Nearly a week after their Pacific splashdown, the astronauts who crewed the Artemis II mission that flew around the moon told reporters Thursday they have yet to fully grasp the magnitude of the moment.
The Artemis II astronauts who ignited a lunar renaissance gave high marks Thursday to their moonship, especially the heat shield, for its performance during reentry.
In the era of precision cosmology, research often means big science: large observatories, highly complex instruments, international collaborations and substantial funding. Yet even in such an advanced field, progress is still possible—including in the search for elusive dark matter—through more agile approaches, driven by small teams and young researchers, supported by institutions and a good dose of ingenuity.
Seismicity decreases with depth because elevated confining pressure prevents frictional sliding of faults. However, seismicity tends to increase with depth in the mantle transition zone (depths of 410−600km). It has been believed that pressure-induced phase transitions of olivine in the "cold" subducted slabs is the cause of high seismicity in the mantle transition zone.
It did not take long after the discovery of X-rays in the 1890s for scientists to begin exploring the harmful effects of radiation on living organisms. Yet even after more than a century of research, new insights continue to emerge about how radiation affects the body. In a recent study, researchers at Hokkaido University uncovered a previously unrecognized effect of radiation that leads to changes in the mitochondria of the offspring. The study was published in March 2026 in the journal Redox Biology.
The East Asian Subtropical Westerly Jet (EASWJ) and the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) are two pivotal components of the East Asian monsoon system, shaping the precipitation distribution and climate over East Asia. Whether the co-evolutionary EASWJ–EASM relationship remains consistent under different climatic backgrounds has been a key question in both modern and paleoclimate research.
In his doctoral thesis, Michael Roop develops numerical methods that allow finding physically reliable approximate solutions to nonlinear differential equations used to model turbulence.
Aluminum die-cast components are widely used in automotive and precision machinery applications due to their combination of low weight and structural strength. However, internal defects known as porosity—voids formed by entrapped air during casting—remain a persistent challenge. These defects are difficult to detect through external inspection and can compromise mechanical integrity and long-term reliability.
Researchers from the University of Seville (US) and the Polytechnic University of Madrid (UPM) have demonstrated that it is possible to grow tomatoes and generate solar energy simultaneously, a key strategy for tackling global water scarcity. The study, carried out in Madrid and Seville during the spring of 2024, evaluated the use of agrovoltaic systems and regulated deficit irrigation to optimize water resources in tomato cultivation. The results show that, although using less water reduces the volume of the harvest, the overall outcome is a more efficient and sustainable process.
Bottom fishing can release CO₂ from the seabed, but the consequences for the climate are not straightforward. New research, published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, shows that disturbing the seabed sets in motion multiple processes with contrasting effects. The overall climate impact of bottom fishing is the result of these processes and depends strongly on where fishing takes place and on whether carbon is released that would otherwise have remained stored in the seabed for long periods.
