California becomes first large power grid to run over half on solar for a full month, a world first
Solar panels generated 51% of California's electricity in May, according to a new analysis from the UK-based energy think tank Ember published July 31, marking the first time a large-scale power system is known to have topped 50% solar for an entire month. Solar also outproduced natural gas in the state over the first five months of 2026, raising the prospect it could overtake gas for the full year. Ember analyst Nicolas Fulghum credited grid-scale battery storage for the leap: batteries now shift huge amounts of midday solar power into the evening demand peak, letting the grid absorb far more solar than before. The newly completed SunZia transmission line, carrying wind power from New Mexico into California since April, also helped cut the need to burn gas overnight.
Read more →California becomes first large power grid to run over half on solar for a full month, a world first
Solar panels generated 51% of California's electricity in May, according to a new analysis from the UK-based energy think tank Ember published July 31, marking the first time a large-scale power system is known to have topped 50% solar for an entire month. Solar also outproduced natural gas in the state over the first five months of 2026, raising the prospect it could overtake gas for the full year. Ember analyst Nicolas Fulghum credited grid-scale battery storage for the leap: batteries now shift huge amounts of midday solar power into the evening demand peak, letting the grid absorb far more solar than before. The newly completed SunZia transmission line, carrying wind power from New Mexico into California since April, also helped cut the need to burn gas overnight.
Study finds blood cancer's genetic warning signs can appear years before serious symptoms
Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute reported July 29 in the journal Cancer Discovery that myeloproliferative neoplasms, a group of rare blood cancers that begin in the bone marrow, leave detectable genetic warning signs years before patients develop serious symptoms. Following 30 patients with chronic blood cancers through more than 450 repeated genomic samples, the team found that those whose disease later worsened had quietly accumulated additional genetic changes long before any major clinical shift was detectable by standard monitoring. The findings suggest routine DNA testing could sharpen diagnoses, help doctors distinguish true progression from harmless disease variants, and open the door to earlier intervention for patients at highest risk.
Read more →Study finds blood cancer's genetic warning signs can appear years before serious symptoms
Researchers at the Wellcome Sanger Institute reported July 29 in the journal Cancer Discovery that myeloproliferative neoplasms, a group of rare blood cancers that begin in the bone marrow, leave detectable genetic warning signs years before patients develop serious symptoms. Following 30 patients with chronic blood cancers through more than 450 repeated genomic samples, the team found that those whose disease later worsened had quietly accumulated additional genetic changes long before any major clinical shift was detectable by standard monitoring. The findings suggest routine DNA testing could sharpen diagnoses, help doctors distinguish true progression from harmless disease variants, and open the door to earlier intervention for patients at highest risk.
Quantum entanglement demonstrated for the first time over a busy, real-world telecom fiber line
Northwestern University researchers announced they had sent entangled photons through a 24.4-kilometer fiber-optic cable linking Evanston and downtown Chicago while that same cable simultaneously carried ordinary high-capacity internet traffic, preserving entanglement with more than 94% fidelity. The team achieved this by transmitting the quantum signals in the optical O-band, keeping them separate from conventional C-band data traffic, and using picosecond-level synchronization to protect the fragile quantum states from interference. Because the experiment used existing commercial fiber rather than dedicated new cabling, the result suggests that much of the fiber-optic network already installed worldwide could, in principle, be repurposed for a future quantum internet, significantly shortening the likely timeline and cost of building one.
Read more →Quantum entanglement demonstrated for the first time over a busy, real-world telecom fiber line
Northwestern University researchers announced they had sent entangled photons through a 24.4-kilometer fiber-optic cable linking Evanston and downtown Chicago while that same cable simultaneously carried ordinary high-capacity internet traffic, preserving entanglement with more than 94% fidelity. The team achieved this by transmitting the quantum signals in the optical O-band, keeping them separate from conventional C-band data traffic, and using picosecond-level synchronization to protect the fragile quantum states from interference. Because the experiment used existing commercial fiber rather than dedicated new cabling, the result suggests that much of the fiber-optic network already installed worldwide could, in principle, be repurposed for a future quantum internet, significantly shortening the likely timeline and cost of building one.
New Zealand's first new marine reserves in over a decade protect dolphins, penguins and kelp forests
Five new marine reserves off New Zealand's South Island, covering 308 square kilometres, came into force on July 1 and continued drawing attention through early August as the country's first major marine protection expansion in more than ten years. Fishing, harvesting and mineral extraction are now prohibited across the reserves, which safeguard habitat for threatened Hector's dolphins, yellow-eyed penguins and New Zealand sea lions, along with giant kelp forests, pāua-covered rocky reefs, bryozoan beds, offshore canyons and deepwater coral communities. The network, co-managed with Kāi Tahu, the principal South Island Māori group, has been renamed Te Au Roa o Te Rakihouia in honor of the first known person to journey the length of the South Island's coastline; nine Kāi Tahu rangers are being trained to monitor and manage the reserves day to day.
Read more →New Zealand's first new marine reserves in over a decade protect dolphins, penguins and kelp forests
Five new marine reserves off New Zealand's South Island, covering 308 square kilometres, came into force on July 1 and continued drawing attention through early August as the country's first major marine protection expansion in more than ten years. Fishing, harvesting and mineral extraction are now prohibited across the reserves, which safeguard habitat for threatened Hector's dolphins, yellow-eyed penguins and New Zealand sea lions, along with giant kelp forests, pāua-covered rocky reefs, bryozoan beds, offshore canyons and deepwater coral communities. The network, co-managed with Kāi Tahu, the principal South Island Māori group, has been renamed Te Au Roa o Te Rakihouia in honor of the first known person to journey the length of the South Island's coastline; nine Kāi Tahu rangers are being trained to monitor and manage the reserves day to day.