Global TREnD, IDSSE

SOURCE

Peng et al. (2026)

WHAT TO KNOW

• A new study by an international team of researchers documents the largest and deepest whale graveyard ever discovered, extending some 750 miles along the seafloor at a depth up to 23,000 feet. The team discovered the massive whale necropolis while using a deep-sea submersible to explore an area of the southeastern Indian Ocean known as the Diamantina fracture zone, coming across 476 whale fossils—the oldest dating back 5.3 million years—and five carcasses of recently deceased whales during the team’s 32 dives.

WHY IT MATTERS

• When a whale dies, their body bloats with gas, causing the carcass to float to the surface and drift with ocean currents. If and when the carcass falls to the bottom, the so-called “whale fall” becomes a food source for deep-sea creatures that can sustain an ecosystem for decades. The authors of the present study documented dozens of creatures feeding on the recent whale falls, including clams, brittle stars, and bone-eating worms. Prior to the team’s work, most whale falls were found at depths less than 13,000 feet, with the deepest known active site located at a depth of 13,800 feet in the southwest Atlantic Ocean.

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• The density of whale remains measured by the researchers reached up to 760 individual carcasses per square kilometer, suggesting the entire Diamantina zone could hold more than 10 million whale carcasses. If confirmed, the megasite would be on par with famed fossil deposits like the Burgess Shale in Canada and the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles. The study also found the graveyard constitutes a new carbon sink, sequestering an estimated 6.7 million tons of carbon.

SOURCE

The MULTI Consortium

WHAT TO KNOW

• Researchers at Columbia University analyzed the impact of sleep duration in middle and late life on 23 biological aging clocks across 17 organ systems, finding aging is slowest in the middle range of sleep and fastest on both the longer and shorter ends. Put differently, both too little and too much sleep appear to speed up biological aging. The study included health and sleep data collected from 500,000 U.K. adults, aged 37 to 84 years.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The researchers uncovered a U-shaped pattern between sleep duration and aging across nine major brain and body systems, finding that while the bottom of the curve varied by organ and sex, it consistently landed somewhere between 6.4 and 7.8 hours of sleep. The finding suggests the range is a “sweet spot” that helps slow aging across the entire body, representing a type of “Goldilocks” phenomenon for sleep duration.

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• One interesting pattern uncovered by the researchers is that women appear to need about 10-20 more minutes of sleep than men to best slow aging in certain categories. For example, one brain clock showed men’s brains aged the least with 7.7 hours of sleep per night, while women did best with 7.82 hours. Researchers believe the difference could be driven by hormonal changes throughout life, particularly during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle, pregnancy, and menopause.

Adidas

SOURCE

Goff et al. (2026)

WHAT TO KNOW

• Every four years for the past two decades, a group of researchers in England and Japan gather to investigate the physics behind what will eventually become one of the world’s most visible fixtures: the official World Cup match ball. The team puts the ball through a series of experiments to test its “drag,” or the amount of air resistance it experiences as it moves. Typically, the faster a ball moves, the more drag it experiences, slowing it down and changing its trajectory. However, each ball also has a “critical speed,” past which drag greatly decreases and the ball enters a more stable flight.

WHY IT MATTERS

• After putting this year’s ball, the Trionda, through its paces, the team found the ball reaches its critical speed at roughly 27 miles per hour, below the 31-40 mph range for the three previous official match balls: Al Rihla (Qatar 2022), Telstar 18 (Russia 2018), and Brazuca (Brazil 2014), and far below the 49-60 mph range for the infamous Jabulani ball (South Africa 2010). Having a lower critical speed means the Trionda’s movement should be more stable and predictable than the previous balls, however, it also means Trionda will lose some range at higher speeds, meaning plays like goal kicks could come up shorter than players are used to.

