A faulty software update turned a year of temperature readings from Dublin food-delivery cyclists into a misleading picture of summer heat. Researchers say the error could have distorted which streets were judged most in need of shade.
A research contest on a privately run test train has uncovered a long, unrecorded plume of lithium-bearing dust in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The result has put the prize on hold and prompted demands for urgent sampling near a major brine operation.
A record salt surge has pushed a large stretch of India’s Sundarbans across a threshold where mangrove loss may accelerate, researchers say. The finding was absent from official forest maps, which count tree cover but miss the failure of new trees to take root.
A peatland in Indonesia’s Riau province has crossed a local drying threshold that could turn a major carbon store into a persistent source of emissions, scientists say. A failed monitoring system concealed the shift for 16 months, while hundreds of thousands of carbon credits tied to the site were issued.
A battery-powered survey sled plunged into a new Antarctic fissure before scientists confirmed that 620 sq km of ice shelf had broken apart in just 11 hours. The collapse will not itself lift the seas by metres, but researchers warn it may have removed a crucial brake on a glacier whose worst-case contribution could reach 14cm by 2100.
A new orbital measurement has exposed 48,000 hectares of burning vegetation in southern Iraq, far beyond the area shown on public fire maps. Scientists warn that shifting winds could carry dangerous particle pollution into three major cities before December ends.
A software failure in Argentina’s wetland-monitoring system inflated recovery scores across millions of hectares, steering public grants to provinces that may not have earned them. The error surfaced last week when the system began producing impossible readings.
An X12.9 solar flare has hurled a vast cloud of charged particles toward Earth, with the strongest impacts forecast for Wednesday. A malfunctioning spacecraft accidentally recorded the eruption in an unusually long exposure, prompting Pacific scientists to warn of satellite disruption and possible power cuts.
An unexpected combination of ground uplift and a falling gravity reading has led researchers to warn that Italy’s Campi Flegrei volcano could enter an eruption window within days. Officials say there is no reason to evacuate, but the study’s authors are urging emergency planners to prepare for a rapid change.
A new study says a widely sold reflective roof coating may have raised cooling bills across three Caribbean islands, prompting its maker to withdraw 41,600 tins. Researchers estimate households spent nearly US$18 million more on electricity over three years than they would have without the product.
A newly published study puts asteroid 2026 QX7 on a possible collision course with Earth on 18 April 2032, with a 2.4% impact probability. Researchers say the object has held a greater-than-1% chance of impact for longer than any known asteroid of its size, while federal officials stress that a miss remains overwhelmingly likely.
A viral clip of thousands of starlings wheeling above a Dutch wetland has helped researchers uncover a surprisingly fast group manoeuvre. Their new study finds that a flock can redirect almost all its birds in less than a second — without a leader.