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.

Illustration of the solar system passing through the Radcliffe Wave, a giant filament of gas and young stars in the Milky Way.

It wasn’t just a simple stroll through the galaxy: 14 million years ago, the solar system passed through a colossal wave of gas and stars that may have triggered the great Miocene glaciation

By ECONEWS

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February 28, 2026 at 1:33 PM

NASA Parker Solar Probe flying through the Sun’s corona during its record breaking close approach

An unprecedented view of the Sun is about to arrive: the Parker probe passed through the solar atmosphere at approximately 429,000 miles per hour (mph) and recorded data that could solve one of science’s oldest mysteries

By ECONEWS

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February 28, 2026 at 8:56 AM

India SpaDeX satellites performing first in orbit docking maneuver developed by ISRO in 2025

India joins the most exclusive club in space: it has achieved its first docking between satellites in orbit and is already dreaming of having its own space station by 2035

By ECONEWS

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February 28, 2026 at 7:50 AM

Illustration of asteroid 2024 YR4 approaching the Moon in a potential 2032 impact scenario

NASA and China warn that the Moon could be hit by a 60-meter rock and that the impact could trigger a meteor storm that would knock out the Internet, satellites, and GPS for years

By Adrian Villellas

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February 27, 2026 at 4:14 PM

Monte Conero limestone slab showing fossilized Cretaceous sea turtle trackways

The day when dozens of sea turtles panicked and fled at full speed under the sea 79 million years ago: Italian climbers have just found their perfectly preserved footprints after an avalanche caused by a prehistoric earthquake

By ECONEWS

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February 27, 2026 at 2:04 PM

Archaeological remains of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio basilica uncovered beneath Piazza Andrea Costa

Excavating beneath an Italian square, they finally uncover Vitruvius’ lost building: the basilica described in 19 BC comes to life in the 21st century

By Adrian Villellas

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February 27, 2026 at 8:45 AM

CHIEF1900 hypergravity centrifuge installed underground at Zhejiang University, designed to simulate extreme gravitational forces.

China is building a giant hypergravity centrifuge capable of accelerating processes that take centuries to complete in nature

By Adrian Villellas

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February 26, 2026 at 7:05 PM

Ancient Aboriginal rock art showing a large seafaring vessel with human figures in northern Australia

A study of 2,400 genomes suggests the first humans reached Australia about 60,000 years ago

By ECONEWS

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February 25, 2026 at 7:38 PM

Ripe cloudberries growing in an Arctic bog, the octoploid berry studied for its complex hybrid genome.

It wasn’t just a rare fruit: the humble molt that Nansen took to the North Pole in 1893 could be one of the most complex natural hybrids ever studied, with DNA from at least three extinct species and an evolutionary history written in eight chromosomes that still baffles geneticists

By Adrian Villellas

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February 25, 2026 at 11:16 AM

12-year-old Texas student beside a homemade nuclear fusion device after detecting neutrons

A 12-year-old boy in Texas spends four years building a nuclear fusion device at home and manages to detect real neutrons

By Adrian Villellas

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February 24, 2026 at 10:49 AM

Quartz vein with gold deposits in dark rock, showing how earthquakes may help form giant gold nuggets

Earthquakes could be behind the formation of giant gold nuggets

By Adrian Villellas

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February 24, 2026 at 5:36 AM

Naturally mummified cheetah preserved inside a dry cave in northern Saudi Arabia

The discovery of 4,000-year-old mummified cheetahs in Saudi Arabia could lead to the recovery of a lost ecosystem

By ECONEWS

—

February 23, 2026 at 3:36 PM

Satellite view of Jubbah oasis in Saudi Arabia’s Nafud Desert showing circular green irrigated fields amid orange dunes

NASA photographs a desert and finds mysterious circles in the heart of Saudi Arabia

By Adrian Villellas

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February 23, 2026 at 8:16 AM

Hand holding a plastic water bottle in a store aisle, highlighting concerns about microplastics in bottled water.

