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    SpaceX launches 35th commercial resupply mission to International Space Station with NASA science

    SpaceX launched its 35th commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station on Tuesday, carrying new experiments and the final pair of roll-out solar arrays aboard its Dragon spacecraft. NASA said the experiments include hardware to make artificial retinas in microgravity, 3D heart tissue models for drug testing, materials for studying how a new type of glass forms in microgravity, and brain organoids that could uncover potential treatment targets for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and multiple sclerosis. The arrays will complete the station's power system augmentation, boosting electricity for research, operations and the station's controlled deorbit. NASA said the research benefits people on Earth and lays groundwork for other deep space missions.

    Key facts

    • Falcon 9 lifted off at 6:33 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
    • The mission carries more than 6,300 pounds of supplies and hardware to the space station.
    • Dragon is scheduled to autonomously dock at 11 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 15, at the Harmony module's space-facing port.
    • Dragon is scheduled to leave the station in mid-November, splashing down off California with time-critical research and cargo.

    Commentary

    Delivering the hardware is the predictable half; the harder dependency is the fall spacewalks, because the arrays add no power until astronauts install them outside. That makes the upgrade's timing, not the launch, the thing to watch.

    Sources: NASA (.gov)

  2. 2

    NIH proposal to withhold grant impact scores draws criticism from scientists

    The National Institutes of Health is weighing a change to grant review that would conceal the impact scores assigned to applications. The NIH says the change is designed to communicate valuable information about scientific merit and give program officers more flexibility. Critics say the change could reduce transparency. Joshua Weitz, a University of Maryland biology professor, argued it would make it harder for program officers to assess consensus. The North American Vascular Biology Organization warned it would compromise accountability and Congress's ability to exercise oversight. The NIH change follows an earlier bid to let political appointees, not peer review panels, decide grant recipients, which was put on hold until at least December after Congress rejected it.

    Key facts

    • Applicants would be told only whether they land in the top 25%, next 25%, or bottom 50%.
    • Applications in the bottom 50% would be labeled 'not discussed' and would not get extended reviewer discussion.
    • Peer reviewers score applications from 1 to 9, with 1 highest, and applicants currently see the averaged impact score.
    • The NIH document says all applicants would still get written critiques with individual criterion scores.
    • Public comment on the proposal opened in August and closes today.

    Commentary

    What moves here is less the new categories than the loss of the number applicants use to judge their standing: a top 1 percent application could be grouped with lower-scoring ones in the same band. The cost falls on applicants, who lose the means to benchmark themselves, which is why critics see room for political priorities.

    Sources: Yahoo

  3. 3

    Review says evidence for human-caused global warming is stronger than ever

    A review led by Prof Benjamin Santer of the University of East Anglia says evidence for human-caused global warming is stronger than ever. Published in Earth’s Future, it draws on more than three decades of climate “fingerprint” research, which uses patterns and timing to separate human from natural influences. The review responds to a July 2025 US Department of Energy report that the scientists call “deeply flawed” for challenging fingerprinting and the basis of the EPA’s 2009 Endangerment Finding. They argue the basis was compelling in 2009 and has since been reinforced. Moves to revoke the finding have raised concerns about human health and emissions cuts, and could open the door to ending other US environmental rules.

    Key facts

    • The post-2009 period included the 10 warmest years in instrumental surface temperature records.
    • Prof Santer says the evidence is incontrovertible.
    • Prof Santer’s early research contributed to the IPCC’s 1995 conclusion on discernible human influence.
    • The review covers annual, decadal and seasonal fingerprint studies and touches on extreme events.
    • Santer and colleagues are based at UEA, MIT, Colorado State University and the University of Edinburgh.

    Commentary

    The sharper question is whether the Endangerment Finding can survive a challenge to the science beneath it. By faulting the DOE for ignoring later evidence, the authors force any rescission to answer the newer research, not just the earlier record.

    Sources: Technology Networks

  4. 4

    Webb telescope finds unusually dense early galaxy cluster that does not match cosmological model predictions

    Astronomers using NASA's James Webb Space Telescope found that galaxy cluster XLSSC 122 holds an unusually dense concentration of matter for its era. The cluster dates to cosmic noon, an era when standard models predict massive structures should have grown more gradually. Its gravity bends light from more distant galaxies, a strong lensing effect used to measure mass, and most of that distortion comes from dark matter. Lead author Kyle Finner of IPAC said the concentration does not agree with model predictions. Further analysis indicates the cluster is still merging, and the shape of the glow from stars between its galaxies closely matches the dark matter near its center. Finner's team next aims to identify dozens more early clusters.

    Key facts

    • XLSSC 122 is the most distant known galaxy cluster displaying strong gravitational lensing.
    • XLSSC 122 lies about 10.4 billion light-years from Earth.
    • Scientists estimate dark matter is about five times more abundant than ordinary matter.
    • Webb's observations are the earliest known detection of intracluster light.
    • Three studies on XLSSC 122 were presented June 17, 2026, at the 248th American Astronomical Society meeting.

    Commentary

    The result rests on agreement across methods rather than any single measurement: strong lensing, weak lensing and starlight all point to the same central mass. Whether that undermines current models depends on how common such clusters are, which the planned survey work would settle, so XLSSC 122 is best read as a test rather than a verdict.

    Sources: Science Daily

  5. 5

    Researchers map 539 chemically distinct lipid regions in the mouse brain

    Lipids are central to brain function, yet scientists have had only a blurry picture of where different types sit, since conventional imaging struggles to tell individual molecules apart. A team at EPFL led by Giovanni D'Angelo mapped lipids across the mouse brain using mass spectrometry imaging, which scans thin tissue slices one location at a time. D'Angelo says changes in brain lipids are increasingly linked to conditions from depression to Alzheimer's disease. The atlas shows lipids arranged in highly organized patterns, some matching familiar anatomy and others exposing chemical boundaries earlier approaches overlooked. Pregnancy also shifted lipid composition across many brain regions, with the cortex particularly affected. The atlas is freely available online.

    Key facts

    • The lipid atlas identifies 539 chemically distinct territories, named lipizones.
    • Researchers published the lipid brain atlas in the journal Nature.
    • The team examined 172 lipids in 109 brain slices from 11 mice, producing about 7 million measurements.
    • In pregnant mice, galactosyl ceramide, a myelin component, rose sharply across much of the brain's white matter.
    • The mouse map cannot be directly applied to humans, though its method could help study human brains.

    Commentary

    The real advance is that lipids separate brain regions that gene-activity maps tend to blur, adding a second line of evidence rather than a sharper copy of existing maps. Its value for human disorders depends on whether the method transfers to people, which a mouse map cannot settle.

    Sources: Science Daily