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• Adidas has designed the official match ball for each World Cup since 1970, always basing the design on something called a platonic solid, which are essentially 3D shapes with identical faces that all meet in the same way. A classic soccer ball starts with a platonic solid made of 20 triangles called an icosahedron. Designers essentially shave the corners off each triangle, resulting in the iconic pattern of hexagons and pentagons we’re familiar with today. Trionda is based on a tetrahedron, essentially a four-sided triangular pyramid, which the designers stretched and curved into a boomerang-like shape to create the ball’s panels (this image shows it clearly). Interestingly, 2010’s Jabulani ball was the last time Adidas used a tetrahedron to design a World Cup ball.

Bryan Danforth

SOURCE

Hoge et al. (2026)

WHAT TO KNOW

• A new study by researchers at Cornell University estimates 5.5 million bees live beneath East Lawn Cemetery in Ithaca, New York, spanning an area some 1.5 acres underground. Records show the population has been present at the site since at least the 1930s, making it one of the largest and oldest populations of ground-nesting bees known to science. The species was identified as Andrena regularis (commonly called the “regular mining bee”), a native bee known as a crucial pollinator for the region’s famed apple orchards.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The study highlights the important role cemeteries play in protecting biodiversity, particularly older ones located in large cities. Cemeteries are known to be refuges for insects, plants, birds, and even mammals, as the remoteness, low pesticide use, and general lack of ground disturbances offer the peacefulness and stability many species need to thrive.

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• Although honeybees dominate popular discourse, around 75% of all bee species are actually solitary ground-nesting species, like A. regularis. These bees don’t form hives or swarms like honeybees, and nest alone in tunnels they dig underground. Solitary bees also lack the “pollen baskets” found on honeybees, so they drop pollen during each flower visit, making them particularly efficient pollinators. The authors of the present study believe many more large underground networks of bees exist around the world, calling for more work to identify and preserve any such populations.

Smoliyenko Dmytro

SOURCE

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

WHAT TO KNOW

• Ukraine’s use of innovative drone technology against Russia has led to the emergence of an entirely new category of unmanned weapons that experts argue will come to define conflicts between more sophisticated forces and fundamentally alter the character of future warfare. While other capabilities and means of warfare won’t go away, the broad, successful use of unmanned weapons technology being pioneered by Ukraine signals a shift in balance of the capabilities required to achieve battlefield success, forcing militaries worldwide to contemplate and implement enduring changes.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The proliferation of unmanned weapons systems meets the criteria for what military experts refer to as a revolution in military affairs (RMA), during which new technologies undermine core battlefield operating concepts and render established military doctrines unreliable. RMAs represent a structural shift in warfare that necessitates new battlefield concepts and doctrines, reshaping how competitive military power is created and employed. Past RMAs include naval carriers, intercontinental ballistic missiles, machine guns, and the longbow.

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• Ukraine reportedly deployed 4 million drones in 2025 and its Defense Ministry says it plans to produce more than 7 million in 2026 (Ukrainian intelligence suggests Russia produces fewer than 2 million drones a year). Ukraine’s ramped-up use of unmanned weapons—including AI-assisted drones that use real-time satellite data to find targets—has disrupted Russian supply lines, communication channels, and troop movements, causing Russia to lose more soldiers and make fewer territorial gains in recent months. Reports also suggest May was the first month since 2023 that Russia experienced a net loss of territory.

South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology

SOURCE

Sarhan et al. (2026)

WHAT TO KNOW

• Researchers at Eurac Research in Italy baked a loaf of sourdough bread using yeast collected from Ötzi the Iceman, the famed 5,300-year-old glacier mummy found remarkably well-preserved in Alpine ice near the Italy-Austria border in 1991. The researchers analyzed ice found on Ötzi’s skin and meltwater from inside the mummy, discovering four ancient cold-adapted yeast species that survived to the present day. The team plans to test additional food applications for the yeast beyond bread, including beer.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The researchers say their work suggests the yeast traveled with Ötzi for millennia, underscoring how the mummy is “not a static relic, but a dynamic biological system.” Past research at Eurac has also identified genetic material found in Ötzi’s stomach and intestinal tract, finding his microbiome resembles that of other early humans, including bacteria rarely found in modern humans living in industrialized societies.

