NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, launching on a Falcon Heavy on 30 August 2026, carries a mirror the size of Hubble's but sees a patch of sky about a hundred times wider, built mainly to map dark energy and hunt for planets

• In his work "Despite it All," author Fred Pearce argues that the environmental disruptions of the Anthropocene are accelerating plant evolution and adaptation. • Pearce highlights that many plant species are finding innovative ways to survive and thrive despite the ongoing climate crisis.

• NASA’s Curiosity rover discovered a vast "sea" of tiny, polygon-shaped fractures forming a honeycomb landscape within a Martian valley. • The patterns are only a few inches wide and are so extensive that they wrap around a nearby 20-foot-tall butte.

• Engineers from Katalyst are working from a control center near Denver to recover the Link satellite, which was deployed to support NASA's Swift mission. • The team is currently implementing a technical fix to regain control of the Link satellite after it encountered critical issues.

• Recent research indicates that Antarctica’s ice sheet reached a critical climate tipping point approximately 1 million years ago, potentially altering long-term glacial stability. • NASA has detected a massive ocean swell, which scientists suggest could be a precursor to the return of the El Niño weather pattern.

• A SpaceX rocket is scheduled to crash into the moon this Wednesday after drifting in space for over a year. • The impact is expected to create a new crater and launch a plume of dust and debris into space.

• Large quantities of space debris are unpredictably re-entering Earth's atmosphere every week, resulting in flaming metal fragments crashing into residential homes, farms, and parking lots. • The phenomenon highlights a critical lack of accountability regarding who is legally responsible for the debris and who must pay for the resulting property damage.

• Researchers have detected a sharp acceleration in global warming, noting that the planet is now heating up faster than in previous decades. • After accounting for solar cycles, volcanic eruptions, and El Niño, data shows warming has increased to roughly 0.35°C per decade over the last ten years.

• Astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) are testing new plant growth experiments to develop sustainable food sources for long-term space travel. • The research focuses on the challenges of growing vegetation in weightlessness, which is essential for missions to the Moon and Mars.

• Researchers discovered that H5N1 bird flu targets cows' udders rather than lungs because the virus's preferred receptors are concentrated in mammary tissue. • This scientific breakthrough, reported on June 23, 2026, provides critical insight into how the virus infects livestock.

• Author and journalist Fred Pearce discussed his new book, "Despite it All," in an interview with Live Science editor Hannah Osborne. • The book examines global shifts over the last 40 years, specifically highlighting the rise of renewable energy and the stabilization of the "population bomb."

• Scientists flew aircraft into "fire clouds" (pyrocumulonimbus) to gather critical data on how these massive smoke-driven clouds form and their overall impact on the global climate. • In other positive developments, Finland utilized a sand battery to reduce carbon emissions, and food banks successfully converted food waste into millions of meals.