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Bolivia's tilcayo tiger cat becomes first new wildcat species in 100 yearsScientists have discovered a new species of wild cat for the first time in more than a century, a Bolivian researcher told AFP on Thursday.Phys.org
Indonesia seeks to bring back baby orangutans allegedly trafficked to IndiaIndonesian authorities are working to repatriate five baby orangutans allegedly trafficked to India, where they were found motherless in a forest, Jakarta's forestry ministry told AFP on Friday.Phys.org
August hottest month ever recorded globally as huge El Niño emergesEurope's climate monitor said Thursday that August was the hottest month ever recorded worldwide and warned of worse to come as an unprecedented El Niño pattern grows stronger.Phys.org
What to know about Europe's push to compete in spaceKey figures from Europe's space industry and other international players have converged on Paris to discuss how to advance the continent's ambitions in a global market dominated by the United States.Phys.org
First Denisovan forearm bone discovered in southwest ChinaScientists have discovered various Denisovan remains in Southwest China dating to the late Middle Pleistocene, including the first Denisovan radius—one of two long bones in the forearm.Phys.org
World's most endangered tigers born in Greece as zoos build a safety netThe world's most endangered tigers have started a family in Greece, offering hope for a predator rapidly vanishing from the wild.Phys.org
New research: We're not protecting our oceans as well as we thinkNot so long ago, we thought the ocean was an inexhaustible resource. There would always be plenty more fish in the sea.Phys.org
El Niño set to bring warmer spring to NZ and AustraliaEl Niño is firmly established and will intensify into a very strong event in the coming months, with major impacts on rainfall and temperature patterns and associated risks of floods, drought and extreme heat, according to a new update from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).Phys.org
Volunteers fight uphill battle against Indonesian firesTwice already this week, Indonesian volunteer firefighter Kristoforus Sinyong worked throughout the night fighting some of the blazes that have consumed swaths of the island of Borneo.Phys.org
When a mountain falls: How ice and rock triggered Nepal's catastrophic floodThe catastrophic flood that killed hundreds of people in Nepal on Aug. 26, 2026, and left many more missing likely began with falling ice and rock crashing into the river below, but that wasn't the end of the disaster. Days later, a new lake pooled behind the debris and then burst, sending more water streaming through the valley.Phys.org
Why a newly formed lake is sparking fears of more flooding along the Nepal-China borderEven as rescuers worked through mud and debris Friday in areas devastated by a catastrophic flash flood along the Himalayan border between Nepal and China, authorities warned that a newly formed, overflowing lake could trigger further flooding.Phys.org
Nepal's catastrophic flood shows disaster preparedness must be a shared responsibilityThe catastrophic flood in Nepal and Tibet is a devastating reminder that disasters rarely occur in isolation.Phys.org
Will new telescope Roman help reveal long-kept secrets of the universe? Q&A with an expertOn Sunday, Aug. 30, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is expected to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The observatory will join the Hubble Space Telescope, launched in 1990, and the James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, in scanning the vastness of space and potentially finding answers to longstanding mysteries of the universe.Phys.org
Bird flu detected in dead dolphin in South AustraliaH5N1 bird flu has been detected in a dead dolphin in South Australia, state officials said Friday, the first case of its kind in the country.Phys.org
Nepal floods highlight growing glacier risks in warming HimalayasThe deadly flash flood in Nepal on Wednesday was likely caused by a huge chunk of a glacier that broke off and temporarily dammed a river, according to preliminary investigations by scientists. That may have led to the backed-up water surging downstream with enormous force a few hours later, they suggested.Phys.org
What experts know so far about Nepal's deadly floodsThe cause of the deadly landslide and flood along the Nepal–Tibet border isn't yet certain, but experts say the dangers associated with such events are compounded by the region's extreme topography, with risks rising due to climate change.Phys.org
Comet 220P McNaught puts on an encore performanceIt has been a busy month for astronomy. In the midst of an eclipse season bookended by the total solar eclipse on Aug. 12 and the deep partial lunar eclipse coming up this week on Aug. 28, an outbound comet hanging high in the dawn sky just refuses to die: 220P/McNaught.Phys.org
Too small for fries: Drought shrinks Belgian potatoesMathieu Comijn inspected rows of potatoes in a field of cracked earth and browned leaves, pulling from the ground tubers barely the size of pingpong balls.Phys.org
SpaceX announces plans for $100 billion 'spaceport' in LouisianaElon Musk's SpaceX announced plans Tuesday to build a $100 billion facility in the southern U.S. state of Louisiana to launch its anticipated Starship megarockets, currently being developed at the company's Texas Starbase.Phys.org
Exploring the moon will require rovers that can think for themselvesNASA is planning to send three small rovers to the moon with a single instruction: Work out among yourselves how to explore a patch of ground.Phys.org
A new 'golden age' of mathematics may be dawning, thanks to AI and human ingenuityIn May 2026, OpenAI released a new math result that sent shock waves throughout the world of mathematical research. A major unsolved problem called the "unit distance conjecture" had just been resolved by generative AI.Phys.org
Melts in your mouth, but not in your car: The ongoing scientific quest to create heat‑resistant chocolateThere are few pleasures greater than letting a piece of chocolate melt slowly on your tongue. Indeed, the proximity of chocolate's melting point to our own body temperature is one reason it is so widely appreciated.Phys.org
Removing 'forever chemicals' from farmlands—at a fraction of the costA Yale-led research team has proposed a less expensive—and more environmentally friendly—method for removing certain "forever chemicals" from millions of acres of farmland in the United States and around the world.Phys.org
Why a tiny social media post has mathematicians rethinking AIAs millions of people were coming down from the excitement of the FIFA World Cup final at the start of this week, a different kind of excitement was building within the mathematical community. Levent Alpöge, a mathematician who works at the artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic, casually announced on X ('hello there the jacobian conjecture is false thanx') that he had found a counterexample to the Jacobian conjecture, a very old and well-known problem in a field of mathematics called algebraic geometry. He had done this using Anthropic's large language model Claude Fable 5, released to the general public only a few weeks ago.Phys.org