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• Ötzi the Iceman has been the subject of intense study since his discovery, shedding light on prehistoric people in Europe and how they lived. Research suggests Ötzi stood about 5 feet, 3 inches tall, and was in his 40s when he died, likely the victim of murder. His body, which also preserves the oldest tattoos ever discovered with a total of 61 markings, is housed inside a special refrigerated chamber at the South Tyrol Museum of Archaeology in northern Italy.

NASA

SOURCE

NASA

WHAT TO KNOW

• NASA’s experimental X-59 aircraft reached a top speed of Mach 1.1 (713 miles per hour) during a test flight last week at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California, breaking the sound barrier for the first time. The jet reached a top altitude of 43,400 feet during the 81-minute test flight, while also generating less noise than the chase plane monitoring the test. The milestone sets the stage for a test of the plane’s quiet supersonic capabilities later this year and the return of supersonic flights in the future.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The X-59 aircraft is the centerpiece of NASA’s Quesst mission, which aims to achieve supersonic flight without generating loud sonic booms to help enable commercial supersonic flights around the world. The aircraft uses a long nose, wide delta wings, and high T-tail to cut through the air at supersonic speeds, generating quiet “thumps” rather than loud booms. The engineer leading the plane’s development says the thumps aren’t loud enough to notice, comparing them to other sounds that blend into daily life, like distant thunder or a neighbor closing their car door.

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• In 1973, Congress banned commercial supersonic flights over the U.S., reasoning the ear-splitting booms generated during such flights were too disruptive to life on the ground (the law is why the famed Concorde never routinely flew to the U.S. West Coast during its nearly three decades in operation). NASA hopes the X-59 will lead to the development of a new age of quiet supersonic airliners and the return of commercial supersonic flights, cutting travel times for passengers around the world.

SOURCE

Vafai et al. (2026)

WHAT TO KNOW

• A small trial of a new gene-editing treatment found a single injection of the highest dose lowered patients’ LDL cholesterol—the “bad” type—by an average of 62%, with the reduced levels persisting for up to 18 months after patients received the shot. The experimental drug, called VERVE-102, was developed by Verve Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Eli Lilly.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Without getting lost in the weeds, VERVE-102 works by turning off a gene in the liver that produces an enzyme—PCSK9—that blocks the liver from clearing LDL out of the bloodstream. Experts say the injection could be a game-changer as it only needs to be done once every six months, unlike daily statin pills, the medical stalwart doctors have prescribed for decades to reduce LDL. Research shows around 10% of patients stop using statins on their own (though other work suggests the figure could be as high as 50%), significantly increasing their risk of major heart events, including heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.

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• Around 25% of U.S. adults have high cholesterol, which contributes to more than 3 million deaths each year. Scientists have known for decades that LDL cholesterol causes heart disease and drugs that reduce LDL levels, like statins, work to reduce the risk of major heart events. In fact, statins are so effective that around one in four Americans over the age of 40 takes the medication daily.

Michael J. Trinklein

SOURCE

Jason Farr (2011)

WHAT TO KNOW

• In August 1784, colonial settlers in what was then western North Carolina organized the State of Franklin, filling a political vacuum created when North Carolina ceded its western territory to the federal government in June of the same year. Franklin leaders hoped their territory would become the 14th state in the union, however, Congress rejected its admission and North Carolina eventually retracted its cession. After years of bitter internal division and a failed attempt to ally with Spain—which held vast territories in the Americas at the time, including most of what would become the modern U.S. mainland—Franklin leaders decided to rejoin North Carolina in 1789. North Carolina again ceded the land to the federal government and, in 1790, Congress officially made it part of the Southwest Territory, which would go on to become the state of Tennessee.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Experts say the story of Franklin is a reminder that the U.S. was never pre-destined to look as it does today. After the Treaty of Paris brokered peace between Great Britain and the 13 original colonies in 1783, communities west of the Appalachian Mountains and east of the Mississippi River had a few options: they could join an existing state, form their own independent state, or establish their own sovereign nation. Franklin’s leaders took the second option after North Carolina ceded its western land and created what they viewed as an opening and a chance at statehood.

