Scientists warn half the world’s beaches could disappear - Science Daily

I am a clumsy guy. If there are sharp corners nearby, I’ll bash into them. If there’s a surface underfoot with even a light sheen of polish, I’ll take a tumble. You don’t need to take my word for it. A quick look at my knees, which have become knitted with a patchwork of small scars, tells the story. I can trace some of these marks back years, and have accepted that they will be on my body for life. But what gives? Why don’t our bodies remove old scars? The answer goes to the heart of how our bodies have adapted to protect us.

While these grainy, black-and-white images might not look like much today, they were a huge deal at the time.

Weighted mean FO for the 230 species in our models. Credit: Biology Letters (2026). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2026.0079 What seabirds eat might seem like a good starting point for identifying species that tend to accumulate plastic in their digestive systems. Yet a recent global analysis suggests that mapping the evolutionary relatives of birds could offer better clues than their diets or feeding methods alone.

Scientists have proposed what they believe is the first way to detect "mirror life," a hypothetical form of life built from molecules that are reversed versions of those found in living organisms on Earth. Researchers from the University of Strathclyde and Durham University have developed a proposed detection technique that uses molecules capable of emitting light with distinct left and right-handed properties. By analyzing these light signals, scientists may eventually be able to distinguish conventional organisms from their mirror-image counterparts. Although mirror life does not currently exist, some experts consider its potential creation a serious biological safety concern. These artificial organisms could behave in unpredictable ways when interacting with Earth's ecosystems and might evade certain natural defenses that protect people, animals, and plants. The likelihood of mirror life emerging is considered low, but its possible consequences could be severe enough to justify developing detection methods in advance.

Samples collected from asteroid Bennu by NASA are revealing surprising new details about how our Solar System formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago. A new chemical analysis challenges earlier theories about the asteroid's birthplace and suggests that Jupiter played an important role in shaping the materials from which Bennu and other ancient objects formed. Bennu completes one orbit around the Sun every 1.2 years and makes a relatively close approach to Earth about every six years, coming within roughly 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles). NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission traveled to the asteroid, collected material from its surface, and successfully delivered the samples to Earth in 2023.