NASA’s first crewed mission toward the moon in more than half a century moved closer to liftoff recently, as the Artemis 2 astronauts completed a full launch day dress rehearsal in Florida.

The four astronauts set to fly around the moon on the Artemis 2 mission participated in the launch day dress rehearsal on Dec. 20 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The test marked a milestone in final preparations for NASA astronauts Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen for their journey around our nearest celestial neighbor in early 2026.

The dress rehearsal, also known as a countdown demonstration test, simulated the launch day timeline, including the astronauts suiting up in spacesuits, a walkout and getting in and out of their Orion spacecraft, according to a NASA statement.

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Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen (right) and NASA’s Victor Glover and Christina Koch exit the elevator at the 275-foot level of the mobile launcher as they walk toward the crew access arm and prepare to board their Orion spacecraft atop NASA’s Space Launch System rocket during the Artemis 2 countdown demonstration test on Dec. 20, 2025, inside the Vehicle Assembly Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Image credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky)

The action took place at the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at KSC, where Orion and its European Service Module and the gigantic Space Launch System (SLS) rocket are being prepared and tested ahead of rollout and launch.

Artemis 2 is currently slated to launch from KSC no earlier than Feb. 5, 2026. The mission will mark the first time astronauts will journey to the vicinity of the moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972.

A day before the rehearsal, newly confirmed NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman posted on the social media platform X that “Artemis 2 is America’s return to the moon, and the start of something much bigger.”

The following mission, Artemis 3, will attempt to land astronauts on the surface of the moon. The mission is officially scheduled for 2027, but reports suggest that it will not launch until 2028 at the earliest.

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Over the last three decades, Yellowstone National Park has undergone an ecological cascade. As elk numbers fell, aspen and willow trees thrived. This, in turn, allowed beaver numbers to increase, creating new habitats for fish and birds.

The shift has largely been attributed to the reintroduction of wolves to the park — as predators, they helped control the elk numbers. But their return may not have reshaped the entire ecosystem in the way that scientists thought, and has sparked a fierce debate among scientists over exactly why and how Yellowstone has rebounded.

According to a study published in January, the reintroduction of gray wolves (Canis lupus) in the 1990s created a trophic cascade — a chain reaction in the food web — that benefitted the entire ecosystem. The study linked wolves in the area to a reduction in the elk population, which in turn reduced browsing and allowed willow trees to grow. Between 2001 and 2020, this led to a 1,500% increase in crown volume, the total space filled by upper branches of the willows.

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But now, scientists have written a response letter to the editor, published in Oct. 13 in the journal Global Ecology and Conservation, in which they argue that the original study’s methodology was flawed, and that Yellowstone wolves’ effect on willow shrubs is not so clear.

Large predators were targeted in Yellowstone from the end of the 1800s. By the 1920s, wolves were largely extinct from the park. Their disappearance created an ecological imbalance — the elk population exploded, which decimated plant populations and in turn threatened beavers, among other impacts. This is known as a trophic cascade, where the removal of one species causes ripples throughout the food web.

While the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone has led to changes within the park, the authors of the response letter claim the original study reinterpreted existing data to fit an oversimplified story.

The study converted willow height measurements collected and published by another research group into a metric called crown volume, response author Daniel MacNulty, a wildlife ecologist at Utah State University, told Live Science in an email. Crown volume was used as a proxy for willow size, meant to capture the shrub’s entire three-dimensional growth more than simply measuring its height.

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“Because crown volume was built directly from height, [the study] only showed that height predicts height,” MacNulty said. “They did not reveal anything new about how willow growth changed after wolf reintroduction.”

The response letter suggests other inconsistencies in data analysis, like comparing willow measurements from different locations across years. This is problematic because it shows a misleading time series of willow growth, and MacNulty’s research group has previously published research noting sampling biases in other studies supporting this same trophic cascade theory.

“There is substantial scientific evidence of a definitive effect of wolf recovery on the rest of the Yellowstone ecosystem,” MacNulty said, like wolves increasing the supply of carrion to bears, coyotes, eagles and other meat-eating species. But the effect of wolves on vegetation is less clear because it operates through the decline of elk populations, which wolves were likely not solely responsible for. As MacNulty points out, humans, grizzly bears and cougars also hunt elk. “A major problem with the simple trophic cascade story is that it ignores the role of these other predators.”

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William Ripple, an Oregon State University wildlife ecologist and author of the original paper, stands by the original conclusions of the paper, maintaining that a large carnivore, elk, and willow trophic cascade occurred in Yellowstone. “Our methods are sound, the modeling approach is standard,” Ripple told Live Science in an email. “So we reject the idea that there are fatal flaws.”

The debate about Yellowstone wolves and the impact of their reintroduction goes beyond this study and the latest response. While scientists widely agree that there is a trophic cascade in Yellowstone, its strength — and which predators are most responsible for it — form the center of the disagreement, MacNulty said.

Some scientists argue the story is more complex. “There are reasons other than trophic cascades by which carnivores and plants can be positively associated,” Jake Goheen, a wildlife ecologist at Iowa State University told Live Science in an email. Goheen, who was not involved in the research or response, said he doesn’t believe that the authors of the original study provided enough evidence to support their conclusion that reintroducing wolves in Yellowstone caused a strong trophic cascade that affected willows.

“There is a growing body of literature at this point that has scrutinized the hypothesized cascade in Yellowstone,” Goheen said. He adds that this does not mean there’s no wolf-to-elk-to-willow trophic cascade in Yellowstone, only that the evidence presented so far is not clear enough.

To establish a clear trophic cascade from Yellowstone wolf reintroduction to willows, researchers would need to account for other predators and herbivores, said MacNulty. The ideal study would then analyze how much more total willow biomass there is now compared with before wolf introduction, to identify the strength of the effect; then calculate how much of that increase can be attributed solely to wolves, to identify its cause.

Ripple and his research team are now preparing a detailed reply, which explains that criticisms of the original study come from misunderstandings of what they did, Ripple said. “The basic scientific logic of the paper is solid,” Ripple said.

Conservation priorities might be fueling the controversy over large carnivores’ beneficial effects on ecosystems, said Goheen, adding that even if wolves are not definitively causing a trophic cascade to willows, they are still important to conserve.

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Earth’s orbital environment is becoming increasingly crowded. Thousands of satellites—many of them inactive, damaged, or out of fuel—now circle the planet alongside fragments of debris from past collisions.

As more and more satellites enter orbit, one of the biggest questions becomes: how can these satellites approach and maneuver around each other safely? To answer that question, Luxembourg-based companies LMO and ClearSpace carried out a carefully designed simulation using the European Space Agency’s Guidance, Navigation and Control Rendezvous, Approach and Landing Simulator (GRALS).

What is it?

GRALS is part of ESA’s Guidance, Navigation and Control Test Facilities and is built to recreate close-proximity operations in space with remarkable realism. The satellite model shown in this image was developed by ClearSpace to replicate the geometry, materials, and visual complexity of real satellites.

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Its crinkled gold thermal insulation, metallic structures, and the cup-shaped reflective thruster are not just aesthetic details but critical features that influence how light behaves in space and how cameras perceive an object during a rendezvous.

To ensure reliability, engineers combine computer-generated imagery used to train AI systems with physical testing on increasingly realistic models. Smaller models simulate long-range approaches, while larger, high-fidelity replicas like the one shown are used to test the most delicate, close-range phases of a rendezvous.

Where is it?

This photo was taken at the ESA’s technical center, ESTEC, in the Netherlands.