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• One of Franklin’s death knells was a brief skirmish in 1788 between militias led by Franklin’s governor John Sevier and John Tipton, an American statesman at the forefront of the opposition to the State of Franklin movement. After Tipton had some of Sevier’s slaves seized as part of a legal action, Sevier marched 150 troops to Tipton’s home. The clash ended quickly and was largely uneventful, however, Franklin’s prospects began unraveling soon after. Things didn’t turn out badly for Sevier: in 1796, he was elected as the first governor of Tennessee.

Visit Levi

SOURCE

Midnight Sun Hunt

WHAT TO KNOW

• Levi Ski Resort in northern Finland is inviting treasure seekers to join a summer-long scavenger hunt in search of a hidden gold bar worth 20,000 euros ($23,300). The Midnight Sun Hunt begins on June 18 and will run until late August, giving participants just over two months to discover the bar’s secret location. Clues will be released throughout the summer, guiding treasure hunters to different outdoor trails, scenic landmarks, and local services found throughout Levi, with the aim of making the destination itself part of the experience. The hunt is organized by Visit Levi, along with Levi Ski Resort and Agnico Eagle Finland, a local gold mining company.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Located above the Arctic Circle, Levi is best known as one of Finland’s premier winter destinations and a prime location for viewing the Northern Lights. During the summer, the region experiences the midnight sun, giving visitors 24 hours of sunlight during certain periods. Levi tourism officials say the scavenger hunt is meant to give travelers a new reason to visit Levi in the summer and help develop the area into a year-round destination.

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• Levi is one of many global winter destinations that have diversified their offerings to create economically viable summer seasons with snow-free activities, like mountain biking, paragliding, river rafting, and zip-lining. Ski industry experts say the diversification is crucial as climate change threatens to shorten winter seasons while expanding what outdoor enthusiasts call the “green season” on mountains.

SOURCE

U.N. Environment Program

WHAT TO KNOW

• As of June 2025, a total of 3,099 climate-change related lawsuits have been filed in courts and tribunals around the world, continuing an upward trend observed over the past decade. Researchers at the U.N. Environment Program and Columbia Law School found cases have been filed in 79 national and international courts, with the bulk of the litigation (1,936 cases) taking place in the U.S.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Climate litigation has gained popularity since 2017, when 884 such cases had been filed. By 2020, that figure had risen to 1,550 cases; by 2022, it reached 2,180. The cases target a variety of climate issues, including greenwashing, carbon offsets, energy-intensive data centers, and regulatory challenges, among others. The authors say both the rising number of legal cases and the broad range of issues they address underscore the power of litigation in advancing climate action.

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• In July 2025, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark advisory opinion finding countries have a legal obligation to protect the global climate system from the effects of human-made greenhouse gas emissions. The U.N.’s top court found the obligation stems from both international climate treaties, like the Paris Agreement, as well as broader rules of international law. Countries that fail to address emissions could be required to compensate other nations dealing with the effects of climate change, like rising sea levels, drought, and extreme weather events. Last month, the U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution backing the opinion. The U.S., Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Israel, Yemen, Liberia, and Belarus voted against the resolution, while several oil-producing states, like Qatar and Nigeria, abstained.

