Science News
Cosmic oddity
The James Webb Space Telescope has spotted a new addition to the Universe’s cosmic menagerie: a black hole ‘star’. Appearing just 660 million years after the Big Bang, this early-forming supermassive black hole, dubbed MoM-BH*-1, is buried in such a dense envelope of gas that it resembles a colossal star, roughly the size of our Solar System.
Nature, 12 August 2026
Tara’s first polar mission
On 19 July, the Tara polar research station left Lorient, Brittany, on its inaugural mission. This autumn, Tara will lock into the Arctic sea ice and drift across the region for nearly two years, the first of ten planned expeditions running through to 2046. Researchers will gather over 10,000 samples from the water column, atmosphere and sea-ice cavities to study biodiversity and pollution, deepening our understanding of the impact of climate change on the Far North.
Fondation Tara Océan, 19 July 2026
Data backup
Cuts to US research funding are threatening the continuity of some statistical datasets. In response, Swiss researchers have downloaded vast amounts of US climate and environmental data. These 100 petabytes (millions of gigabytes) of public NASA data will be used to train future AI models focused on climate.
ETH Zurich, 17 July 2026
Tapir time capsule
A nearly four-million-year-old skeleton belonging to a one-year-old tapir was recently unearthed in Spain. It is the most complete juvenile specimen of this extinct species ever found in Europe. The young animal died beside a volcanic lake, likely overcome by toxic gases that kept scavengers at bay, preserving its body intact in the sediment. This rare find offers scientists a chance to study the growth of an ancestor of today’s Asian tapirs.
IPHES-CERCA, 3 June 2026
Is AI conscious?
Anthropic has discovered an internal workspace (the J-space) in its AI, Claude, where information is processed without being displayed — a mechanism that echoes some aspects of consciousness. But without autonomous activity or dedicated neurons, the AI remains a tool that responds only to the prompts it receives, far removed from the spontaneity of human consciousness.
Anthropic, 6 July 2026
Did you know?
You couldn’t cuddle a baby T. rex
Baby T. rex weighed less than 2.5 kg, about the weight of a cat. Despite their small size, fossilised teeth show that they were crushing bones just months after hatching, just like adult T. rex.
Biology, 13 April 2026
10⁻¹⁸ seconds
The attosecond, or 0.000000000000000001 seconds, is the timescale at which physicists have managed to observe electron dynamics. By combining scanning tunnelling microscopy with ultrashort laser pulses, they were able to capture changes in chemical bond formation and chemical reactions at the atomic scale.
Nature Photonics, 3 July 2026
Wired to understand us
Dogs can recognise a wide range of human emotions, from laughter to fear, anger and sadness. Researchers at the University of Vienna scanned the brains of 12 dogs as they viewed human faces, revealing distinct brain responses to different expressions. Smiling faces activated the brain’s reward circuitry, while sad and fearful faces produced different patterns of activity. The study provides neurological evidence that domestication has hardwired dogs’ brains to better understand us.
Science, 7 August 2026
5 species
Only five new monkey species have been discovered in Africa since the 1950s. Sighted around 100 times since 2008 in the east-central Democratic Republic of the Congo, Colobus congoensis has only just been scientifically described and given a name.
PLOS One, 15 July 2026
Arctic wake-up call
Every summer, as Arctic soils thaw, dormant microorganisms wake up and release carbon into the atmosphere. But a new laboratory study reveals this process is far more complex than previously thought. Half the microorganisms stay dormant, others awaken in stages, and some even feed on other microbes. As a result, modelling how thawing permafrost will impact greenhouse-gas emissions is anything but straightforward.
mSystems, 7 May 2026
Goodbye Babel
Around 7,500 languages are spoken around the world today. But 2,000 years ago, humanity enjoyed a linguistic ‘golden age’, with tens of thousands of languages in use. This dramatic decline did not begin with modern colonisation, but much earlier, with the rise of great empires such as Rome and Persia, the Han dynasty and the Islamic Caliphate.