Using both models and AI, engineers can work to maneuver satellites as safely as possible. (Image credit: ESA-SJM Photography)

Why is it amazing?

The thousands of satellites orbiting Earth pose growing risks to operational spacecraft and to the long-term sustainability of space activities. Before a spacecraft can refuel, repair, or safely deorbit another satellite, it must be able to see, identify, and approach its target with exceptional accuracy. Vision-Based Navigation systems are key to making this possible. Much like self-driving cars rely on cameras and AI to interpret their surroundings, VBN-equipped spacecraft must interpret light, shadow, reflections, and rapidly changing viewpoints in the harsh environment of space.

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Facilities like GRALS play a critical role in bridging the gap between theory and reality. By testing real hardware against realistic satellite models under space-like lighting conditions, engineers can expose weaknesses, validate AI training, and build confidence that autonomous systems will behave safely once deployed in orbit.

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You can learn more about satellite crowding and space junk.

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What we throw away as food waste may hold the key to healthier crops, stronger ecosystems, and new medical compounds. Food waste is often seen as little more than compost material, but new research shows it can offer much more. Scientists are discovering valuable uses for discarded food, ranging from dried beet pulp to coconut […]



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For an agency shooting for the moon and onward to Mars, NASA in 2025 has been on a roller coaster ride of proposed budget cuts, personnel layoffs, and potential elimination of science missions.

A key question: Have these various traumas changed NASA dramatically, and potentially permanently?

Battle lines are being drawn and now Congress has to spin up their views as to the space agency’s overall stability and, indeed, its future. As for what’s ahead, it’s all sausage making — political style. The outcome for NASA is literally a to-be-determined matter of time and space.

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Corporate/agency history

“Clearly, things have changed,” said Henry Hertzfeld, a research professor of space policy and international affairs at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, noting that his observations are from afar, not from within the space agency.

“A lot of very experienced people with a lot of ‘corporate/agency history’ are now gone from the agency. Some may have retired soon anyway, but that is not an excuse or explanation of the changes,” Hertzfeld told Space.com.

Since the whole policy office at NASA was eliminated, said Hertzfeld, many of those people and functions are gone. Whether, for example, economics and other policy offices will be missed or not is arguable, he said.

“But I do think not having them is a significant loss of talent and input into NASA programs and decisions,” Hertzfeld said.

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Long-term loss

Like many suggest, if Congress doesn’t act with funding, the real loss is in the science area.

“There will be fewer new initiatives and many cuts in the work that now won’t be done across the board,” said Hertzfeld.

“The science part of NASA is relatively small but it is the one true research area that has produced significant learning and information over the years. And, it will be a long-term loss since the agency will likely face more difficulty in hiring and keeping highly trained and skilled scientists,” Hertzfeld said. “They will go elsewhere … and elsewhere is not the government.”

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People hold signs outside on a sunny day in protest of NASA budget cuts, July 20, 2025. (Image credit: Space.com / Josh Dinner)

Investment dollars

Hertzfeld said that one less well understood impact is the rapid funding of various defense and security space efforts.

“We read about the significant increase in private sector investment activity oriented toward space. But what is really happening is that the Department of Defense spending on buying more from companies is the main driver of these investment dollars,” said Hertzfeld. “NASA programs and needs are no longer the main stimulus for ‘commercial’ space activity.”

The resulting innovation and products for new space activities, Hertzfeld added, will primarily benefit the security aspects and not so much the civil space programs. “Thus, the aggregate commercial and government space sector will benefit, but quite differently from what we experienced in history,” he said.

Heightening concerns

Keith Cowing is founder of the private NASA overseer website, NASA Watch. He is passionate about the space agency’s revered history and its future.

“While every NASA field center saw workforce reductions of around 20%, perhaps no center was more drastically affected by budget cuts than NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center,” pointed out Cowing.

There was a long term plan in place that would have morphed Goddard over the course of nearly a decade to better adapt it to future NASA needs, Cowing told Space.com. That plan was co-opted by Administration personnel in place at NASA Headquarters, he said, to accelerate and expand Goddard facility closures that will result in half of the center’s buildings and laboratories being mothballed, he said.

“These cuts are a standout when compared to changes elsewhere at NASA,” Cowing said, “so much so that the House Oversight and House Science, Space and Technology committees sent repeated inquiries to NASA asking for an explanation.”

The result is that “NASA has been slow to respond, thus heightening concerns about the overall impact on NASA science programs as presented by the White House in its FY 2026 budget request,” Cowing said.

Tremendous challenge

Marcia Smith is founder and editor of the informative SpacePolicyOnline.com

NASA is not “crippled,” Smith said, but time will tell the effects of the loss of personnel.

“I certainly don’t know the names and positions of all the 4,000 or so people who left, but of the people I personally know, they were the best of the best,” Smith advised. “Now, surely, a lot of terrific people are still there, but how they’re going to manage to execute whatever programs remain with so many excellent colleagues gone will be a tremendous challenge.”

Both what’s happening at the NASA Goddard field center and given layoffs of Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) talent, “is extremely worrisome to American leadership in space science,” said Smith.

Smith observed that it may well be the effect on morale is the most dramatic effect.

“People who have spent their lives keeping America as the world leader in civil space science and technology basically being told their work is valueless and can be erased with the wave of a ‘DOGE wand.’ That’s tough,” Smith said.

DOGE stands for the Department of Government Efficiency, a special commission put in place by President Donald Trump, established to slash federal spending.

Planetary Society CEO Bill Nye addresses press and supporters on Capitol Hill on Oct. 5, 2025. (Image credit: Planetary Society)

Years to rebuild

NASA does what no other organization — public or private — can do, said Jack Kiraly, director of government relations for the Planetary Society, a member-funded nonprofit organization based in Pasadena, California that’s dedicated to advancing space science and exploration.

“The agency has led the world in the exploration of space, redefining our understanding of the universe, and inspiring countless innovations in science and technology,” Kiraly told Space.com.

Kiraly sees the events of 2025 as a profound shock to NASA and the space community.

“The agency will begin the new year with a civil servant workforce smaller than what it had at the dawn of human spaceflight in 1961. Nearly 4,000 scientists, engineers and space professionals have left the agency through pressured resignation and layoffs amid rapid reorganizations and funding uncertainty,” said Kiraly.

That action represents a loss of specialized expertise and institutional knowledge that will take years to rebuild, added Kiraly.

Pivotal moment

Beyond the immediate impacts, said Kiraly, the termination of NASA awards valued at more than $315 million and the reduction of future research opportunities have disrupted the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) pipeline that trains the next generation of scientists, engineers, and innovators.

Because NASA’s activities involve every state and more than 75% of congressional districts, these effects will be felt nationwide, Kiraly said.

“The damage is real, but it doesn’t have to be permanent,” Kiraly said. “Congress has, in a bipartisan way, signaled to the White House and the public that they intend to fully fund NASA in 2026, rejecting the worst of the cuts proposed earlier this year.”

And given the confirmation of Jared Isaacman to be NASA’s Administrator “brings new leadership and momentum at a pivotal moment for the agency,” Kiraly concluded.

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Hospitals may soon be able to rely on a “self-driving” machine to help patients recover from heart attacks. This machine would deliver treatments to the patient, collect data on how their body responds, and then adjust their medications to stabilize the patient within parameters preset by their doctor.

This is the vision for the Autonomous Closed-Loop Intervention System (ACIS), a device being developed by scientists at NTT Research, an arm of global technology company NTT. The device has been tested in animal experiments but not in human patients yet.

