Lead Story
First total solar eclipse to cross mainland Europe since 1999 sweeps over Greenland, Iceland and Spain
A total solar eclipse traced a narrow path of totality across a remote stretch of Siberia, eastern Greenland, western Iceland, northern Spain and a sliver of Portugal on August 12, 2026, drawing huge crowds and marking mainland Europe's first total solar eclipse since 1999. Totality lasted up to about 2 minutes in western Iceland's Snaefellsnes peninsula and just over 2 minutes along Greenland's coast, while cities like Zaragoza, Spain saw around 1 minute 24 seconds of darkness as the path widened to roughly 290 kilometers across the country. Most major European cities, including Madrid, London and Paris, saw at least 90 percent partial coverage. The eclipse arrived alongside two other rare skywatching events within the same 24 hours: a six-planet alignment visible before dawn from mid-northern latitudes such as New York, Madrid and Tokyo, and the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower. NASA chased the eclipse with balloons and a high-altitude jet, while researchers in Spain and Iceland used the rare alignment to study the Sun's corona.
Read more →Lead Story
First total solar eclipse to cross mainland Europe since 1999 sweeps over Greenland, Iceland and Spain
A total solar eclipse traced a narrow path of totality across a remote stretch of Siberia, eastern Greenland, western Iceland, northern Spain and a sliver of Portugal on August 12, 2026, drawing huge crowds and marking mainland Europe's first total solar eclipse since 1999. Totality lasted up to about 2 minutes in western Iceland's Snaefellsnes peninsula and just over 2 minutes along Greenland's coast, while cities like Zaragoza, Spain saw around 1 minute 24 seconds of darkness as the path widened to roughly 290 kilometers across the country. Most major European cities, including Madrid, London and Paris, saw at least 90 percent partial coverage. The eclipse arrived alongside two other rare skywatching events within the same 24 hours: a six-planet alignment visible before dawn from mid-northern latitudes such as New York, Madrid and Tokyo, and the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower. NASA chased the eclipse with balloons and a high-altitude jet, while researchers in Spain and Iceland used the rare alignment to study the Sun's corona.
Radiopharmaceutical trial shows earlier treatment slows advanced prostate cancer
Results published in The Lancet on August 6, 2026 from the phase 3 PSMAddition trial, led by Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center with sites in 20 countries, found that giving a targeted radionuclide therapy earlier delays progression of metastatic prostate cancer. Adding the drug 177Lu-PSMA-617 (lutetium PSMA 617 vipivotide tetraxetan) to standard hormone and anti-androgen therapy reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 28 percent in patients with PSMA-positive metastatic prostate cancer, compared with standard care alone. The trial enrolled more than 1,100 patients with minimally treated or untreated disease; the therapy works by attaching a radioactive payload to an agent that targets the PSMA protein on cancer cells, delivering radiation directly to tumors while largely sparing healthy tissue. Researchers say the results may change the standard of care for many patients with this common and aggressive form of the disease.
Read more →Radiopharmaceutical trial shows earlier treatment slows advanced prostate cancer
Results published in The Lancet on August 6, 2026 from the phase 3 PSMAddition trial, led by Weill Cornell Medicine, NewYork-Presbyterian and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center with sites in 20 countries, found that giving a targeted radionuclide therapy earlier delays progression of metastatic prostate cancer. Adding the drug 177Lu-PSMA-617 (lutetium PSMA 617 vipivotide tetraxetan) to standard hormone and anti-androgen therapy reduced the risk of disease progression or death by 28 percent in patients with PSMA-positive metastatic prostate cancer, compared with standard care alone. The trial enrolled more than 1,100 patients with minimally treated or untreated disease; the therapy works by attaching a radioactive payload to an agent that targets the PSMA protein on cancer cells, delivering radiation directly to tumors while largely sparing healthy tissue. Researchers say the results may change the standard of care for many patients with this common and aggressive form of the disease.
New 'ultra' stainless steel could cut green hydrogen costs 40-fold
Researchers led by professor Mingxin Huang at the University of Hong Kong's Department of Mechanical Engineering unveiled a new corrosion-resistant stainless steel, called SS-H2, on August 11, 2026, that could replace costly titanium components currently needed to produce green hydrogen, particularly from seawater electrolysis. The material uses a "sequential dual-passivation" strategy: alongside the usual protective chromium oxide layer, a manganese-based layer forms on top at around 720 millivolts, letting the steel withstand corrosive conditions up to 1,700 millivolts, well beyond what conventional stainless steel can survive. The finding surprised researchers because manganese has traditionally been considered harmful to stainless steel's corrosion resistance, but atomic-level analysis showed it actually strengthens protection in chloride-rich environments like seawater. By replacing titanium, the breakthrough could cut structural material costs by roughly 40 times, making seawater-based green hydrogen production significantly more economical.
