew into a handful of pixels from more than 200,000 miles away, and the twist is that the 328-foot Green Bank Telescope tracked the capsule with precision down to 0.008 inches per second

By Adrian Villellas

—

July 8, 2026 at 7:00 AM

Sun rising through Stonehenge stones during summer solstice alignment in England

Before Stonehenge became the great symbol of the solstice, it is possible that two simple wooden posts located in Bulford were already marking the summer sunrise some 5,000 years ago

By ECONEWS

—

July 8, 2026 at 5:58 AM

Two red-crowned cranes perform a synchronized courtship dance in the Kushiro wetlands, responding to each other with coordinated bows and poses.

What looks like a beautiful dance in the Kushiro wetlands could be a secret conversation between two cranes, featuring a series of bows, poses, and movements that last up to three minutes and respond to each other’s gestures

By ECONEWS

—

July 5, 2026 at 6:30 PM

Group of bat rays swimming underwater showing social behavior linked to chemical warning signals

A frightened bat ray could warn the others without making a sound or splashing, by releasing a chemical signal into the water that its neighbors detect within seconds

By Adrian Villellas

—

July 5, 2026 at 3:00 PM

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Science

Perseverance has driven 42.195 kilometers across Mars, a marathon distance on another planet, and with that record it keeps searching for signs of ancient life among rocks that have stayed silent for billions of years

Artificial intelligence has just read a papyrus scroll carbonized by Mount Vesuvius nearly 2,000 years ago, without opening or destroying it, and every recovered word feels like a secret doorway into a Roman library trapped by fire

Scientists have recreated the legendary summer of 1976 using current weather conditions, and the result raises an uncomfortable question: What was once a historic heat wave could be much more intense today

Scientists have just discovered a new mammal in Argentina, and the most interesting thing is that it wasn’t lost in a remote jungle, but less than 81 miles from Córdoba

Costa Rica has just added a “ghost shark” to its biodiversity, but this one doesn’t live on beaches or reefs: it was hiding at depths of between 1,280 and 2,580 feet in the Pacific Ocean

At 4,100 feet underground, in an old gold mine in South Dakota, some extremely rare microbes could do something amazing: turn CO2 from factories into solid rock

A town in Surrey experienced more than 100 small earthquakes between 2018 and 2019, and scientists are now investigating whether an oil well just 3 or 6 miles away might have had something to do with it

A team from the Autonomous University of Barcelona analyzed 54 newborns who lived between 2,700 and 2,100 years ago and found a surprising clue in their DNA

An electric car’s “dead” battery may not have been as dead as it seemed, and Cornell University has just tested a method that allows up to 95% of its original capacity to be restored without damaging it

According to a new scientific proposal, NASA may need a kind of “biological customs checkpoint” on the Moon before bringing samples from Mars or distant worlds back to Earth

Scientists ventured into one of the least-explored areas of the ocean and found something no one expected: a gigantic whale graveyard stretching nearly 1,200 kilometers

The new space race no longer seems like an idyllic adventure toward the stars, because in 2026, Blue Origin is rebuilding a destroyed launch pad, Relativity has its sights set on Mars, and a Chinese rocket is leaving more debris floating above Earth

For decades, it has been said that self-fertilization was like entering an evolutionary dead end, but a new study has just put a rather uncomfortable spin on that old idea

Researchers believe they have identified one of the most dangerous aspects of antibiotic use: a point at which bacteria are more likely to develop resistance

Scientists sequenced 461 trees from the Amazon and discovered a rather surprising clue: some species may be passing on defensive genes as if they were recipes for fighting pests

For decades, Einstein had been mulling over an unsettling idea—that the most fundamental laws of the universe should not depend on arbitrary numbers—and now a study published in Physical Review Letters has just given it a rather compelling mathematical boost

An Earth-based telescope turned the Artemis II crew into a handful of pixels from more than 200,000 miles away, and the twist is that the 328-foot Green Bank Telescope tracked the capsule with precision down to 0.008 inches per second

Before Stonehenge became the great symbol of the solstice, it is possible that two simple wooden posts located in Bulford were already marking the summer sunrise some 5,000 years ago

What looks like a beautiful dance in the Kushiro wetlands could be a secret conversation between two cranes, featuring a series of bows, poses, and movements that last up to three minutes and respond to each other’s gestures

A frightened bat ray could warn the others without making a sound or splashing, by releasing a chemical signal into the water that its neighbors detect within seconds

In Romania’s Brașov County, brown bears number about 1,329 by a national genetic estimate, the highest density of any county, and one bear relocated from Poiana Brașov was back within 3 days

More than 40 Magellanic penguins born in captivity arrived by court order from Mar del Plata at a river island in Argentina’s Río Negro province, and at first they had not explored even a third of their new home

In Japan, researchers led by Tohoku University used an inexpensive blue pigment to turn carbon dioxide into methane with 79.5% Faradaic efficiency, and methane selectivity stayed above 60% for about 80 hours

At 8.2 feet on Oct. 13, the Lake Constance water level in Konstanz, Germany, fell below a 1947 record for the date, and it now sits 10 inches under last winter’s low

A simulated AMOC collapse in an unreviewed preprint cut wheat, corn and rice harvests in Germany and Ukraine by roughly 16 to 19 percent, and cereal prices could climb up to 40 percent in the worst case

A landslide in Alaska’s Tracy Arm fjord sent a tsunami 1,578 feet up the opposite wall, and a Science study found small tremors striking every 30 to 60 seconds in the hours before the collapse

A company won a mining license for a magnesium deposit it estimates at more than 50 million metric tons near Rășinari, in Romania’s Sibiu County, and the EU gets 97 percent of its magnesium from China

Leap seconds will end on May 20, 2027, under a rule the General Conference on Weights and Measures adopted in Versailles, France, and a new study finds Earth’s solid surface turning slightly rounder as polar ground rises

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