Scientists are working to understand how magnetic currents from the sun spread beneath Earth's crust when the northern lights dance across the sky. Their goal is to tame its "dark twin" and prevent damage to our power grid.

The activity on the sun is at its strongest right now. Periods of such intense activity occur about every 11 years and follow a well-known cycle.

But it's not the colors in the sky that captivate the scientists. While the northern lights splash their colorful displays across the sky, scientists are studying its dark twin: geomagnetic storms.

The magnetic storms that come from the sun induce strong voltage fluctuations, "shaking" their way underground and outward. The induced currents can cause trouble for some transformer stations, but not all, just a few. Some stations are located in more sensitive locations than others. Why is that?

This is one of the questions that researchers are seeking answers to. To that end, they are studying how magnetic storms induce electrical currents in the ground.

The magma reservoir of the largest volcanic eruption of the Holocene is refilling. This Kobe University insight on the Kikai caldera in Japan allows us to understand giant caldera volcanoes like Yellowstone or Toba more generally and gets us closer to predicting their behavior, too.

Some volcanoes erupt so violently, ejecting more magma than could cover all of Central Park 12 km deep, that all that's left is just a wide and rather shallow crater, a so-called "caldera." Examples of such supervolcanoes are the Yellowstone caldera, the Toba caldera and the mostly underwater Kikai caldera in Japan, which last erupted 7,300 years ago in what was the largest volcano eruption in the current geological epoch, the Holocene.

It is known that these volcanoes can and do reerupt but very little is known about the processes that lead up to an eruption and are therefore ill-equipped to make predictions.

"We must understand how such large quantities of magma can accumulate to understand how giant caldera eruptions occur," says Kobe University geophysicist Seama Nobukazu.

Two eyes on the Black Eye Galaxy!

Data from Hubble and NASAWebb combine in this new image of the Black Eye Galaxy, also known as Messier 64.

Astronomers used Hubble and Webb to study this galaxy to learn more about star formation in nearby galaxies: go.nasa.gov/4bALYih

Dark matter, a type of matter that does not emit, reflect or absorb light, is predicted to account for most of the matter in the universe. As it eludes common experimental techniques for studying ordinary matter, understanding the nature and composition of dark matter has so far proved very challenging. One hypothesis is that it is made up of hypothetical particles known as quantum chromodynamics (QCD) axions. These are theoretical elementary particles that would interact very weakly with ordinary matter and are predicted to be extremely light, highly stable and electrically neutral.

While several large-scale studies have searched for small signals or effects that would indicate the presence of these particles or their interaction with ordinary matter, their existence has not yet been confirmed experimentally. In a paper recently published in Physical Review Letters, researchers at Perimeter Institute, University of North Carolina, Kavli Institute and New York University have introduced a new approach to search for QCD axions using a class of materials that generate electric fields when deformed, called piezoelectric materials.

In a major advance applying insights from quantum physics to the inner workings of biology, a team of WashU researchers has successfully implanted quantum sensors in living cells to measure shifts in magnetism and temperature. The measurements could offer new insights into the efficiency of cellular metabolism in health and disease.

"We were able to accurately measure quantum-level properties within our nanodiamond sensors in living cells," said Shakil Kashem, a graduate student in physics in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis and co-lead author of a preprint posted to bioRxiv. The other lead author is Stella Varnum, a recent WashU immunology Ph.D. graduate.

The measurements focused on mitochondria, the energy-producing organelles within cells. "This approach could help us better understand mitochondrial function in health and in diseases linked to mitochondrial dysfunction, such as heart failure, Type 2 diabetes and metabolic diseases."

There's more evidence that water once flowed on Mars with the discovery of an ancient river delta deep below the surface. NASA's Perseverance rover found it more than 35 meters beneath Jezero Crater using ground-penetrating radar. Perseverance was launched in 2020 to search for signs of ancient life on the red planet. Since landing in February 2021, it has been exploring Jezero Crater and collecting rock samples.

The crater, which is approximately 45 kilometers (28 miles) in diameter, lies north of the Martian equator and was formed by an asteroid impact almost 4 billion years ago. NASA chose this spot to explore because numerous geological features suggest that water once flowed here and may have supported ancient life, specifically, a part of the crater called the Margin Unit. This area is packed with carbonates, which on Earth, usually form in stable aqueous environments, such as shallow seas or lakebeds.

The new research is published in the journal Science Advances and is based on data from 78 traverses of the area from September 2023 to February 2024.

Small changes to aircraft flight paths to avoid the atmospheric conditions that create condensation trails—known as contrails—could reduce aviation's global warming impact by nearly half, a new study suggests. The study, led by researchers at the University of Cambridge, suggests that changing cruising altitude by a few thousand feet, either up or down, could prevent contrails from forming. Reducing or avoiding contrail formation in this way would also be faster and cheaper than other climate mitigation measures for the aviation industry, since the practice can be adopted with existing aircraft and fuel.

However, the researchers say that time is of the essence, and that the sooner airlines adopt contrail avoidance policies, the bigger the positive climate impact will be. Their results are reported in the journal Nature Communications.