The researchers’ eventual goal is to allow the heart to rest and minimize its oxygen use in that critical recovery window after a patient experiences a cardiac emergency. The jobs that would be handled by ACIS are usually done by medical providers — but the idea is that the device could standardize and optimize the process to deliver better outcomes while relieving strain on doctors’ already-limited resources.

“We think that this system will outperform the standard of care,” said Dr. Joe Alexander, director of NTT Research’s Medical and Health Informatics (MEI) lab.

ACIS stemmed from a larger effort spearheaded by the MEI Lab known as the Bio Digital Twin program. Its aim is to construct advanced virtual models of organ systems that can be personalized with an individual patient’s data, providing a detailed and dynamic representation of their medical status and a testable model for developing treatment plans.

Live Science spoke with Alexander about Digital Twins, ACIS and his vision for how they might transform health care.

Nicoletta Lanese: When we’re talking about a Bio Digital Twin, is it fair to say it’s a virtual copy of the patient?

Dr. Joe Alexander: Probably the layperson would think of a Bio Digital Twin as a copy of the person. But actually, it’s just a system of equations, modeling and simulation to represent a person to the extent that is relevant for the disease. It’s a very specific application, so there’s no single Bio Digital Twin representing the [whole] person.

In our case, although we set out to build a family of Bio Digital Twins to represent different organ systems for different types of important diseases, we’re starting with the cardiovascular system. So when I talk about a Cardiovascular Bio Digital Twin, I’m not talking about even a copy of the heart; I’m talking about a mathematical representation of all of the systems necessary for looking at the cardiovascular system in a particular patient.

In the case of ACIS, we’re looking at acute heart failure and acute myocardial infarction [colloquially known as a heart attack].

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Dr. Joe Alexander predicts ACIS could someday “outperform the standard of care.” (Image credit: Courtesy of NTT Research, Inc.)

NL: Could you talk about what kind of data goes into the model?

JA: This Cardiovascular Bio Digital Twin is representing pressures and flows throughout the cardiovascular system, including pressures and flows generated by all four chambers of the heart. … We are able to represent the cardiovascular system dynamics in pressures, flows and volumes.

NL: And how do you make that actionable for an individual patient?

JA: We’re in the early stages of it, but we have a road map for how to do it. Basically, we first go after representing the “normal” cardiovascular system for patients. So, if we can get data around “normal,” then that’s very good. [Editor’s note: The MEI Lab is working with partners such as the National Cerebral and Cardiovascular Center in Japan to get access to this kind of data.]

But probably what’s most important is finding populations that are relevant to the particular patient — so, in this case, patients with cardiovascular disease or patients with heart failure. So we go after that population-level data; let’s say for heart failure. Then, from that data, we can estimate parameters for our cardiovascular model that represent the general population of patients with heart failure.

Within that population, as you know, there’s a lot of variability. So are there other characteristics specific to our patient that we can use? Maybe results from echocardiogram [EKG]; maybe age; maybe comorbidities [other medical conditions]; sex, male or female; or environment. And if there is genetic information available, then we can find a subpopulation that’s even more relevant to the patient.

Now, with ACIS, we [would] actually hook up a patient to the “first guess” of our Cardiovascular Bio Digital Twin for what would match that patient based on population-level data. Since it’s a feedback control system, the feedback will automatically adjust the parameter values to deliver the necessary drugs or device therapies that that particular patient needs for some prespecified cardiac output. In that way, we can further fine-tune the Digital Twin for that patient.

NL: Can you describe how ACIS and its feedback loop work?

JA: The idea is that it’s a “self-driving” therapeutic, just like a self-driving car. But in this case, “self-driving” is delivering the appropriate drugs or, in severe cases, medical-device therapies that a patient may need.

We have a system where we specify — just type in the keyboard — the desired cardiac output, heart rate, left atrial pressure, arterial pressure that we want the patient to achieve. Then, syringes that are filled with the appropriate drugs to create those changes are driven by our model, or “best guess” for that particular patient. This is all after a patient has had the primary lesion [like a blood vessel blockage] treated in the cath lab.

Let’s say they had a vessel that was occluded; it’s already been opened up or a stent has been placed, and they go to the ICU [intensive care unit] or CCU [coronary care unit] in order to recover. Recovery means that the heart needs an opportunity to rest. That means letting the heart work as little as possible to maintain the desired cardiac output.

We have a certain regimen of drugs that are given. Catecholamines improve the ability of the heart to contract. Nitrates reduce afterload of the heart so it doesn’t have to work against such a high load when it tries to inject into the arterial system. Diuretics decrease the circulating blood volume and remove blood from the lungs, which has built up due to the acute failure.

These drugs are typically given by a physician; they’ll give one drug and look at the response, give another drug, the response, and manage that patient over several days. When our system achieves proper function — and we’re almost there, I think — all those drugs can be given at once if we know how the system will respond. That saves us a lot of time in treating the patient.

The drugs are delivered by these autonomously controlled syringes; then the patient responds to them, and that response is fed back in this system. Those values are compared to the ones that we typed in the keyboard, and if there’s a difference, then feedback systems work to reduce that difference. It also gives information to our Digital Twin for that patient, so that in the future, we have better representations of those resistors and capacitors in the model.

The Cardiovascular Digital Twin represents the dynamics of the cardiovascular system through mathematical equations and simulations. (Image credit: Getty Images)

NL: What stage of development has ACIS reached at this point?

JA: So, in animal experiments in dogs, last year for the first time, we experimentally induced acute heart failure and we were able to let this autonomous system correct the cardiac output, arterial pressure autonomously, while minimizing myocardial [heart muscle] oxygen consumption.

Since that first successful experiment about a year ago, we’ve had several other successful [animal] experiments, all the while improving our feedback system to be more complex, making it so that it can operate based on intermittent data, so you don’t have to be continuously sampling. You can do it episodically.

We have several more years of work in optimizing this system, we think, in animal experimentation — probably about three years more. And then we’ll be ready for first-in-human studies where ACIS will be used but with a clinician in the loop [for the initial human tests]. What ACIS would do is tell the physician what doses of these various drugs to deliver, and the physician would then make a decision whether to do it or not, as a safety measure.

Now, what I’ve been describing so far has mostly been about drugs, but the same algorithms work for medical devices, such as left ventricular assist devices [LVAD, a type of mechanical pump] or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation devices [ECMO, which circulates the blood to let the heart and lungs rest]. This is all within the scope of what we expect to achieve in experimental animals within the next three years before going to first-in-human studies.

NL: What are the next steps toward getting ACIS approved? What might the trials look like?

JA: It would be kind of like [testing] an autonomous or self-driving vehicle — level 1 through 4 degrees, or stages, of autonomy.

In other words, allowing the system to have increasing responsibility and watching the performance until settling into acceptance of an autonomous system where then, still, probably a specialist would monitor it — like someone sitting in the seat of a self-driving car, ready to take over if things go wrong. I see that kind of progression, similar to the self-driving vehicle.

NL: And in the long run, would ACIS always have some kind of clinician supervision?

JA: I still hold to the concept of “autonomous,” but I suspect that there will be a cardiologist somewhere roaming around, monitoring, perhaps, a number of patients at once.

I’m very committed to the idea that the device that we conceive of can actually outperform the cardiologist. And I know that we’ll rub some cardiologists the wrong way. But we expect to demonstrate that point, or strongly suggest that that’s true, by doing experiments in animals where we compare the ACIS system to clinically trained cardiologists. We expect reduced infarct size [degree of heart tissue death] from ACIS compared to the standard of care from cardiologists.

NL: Assuming this device gets approved in the future, where do you see it having the most benefit?

