SCIENCE

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump spoke directly with the four astronauts aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft Monday, offering personal congratulations moments after the Artemis II crew shattered the 56-year-old record for farthest humans have traveled from Earth, in a live call broadcast by the White House that blended presidential praise, national pride and forward-looking space ambitions.

HOUSTON — A simple jar of Nutella hazelnut spread became an unlikely star Monday when it floated gracefully through the cabin of NASA's Orion spacecraft during the live broadcast of the Artemis II mission, drifting past astronauts just minutes before the crew set a new record for the farthest humans have traveled from Earth.

FRESNO, Calif. — A brilliant plume of exhaust from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket pierced the twilight sky over Central California on Monday evening, prompting thousands of residents to look up and ask, "What was that?" as the rocket carried another batch of Starlink satellites into orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base.

SAN FRANCISCO — Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have reversed key aspects of age-related cognitive decline in older mice by reducing levels of a single protein called FTL1 in the hippocampus, the brain region critical for learning and memory, according to a study that continues to draw attention more than seven months after its publication.

CAMBRIDGE, England — Healx, a leading UK artificial intelligence-powered biotech company, continues to reshape drug discovery for rare diseases in 2026, leveraging advanced machine learning to accelerate treatments for conditions that affect millions but often lack approved therapies.

As NASA's Artemis II crew hurtles toward the Moon aboard the Orion spacecraft, the four astronauts are preparing for a six-hour lunar flyby on Monday that will offer humanity's first direct human-eye views of previously unseen portions of the lunar far side and specific illuminated terrains never observed by Apollo crews.

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia's military modernization drive has equipped the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with some of the most advanced conventional weapons systems in the Indo-Pacific region as of 2026, emphasizing long-range strike, fifth-generation air power and sovereign munitions production to deter potential threats.

NASA's Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight to the vicinity of the Moon in more than half a century, is well underway after a flawless launch on April 1, 2026, sending four astronauts on a 10-day journey aboard the Orion spacecraft to test systems and pave the way for future lunar landings.

SYDNEY — Australia has secured a strong fifth-place position in the latest 2026 global average IQ rankings, posting a national score of 104.45 according to data compiled from more than 1.2 million participants in standardized online intelligence tests conducted throughout 2025.

Highly venomous snakes long associated with Australia's remote arid interior are projected to expand their ranges southward toward densely populated coastal regions, increasing potential encounters with humans in backyards, parks and suburbs along the east coast, according to a major international research project published this week.

Easter Sunday 2026 falls on April 5, bringing together ancient religious traditions, astronomical precision and modern family festivities for Christians across the United States and around the world.

HOUSTON — NASA's Artemis II mission hit a major milestone Thursday as the four-person crew aboard the Orion spacecraft successfully completed the critical translunar injection burn, sending them out of Earth orbit and on a trajectory toward the Moon for the first time in more than five decades.

Four astronauts rocketed away from Earth aboard NASA's Space Launch System rocket Wednesday evening, embarking on Artemis II — the first crewed lunar mission in more than half a century — on a daring 10-day journey that will take them around the far side of the moon and farther from home than any humans have traveled before.

JAKARTA, Indonesia — A powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake struck off eastern Indonesia in the Molucca Sea early Thursday, killing at least one person, damaging buildings and triggering a brief tsunami warning that prompted evacuations before being lifted as small waves reached coastal areas.

NASA's Artemis II mission stands ready to make history Wednesday evening as the first crewed flight to the vicinity of the Moon in more than 50 years, with four astronauts scheduled to lift off atop the powerful Space Launch System rocket for a daring 10-day journey that will test systems for future lunar landings and eventual human missions to Mars.

SYDNEY — Skies across Australia will glow under the luminous Pink Moon this week, with the April full moon reaching its peak on Thursday, April 2, 2026, at around 1:11 p.m. AEDT, offering skywatchers a spectacular celestial display as autumn settles in the southern hemisphere.

SYDNEY — Australia has emerged as one of the world's cleanest countries for air quality in 2026, ranking 10th globally in the latest World Air Quality Report and joining an elite group of just 13 nations and territories that met the World Health Organization's strict PM2.5 guidelines for safe breathing air.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA on Monday began the final countdown for Artemis II, the first crewed mission to the moon in more than half a century, with the massive Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft poised for liftoff as early as Wednesday evening from Kennedy Space Center.

Tromso sits deep inside the auroral oval, making it one of the world's most accessible and reliable spots for viewing the northern lights in 2026. Located 217 miles north of the Arctic Circle, the Norwegian city offers frequent displays from September through April, with peak activity expected during the lingering effects of the solar maximum.

SYDNEY, Australia — An eerie blood-red sky blanketed parts of Western Australia on March 27, turning the horizon over Shark Bay into an apocalyptic scene as powerful winds from Tropical Cyclone Narelle whipped up iron-rich desert dust ahead of the storm's landfall.

With NASA's Artemis II mission on the verge of launching as early as April 1, 2026, the four astronauts selected for humanity's first crewed journey beyond low-Earth orbit in more than 50 years are drawing global attention.

A car-sized asteroid designated 2026 FM3 will make a relatively close flyby of Earth late Wednesday, passing at a distance of about 148,000 miles — roughly 60% of the average Earth-moon separation — but posing no risk of impact, NASA officials said.

Elon Musk's SpaceX is preparing to file its initial public offering prospectus with U.S. regulators as soon as this week or next, according to a report Tuesday, setting the stage for what could become the largest IPO in history with a potential raise exceeding $75 billion and a valuation topping $1.75 trillion.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A brilliant fireball streaked across the night sky over Northern California on Sunday, March 22, 2026, drawing more than 200 eyewitness reports from California, Nevada and Arizona and marking the third notable meteor event in the United States in just six days.

Australia has reached a pivotal moment in its energy history, with renewable sources exceeding 50% of electricity generation in the National Electricity Market (NEM) for the first time during the December 2025 quarter, according to the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).

FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Skywatchers across much of the northern United States and Canada have a prime opportunity to witness the northern lights, or aurora borealis, tonight into early Friday morning as a powerful geomagnetic storm impacts Earth, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center.

CLEVELAND — A powerful sonic boom that shook homes, rattled windows and startled residents across Northeast Ohio on Tuesday morning was almost certainly caused by a meteor entering Earth's atmosphere, the National Weather Service in Cleveland confirmed.

As spring severe weather season ramps up across the United States, the National Weather Service continues to emphasize the critical distinction between a **tornado watch** and a **tornado warning** — two alerts that often cause confusion but carry vastly different implications for public safety.

NASA is aiming for an April 1 liftoff of the Artemis II mission, setting the stage for the first crewed voyage around the Moon since Apollo 17 in 1972. Agency officials announced the target date following a successful Flight Readiness Review on March 12, 2026, declaring the program "on track" for the historic 10-day test flight.