Slightly larger than Earth, the exoplanet LHS 3844b circles a small red dwarf star called LHS 3884, about 48.5 light-years away. Unlike Earth, it does not experience sunrise or sunset. The planet is tidally locked, so one hemisphere always faces its star while the other remains in permanent darkness. This creates an extreme split: one side is relentlessly heated, while the other plunges toward temperatures where molecular motion nearly stops, a condition known as absolute zero (zero Kelvin).

At first glance, such a world seems completely inhospitable. Yet scientists are beginning to question that assumption.

Daisuke Noto, a postdoctoral researcher in Hugo Ulloa’s Penn GEFLOW Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, has been investigating whether these stark conditions truly rule out life. “Just looking at the extreme temperatures on the day and night sides like 1,000-2,000 Kelvin on the day side and absolute zero on the night side might lead one to conclude these exoplanets are too harsh for life. But,” says Noto, “life might find a way.”

The amount of heat trapped by Earth reached record levels in 2025, with the consequences of such warming feared to last for thousands of years, the UN warned Monday.

The 11 hottest years ever recorded were all between 2015 and 2025, the United Nations' WMO weather and climate agency confirmed in its flagship State of the Global Climate annual report.

Last year was the second or third hottest year on record, at about 1.43 Celsius above the 1850-1900 average, the World Meteorological Organization said.

"The global climate is in a state of emergency. Planet Earth is being pushed beyond its limits. Every key climate indicator is flashing red," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"Humanity has just endured the 11 hottest years on record. When history repeats itself 11 times, it is no longer a coincidence. It is a call to act."

For the first time, the WMO climate report includes the planet's energy imbalance: the rate at which energy enters and leaves the Earth system.

They’re born on their mother’s back, after the eggs are pushed in and covered by her skin! 😮 Hear more about this weird and wonderful creature from Museum scientist Jeff, in this week’s surprising science.

The astronaut who prompted NASA's first medical evacuation earlier this year said Friday that doctors still don't know why he suddenly fell sick at the International Space Station.

Four-time space flier Mike Fincke said he was eating dinner on Jan. 7 after prepping for a spacewalk the next day when it happened. He couldn't talk and remembers no pain, but his anxious crewmates jumped into action after seeing him in distress and requested help from flight surgeons on the ground.

"It was completely out of the blue. It was just amazingly quick," he said in an interview with The Associated Press from Houston's Johnson Space Center.

Fincke, 59, a retired Air Force colonel, said the episode lasted roughly 20 minutes and he felt fine afterward. He said he still does. He never experienced anything like that before or since.

Doctors have ruled out a heart attack and Fincke said he wasn't choking, but everything else is still on the table and could be related to his 549 days of weightlessness. He was 5 ½ months into his latest space station stay when the problem struck like "a very, very fast lightning bolt."

A recent study published in Physical Review Letters reveals that many widely used signatures of criticality in brain data may be statistical artifacts. They propose a more robust framework that, when applied to whole-brain fMRI data, confirms the brain operates near, but not exactly at, a critical point.

Neuroscientists have long found the idea fascinating—that the brain operates near a "critical point," a phase transition between stable and chaotic dynamics. Theory suggests this sweet spot enhances computational flexibility, dynamic range, and sensitivity to inputs. Evidence has mounted over the years from neural recordings showing approximate scale invariance and power-law behavior across spatiotemporal scales.

The concept has even influenced AI, particularly reservoir computing, where networks near the "edge of chaos" tend to perform best. However, the field faces a persistent concern: are these criticality signatures intrinsic to the brain's recurrent dynamics, or do external inputs and data limitations shape them?

Two common features of neural recordings—temporally autocorrelated signals and limited data sampling—can mimic the statistical fingerprints of criticality, even in systems with no genuine collective dynamics whatsoever.

Phys.org spoke to Rubén Calvo Ibáñez, a Ph.D. student at Universidad de Granada and one of the co-authors of the study. "I've always been drawn to fundamental questions—how complicated behavior emerges from simple rules. What excited me about complex systems and non-equilibrium physics is that you can bring those tools to messy, real biological data, like brain activity, and still ask principled questions."

Artificial intelligence is not just changing software. It is also driving a sharp rise in electricity use. In the United States alone, AI systems and data centers consumed about 415 terawatt-hours of electricity in 2024, according to the International Energy Agency. That amounts to more than 10% of the nation’s total energy output, and the figure is expected to double by 2030.

That trend is raising a difficult question for the future of AI: Can these systems become more capable without becoming dramatically more expensive to power?

Researchers at the Tufts University School of Engineering believe the answer may be yes. They have built a proof of concept for an AI approach that could use up to 100 times less energy than today’s standard systems while also producing more accurate results on certain tasks. In a field that often rewards ever larger models and ever larger computing infrastructure, that kind of improvement could be significant.

The work was developed in the laboratory of Matthias Scheutz, Karol Family Applied Technology Professor. It centers on neuro-symbolic AI, which combines standard neural networks with symbolic reasoning, similar to how people break problems into steps and categories.

Researchers at the University of Houston have achieved a major milestone in the race toward practical superconductors, setting a new temperature record under everyday pressure conditions. The advance could eventually help reduce energy waste, lower costs, and improve technologies ranging from power grids to medical imaging.

