Friday, May 8, 2026

Today in Science: Hantavirus study canceled by budget cuts

May 7, 2026—Scientists are using creative tactics to examine Earth's ancient climate. Plus, a dangerous hantavirus experiment is playing out on the cruise ship MV Hondius, and the Mars rover Curiosity gets its robotic arm stuck in a rock.

—Andrea Gawrylewski
Chief Newsletter Editor

HANTAVIRUS UPDATE

An aerial view shows health personnel assisting patients onto a boat from the cruise ship MV Hondius. Medics in blue suits can be seen guiding passengers off the ship onto a smaller boat for evacuation

Health personnel evacuate patients onto a boat from MV Hondius while stationary off the port of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde. AFP via Getty Images

The outbreak of hantavirus aboard the cruise ship MV Hondius is giving scientists a rare real-world look at how the Andes virus—the only hantavirus known to spread person-to-person—may transmit between humans. At least eight passengers or crew have been infected and three have died, amid fears the virus could mutate as it spreads. All remaining passengers are isolating on the ship where researchers plan to gather samples to sequence their genome. Though hantavirus mortality rates can be as high as 50 percent, fewer than 900 U.S. cases have been recorded over three decades. The current outbreak, researchers say, offers an unusually valuable—and alarming—window into how the pathogen works. | 4 min read

In 2025, the Trump administration eliminated funding for a pilot project aimed at studying the Andes hantavirus variant confirmed to be on the MV Hondius. The project was designed to better understand how hantavirus passes from rodents to human and was shuttered last year by the NIH. | 4 min read

TODAY'S NEWS

Gif of Curiosity attempting to shake a Martian rock loose

NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s Curiosity rover got its robotic arm stuck inside a rock on Mars. Just shake it off, babe! | 2 min read
The “improbability principle" explains the FBI's case of missing scientists. | 4 min read
President Trump’s reinstatement of the Presidential Physical Fitness Award, part of a broader push to return annual physical fitness tests to schools, is unlikely to improve youth health or physical activity, experts say. | 3 min read
We sit down with the winners of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences to discuss their work on the genetic causes of sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia, which set the stage for approved gene therapies. | 7 min read
The FDA approved the sale and marketing of four flavored vapes, despite studies that show they carry health risks, such as high blood pressure and nicotine addiction and asthma in teens. | 3 min read

More News

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Glimpsing an Ancient Climate

We don’t have a time machine, sadly. To gather data about what Earth’s climate was like thousands, even millions of years ago, scientists examine tree rings, ice cores and fossilized pollen. Most of those sources have been well studied, so scientists are getting creative to find other records of the ancient climate.

Seabird stomach oil: Snow Petrels spit out oil in front of their nests, primarily to ward off predators with its smell and stickiness. That vomit accretes in layers across avian generations, trapping 50,000 years’ worth of data about the birds’ diets and the sea ice environment. Seabird oil is a good proxy because it’s composed of waxes and fats, which degrade more slowly than proteins and carbohydrates do. Chunks can be radiocarbon-dated and biopsied to determine the source of their carbon and nitrogen.

A white bird peeks out of stone next to a blobby stone-looking mass labeled “solidified stomach oil”

Solidified Snow Petrel stomach oil. Dominic Hodgson/British Antarctic Survey

Ancient eggshells: Geochemists and archaeologists look for samples of ostriches’ eggs buried among early human settlements whose inhabitants ate the birds and used the eggshells as water containers. When ostriches eat plants that grow in rainy conditions, a signature isotope ratio of nitrogen in the soil transfers into their body and, ultimately, their eggs. The eggs’ nitrogen isotope ratios can help scientists to reconstruct the rainfall experienced by early humans across Africa and Asia.

Leaf wax: As plants use rainwater to grow, their leaves pick up the rain’s characteristic ratio of hydrogen isotopes—atoms with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons. Hydrogen isotope ratios, specifically, can be traced back to reveal how much and when water fell onto a plant, creating an indirect weather report of the ancient climate.

What the experts say: “The more different tools you can use to look at the same question from more angles, the better and better we get toward having a good consensus on what actually happened,” says Tyler Karp, a paleoecologist at the University of Chicago.

SCIENTISTS AT WORK

A man in a neon yellow vest looks at a tablet while standing on a brown landscape with several windturbines in the background.

Ugo Mellone

Many of the fishers in the Amvrakikos Gulf in Greece participate in the conservation project By ElasmoCatch. They allow researchers such as marine scientist Roxani Naasan Aga-Spyridopoulou on board their boats to collect data on shark and ray species they occasionally catch. Her work has shown that, when handled with care, these creatures can survive a trip through a fisher’s net. “The results show that when handling is done correctly, the short-term survival rate is very high—for some species, over 95 percent,” she says. Nature | 3 min read

Content Courtesy of Nature Briefing.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels a twinge of panic when I read the word "outbreak." Any new virus or unexplained cluster of cases brings up memories of COVID lockdowns, booster debates, and the strange emotional exhaustion of living through a pandemic. We humans remain very vulnerable to emerging diseases, a hard lesson I suspect we will continue to learn in the coming years.

Send any comments and questions my way at newsletters@sciam.com. I'll be back tomorrow.

—Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

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Thursday, May 7, 2026

2 Russian satellites get within 10 feet of each other in orbit

'Whatever Russia is testing, it's sophisticated' | Artemis 2 brought nearly 350,000 people to Florida | Europe's 1st reusable spacecraft clears key hurdles

Created for ceo.studentlike.spuniv@blogger.com | Web Version

May 7, 2026

Taking you out of this world, every day

The Launchpad

'Whatever Russia is testing, it's sophisticated'

You made it to Thursday, space fans!

Two Russian satellites came within 10 feet of one another, signaling some seriously sophisticated maneuvering ability, we continue to see the amazing fallout from Artemis 2, scientists are investigating ripples in spacetime, and so much more.

Check out what's big in space this week below!

What's Happening?

Spaceflight

Artemis 2 brought nearly 350,000 people to Florida

About 346,000 U.S. visitors — roughly the equivalent of the population of Honolulu, Hawaii — came to Florida's Space Coast during the Artemis 2 launch campaign.

What a Crowd!

Europe's 1st reusable spacecraft clears key hurdles

Space Rider, a novel spacecraft concept from the European Space Agency, is passing key milestones in its tests and qualifications to bring the vehicle to flight readiness.

Readying for Launch

Skywatching

10 hidden spots to see the rare total solar eclipse

From desert badlands to hilltop villages, these off-the-beaten-track locations offer clear views of Spain's rare sunset total solar eclipse.

Where Will it Be?

Technology

What 6 years of Mars driving did to a NASA rover

A new video released by NASA/JPL documents six years of Curiosity rover's wheels while driving on Mars.

What Happened?

Science & Astronomy

How do the biggest black holes in the universe form?

Merging black holes and neutron stars have unusual oval orbits prior to colliding and merging, which challenge the laws of physics.

Learn More

Should Titan be humanity's next destination?

Next month, a first-of-its-kind gathering will blueprint an eventual crewed trek to tantalizing Titan, the largest of Saturn's many moons.

Saturn vs Mars

Editor's Note

And that's it for our space update today!

Thanks for sticking with me to the end of this message. Stay tuned to learn about Russia's secret cosmonaut training center, strange alien planets, and some interesting findings coming out of the Artemis 2 mission!

Keep looking up!

Chelsea Gohd

Content Manager, Space.com.