Reuters

SOURCE

Pew Research Center

WHAT TO KNOW

• Earlier this month, Hawaii Governor Josh Green signed SB 2471 into law. The bill—which flew through the state’s legislature on votes of 24-0 in the Senate and 50-1 in the House—bans all corporations that do business in the state from spending money or contributing anything of value to influence elections or ballot measures. Green’s signature makes Hawaii the first state to take on Citizens United, the 2010 Supreme Court decision that granted corporations the right to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections based on corporations’ so-called “speech” rights. More than a dozen other states are contemplating efforts similar to Hawaii’s. The proposals will likely be popular: a 2023 survey by the Pew Research Center found 72% of U.S. adults think there should be limits on the amount of money individuals and corporations can spend on elections, including 71% of Republicans and 76% of Democrats.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Hawaii’s new law, which will certainly face legal challenges, is modeled on the Corporate Power Reset (CPR), a legal framework that bans corporations and other non-human entities from spending on elections or ballot measures by specifically removing that power granted under state law. The CPR essentially attempts to sidestep the right found in Citizens United by not granting artificial entities the power to spend on elections or ballot measures in the first place. It’s a narrow distinction, however, it’s also one supported by more than 200 years of case law. In an 1819 decision, Supreme Court Justice John Marshall defined corporations as “artificial beings” that exist “only in contemplation of law,” finding corporations therefore possess “only those properties” granted by law. Put differently, corporations and other non-human entities only have the powers states say they have (e.g., to own property, enter contracts, bring lawsuits, etc.), and expressly do not have the powers states say they don’t have. The Constitution’s Tenth Amendment also expressly reserves powers not listed in the Constitution—like the power to create and regulate corporations—to the states. The principle that states, not the federal government, have authority over the powers assigned to corporations has never been superseded, and is why each state can have different corporate laws, resulting in some jurisdictions, like Delaware, becoming far more popular for incorporation than others.

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• The 5-4 decision in Citizens United opened the floodgates to money in modern American politics. In 2024, $14.8 billion was spent on federal elections, astronomically more than the amount spent on elections in other countries. The 2024 election also included a record $1.9 billion from dark money groups, which aren’t required to disclose their donors. Since Citizens United, dark money groups have spent at least $4.3 billion on federal elections.

Duke University

SOURCE

Liu et al. (2026)

WHAT TO KNOW

• Researchers at Duke University debuted a new robot leveraging a novel design principle that improves performance across nearly every key measurement in robotics. Named Argus, the sea urchin-like robot has 20 telescoping legs radiating from a central core, each fitted with a camera. Unlike most robots, Argus has no front, back, top, or bottom. It can see and move in any direction instantly, right itself when knocked over, navigate various difficult terrains, and carry a 10-pound payload at full speed. Watch Argus in action.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Argus was developed as a proof-of-concept for a new mathematically derived design principle the researchers dubbed “dynamic isotropy,” which scores robots from 0 to 1 based on how uniformly the robot can accelerate its body in every direction. The team found as the score rises, performance increases across nearly all measurements engineers care about in robotics, including trajectory tracking, robustness, energy efficiency, resilience to damage, and success navigating difficult terrain. Most robots today, including advanced four-legged models, humanoids, and drones, score below 0.6 on the team’s dynamic isotropy measurement. Argus notched a 0.91, near the theoretical maximum.

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• For decades, robotics has been guided by the symmetry found in nature, leading most engineers to use examples like humans, dogs, insects, and birds when designing robots for a given purpose. The authors of the present study believe symmetry in robotics should be framed as a question of functionality, rather than appearance, arguing omnidirectional movement allows robots to “face the world in any particular way,” completely changing how they can be used.

Musée d’Orsay

SOURCE

Musée d’Orsay

WHAT TO KNOW

• The Musée d’Orsay in Paris debuted a new permanent exhibition this month, showcasing 13 works of art that were stolen or sold under duress in France during World War II. The exhibition—titled Who Owns These Works?—will feature 225 such orphaned artworks on a rotating basis, some of which are suspended between panes of glass so the public can also view the back. French officials hope the exposure will lead to clues that can help prove the works’ provenance, or history of ownership, with the ultimate aim of returning the pieces to the descendants of their rightful owners.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The exhibition is part of France’s reckoning with its role in the Holocaust under the Vichy government, which cooperated with the Nazis and is now recognized as a collaborator. The Vichy government sent some 80,000 Jewish refugees and French citizens to death camps during the war, while also presiding over a lucrative Paris art market that enriched Nazis and their collaborators on the property of the dead and dispossessed.

