Tracking time is one of those things that seems easy, until you really start to get into the details of what time actually is. We define a second as 9,192,631,770 oscillations of a cesium atom. However, according to Einstein’s theory of general relativity, mass slows down these oscillations, making time appear to move more slowly for objects in large gravity wells. This distinction becomes critical as we start considering how to keep track of time between two separate gravity wells of varying strengths, such as on the Earth and the Moon. A new paper pre-print on arXiv by Pascale Defraigne at the Royal Observatory of Belgium and her co-authors discusses some potential frameworks for solving that problem and settles on using the new Lunar Coordinate Time (TCL) suggested by the International Astronomical Union (IAU).

So why is this a problem we should solve now? As humanity is preparing to go back to the moon, hopefully more permanently this time, we need some standardized way to navigate it. In support of their various crewed lunar missions, America, China, and the EU are working on programs that can provide Position, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) services to explorers, and importantly network infrastructure, on the Moon.

Each of these services hopes to provide meter-level accuracy for a network node’s position on the Moon, but to do so would require nanosecond-level precision in their synchronized clocks. Similarly, Earth-based satellites like GPS have to account for relativistic changes in time between the geosynchronous satellites barely in the planet’s gravity well and the users down on the surface. To help facilitate this process on the Moon, in 2024 the IAU came up with the LUnar Celestial Reference System (LCRS), and an associated coordinate time - TCL.

A weak spot in Earth's protective magnetic field is growing larger and exposing orbiting satellites and astronauts to more solar radiation, according to more than a decade of measurements by three orbiting observatories.

The observations by the European Space Agency's Swarm trio of satellites found that Earth's already weak magnetic field over the South Atlantic Ocean — a region known as the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA) — is getting worse and that it has grown by an area half the size of continental Europe since 2014. At the same time, a region over Canada where the field is particularly strong has shrunk, while another strong field region in Siberia has grown, the measurements show.

"The region of weak magnetic field in the South Atlantic has continued to increase in size over the past 11 years since the launch of the Swarm satellite constellation," explained Chris Finlay, a geomagnetism researcher at the Danmarks Tekniske Universitet. "Although its growth was expected based on early observations, it is important to confirm this change in Earth's magnetic field is continuing." Finlay is the lead author of a new study published in the journal Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors that analyzes data from the Swarm satellites.

A new study has finally nailed down what links Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) – a pathogen that over 95 percent of adults worldwide have been infected with – to lupus, solving a long-standing mystery.

Lupus, also called systemic lupus erythematosus or SLE, is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissue, and can result in a wide variety of symptoms ranging from skin rashes and fatigue to severe damage to the lungs and kidneys. Actress and singer Selena Gomez was diagnosed with lupus in her early 20s, and received a kidney transplant back in 2017 due to the effects of the disease.

She’s just one of at least 5 million people estimated to be affected by lupus, the causes of which are poorly understood. While genetics might be one possible trigger, it’s long been suspected that EBV – the same virus that causes glandular fever – is also linked to the condition.

What scientists had trouble with was figuring out exactly how the two were linked – what were the mechanisms that led one to trigger the other? 

That’s where the new study, led by researchers at Stanford Medicine, came in. They developed a novel technique for identifying B cells infected by EBV and which genes within these cells were being expressed. 

B cells are white blood cells that play a key role in the body’s immune system – producing antibodies. But they have another important role too, presenting antigens – molecular "red flags" on foreign entities like viruses that trigger an immune response – to other immune cells, which scales up the response from the body’s immune system. Around 20 percent of B cells are also designed to target our own tissues, but they usually lie inactive.

The team’s technique revealed that in healthy individuals carrying EBV, fewer than 1 in 10,000 of their B cells were infected with the virus. In people with lupus, that rose to 1 in 400. 

Their findings also revealed that in these infected cells, EBV could cause them to express a “molecular switch” gene, activating a cascade of pro-inflammatory gene expression that led a B cell to transform into its antigen-presenting self. In turn, this activated other immune cells to join the response gang – including those otherwise sleepy self-attacking B cells, as well the appropriately named killer T cells that destroy the body’s own tissues.

This is what causes lupus, the researchers conclude, and they also suspect the same mechanism could be involved in other autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, which has also been linked to EBV.

Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have found that acetaminophen doesn’t only act in the brain. Their study reveals that it also blocks pain at its origin by targeting nerve endings in the body. The team discovered that its active compound, AM404, interferes with sodium channels in pain-sensing neurons, stopping pain signals before they reach the brain.

This discovery transforms scientists’ understanding of one of the world’s most widely used painkillers. By showing that acetaminophen works both in the nervous system and at the site of pain, the findings could guide the creation of next-generation pain treatments designed to be more effective and gentler on the body.

Published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study was conducted by Prof. Alexander Binshtok from the Faculty of Medicine and Center for Brain Sciences (ELSC) and Prof. Avi Priel from the School of Pharmacy at Hebrew University. Together, their research uncovered a previously unknown mechanism of pain relief, challenging long-standing assumptions about how acetaminophen functions in the body.

Acetaminophen (also called paracetamol, Tylenol, or Panadol) is one of the most commonly used pain and fever medications worldwide. It is known for effectively easing mild to moderate pain and reducing fever, without the stomach irritation or anti-inflammatory effects often linked to drugs like aspirin or ibuprofen.

For decades, scientists believed that acetaminophen relieved pain by working only in the brain and spinal cord. But this new research, published in PNAS, shows that the drug also works outside the brain, in the nerves that first detect pain.

Each year, these pronghorns seek greener pastures as they follow ancient migratory paths in the longest migration in the Americas below the Arctic.