A review of 140 studies finds people who drink bottled water ingest tens of thousands more plastic particles a year

By Adrian Villellas

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February 22, 2026 at 5:00 PM

Chestnut mining bee Andrena rehni on an American chestnut flower in a Syracuse research orchard

It looked like a normal bee in an orchard, but after a few seconds, a scientist realized she was seeing something that almost no one had ever seen in that area before

By ECONEWS

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February 22, 2026 at 12:30 PM

Starlet sea anemone Nematostella vectensis used in evolutionary biology research

A brainless creature from the bottom of the sea could hold the molecular trick that helped build the human body between 600 and 700 million years ago

By ECONEWS

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February 21, 2026 at 5:00 PM

Baking soda and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, the two ingredients commonly mixed into a paste to whiten stained grout lines.

The combination of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide that is so popular in 2026 seems like a magical and inexpensive solution, but experts warn that it depends greatly on where it is used and when it is discontinued

By Adrian Villellas

—

February 21, 2026 at 6:30 AM

People walking in extreme summer heat during a heat wave linked to accelerated biological aging

Science confirms that heat waves are literally accelerating the aging process

By ECONEWS

—

February 20, 2026 at 6:30 PM

Japanese research vessel drilling for rare earth rich mud 6,000 meters below the Pacific Ocean

A deep-sea mission detects mud containing valuable elements where no one was looking. The discovery, made at a depth of 6 kilometers, could change the course of technology

By Adrian Villellas

—

February 20, 2026 at 1:27 PM

A French bulldog lying on grass outdoors.

What would happen to dogs if humans disappeared? Experts say breeds like bulldogs would fade as dogs interbreed

By Adrian Villellas

—

February 20, 2026 at 10:15 AM

Previous Next

Science

It wasn’t just a simple stroll through the galaxy: 14 million years ago, the solar system passed through a colossal wave of gas and stars that may have triggered the great Miocene glaciation

An unprecedented view of the Sun is about to arrive: the Parker probe passed through the solar atmosphere at approximately 429,000 miles per hour (mph) and recorded data that could solve one of science’s oldest mysteries

India joins the most exclusive club in space: it has achieved its first docking between satellites in orbit and is already dreaming of having its own space station by 2035

NASA and China warn that the Moon could be hit by a 60-meter rock and that the impact could trigger a meteor storm that would knock out the Internet, satellites, and GPS for years

The day when dozens of sea turtles panicked and fled at full speed under the sea 79 million years ago: Italian climbers have just found their perfectly preserved footprints after an avalanche caused by a prehistoric earthquake

Excavating beneath an Italian square, they finally uncover Vitruvius’ lost building: the basilica described in 19 BC comes to life in the 21st century

China is building a giant hypergravity centrifuge capable of accelerating processes that take centuries to complete in nature

A study of 2,400 genomes suggests the first humans reached Australia about 60,000 years ago

It wasn’t just a rare fruit: the humble molt that Nansen took to the North Pole in 1893 could be one of the most complex natural hybrids ever studied, with DNA from at least three extinct species and an evolutionary history written in eight chromosomes that still baffles geneticists

A 12-year-old boy in Texas spends four years building a nuclear fusion device at home and manages to detect real neutrons

Earthquakes could be behind the formation of giant gold nuggets

The discovery of 4,000-year-old mummified cheetahs in Saudi Arabia could lead to the recovery of a lost ecosystem

NASA photographs a desert and finds mysterious circles in the heart of Saudi Arabia

A review of 140 studies finds people who drink bottled water ingest tens of thousands more plastic particles a year

It looked like a normal bee in an orchard, but after a few seconds, a scientist realized she was seeing something that almost no one had ever seen in that area before

A brainless creature from the bottom of the sea could hold the molecular trick that helped build the human body between 600 and 700 million years ago

The combination of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide that is so popular in 2026 seems like a magical and inexpensive solution, but experts warn that it depends greatly on where it is used and when it is discontinued

Science confirms that heat waves are literally accelerating the aging process

A deep-sea mission detects mud containing valuable elements where no one was looking. The discovery, made at a depth of 6 kilometers, could change the course of technology

What would happen to dogs if humans disappeared? Experts say breeds like bulldogs would fade as dogs interbreed

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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