JA: There’s the so-called Quintuple Aim of Health Care, which says to improve the patient experience, improve the physician experience, improve population health, reduce the cost of care, and improve health equity. These aims, I think, are all addressed by ACIS.

The patient would have more attention and minute-to-minute care — you wouldn’t have a resident trying to juggle many patients at once. You could have a less-specialized clinical caretaker who is watching the behavior of the device, and so that would improve not only the patient experience and quality of the patient’s care but also the health care provider’s experience. They wouldn’t have to be overworked to such an extent.

We think that this system will outperform the standard of care because [on paper] you more rapidly converge on the minimization of myocardial oxygen consumption and have better recovery during the hospital stay. So the patients have fewer readmissions and complications after being released. There’s always some injury to the heart [with these cardiac events], and maybe, there may be some infarction of the heart. So we think that this level of care could reduce infarct size, so you preserve more of the heart, during treatment.

NL: And when you eventually hand off ACIS for clinical testing, what would the next project be?

JA: For us, the natural progression within the next 10 years, probably within the next five years, would be chronic heart failure. In chronic heart failure, you have to deal with more complexity, such as [tissue] remodeling, where the ventricles get thicker or get dilated. That kind of remodeling changes the mechanics.

You also have to deal with data from patients who are not in the hospital. We plan on building registries of patients [with Digital Twins] who would have been acutely ill to have access to that data for treating them outside. But then we have to also rely on things like wearable technologies, and we’ve been working on that as well. We have collaborations with folks at the Technical University of Munich who are developing special biosensors and biomaterials and implantable sensors and so forth that could help provide the data that would be important to doing predictive health maintenance in patients with chronic heart failure.

And in chronic heart failure, we have to deal with comorbidities and complications like kidney failure … and anemia. The combination of fluid overload and anemia all due to renal failure really makes the heart suffer from a lack of oxygen and causes slow deterioration.

I’m sure that complexity alone will keep me busy for the rest of my life. We have a lot of work to do with chronic heart failure; that would be next for sure.

Editor’s note: This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

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A new study links climate stress to the disappearance of the early human species Homo floresiensis, known as the “hobbits” of Flores. An international group of researchers, including scientists from the University of Wollongong (UOW), has uncovered strong evidence linking climate change to the disappearance of the early human species Homo floresiensis, commonly called the […]



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The sky served up no shortage of spectacle in 2025 —from lunar liaisons, solar prominences and fleeting meteor showers, to aurora and nebula scenes that unfold on a scale almost too massive for the human mind to comprehend.

And while we experience the cosmos first through the human eye, our vision has limits. We can’t zoom in on distant nebulas, see the faintest glows, or safely take in the brightest targets — and much of the electromagnetic spectrum is invisible to us entirely.

Thankfully, the Space.com community is packed with talented photographers and observers armed with sophisticated cameras, clever techniques and powerful telescopes capable of revealing the hidden majesty of the cosmos. Read on for a selection of breathtaking images captured by astrophotographers around the world and featured on Space.com throughout 2025.

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10 Incredible astrophotography highlights of 2025

1. Plasma twists above the solar surface

A solar prominence extends out from the sun (Image credit: Mark Johnston)

Astrophotographer Mark Johnston captured a jaw-droppingly detailed view of hydrogen plasma suspended in the powerful magnetic field above the sun on Oct. 20 from Willow Springs, Arizona, using a TEC160FL refractor telescope fitted with specialized filters.

2. A nebula shark is spied hunting through the depths of space

A cosmic shark hunts through deep space. (Image credit: Ronald Brecher)

Ronald Brecher, meanwhile, set his sights further afield, targeting a spectacular deep-space nebula vista in the constellation Cepheus, some 650 light-years from Earth, which happens to resemble a vast cosmic shark swimming through deep space.

3. The moon and sun meet over Stonehenge

Partial solar eclipse sequence over Stonehenge, U.K.  (Image credit: Josh Dury)

This gorgeous composite shot detailing the phases of a partial solar eclipse unfolding above the ancient monument of Stonehenge was captured by award-winning photographer Josh Dury as the moon slid between the sun and Earth on March 29.

4. Comet Lemmon twists in the solar wind

Astrophotographer Dan Bartlett captured this view of comet Lemmon (Image credit: Dan Bartlett)

In a year packed full of phenomenal cometary capers, astrophotographer Dan Bartlett captured a staggering image of comet C/2025 A6 (LEMMON) looking its best as it shone in the skies over June Lake, California, on Sept. 26, as its tail twisted in the relentless stream of the solar wind.

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5. The northern lights from 36,000 feet

When a severe G4 geomagnetic storm hit, this Dreamliner pilot had the perfect front-row seat. (Image credit: Matt Melnyk)

Of course, not all of the best astrophotography subjects exist beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Airline pilot Matt Melnyk snapped an impressive view of the northern lights shining in the upper atmosphere from a height of 36,000 feet (11 kilometers), while shepherding a Boeing 787 from London to Calgary during a geomagnetic storm on Nov. 12.

6. A cosmic baboon rages light-years from Earth

The Raging Baboon Nebula, as captured by astrophotographer Greg Meyer in 2025. (Image credit: Greg Meyer)

Astrophotographer Greg Meyer captured light of a more ancient variety while imaging a nebula 500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Corona Australis, which takes on the shape of a mandrill with glowing blue eyes in long-exposure photography.

7. Perseid meteors race the Milky Way

Perseid meteors streak towards Durdle Door in this 2025 image from photographer Josh Dury. (Image credit: Josh Dury)

This stunning composite from Josh Dury shows shooting stars belonging to the annual Perseid meteor shower streaking towards the horizon alongside the glowing band of the Milky Way above the iconic Durdle Door rock formation in Dorset, United Kingdom.

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8. An ‘Elve’ red halo flashes to life over the Italian Alps

An “elve” lasts for less than a thousandth of a second.  (Image credit: Valter Binotto)

Valter Binotto, meanwhile, was able to capture a split-second view of a red ring manifesting over the Italian Alps on Nov. 17. This strange phenomenon, known as an “elve”, is a super-rare form of lightning that occurs in the upper atmosphere, which lasts less than a thousandth of a second and can span up to 300 miles (480 km) in diameter, according to NOAA.

9. Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) crosses the Eagle Nebula

Comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) glows alongside the Eagle Nebula. (Image credit: Daniele Gasparri)

Astronomer Daniele Gasparri seized the opportunity to image the glowing green coma and diffuse tail of comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN) as it passed in front of the Eagle Nebula in the constellation Serpens, the serpent on the night of Oct. 17. Look to the left of the comet to find the iconic Pillars of Creation — vast collections of dust and gas made famous by the Hubble Space Telescope — nestled beneath a population of stars close to the nebula’s glowing core.

10. A blood moon over Egypt

The phases of the Sept. 7 blood moon arrayed over the White Desert in Egypt.  (Image credit: © Osama Fathi / Night Sky Watcher.)

Finally, photographer Osama Fathi captured a beautiful composite scene chronicling the rise of the Sept. 7 “Blood Moon” as it soared into the skies over the chalk formations in Egypt’s White Desert, while contending with the shifting light conditions and destabilizing gusts of wind.

Feeling inspired to take the first steps on your own astrophotography journey? Then why not check out our picks of the best cameras and lenses for imaging the night sky to ensure that you’re ready for 2026.

