SAN ANTONIO — February 23, 2026 — Southwest Research Institute was part of an international team that demonstrated how complex organic molecules (COMs), key chemical precursors to life, could have been incorporated into Jupiter’s Galilean moons during their formation. The team’s findings have resulted in complementary studies published in The Planetary Science Journal and Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, offering new insights into the potential for life in the Jovian system.

That the universe is expanding has been known for almost a hundred years now, but how fast? The exact rate of that expansion remains hotly debated, even challenging the standard model of cosmology. A research team at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Ludwig Maximilians University (LMU) and the Max Planck Institutes MPA and MPE has now imaged and modelled an exceptionally rare supernova that could provide a new, independent way to measure how fast the universe is expanding.

New observations of Ganymede reveal a striking similarity between the auroras on the largest moon in the solar system and those on Earth. The international team of astrophysicists, led by researchers from the University of Liège, has produced new results indicating that, despite different conditions, the fundamental physical processes that generate auroras are common to different celestial bodies, and not just planets.

Chinese researchers have developed China's first compact high-temperature superconducting magnetoplasmadynamic thruster, achieving a revolutionary reduction in power consumption from 285 kW to under 1 kW and weight from 220 kg to 60 kg. Published in National Science Review, the breakthrough utilizes YBCO superconducting material operating at liquid nitrogen temperatures (-196°C) to replace traditional copper coils. The thruster demonstrates an exceptional specific impulse of 3,265 seconds at 12 kW input power—more than ten times higher than conventional chemical propulsion. The team also established a comprehensive analytical magnetohydrodynamic model that accurately predicts performance parameters. This advancement solves the critical propulsion bottleneck for small satellites, enabling lightweight, cost-effective spacecraft with dramatically reduced fuel requirements for deep space missions.

BETHESDA, MD – As space agencies prepare for human missions to the Moon and Mars, scientists need to understand how the absence of gravity affects living cells. Now, a team of researchers has built a rugged, affordable microscope that can image cells in real time during the chaotic conditions of zero-gravity flight—and they’re making the design available to the broader scientific community.

A Northumbria University PhD student has led an international team of astronomers in creating the first-ever three-dimensional map of Uranus's upper atmosphere, revealing how the ice giant's unusual magnetic field shapes spectacular auroras high above the planet's clouds.