The best new popular science books of September 2026 include new titles by Carlo Rovelli and Xand van Tulleken

• 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.

• NASA selected the Artemis III crew on June 11, 2026, for a mission scheduled for 2027. • The mission is designed to test the future of lunar exploration through high-stakes operations on the Moon.

• NASA issued 10 new awards through its Planetary Instrument Concepts for the Advancement of Solar System Observations (PICASSO) program. • The PICASSO23 projects focus on creating technology to explore diverse environments ranging from the hot surface of Mercury to icy worlds at the Solar System's edge.

• Scientists observed the centaur 450P/LONEOS transforming into a comet by developing a coma, which is a fuzzy cloud of gas and dust. • The object is located approximately 3 billion miles away in the region between Jupiter and Neptune.

• NASA selected two science instruments for astronauts to deploy on the Moon's surface during the Artemis IV mission to the lunar south polar region. • These specific tools are designed to improve scientific knowledge of the lunar environment.

• The European Space Agency located its Philae lander on the surface of Comet 67P on September 2, 2016, ending a two-year search. • Philae had previously made history as the first spacecraft to achieve a soft-landing on a comet before it disappeared from view.

• NASA issued Amendment 72 for the A.17 Hydrosphere solicitation to request research on the physics of Earth's water. • The program focuses on three specific scientific disciplines: ocean physics, terrestrial hydrology, and precipitation science.