The ocean affects our daily life – through weather, shipping, even national security. 🌊

Launching tonight, Sentinel-6B will measure sea levels across 90% of Earth’s ocean to improve forecasts, keep ships safe at sea, and protect coastal communities.

Signal confirmed ✅

CopernicusEU Sentinel-6B is now in orbit and ready to begin the Launch and Early Operations phase with esaoperations.

The mission will extend long-term record of sea-surface height measurements: esa.int/Applications/O…

A groundbreaking study led by a University of Leeds scientist has unveiled new insights into how the body manages pain, offering a potential path toward treating long-term pain without relying on addictive opioids.

Professor Nikita Gamper, from the School of Biomedical Sciences at Leeds, and his research team discovered that the human body can generate its own form of natural “sleeping pills” that resemble benzodiazepines. These substances can reduce signals from specific nerves, influencing how intensely pain is felt.

The research, which builds upon earlier studies conducted by Professor Gamper and Professor Xiaona Du of Hebei Medical University in Shijiazhuang, China, could mark a turning point in pain management. With new funding secured for the coming year, the team plans to continue exploring how this biological process could lead to safer, more effective treatments for people suffering from chronic pain.

A New Path Beyond Opioids
Professor Gamper said: “We understand quite a bit about how a person ends up feeling pain, but we can’t do much about it. Despite all the amazing discoveries and textbooks written, opioids are still the gold standard.

“Nothing substantially better than opioids has been produced. If you suffer from pain, you will likely end up with either ibuprofen, which is OK for mild pain, but absolutely does nothing for very strong pain or neuropathic pain; or opioids which are very efficacious but dangerous.”

Benzodiazepines (‘benzos’) are a type of depressant medication commonly prescribed to help with sleep problems, anxiety, and seizures. In their research, Professor Nikita Gamper, Professor Xiaona Du, and Dr. Temugin Berta from the University of Cincinnati discovered that certain cells connected to human nerves, located within structures known as spinal ganglia, can release a peptide that operates in a similar way to benzos.

Because this process takes place only within the peripheral nervous system, it does not cause the entire nervous system to “go to sleep.” As a result, these naturally produced peptides could offer pain relief without the dangerous side effects or risk of addiction associated with opioid drugs.

The study’s results show that nerves are capable of “tuning out” pain signals or limiting how much pain the brain perceives, revealing a potential new mechanism for controlling discomfort at its source.

Martian "slope streaks" are dark albedo features that cover the slopes of topographical features across the Red Planet. They were discovered in the 1970s, and scientists initially assumed they were evidence of landslides caused by melting ice. But while scientists still think that the streaks are the result of landslides, a study published in May revealed that these landslides are actually triggered by "dry processes" that do not involve any water. This narrowed down the list of potential causes but did not conclusively settle the debate around the streaks' origins.

One of the most famous examples of these streaks is on Apollinaris Mons — an extinct shield volcano located just south of Mars' equator. Here, hundreds of parallel streaks can be seen on a single side of a large ridge, giving the structure a "barcode-like" appearance (see below). These streaks appeared at some point between 2013 and 2017, and scientists later realized that they were the result of a nearby meteoroid impact, Live Science's sister site Space.com reported.

As a result, some researchers assumed that meteoroid impacts and other seismic events, such as marsquakes, are responsible for birthing most slope streaks. But a new study, published Nov. 6 in the journal Nature Communications, suggests that this is not the case.

Instead, an analysis of around 2.1 million slope streaks, photographed by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter between 2006 and 2024, revealed that almost all new streaks are the result of seasonal wind and dust erosion. (The study estimates the total number of slope streaks on Mars to be around 1.6 million, but some streaks were included in multiple image sets.)

"Dust, wind and sand dynamics appear to be the main seasonal drivers of slope streak formation," the study's sole author Valentin Bickel, a planetary scientist at the University of Bern in Switzerland who also co-authored the May study, said in a statement. "Meteoroid impacts and quakes seem to be locally distinct, yet globally relatively insignificant drivers [of streak formation]," he added.

Bickel estimates that less than 0.1% of newly formed slope streaks are created by meteoroid impacts or marsquakes.

An analysis of national climate plans released today at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil warns that countries are failing to carry out core work required to reduce emissions by halting and reversing deforestation and forest degradation, and are instead pushing unrealistic carbon removal schemes, such as large-scale tree planting.

The Land Gap 2025 report, led by the University of Melbourne alongside a global consortium of experts, explains why countries are relying on impractical levels of land-based efforts to achieve net-zero emissions, rather than pursuing more realistic climate solutions that involve protecting existing forests and phasing out fossil fuels.

While forest advocates often link the lack of action to a lack of finance for forest protection, authors say the real impediment is a global system that pits economic development against preservation.

Lead author, University of Melbourne Dr. Kate Dooley, explained the new report outlines a series of reforms, many of which are already underway, that can resolve this fundamental conflict and align critical climate and biodiversity goals with economic goals.

"Why are so many countries ignoring forest protection as a key pillar of climate targets? The answer is that they live in a world where heavy sovereign debt burdens and industry-friendly tax and trade policies force many of them to exploit forests to keep their economies from crashing," Dr. Dooley said.

"Yet the bitter irony is that over the long term, healthy forests are essential to healthy economies due to the climate benefits, job opportunities and ecosystem services they provide."

The 2025 Land Gap covers climate pledges from all countries, with updates based on new submissions to the United Nations' climate secretariat leading up to COP30 (as of Oct 31, 2025), including climate plans known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), and long-term strategies for 2050.

The report identified two essential flaws in national climate plans submitted for COP30.

The animals that call the Arctic home are fighting to survive as the ice disappears.