Science, 23 July 2026
Warrior princesses
Could this dagger have been wielded by the Egyptian princess Ita 4,000 years ago? Long considered a purely ceremonial object, the dagger was found in her tomb at Dahshur, Egypt. However, a recent study of four Egyptian princesses revealed distinct muscle attachment sites on their bones, suggesting that Ita handled a weapon and Princess Noub-Hotep practised archery. While not definitive proof they were warriors, these findings challenge the traditional view of ancient royal women as passive, sedentary figures.
Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology, 17 July 2026
11,627 light-years
This is the staggering combined length of mycorrhizal fungal networks that live close to plant roots. Stretched end to end, they would reach 735 million times the distance between Earth and the Sun! These networks play a vital ecological role in storing carbon in the soil.
Science, 11 June 2026
Did you know?
Paris region’s seismic past
Believe it or not, the Paris Basin was hit by major earthquakes 50,000 years ago. Palaeoseismologists have uncovered evidence of these long-forgotten tectonic movements, meaning the seismic risk must be reassessed.
Comptes Rendus Géoscience (French Academy of Sciences), 19 June 2026
99 years
At the age of 99, American mathematician Joan Birman, a specialist in knot theory, has solved the geometric problem of the ‘Burau representation’ with two other researchers. She first helped popularise the subject 60 years ago.
arXiv, 6 July 2026
The toki’s second chance
Decades after disappearing from Japan’s Noto region, the Japanese crested ibis (toki) is making a comeback. Eight birds were recently released in Hakui, bringing the species back to an area where it disappeared in the 1970s. Part of a joint breeding initiative with China, these birds join a population of roughly 500 on Sado Island. With ten more releases planned, the return of the toki offers a welcome sign of renewal for a community still rebuilding after the 2024 earthquake.
Japanese Ministry of the Environment, 2 June 2026
1,190 km²
Between January and late July 2026, 119,000 hectares (1,190 km²) of forest burned in France — 11 times the size of Paris and twice the previous record, set in 2022.
French Ministry of the Interior, 31 July 2026
Did you know?
A butterfly’s nose is in its wings
The nocturnal tobacco hornworm moth can detect smells with its wings. Sensors pick up plant molecules, helping the moth locate the plants it feeds on and uses to lay its eggs.
Journal of Experimental Biology, 27 July 2026
Solar cauldron
The Inouye Solar Telescope in Hawaii has captured the most detailed images ever made of our star. They reveal tiny plasma vortices on the Sun’s surface, barely 20 km across, caused by ‘Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities’. Observed at this scale for the first time, this churning plasma could help explain what triggers solar flares and finally reveal why the solar corona is so hot.
Nature, 5 August 2026
A shot at prevention
The highly encouraging results of a clinical trial offer new hope that a ‘therapeutic vaccine’ could prevent melanoma relapse. Developed by Moderna and Merck, this personalised mRNA ‘vaccine’ is made based on an analysis of the patient’s tumour DNA to help their immune system recognise cancer cells.
Moderna, Merck, 19 August 2026
3 women
In July 2026, 35-year-old Chinese mathematician Hong Wang received the Fields Medal, the equivalent of the Nobel Prize for mathematics. She teaches in France and the United States and is only the third woman among 68 recipients since 1936 to receive the honour.
International Congress of Mathematicians, 23 July 2026
Did you know?
Life may have begun twice
Life may have emerged twice on Earth. A study suggests that bacteria and archaea evolved independently in the early stages of life before converging into the forms we know today. But the hypothesis remains highly debated.
Science Advances, 5 August 2026
Celestial sugar
How sweet is the cosmos? For the first time, researchers have detected a four-carbon sugar, erythrulose, in interstellar space. Found on Earth in raspberries and used in cosmetics, the compound was identified inside a galactic cloud using the Yebes and IRAM radio telescopes in Spain. The discovery provides compelling evidence that key molecules for life can form in the icy reaches of the Universe.
