Long-Thought-Dead Coral Reef Off Benin Rediscovered Alive

Scientists have rediscovered a thriving coral reef ecosystem off the coast of Benin, West Africa, previously believed to have been dead for over 60 years.

BepiColombo Begins Eight-Year Journey to Mercury

After an eight-year voyage, the BepiColombo mission has entered its arrival phase at Mercury.

Tara Polar Station Begins Year-Long Arctic Drift Expedition

The Tara Polar Station has successfully locked into Arctic ice for a year-long research expedition, aided by the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long 2.

Trinidad and Tobago's First Locally-Led Deep-Sea Expedition Finds 25 Cold Seeps and 20 Suspected New Species

A July 2026 survey led by Trinidad and Tobago's own scientists aboard a Schmidt Ocean Institute vessel mapped 13% of the nation's uncharted seafloor and identified two dozen sites of significant biological activity.

Trinidad and Tobago's first locally led deep-sea expedition maps cold seeps and suspected new species

A July 2026 expedition aboard R/V Falkor (too), led by Trinbagonian scientists, completed the first locally run comprehensive deep-sea survey of Trinidad and Tobago, mapping 13% of uncharted seafloor and finding 25 cold seeps with dozens of potentially new species.

NOAA Launches Back-to-Back Deep-Sea Expeditions Around American Samoa to Map Critical Minerals

NOAA has deployed two consecutive deep-sea expeditions aboard the Okeanos Explorer around American Samoa to map polymetallic nodule fields and deepwater habitats in the nation's highest-priority region for offshore critical-mineral mapping.

NOAA Okeanos Explorer uncovers new species and nodule fields in Cook Islands deep-sea expedition

NOAA’s Okeanos Explorer completed a 26-day deep-sea expedition in Cook Islands waters in August 2026, recovering 23 potential new species and confirming extensive polymetallic nodule fields.

NASA formally invites ISRO to join Moon Base programme during India-U.S. space meeting in Bengaluru

Two weeks ago, the European Commission issued two legally binding decisions under the Digital Markets Act, ordering Google to share anonymized search data with rivals starting January 2027 and to open 11 Android features to competing AI assistants by July 2027. Google pushed back, executives arguing the mandates risk user privacy and security, while the Commission cited repeated failure to self-comply. The rulings aim to level an AI playing field dominated by Google’s data and platform advantages.

JAXA Unveils MMX Spacecraft for First-Ever Sample Return from a Martian Moon

Japan's JAXA unveiled the MMX spacecraft on August 13, 2026, targeting a world-first sample return from the Martian moon Phobos. The probe, the largest lunar or planetary spacecraft Japan has built, is scheduled to launch this autumn on an H3 rocket and return to Earth five years later.

Petermann Glacier sheds Manhattan-sized ice island with two more expected

Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland calved a 76.4 km² ice island on August 4, 2026, its largest floating-ice loss since 2012, while satellite data reveals two more massive islands are likely to detach soon as the glacier's floating tongue continues to fracture.

ER nurse hikes 10 miles down Granite Peak with trekking pole impaled in his side

A Montana nurse chose to walk himself to safety after a fall left his own hiking pole lodged in his abdomen during a climb.

Tara Polar Station begins first Arctic drift expedition to study climate change and biodiversity

The French research vessel Tara Polar Station departed Lorient on July 19, 2026, for an 18-month drift expedition across the Central Arctic Ocean locked in sea ice.

NASA's PUNCH Mission Predicts a Solar Storm's Arrival to Within 30 Minutes

NASA's PUNCH mission predicted the arrival of a May 31, 2025 coronal mass ejection to within 30 minutes, a tenfold improvement over the previous 12-hour forecast window.

Recent expeditions document a new cave system in Papua New Guinea and a massive glacier break in Greenland

Within days, exploration teams in two of the world's most remote environments made significant discoveries: a pristine underground network in Papua New Guinea's Nakanai Mountains, and an 18-million-tonne glacier calving event in East Greenland.

Roman shipwreck with 500 amphorae discovered off coast of Sicily

A 2,100-year-old Roman shipwreck with 500 amphorae found off Sicily.

SpaceX Falcon 9 Upper Stage Crashes Into the Moon Near Einstein Crater

A spent SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage struck the Moon near Einstein Crater on August 5, 2026, creating an artificial impact crater and highlighting concerns about space debris disposal.

Photogrammetry Is Mapping the Caves Beneath Mount Gambier

A team of Australian cave divers is using photogrammetry to map the submerged tunnels beneath Mount Gambier, revealing previously unknown passages and making them accessible to the public.

The First ALMA SETI Survey Looked Where Nobody Had Listened, and Found a Bigger Search Than Anyone Knew

A new survey using the ALMA telescope searched for alien signals in radio frequencies above the traditional 'water hole' range and found nothing, but its results show past surveys may have covered over 6 million stars, not the 288,000 previously estimated.

NASA Langley Opens First New Wind Tunnel in Over 40 Years

A $57 million vertical wind tunnel replaces two aging facilities and will test aircraft, rockets, and spacecraft for missions to the Moon, Mars, Venus, and Titan.

Curiosity Found a Sea of Honeycomb Fractures on Mars. Nobody Knows How They Got There.

Curiosity photographed the largest field of honeycomb-shaped polygonal fractures ever seen on Mars during June observations in Valle Grande, a valley where the features spread in every direction — leaving scientists unable to say how they formed.

Mauritius Becomes 70th Signatory to the Artemis Accords

A new signing extends the framework into Africa as geopolitical alignments in space deepen.

Trinidad and Tobago Maps the Unmapped

Trinidad and Tobago's inaugural deep-sea survey wrapped up on July 28 after charting uncharted Caribbean trenches and livestreaming benthic findings in real time — revealing what had been scientifically invisible for decades.

NASA Fuels the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope for an August 30 Launch

Technicians completed fueling the Roman Space Telescope on July 25, loading 290 gallons of hydrazine ahead of a SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch that will send the observatory a million miles out to Lagrange point 2.

The Tara Polar Station Begins Transit for Inaugural Arctic Drift Expedition

The Tara Polar Station has departed Lorient for a refuel in the Netherlands and is en route to Kirkenes, preparing to freeze into Arctic sea ice for an eight-month drift mission powered by renewable diesel.

Scientists Capture First Real-Time Observation of Seafloor Spreading in Indian Ocean

Scientists have captured the first direct, real-time observation of a seafloor spreading event, recording a massive volcanic outpouring on the Indian Ocean floor in April 2024 that created 160 million cubic meters of new crust.

NASA Evacuates Madrid Deep Space Network Station as Wildfire Shifts Operations to California

All 90 personnel were safely evacuated from the Madrid Deep Space Communications Complex on July 24, 2026, and communications with more than 40 spacecraft were handed over to Goldstone, California without interruption.

ESCAPADE Launches: NASA's Cheap Twin Probe for Mars' Lost Atmosphere

NASA's $80 million twin-orbiter ESCAPADE mission launched aboard a Blue Origin New Glenn rocket on November 13, 2025. The 'Gold and Blue' spacecraft will use humanity's first simultaneous dual-spacecraft approach to study Mars' hybrid magnetic environment and the mystery of its lost atmosphere.