Starwashing promotes space projects without addressing costs

• Researchers analyzed a mysterious photon from a massive gamma ray burst detected in 2022 that unexpectedly reached Earth. • The particle survived a journey through space that should have destroyed it according to current physics models.

• Researchers discovered that songbirds evolved through rare bursts of rapid change separated by long periods of slow development. • These evolutionary explosions frequently aligned with major climate shifts, indicating that environmental upheaval drives biological reshaping.

• Students used the Gemini North Telescope on Maunakea to capture images of two spiral galaxies locked in each other's gravity. • The project highlighted the intersection of science and spirit through the observation of these interacting celestial bodies.

• NASA’s Curiosity rover photographed a valley called Valle Grande in June 2026, discovering a vast field of honeycomb-like ground fractures. • The rover captured images of small polygonal fractures that measure between 4 and 8 centimeters across.

• SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is planning to launch orbital data centers by late 2027 to support the growing infrastructure needs of artificial intelligence. • Other industry observers disagree with this timeline, suggesting that significant scale for space-based computing is more likely to arrive in the 2030s.

• Major science authors including Carlo Rovelli, Xand van Tulleken, Maggie Aderin, and Jim Al-Khalili released new books in September 2026. • Carlo Rovelli's new title argues that philosophers have not yet caught up to the revolution brought about by quantum physics.

• Researchers developed a new blood drying protocol to detect the Zika virus without using expensive purification equipment. • The method uses a heater and a low-cost sensor to shield RNA from enzymes, delivering results in two hours with accuracy comparable to top labs.

• NASA and the European Space Agency have launched uncrewed probes, including the Europa Clipper and Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer, to search for life-sustaining conditions on Jupiter's moons. • Researchers are combining data from these probes with findings from the James Webb Space Telescope and future missions to Saturn's moon Enceladus to identify microbial life.

• MIT researchers drilled a 2-by-3-foot hole through 3.6 feet of Arctic sea ice to deploy a robotic prototype. • The robot successfully transmitted data through the ice at a speed of 1.2 kilobytes per second.

• NASA funded an early-stage spacecraft concept called "Slingshot" to develop new techniques for mapping minerals on the moon, asteroids, and Martian moons. • Project lead Sobron noted that landing in the wrong location could bankrupt a company or end an entire exploration program due to the high cost of failure.

• Scientists have found major errors in the Al Gore-founded Climate TRACE database, which tracks greenhouse gas emissions, and an Antarctic glacier has collapsed at a record speed, with the Hektoria glacier retreating 15 miles in just 15 months. • A study has reported that the Hektoria glacier's retreat is one of the fastest ever recorded, with the glacier moving back 15 miles in 15 months, which is a significantly faster pace than in previous years.