Researchers have determined that NASA’s 2022 Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission is the first to cause a deliberate change in the heliocentric orbit of a celestial body – in this case, a binary asteroid system. The DART mission intentionally crashed a spacecraft into the asteroid Dimorphos, which orbits the larger asteroid Didymos as the pair orbits the sun. The mission’s goal was to determine whether human intervention could result in the deflection of asteroids away from Earth. The new research follows up on initial results, which showed that DART was able to slow and alter the orbit of Dimorphos around Didymos; now, the researchers have concluded that the impact also slowed the heliocentric orbit of the entire Didymos system by more than 10 micrometers per second. Rahil Makadia and colleagues analyzed 22 stellar occultation measurements taken since the DART impact, 5,955 ground-based right ascension and declination pairs, and other data to determine the full extent of the deflection. The results showed two main causes for the orbital change: the spacecraft’s impact itself and additional momentum from debris ejected outside of the binary system. Both the impact on Dimorphos and the escaped ejecta altered the trajectory and speed of Didymos system’s barycenter, or central orbital point, which also determines the system’s orbital path around the sun. The full extent of the heliocentric momentum enhancement from DART has not yet been determined, but should be measurable with future data. To that end, the European Space Agency’s Hera mission is now en route to the Didymos system, set to arrive in November 2026. “By demonstrating that asteroid deflection missions such as DART can effect change in the heliocentric orbit of a celestial body, this study marks a notable step forward in our ability to prevent future asteroid impacts on Earth,” Makadia et al. write.

Researchers present a revised version of the “stabilization wedge” framework, first developed more than 20 years ago, which outlines 36 practical strategies to cut carbon emissions across diverse sectors. “Modernizing the climate-stabilization wedges allows a new generation to engage in contemporary debates about decarbonization and, through informed dialogue, brings people from different nations and cultures into closer agreement on how to address climate change,” write the authors. Addressing global climate change requires holistic and widely cooperative action across all levels of society. However, people and governments have diverse perspectives on climate change mitigation, which limits progress despite strong overall support for decarbonization efforts. In the early 2000s, researchers developed a framework known as the “stabilization triangle,” which simplified complex climate goals into a practical portfolio of seven “wedges,” each representing a concrete strategy capable of preventing one gigaton of carbon emissions per year by 2050. The approach emphasized a diversified set of readily available solutions at the time. However, in the two decades since this framework was first proposed, our understandings of carbon emissions, technology, and mitigation approaches have greatly changed.

Here, Nathan Johnson and Iain Staffell present a modernized and updated version of the stabilization wedge framework, defining each wedge as a strategy capable of avoiding roughly 2 gigatons of carbon emissions per year by 2050. According to the authors, the revised framework preserved the clarity and accessibility of the original stabilization triangle, allowing policymakers and the public to evaluate and compare solutions with tangible outcomes without relying on complex integrated assessment modeling tools. Johnson and Staffell identify 36 actionable strategies spanning energy, transportation, industry, buildings, and land use, each with the potential to deliver at least one wedge of emissions reductions. These wedges can be achieved through a broad range of actions, such as improving efficiency, using cleaner energy sources, changing consumer behaviors, implementing carbon capture and storage technologies, or adopting sustainable land management practices, for example. Although current policies amount to about 17 wedges, the authors note that roughly 20 more are needed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Moreover, successful decarbonization depends not just on individual actions, but on deploying them in coordinated, mutually reinforcing combinations. According to Johnson and Staffell, the updated wedge framework thus encourages holistic thinking about the interactions, trade-offs, and synergies in designing effective climate strategies. “The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) concluded with many nations submitting updated 2035 pledges to reduce atmospheric carbon emissions,” write Haewon McJeon and Yang Ou in a related Perspective. “Tools such as the new framework of Johnson and Staffell could help align people’s preferences with technical pathways, supporting more durable and adaptive climate mitigation plans.”

For reporters interested in trends, this work builds off a 2004 Science paper by Pacala and Socolow, who developed the Stabilization Wedges framework to contemporary decarbonization. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1100103