Editor’s Note: If you would like to share your astrophotography with Space.com’s readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

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Where is it? Los Glaciares National Park, Argentina [-50.469690266, -73.03391046]

What’s in the photo? The point where a non-retreating glacier, a turquoise lake and a murky river meet

Who took the photo? An unnamed astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS)

When was it taken? March 2, 2021

This incredible astronaut photo shows the unusual point where a hefty non-retreating glacier, a pristine turquoise lake and a murky green “river” perfectly converge at the intersection of three valleys in Argentina.

The trio of hydrological features — the Perito Moreno Glacier, Lago Argentino and Brazo Rico — lie at the heart of Los Glaciares National Park, which covers an area of around 2,300 square miles (6,000 square kilometers) in the Santa Cruz province of southern Argentina, near the country’s border with Chile.

The aerial photo doesn’t just show off these three aqueous entities in a single frame; if you look closely, it also reveals the point where the trio touch in a slim channel along the western edge of the Magallanes Peninsula — the rocky outcrop that lies between the lake and the river, according to NASA’s Earth Observatory.

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In this photo, the waters of Lago Argentino and Brazo Rico are likely in direct contact with each other (as in the photo below). But their waters do not readily mix because they have different densities, due to their respective concentrations of suspended particulate matter, according to a 2022 study.

But every four to five years, the glacier’s tongue juts forward, colliding with the Magallanes Peninsula and temporarily damming the Brazo Rico. When this happens, the surface of the murky body of water rises by up to 100 feet (30 meters) until a pressure build-up causes the icy dam to spectacularly “rupture,” the Earth Observatory previously reported.

From the banks of the Magallanes Peninsula, tourists can clearly see the point where the glacier, lake and “river” meet. Every four to five years, the glacier juts forward, blocking the Brazo Rico (left) and causing it to rise by up to 100 feet. (Image credit: Fernando/Wikimedia)

Perito Moreno is the largest glacier in Patagonia, which includes parts of Argentina and Chile. It is approximately 19 miles (30 km) long with ice up to 200 feet (60 m) thick. In total, the glacier holds roughly the same amount of water as 360,000 Olympic swimming pools, according to back-of-the-envelope calculations.

The glacier is “non-retreating,” meaning that it is not shrinking despite rising atmospheric temperatures triggered by human-caused climate change. This is extremely rare nowadays, and Perito Moreno is frequently cited as one of the “world’s last major non-retreating glaciers.” However, a recent study hints that it may finally be starting to shrink.

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Lago Argentino is the largest freshwater lake in Argentina, covering a total area of around 550 square miles (1,425 square km). The section visible in the astronaut photo is the lake’s southernmost arm. It contains glacial meltwater filled with rocky particles released by the glaciers’ constant movements, collectively known as “glacier milk,” which gives the water its striking turquoise color.

The lake’s northernmost arm also connects to the Upsala Glacier, which is currently in full retreat.

Another astronaut photo, taken in August 2012, shows the wider glacier, lake and “river” systems surrounding the point where all three meet. (Image credit: NASA/ISS program)

Brazo Rico, meaning “rich arm” in Spanish, is also technically part of Lago Argentino. However, it has become increasingly isolated from the rest of the lake due to repeated damming by the Perito Moreno glacier, making it behave more like a river than part of a lake.

The frequent icy obstruction is also responsible for Brazo Rico’s insipid color, which is the result of sediment dislodged by its movements. The continued rising and falling of the river’s surface has also carved out a border around its edges where no trees can grow.

Eagle-eyed viewers may have also spotted the narrow road winding across the Magallanes Peninsula and along the Brazo Rico’s northern edge (just above the tree line): One can only imagine the extraordinary views you’d get to experience driving along there.

For more incredible satellite photos and astronaut images, check out our Earth from space archives.

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Scientists have discovered two new subtypes of multiple sclerosis with the aid of artificial intelligence, paving the way for personalised treatments and better outcomes for patients.

Millions of people have the disease globally – but treatments are mostly selected on the basis of symptoms, and may not be effective because they don’t target the underlying biology of the patient.

Now, scientists have detected two new biological strands of MS using AI, a simple blood test and MRI scans. Experts said the “exciting” breakthrough could revolutionise treatment of the disease worldwide.

In research involving 600 patients, led by University College London (UCL) and Queen Square Analytics, researchers looked at blood levels of a special protein called serum neurofilament light chain (sNfL). The protein can help indicate levels of nerve cell damage and signal how active the disease is.

The sNfL results and scans of the patients’ brains were interpreted by a machine learning model, called SuStaIn. The results, published in medical journal Brain, revealed two distinct types of MS: early sNfL and late sNfL.

In the first subtype, patients had high levels of sNfL early on in the disease, with visible damage in a part of the brain called the corpus callosum. They also developed brain lesions quickly. This type appears to be more aggressive and active, scientists said.

In the second subtype, patients showed brain shrinkage in areas like the limbic cortex and deep grey matter before sNfL levels went up. This type seems to be slower, with overt damage occurring later.

Researchers say the breakthrough will enable doctors to more precisely understand which patients are at higher risk of different complications, paving the way for more personalised care.

The lead author of the study, UCL’s Dr Arman Eshaghi, said: “MS is not one disease and current subtypes fail to describe the underlying tissue changes, which we need to know to treat it.

“By using an AI model combined with a highly available blood marker with MRI, we have been able to show two clear biological patterns of MS for the first time. This will help clinicians understand where a person sits on the disease pathway and who may need closer monitoring or earlier, targeted treatment.”

In the future, when the AI tool suggests a patient has early sNfL MS, they could become eligible for higher-efficacy treatments and be monitored more closely, Eshaghi said.

In contrast, those with late sNfL may be offered different types of treatments, such as personalised therapies to protect brain cells or neurons. “The novelties will therefore be twofold: to transform clinical and neurological examinations, which have not changed for centuries, with the aid of AI algorithms, and provide personalised treatments based on disease profile.”

Caitlin Astbury, senior research communications manager at the MS Society, a charity, said: “This is an exciting development in our understanding of MS.

“This study used machine learning to look at MRI and biomarker data from people with relapsing remitting and secondary progressive MS. By combining this data, they were able to identify two new biological subtypes of MS.

“Over recent years, we’ve developed a better understanding of the biology of the condition. But currently, definitions are based on the clinical symptoms a person experiences. MS is complex, and these categories often don’t accurately reflect what is going on in the body, which can make it difficult to treat effectively.”

There are about 20 treatment options for people with relapsing MS and some beginning to emerge for progressive MS, but for many there are no options, Astbury said. “The more we learn about the condition, the more likely we will be able to find treatments that can stop disease progression.

“This research adds to growing evidence supporting a move away from the existing descriptors of MS (like ‘relapsing’ and ‘progressive’) and towards terms that reflect the underlying biology of the condition. This could help identify people at an increased risk of progression – and allow people to be offered more personalised treatment.”

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Texas-based Celestis Inc., the space burial remembrance company that has made a name for itself delivering cremated remains and DNA samples of friends, celebrities, and loved ones into near-space, Earth orbit, the moon and into deep space is expanding its horizons with the announcement of a new launch partner for a future Voyager flight.

After a comprehensive selection process, Celestis has chosen Stoke Space and its new Nova rocket as the launch provider for its next deep-space Voyager mission named “Infinite Flight,” traveling beyond our Earth-moon system and into a permanent heliocentric orbit up to 185 million miles away.

This mission is slated to lift off from Space Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral sometime in late 2026 and represents only the second commercial odyssey of its, the first of which was 2024’s “Enterprise Flight” that carried remains of “Star Trek” luminaries, three former U.S. Presidents, and “2001: A Space Odyssey’s” Douglas Trumbull.