The team, based at the Texas Center for Superconductivity (TcSUH), reported a transition temperature (Tc) of 151 Kelvin (about minus 122 degrees Celsius, or about minus 188 degrees Fahrenheit). That is now the highest temperature ever recorded for a superconductor operating at ambient pressure. Tc is the threshold below which a material can carry electricity with zero resistance, eliminating energy loss.

The study, led by University of Houston physicists Ching-Wu Chu and Liangzi Deng, was in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Funding came from Intellectual Ventures, the state of Texas through TcSUH, and other organizations.

“Transmitting electricity in the grid loses about 8% of the electricity,” said Chu, professor of physics, TcSUH founding director and the paper’s senior author. “If we conserve that energy, that’s billions of dollars of savings, and it also saves us lots of effort and reduces environmental impacts.”

A multi-institutional team of scientists, co-led by Northwestern University, has taken a crucial step toward implantable "living pharmacies"—tiny devices containing engineered cells that continuously produce medicines inside the body. In a new study published in Device, the team engineered cells to simultaneously produce three different biologics—an anti-HIV antibody, a GLP-1-like peptide used to treat type 2 diabetes, and leptin, a hormone that regulates appetite and metabolism. When implanted under the skin of a small animal model, the device kept drug-producing cells alive and stably delivered all three therapies at once.

Called HOBIT (hybrid oxygenation bioelectronics system for implanted therapy), the new system integrates the engineered cells with oxygen-producing bioelectronics. Roughly the size of a folded stick of gum, the design shields cells from the body's immune system while also providing cells with oxygen and nutrients to keep them alive and producing biologic drugs for several weeks.

With more work, living pharmacies hold the potential to treat chronic conditions with a single, long-lasting therapy—bypassing the need for patients to carry, inject or remember to take medications.

The idea of computers communicating with light instead of electricity is moving closer to reality, thanks to a breakthrough nanolaser developed at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU).

Described in Science Advances, the device is small enough to be embedded by the thousands onto a single microchip. Instead of relying on electrical currents, which generate heat and slow performance, these nanolasers could transmit information using photons. This shift could dramatically increase processing speeds while reducing energy demands across everything from smartphones to massive data centers.

“The nanolaser opens up the possibility of creating a new generation of components that combine high performance with minimal size. This could be in information technology, for example, where ultra-small and energy-efficient lasers can reduce energy consumption in computers, or in the development of sensors for the healthcare sector, where the nanolaser’s extreme light concentration can deliver high-resolution images and ultrasensitive biosensors,” says DTU professor Jesper Mørk.

It's humanity's first flight to the moon since 1972.

In a throwback to Apollo, NASA's Artemis II mission will send four astronauts on a lunar fly-around. They'll hurtle several thousand miles beyond the moon, hang a U-turn and then come straight back. No circling around the moon, no stopping for a moonwalk—just a quick out-and-back lasting less than 10 days.

NASA promises more boot prints in the gray lunar dust, but not before a couple practice missions. The upcoming test flight by Artemis astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen is the first step in settling the moon this time around.

Here's a snapshot of the Artemis II mission.

Artemis II will be launching from Florida on April 1st at 22:24 UTC. Watch on NASA's broadcast and follow for updates on launch day.

For many people, "protein" is the key element of a food order. However, beyond the preferred choice of meats or plant-based alternatives, proteins encompass a large class of complex biomolecules whose chemical structure is encoded in our genes. Proteins have critical functions in living cells; they help repair and build body tissues, drive metabolic reactions, maintain pH and fluid balance, and keep our immune systems strong.

The hidden rhythms of proteins
To perform their important functions, many proteins have a dynamic molecular structure capable of adopting multiple conformations. For a long time, scientists have suspected that proteins don't change shape at random. Instead, they seem to move according to deep, slow rhythms—like a building that sways gently in the wind rather than shaking violently.

Those slow rhythms guide how a protein bends, twists, and shifts between its different forms. If one could understand those rhythms, one might be able to predict—and even hurry along—the protein's movements.

The problem is that many tools scientists have to make predictions of molecular motion were built for simpler cases. They work well for fast, tiny vibrations, like the quick trembling of a guitar string. But the slow, sweeping motions of proteins are different. They're messy, uneven, and irregular.

A new way to read motion
Recently, the research group of Associate Professor Matthias Heyden in ASU's School of Molecular Sciences has found a new way forward. They developed a method that can tease out these slow, important motions from short computer simulations—snapshots lasting only billionths of a second.

Even better, the method is remarkably reliable: run it again and again, and it tells the same story each time. They have published this work in Science Advances.

Better understanding protein fluctuations, in turn, predicts which larger motions the protein is capable of, and that knowledge can greatly improve drug design, enable more effective cancer treatments, and help find a solution to antibiotic resistance.

Artemis II astronauts will soon set off to fly around the Moon—but their journey started here, on Earth. 🌎

Meet the crew and see how they prepared for this historic moment in Moonbound, free to watch on NASA+. go.nasa.gov/4v1GOVa