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• The Nazis invaded France on May 10, 1940, arriving with tremendous buying power and a thirst for both the possessions of Jewish art collectors and acquisitions to expand German museum collections. The Nazis looted more than 100,000 artworks and cultural artifacts from France during the war, of which 60,000 were recovered after the war ended. Around 45,000 of the recovered works were returned to their rightful owners after the war, and the French government sold all but 2,200 of the remaining 15,000 in the early 1950s. Since then, fewer than 200 pieces have been returned.

SOURCE

Thompson & Venditti (2026)

WHAT TO KNOW

• Researchers at the University of Reading in the U.K. compared the flower length of 774 cactus species representing nearly all major cactus subfamilies, finding the emergence of new cactus species isn’t driven by flower size or specialized pollinators, but by how quickly cactus flowers change shape over time. Despite having flowers that span a 185-fold size range (from .08 inches to 1.5 inches), the study found no connection between flower length and how quickly new cactus species emerge. Instead, the researchers uncovered a consistent pattern across both ancient and modern evolutionary history between cactus species whose flowers changed most rapidly and the emergence of new species.

WHY IT MATTERS

• For more than a century, scientists have viewed flowers specialized for particular pollinators or environments as the major drivers of evolution and plant diversity. The present study challenges that view and provides valuable insights into why some branches of the tree of life burst into thousands of species, while others remain small.

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• The idea that specialized flower structures are the main drivers of plant evolution comes from Charles Darwin’s famed work with orchids, which led him to propose that specialized flower shapes and colors attract pollinators and drive plant diversification. Darwin’s work with orchids was a foundational moment in evolutionary science and forever changed our understanding of plant pollination and the coevolution of species.

Barbara Sherwood Lollar

SOURCE

Lollar & Warr (2026)

WHAT TO KNOW

• For the first time ever, scientists have directly measured naturally occurring hydrogen—called “white hydrogen”—escaping from ancient underground rocks. Researchers at the University of Toronto in Canada took measurements from dozens of boreholes at an active mine site in northeastern Ontario, finding each borehole released an average of 0.009 U.S. tons of hydrogen each year. The team estimates the site could produce more than 150 million tons of hydrogen each year from its 15,000 boreholes, enough to produce 4.7 million kilowatts of electricity and power 400 Canadian homes.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. It’s commonly used in fertilizer manufacturing, global food production, and steelmaking, powering a $135 billion global hydrogen economy. Importantly, when burned, hydrogen doesn’t produce any greenhouse gases, so scientists consider it a true source of “clean energy.” However, at present, most industrial hydrogen is produced using fossil fuels, requiring large amounts of energy and releasing carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Even so-called “green hydrogen,” which is produced from renewables, relies on processes that are still highly expensive and energy intensive.

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• Scientists say white hydrogen could be key to the global energy transition. The gas is produced naturally through chemical reactions in the Earth’s crust, offering cheaper, cleaner hydrogen that could also serve as a local energy source for communities. While more work is needed, previous research suggests trillions of tons of hydrogen could be hiding underground, with the authors of the present study arguing some 70% of the Earth’s crust has the potential to produce the gas.

SOURCE

Ustun et al. (2022)

WHAT TO KNOW

• Children exposed to the flavor of kale or carrot while in the womb are less likely to show negative facial reactions to the scent of the foods at three years old, suggesting exposure to flavors during pregnancy can lead to long-lasting odor and flavor preferences in kids. The new study by researchers at Durham University in the U.K. followed earlier work by the same team that suggested fetuses could detect flavor compounds about 20 minutes after their mother had consumed them.

WHY IT MATTERS

• In two previous experiments, the researchers found fetuses exposed to kale grimaced when they first experienced the bitter green, but grimaced less four weeks later when exposed again. While more work is needed, the present study suggests the effect persists after birth and into early childhood, offering parents and policymakers new ways of thinking about dietary interventions and development.

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• The authors say the study also raises questions about artificial sweeteners in modern diets, which could make fetuses more accustomed to sweetness before birth. However, the team says the take-home message isn’t that pregnant women should be made to feel guilty about what they eat, as they already have enough to deal with during pregnancy, but that if mothers can get fetuses used to healthier foods, a preference for healthy eating may develop later on.