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Promotional art from Celestis. (Image credit: Celestis)

“The ‘Infinite Flight’ continues what began nearly thirty years ago when we promised that remembrance could itself be an act of discovery,” said Charles M. Chafer, Celestis Co-Founder and CEO. “Our Voyager missions ensure that every story we carry into space helps extend humanity’s presence across the solar system. To fly aboard Nova, one of the most advanced reusable launch systems ever built, is both a technical and symbolic leap forward.”

Stoke Space’s Nova is a medium-lift, 100% reusable two-stage rocket built by the Kent, Washington-headquartered aerospace firm founded by former Blue Origin principles, Andy Lapsa and Tom Feldman. It’s schedule to lift off on its first orbital test flight in 2026.

Stoke Space’s new Nova rocket will commence orbital testing in 2026. (Image credit: Stoke Space)

Last month, Charles Chafer revealed news that his company has opened reservations for its pioneering “Mars300” spaceflight that endeavors to send human DNA to orbit around the Red Planet as early as 2030 once a suitable launcher becomes available.

The Houston company has previously utilized the launch services of various aerospace firms using a variety of rockets, including United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan Centaur. This past summer, European spacecraft manufacturer The Exploration Company (TEC) hosted a Celestis Memorial Spaceflight payload employing a Falcon 9 rocket blasting off from Vandenberg Space Force Base on SpaceX’s Transporter 14 rideshare mission. Unfortunately, TEC’s Nyx capsule carrying the remains of 166 people failed to deploy its parachute during reentry over the Pacific Ocean and Celestis’ “Earth Rise” cargo capsules were lost.

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With mission management services being carried out by Ensemble, Celestis’ “Infinite Flight” hopes to launch on its long journey in Q4 2026.

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Deaths of despair were climbing before opioids, and the decline of churchgoing may have helped set the stage. A new study suggests that falling involvement in organized religion among middle-aged white Americans with less education may have contributed to the rise in what are known as “deaths of despair.” These deaths include fatalities linked to […]



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When it began, Lego’s range of sets centered around Marvel superheroes was squarely aimed at children. Sets were small and basic, easy for young hands to build independently.

There are still plenty of those around, of course, but as time has gone on, more and more adult-focused Lego Marvel sets have been introduced into the range. Adult-focused sets generally mean expensive sets — and so here we are looking at the 10 most expensive Lego Marvel sets you can get.

Compared to Lego Star Wars, Marvel sets are relatively inexpensive. Of course, there are the outliers — the number one set on this list will set you back $499.99. But with Lego Star Wars sets costing up to $1,000 and a large range of Ultimate Collector’s Series sets, it’s much more aimed at collectors than Marvel. In this list, there’s a good mix of playsets and adult-focused display sets, ranging between $100 and $500.

Some sets on this list are brand new, while others are due to retire very soon, but they’re all currently available. If you want more Lego Marvel content, why not take a look at our guide to the best Marvel sets?

10 most expensive Lego Marvel sets you can get

1. Avengers Tower

The most expensive Lego Marvel set is, unsurprisingly, also the most impressive. (Image credit: The Lego Group)

Set specifications

Price: $499.99 / £429.99

Set number: 76269

Number of pieces: 5201

Age rating: 18+

Release date: November 2023

Here we have it: the most expensive Lego Marvel set currently available. The impressive, meter-tall Avengers Tower costs a staggering $499.99, but at 5201 pieces and 36 inches tall, it’s worth every penny for the amount of detail it packs. It’s the ultimate set for any Marvel fan, and it’s one we’re very proud to have in our collection.

Like The Daily Bugle, Avengers Tower comes with a lot of minifigures: 31 in total here. The most popular Marvel characters all feature here, along with some less common choices. The collection includes Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Ant-Man, Nick Fury, Wong, Hawkeye, Wanda Maximoff and a whole lot more.

But it’s the building itself that really sells this set. The glass-fronted Avengers Tower really shines in Lego form, and the careful details included here help bring it to life. It’s striking from the outside, but lift away the side of the building and you’ll find lots of detail inside, too. There’s space for all the minifigures to exist within and around the tower, as well as space to recreate iconic scenes from the Avengers movie franchise. It’s a set that will take pride of place on any Lego display — as long as you’ve got enough space for it.

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2. Daily Bugle

At over 30 inches tall, the Lego Daily Bugle is a seriously impressive set. (Image credit: LEGO|Disney)

Set specifications

Price: $349.99 / £299.99

Set number: 76178

Number of pieces: 3789

Age rating: 18+

Release date: June 2021

One of the first adult-focused Lego Marvel sets to hit the shelves, we’ll be sad when the Daily Bugle retires. It’s been around for four years now, so if you don’t yet own it, we’d recommend picking it up sooner rather than later. This 32-inch-tall skyscraper not only packs in a huge amount of detail, but it also has an epic collection of 25 minifigures. It’s a collector’s dream, basically.

We won’t list each and every minifigure, but there’s a fantastic mix of heroes and villains; pretty much everyone you’d expect to find from the Spider-Man universe, with some more left-field choices such as Spider-Ham and lesser-seen minifigures such as Black Cat, Punisher and Blade. They can be placed in and around the Daily Bugle building, with many minifigures designed to be hung on the outside, making it look like it’s the site of an epic battle.

The building itself is a joy to behold, though. Some of its windows are made to look like they’ve been blown out, mid-explosion, and the fronts of each floor can lift away to allow access to the interior. You’ll find fully kitted-out offices here, with plenty of neat details to enjoy. Perhaps the highlight, though, is the brick-built Daily Bugle sign that sits atop the building: it’s a truly iconic feature.

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3. X-Men: The X-Mansion

Large, colorful and with a lot of detail, the X-Mansion is a fantastic set for Lego collectors and X-Men fans alike. (Image credit: Lego)

Set specifications

Price: $329.99 / £289.99

Set number: 76294

Number of pieces: 3093

Age rating: 18+

Release date: November 2024

With the X-Mansion, we’re still in serious collector’s territory. This 3,093-piece set is packed with stunning detail and a strong suite of minifigures to bring it to life. It’s an 18+ set, so it’s firmly in display territory, but its modular design with lift-away storeys makes it impossible not to want to play with it.

This is a set absolutely packed with details that fans of X-Men will adore. The Mansion has a fully-furnished interior, where you’ll find Professor X’s laboratory, Wolverine’s bedroom, a medical lab, a classroom, a library and a Danger Room training facility. There are plenty of accessories in each room, too, and space for the 10 included minifigures to exist within the building.

The included minifigures are Wolverine, Professor X, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, Gambit, Rogue, Iceman, Bishop and Magneto. There’s also a large buildable Sentinel figure. It may be expensive, but we think the Lego Marvel X-Men: X-Mansion offers excellent value, and it’s a set you’ll be proud to have on display.

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4. Guardians of the Galaxy: The Milano

This chunky ship comes with a display stand, making it great to show off on a shelf. (Image credit: The Lego Group)

Set specifications

Price: $179.99 / £159.99

Set number: 76286

Number of pieces: 2090

Age rating: 12+

Release date: August 2024

If you like ships and vehicles, the Milano is quite possibly the Lego Marvel set for you. It’s not the first version of the iconic Guardians of the Galaxy ship we’ve had, and it probably won’t be the last, but it is the largest and the most detailed. With an age rating of 12+, this sits somewhere between being a playset and a display set. It features a brick-built display stand, though the ship has enough moving parts that those who do want to play with it won’t be disappointed.