Nature Astronomy, 13 July 2026
PFAS: neurological nuisance
A CNRS study shows that PFAS, so-called ‘forever chemicals’, can disrupt the brains of animals. Studying gull embryos and adult mice, researchers found that one of these compounds increased neuronal activity. The result? Altered behaviour that could put animals’ survival in the wild at risk.
Environmental Science & Technology Letters, 23 July 2026
Fungi fashion
This dress is made from living fungus! Chinese researchers have developed a new fabric using living Cordyceps militaris, softened with glycerol. The material can repair itself when exposed to water and completely biodegrades in about 40 days. Co-cultivating the fungus with other species even allows it to be coloured, made self-cleaning and provide UV protection. However, commercial production remains far off, as researchers have yet to evaluate its breathability or how well it withstands daily wear and washing.
Science Advances, 24 July 2026
Like father, like baby?
A Brazilian study has found that fathers whose diets are high in ultra-processed foods, such as sugary drinks and biscuits, tend to have heavier newborns, with thicker skinfolds around the knees and hips. One possible explanation, which remains to be confirmed, is that diet affects sperm quality.
Nutrition Research, July 2026
Retina 2.0
PRIMA, a retinal implant that can partially restore sight in people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), has been approved for use in Europe. No bigger than a pinhead, it is inserted beneath the retina and works with a special pair of glasses fitted with an infrared camera. The system directly stimulates light-sensitive cells in the retina, sending images to the brain. Around 80% of patients in clinical trials were able to read again.
Science Corporation, 22 July 2026
Did you know?
Dust in Europe’s skies
The amount of dust in European skies has been increasing over the past decade due to growing aridity in North Africa and changes in atmospheric circulation. This influx of dust is thought to be degrading air quality across Europe.
Nature, 15 July 2026
AI’s fossil fuel effect
AI can help optimise renewable energy, but it is also being used to boost oil and gas exploration and drilling. The result? Productivity gains in the fossil-fuel sector generate four to five times more CO2 than the emissions avoided through renewables. A paradox that makes AI’s true carbon footprint even greater.
Nature, 4 August 2026
Did you know?
Birdsong
Birdsong varies around the world according to environmental constraints. In tropical rain forests, songs tend to be simpler so that they travel better, while in temperate regions, where birds are more numerous and live closer together, songs are more complex.
Science, 23 July 2026
Beneath the canopy, a lost empire
A LiDAR survey covering 4,500 square kilometres has uncovered 396 previously unknown structures hidden beneath the Amazon canopy. Researchers attribute them to the Aquiry civilisation, which peaked between AD 100 and 300 with a population of up to three million and an estimated 24,000 to 30,000 earthworks. This major discovery shows that a vast, highly organised society shaped the Amazonian ecosystem for centuries before the arrival of Europeans.
Nature, 29 July 2026
Living longer, but not better
Thanks to medical advances, people are living longer, but more of those extra years are spent in poor health because of chronic disease. According to a University of Washington study, the gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy widened worldwide between 1990 and 2023, from 8.8 to 10.7 years.
The Lancet Public Health, 21 July 2026
Bubble trouble
Sperm whales take their naps floating head-up, completely still, a few metres beneath the waves. Paradoxically, decreasing water pressure near the surface makes them more buoyant, meaning they should drift to the top. To overcome this, researchers discovered that resting whales vent air bubbles from their lungs. By adjusting this release based on their depth, they can remain suspended in the water.
Journal of Experimental Biology, 23 July 2026
Publications under scrutiny
Of nearly 2,700 papers published by IHU-Méditerranée (IHU-Mi) in Marseille between 1994 and 2024, 853 were found to raise ethical or legal concerns. The findings emerged from an investigation by research-integrity experts, prompted by controversy surrounding clinical research conducted by Didier Raoult during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Research Integrity and Peer Review, 12 August 2026