Read more →New 'ultra' stainless steel could cut green hydrogen costs 40-fold
Researchers led by professor Mingxin Huang at the University of Hong Kong's Department of Mechanical Engineering unveiled a new corrosion-resistant stainless steel, called SS-H2, on August 11, 2026, that could replace costly titanium components currently needed to produce green hydrogen, particularly from seawater electrolysis. The material uses a "sequential dual-passivation" strategy: alongside the usual protective chromium oxide layer, a manganese-based layer forms on top at around 720 millivolts, letting the steel withstand corrosive conditions up to 1,700 millivolts, well beyond what conventional stainless steel can survive. The finding surprised researchers because manganese has traditionally been considered harmful to stainless steel's corrosion resistance, but atomic-level analysis showed it actually strengthens protection in chloride-rich environments like seawater. By replacing titanium, the breakthrough could cut structural material costs by roughly 40 times, making seawater-based green hydrogen production significantly more economical.
Colossal Foundation and Re:wild expand rewilding fund to seven more species across four continents
The Colossal Foundation announced on August 5, 2026 the second cohort of its Species Reintroduction Fund, run in partnership with global conservation nonprofit Re:wild, expanding the flagship rewilding program to seven new species. The fund is directing its annual commitment of $250,000 to conservation teams working to return threatened wildlife to safe habitats in Cambodia, the United States, Brazil, Guatemala, Australia and Canada. Launched in 2025 as the world's first fund dedicated entirely to wildlife reintroduction and rewilding, the program has quickly become a magnet for the field, drawing nearly $5 million in partnership requests this cycle, roughly twenty times its annual budget. Beyond grants of up to $50,000 per project, recipients gain access to genetic tools, emerging conservation technologies, training and the broader global conservation network built by Colossal and Re:wild.
Read more →Colossal Foundation and Re:wild expand rewilding fund to seven more species across four continents
The Colossal Foundation announced on August 5, 2026 the second cohort of its Species Reintroduction Fund, run in partnership with global conservation nonprofit Re:wild, expanding the flagship rewilding program to seven new species. The fund is directing its annual commitment of $250,000 to conservation teams working to return threatened wildlife to safe habitats in Cambodia, the United States, Brazil, Guatemala, Australia and Canada. Launched in 2025 as the world's first fund dedicated entirely to wildlife reintroduction and rewilding, the program has quickly become a magnet for the field, drawing nearly $5 million in partnership requests this cycle, roughly twenty times its annual budget. Beyond grants of up to $50,000 per project, recipients gain access to genetic tools, emerging conservation technologies, training and the broader global conservation network built by Colossal and Re:wild.
World quietly crosses the 3-terawatt mark for installed solar power
Global installed solar power capacity passed 3 terawatts in 2026, a milestone that drew relatively little public attention despite the pace of the achievement, according to analysis reported by Bloomberg and Yale Environment 360 in early August 2026. It took nearly seven decades after the invention of the silicon solar cell in 1954 for the world to reach its first terawatt of solar capacity around 2022, but the second terawatt was added by 2024, in under three years, and the third arrived roughly two years after that. BloombergNEF projects the world will reach 9 terawatts of solar power by 2036 as costs keep falling and deployment accelerates, with poorer and developing countries increasingly leading the buildout alongside China, which has become the dominant global manufacturer and installer of solar panels. Analysts say the milestone underscores how solar has moved from a niche technology to the fastest-growing source of new electricity generation worldwide.
Read more →World quietly crosses the 3-terawatt mark for installed solar power
Global installed solar power capacity passed 3 terawatts in 2026, a milestone that drew relatively little public attention despite the pace of the achievement, according to analysis reported by Bloomberg and Yale Environment 360 in early August 2026. It took nearly seven decades after the invention of the silicon solar cell in 1954 for the world to reach its first terawatt of solar capacity around 2022, but the second terawatt was added by 2024, in under three years, and the third arrived roughly two years after that. BloombergNEF projects the world will reach 9 terawatts of solar power by 2036 as costs keep falling and deployment accelerates, with poorer and developing countries increasingly leading the buildout alongside China, which has become the dominant global manufacturer and installer of solar panels. Analysts say the milestone underscores how solar has moved from a niche technology to the fastest-growing source of new electricity generation worldwide.