Guardians fans will love the minifigures included here: Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket and a tiny Baby Groot. Made up of 2090 pieces, the ship features plenty of detail too: the top lifts off, providing full access to the interior, where you’ll find a chill-out area, a flight deck and a communal area. There’s space for the minifigures to exist in these areas, if you want to play with the set.

If not? This is a stunning-looking model, and its stand is sturdy enough to hold it in a flight position. The blue and orange detailing to the exterior make it an eye-catching model, and the adjustable wings and moveable rear boosters add some welcome detail, too.

5. Spider-Man vs. Oscorp

It’s a little on the expensive side, but Spider-Man vs. Oscorp is a great set for fans of cityscapes. (Image credit: The Lego Group)

Set specifications

Price: $139.99 / £119.99

Set number: 76324

Number of pieces: 808

Age rating: 10+

Release date: August 2025

For Lego fans who enjoy cityscapes and building their own Lego City, we think Lego Marvel Spider-Man vs. Oscorp is a great choice, even if it is a little pricey given its size. Despite having almost 500 pieces fewer than the Iron Man Mark 3 set, it will set you back $10 more, making this the most expensive pure playset on this list. If you like dioramas, imaginative play and minifigures, however, it may be worth the asking price.

Spider-Man vs. Oscorp comes with eight minifigures: Spider-Man, Spider-Woman, Miles Morales, Eddie Brock, Ghost-Spider, Norman Osborn, Kraven the Hunter and Green Goblin. There’s a nice mixture of heroes and villains for kids to play with, and of course, there are plenty of interactive features on the set to facilitate that.

To start with, Miles comes with a motorbike and Green Goblin comes on his glider. The building itself has plenty of neat details too: it features Miles Morales’ apartment, the Oscorp building and Venom’s apartment, each one filled with relevant details to bring the spaces to life.

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6. Iron Man Mark 3 Collectors’ Edition

New for 2026, this is a fantastic set for collectors. (Image credit: The Lego Group)

Set specifications

Price: $129.99 / £119.99

Set number: 76344

Number of pieces: 1297

Age rating: 18+

Release date: January 2026

Here’s an upcoming set, due to launch on January 1st. A brick-built model of Iron Man Mark 3, it’s very much designed to be looked at and admired rather than played with.

Iron Man Mark 3 does have poseable limbs, however. It features a jointed neck, waist, shoulders, wrists and hands, which allows you to recreate numerous iconic Iron Man poses. The legs are the only parts that don’t move, but they’re positioned to offer optimum stability to the model.

We’re quite excited to get our hands on this model, actually: at $129.99, it’s a good price point for a display set that offers a great amount of detail without breaking the bank. It’s also not too large that it’s going to dominate a living space: at 15 inches tall, it’s big enough to command attention without taking over.

7. Avengers: Age of Ultron Quinjet

The Lego Marvel Avengers: Age of Ultron Quinjet comes with a brick-built stand for easy display. (Image credit: The Lego Group)

Set specifications

Price: $129.99 / £109.99

Set number: 76325

Number of pieces: 1131

Age rating: 12+

Release date: August 2025

We’d say that Lego Marvel Avengers: Age of Ultron Quinjet is equal parts play and display. Thanks to a brick-built display stand, the model will look fantastic on a shelf. But it can easily be lifted away, swooshed through the air, and opened up to be interacted with. Whether you want smaller hands playing with a $130 set, that’s up to you. But Lego gives you the option.

The set comes with five minifigures that Avengers fans will surely love: Black Widow, Iron Man, Quicksilver, Ultimate Ultron and Hawkeye. Black Widow also comes with her iconic motorcycle, and Hawkeye is equipped with a bow and arrow.

The ship itself has plenty of interactive parts. The cockpit opens up, with room for three minifigures inside, and there’s a rear door that opens up to allow Black Widow’s motorcycle to drive in and out. Oh, and the stand included in the set can be rotated 360 degrees, which is a seriously impressive touch, especially for a set at this price point.

8. Spider-Man Final Battle

A model of the head of the Statue of Liberty, this is a fun set for both play and display. (Image credit: The Lego Group)

Set specifications

Price: $109.99 / £94.99

Set number: 76261

Number of pieces: 900

Age rating: 10+

Release date: August 2023

While Lego Marvel Spider-Man Final Battle is categorized as a playset, with an age rating of 10+, we think it’s more suited to being a display set. The set is essentially a model of the head of the Statue of Liberty covered in scaffolding, with a good selection of minifigures all battling it out around it.

The minifigures here are perhaps the strongest part of the set, and are the reason it carries a $109.99 price tag. It comes with three different versions of Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland), Electro, Doctor Strange, Green Goblin, Ned, MJ and Doc Ock. The set is designed in such a way that minifigures can be positioned to look like they’re flying through midair, while others can grab hold of a scaffold or perch on a narrow beam to signify action. It’s an effective-looking set that really does benefit from being admired rather than played with.

There are some interactive features, however. Our favorite is that the Sandman’s hand can pop out of the top of the model. There’s also a flap at the back that reveals a portal, and a soft web that can be used to entangle enemies.

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9. Spider-Man vs. Mysterio: The Daily Bugle

A smaller version of The Daily Bugle, this is a great playset for kids. (Image credit: The Lego Group)

Set specifications

Price: $99.99 / £99.99

Set number: 76342

Number of pieces: 781

Age rating: 10+

Release date: January 2026

Lego Marvel Spider-Man vs. Mysterio: The Daily Bugle is a brand new set, available to pre-order now for a January 2026 release. What’s particularly neat is that this is essentially a scaled-down version of the larger, designed-for-adults Daily Bugle set, turned into a playset suitable for kids. Of course, it’s nowhere near as detailed as that larger version, but as far as playsets go, it looks rather neat, and comes with a decent range of minifigures (Spider-Man, Miles Morales, Ghost Spider, J. Jonah Jameson, Mysterio, Venomized Captain America and Rhino).

The four-floor skyscraper that forms the Daily Bugle office is open at the back, but each room has been furnished with some nice little details. There’s an office space, a newsroom tech suite and a reception area, along with an opening safe and a working lever that changes the billboard on top of the building. Since it’s designed for play, there are plenty of accessories that the included minifigures can pick up and interact with, such as a photocopier machine, a skateboard, Captain America’s shield, a pizza tray and more.

That’s not to say that it won’t still look rather nice on display if you’ve not managed to pick up the larger version of the set. Standing 13 inches tall, it’s only a third of the height of the larger, The Daily Bugle set, but it’s substantial enough to be eye-catching on a shelf or desktop.

10. Marvel Logo and Minifigures

The Lego Marvel Logo is made much more interesting by the fact its minifigures can literally pop out of it. (Image credit: Kim Snaith)

Set specifications

Price: $99.99 / £89.99

Set number: 76313

Number of pieces: 931

Age rating: 12+

Release date: January 2025

A brick-built Marvel logo isn’t going to be for everyone, but if you have a Lego Marvel display, we think this will make the perfect centerpiece. Not only does it feature an accurate and sizeable recreation of the Marvel logo, but it comes with five minifigures (Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Black Widow) that literally break out of the model when it’s put on display. It’s a neat and effective touch that elevates this set from being more than just a logo.

In our Marvel Logo and Minifigures review, we praised the mechanisms that form part of the pop-out system. There’s a bit of Technic work involved, which elevates the build somewhat, making it a little more interesting and taxing. It is a little on the expensive side, though, considering what it is. But still, at nearly 1,000 pieces, it doesn’t offer bad value for money, even if it’s not the most exciting Lego Marvel set there’s ever been.