U.S. Geological Survey

SOURCE

Shugar et al. (2026)

WHAT TO KNOW

• The second-tallest tsunami ever recorded struck the Tracy Arm fjord in  southeast Alaska on August 10, 2025, after a massive landslide at the toe of the South Sawyer glacier dumped 64 million cubic meters of rock into the water. Researchers at the University of Calgary in Canada found the landslide triggered a wave that reached 1,578 feet (481 meters) up the wall of the fjord, stripping the surface to bare rock as it surged through the narrow passage. Rather than dissipating, the energy from the tsunami became trapped inside the steep-sided fjord, pushing water back and forth for more than a day. For context, the Eiffel Tower is about 1,000 feet tall. Watch an animation of the tsunami.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The Tracy Arm fjord is a popular location for cruise ships, however, no vessels were caught when the tsunami hit at 5:30 am. Experts say the event is a warning about the risks of coastal rockslides triggered by glacial retreat and a reminder that climate change poses threats in myriad ways. The tsunami was just shorter than the tallest on record, measured at 1,720 feet in Lituya Bay, Alaska in 1958.

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• Landslides can produce significantly taller tsunamis than earthquakes due to differences in water depth and displacement, posing a distinct hazard for environments like fjords. Alaska has experienced several tsunamis triggered by landslides in recent decades, including a 633-foot wave after a landslide near a receding glacier in the Taan fjord in 2015 and a 180-foot wave after a landslide in Kenai Fjords National Park in 2024. The 1958 tsunami in Lituya Bay was also triggered by a landslide.

SOURCE

Taniguchi et al. (2026)

WHAT TO KNOW

• A new study by researchers at Nagasaki University in Japan presents the largest dataset yet on how crabs move, tracing the species’ sideways scuttle to a single ancestor that lived roughly 200 million years ago. The researchers analyzed the movement of 50 crab species and mapped the results onto a crab evolutionary tree, finding sideways walking likely originated in one forward-walking ancestor and had remarkable persistence thereafter, appearing in most modern crab species today. The study was released as a preprint, meaning it has yet to be peer-reviewed.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Sideways walking is a hallmark trait of “true crabs,” the largest group among crab decapods, which also includes most modern crab species. Biologically speaking, there’s no obvious reason why crabs move sideways, however, the researchers believe it could offer important advantages, like helping crabs escape predators by making their movements harder to predict. The authors also believe timing may have played a role in the emergence of sideways walking as it began just after the Triassic-Jurassic extinction, when major environmental changes, like the break up of Pangea and expansion of shallow marine habitats, likely created new opportunities for species to diversify.

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• The discovery that sideways walking evolved just once among crabs runs counter to the phenomenon of carcinization, i.e., the repeated evolution of crab-like bodies among different non-crab crustaceans. Carcinization is itself an example of a phenomenon called convergent evolution, resulting in different animal groups independently evolving the same traits. Convergent evolution is the reason both bats and birds have wings, and why primates, koalas, and giant pandas all have opposable thumbs.

SOURCE

Australian Treasury

WHAT TO KNOW

• The Australian government has released a draft of its proposed News Bargaining Incentive, outlining its plan to get major tech companies to fund newsrooms and pay for the content shared on their platforms. Under the legislation, tech companies with local revenue exceeding $180 million—thereby capturing Meta, Google, and TikTok—will face a 2.25% tax on their Australian revenue unless they strike agreements with local news publishers. The tax can drop to as low as 1.5% if companies strike enough deals, with as few as four agreements being sufficient.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the government’s goal is to address market imbalances and place a monetary value on journalism, acknowledging that “investment in journalism is critical to a healthy democracy.” The government expects the law to generate around $150 million each year, which will be distributed among news organizations based on the number of journalists each outlet employs.

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• The legislation updates Australia’s novel News Media Bargaining Code (enacted in 2021), under which designated tech companies were required to negotiate deals with media outlets. Experts describe the News Media Bargaining Code as a success, seeing deals struck that were worth around $150 million per year, generating more than $715 million over five years for Australian media companies.