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This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

On Feb. 22, 2020, “Mad” Mike Hughes towed a homemade rocket to the Mojave Desert and launched himself into the sky. His goal? To view the flatness of the Earth from space. This was his third attempt, and tragically it was fatal. Hughes crashed shortly after takeoff and died.

Hughes’ nickname – Mad Mike – might strike you as apt. Is it not crazy to risk your life fighting for a theory that was disproven in ancient Greece?

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But Hughes’ conviction, though striking, is not unique. Across all recorded cultures, people have held strong beliefs that seemed to lack evidence in their favor – one might refer to them as “extraordinary beliefs.”

For evolutionary anthropologists like me, the ubiquity of these kinds of beliefs is a puzzle. Human brains evolved to form accurate models of the world. Most of the time, we do a pretty good job. So why do people also often adopt and develop beliefs that lack strong supporting evidence?

In a new review in the journal Trends in Cognitive Sciences, I propose a simple answer. People come to believe in flat Earth, spirits and microchipped vaccines for the same reasons they come to believe in anything else. Their experiences lead them to think those beliefs are true.

Most social scientists have taken a different view on this subject. Supernatural beliefs, conspiracy theories and pseudoscience have struck researchers as totally impervious to contrary evidence. Consequently, they have assumed that experience is not relevant to the formation of those beliefs. Instead, they’ve focused on two other explanatory factors.

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The first common explanation is cognitive biases. Many psychologists argue that humans possess mental shortcuts for reasoning about how the world works. For instance, people are quite prone to seeing intentions and intelligence behind random events. A bias of this kind might explain why people often believe that deities control phenomena such as weather or illness.

The second factor is social dynamics: People adopt certain beliefs not because they’re sure that they’re true but because other people hold those beliefs, or they want to signal something about themselves to others. For example, some conspiracy theorists may adopt strange beliefs because those beliefs come with a community of loyal and supportive co-believers.

Both of these approaches can partly explain how people come to hold extraordinary beliefs. But they discount three ways that experience, in tandem with the other two factors, can shape extraordinary beliefs.

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A popular flat-Earth map shows the North Pole at the center of the world and a ring of Antarctic ice surrounding the edge of our planet. (Image credit: Creative Commons cc 4.0/ PizzaPlanet)

1. Experience as a filter

First, I propose that experience can act as a filter. It determines which extraordinary beliefs can successfully spread throughout a population.

Take the flat Earth theory as an example. We know with absolute certainty that it’s false, but it’s no more or less wrong than a theory that the Earth is shaped like a cone. So what makes flat Earth so much more successful than this equally incorrect alternative?

The answer is as obvious as it seems – the Earth looks flat when you’re standing on it, not cone-shaped. Visual evidence favors one extraordinary belief over the others. Of course, scientific evidence clearly shows that the Earth is round; but it’s not surprising that some people prefer to trust what their eyes are telling them.

2. Experience as a spark

My second argument is that experience acts as a spark for extraordinary beliefs. Strange experiences, such as auditory hallucinations, are difficult to explain and understand. So people do their best to explain them – and in doing so, they come up with beliefs that seem fittingly strange.

For this pathway, sleep paralysis is a good case study. Sleep paralysis happens in the space between sleeping and waking – you feel like you’re awake, but you can’t move or speak. It’s terrifying and quite common. And interestingly, sufferers usually feel like there’s a threatening agent sitting on their chest.

As a scientist, I interpret sleep paralysis as the result of neural confusion. But it’s not difficult to picture how someone without a scientific background – that is, nearly every human being in history – might interpret the experience as evidence of supernatural beings.

Many people link sleep paralysis and alien abduction to try to rationalize their experiences. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

To me, the third potential route to extraordinary beliefs is especially intriguing. In many cases, people don’t just develop extraordinary beliefs; they develop immersive practices that make those beliefs feel true.

For instance, imagine that you’re a farmer living in the highlands of Lesotho in southern Africa, where I conduct ethnographic fieldwork. You suffer a series of miscarriages, and you want to know why. So you go to a traditional healer – she tells you that you can learn the answer from your ancestors by drinking a hallucinogenic brew. You drink the brew. Soon after, you begin to see spirits; they speak to you and explain your misfortune.

Clearly, an experience like this one might reinforce your belief in the existence of spirits. Such immersive practices – such as prayer, ritualistic dance and the religious use of psychoactive substances – create evidence that makes the associated beliefs feel true.

What’s next?

Extraordinary beliefs are not inherently good or bad. In particular, religious beliefs provide meaning, security and a sense of community for billions of people.

But some extraordinary beliefs are sources of serious concern: Misinformation about science and politics is rampant and immensely dangerous. By recognizing how those beliefs are shaped by experience, researchers can find better ways to combat their spread.

Just as importantly, though, my suggested perspective might encourage more compassion and kinship toward people who hold beliefs that seem very different from yours. They are not “mad” or insincere. Like any other human being, they think the evidence is on their side.

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During her tenure as director general of the World Health Organization, Dr Margaret Chan used to say that all of the “easy” antibiotics had already been found. Her point was that in responding to the urgent threat of antibiotic-resistant infections, we would struggle to find new medicines – or preserve the ones we have – if we didn’t find new ways of working. She was right.

Since 2017, just 16 antibiotics have gained widespread regulatory approval – mostly close relatives of medicines already in use and so unlikely to evade resistance for long. The development of new ones is a slow and unprofitable business, curative medicines being less lucrative than ones treating longer-term conditions. And the scientific outlook remains bleak.

Nevertheless, the announcement this month of two new US Food and Drug Administration-approved antibiotics against gonorrhoea is good news and, crucially, validates a new way of incentivising research. One of the new drugs, Zoliflodacin, is the product of a novel kind of partnership between the Swiss non‑profit Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) and the pharmaceutical company Innoviva. GARDP provided funding and organised clinical trials to defray costs and clear regulatory hurdles. Such assistance upfront helps direct the industry towards areas of greatest global need.

This approach and the UK government’s lauded “subscription model” – launched in 2022 to guarantee revenue to companies that invested in certain antibiotics – represent the best hope of maintaining a dripfeed of new drugs out of the current system.

But even hurrying the production of drugs that are currently in development isn’t enough. Zoliflodacin is sometimes described as a new class of antibiotics, meaning one that targets a part of the infectious bacteria that no other drug does, theoretically forcing the pathogen to start from zero in evolving a countermeasure to it. Scientists and doctors are relieved to have a new drug for gonorrhoea – which has resistant strains against every known antibiotic – but caution that future resistance to Zoliflodacin is inevitable.

As has become the norm with new antibiotics, there is therefore an argument about whether it should be held in reserve, rationed to highly resistant infections only – limiting its use to where high‑end lab testing is available. This sort of rational approach should be the worldwide norm, but often can’t be deployed easily in the global south.

More broadly, it is hard to see where the stream of other new antibiotics we need could possibly come from. Dr Chan’s comment nodded to the fact that surveying the living world for natural sources – as with penicillin – has had diminishing returns. Use of artificial intelligence has been mooted to speed up the discovery process, although a much-celebrated early candidate called halicin, identified in 2020, hasn’t yet progressed past animal trials. Synthetic drugs, which are mainly or fully lab-created, are constantly in development, but often run up against the iron laws of chemistry – just because we imagine a molecule doesn’t mean we can synthesise it easily.

The prevailing scientific evaluation is that when it comes to antibiotics, we must run very fast indeed just to stay in the same place. Careful internationally coordinated use is the only way to preserve our advantage. Sadly, the scale of future breakthroughs is going to seem miserly compared with the curative bonanza of the 20th century.

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