Monday, February 23, 2026

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, working with ESA's Euclid and the Subaru Telescope, identified a nearly invisible galaxy called CDG-2 located 300 million light-years away in the Perseus galaxy cluster, which appears to be composed of 99% dark matter—one of the most dark-matter-dominated galaxies ever discovered.^[1]

A Cornell physicist calculated that the universe may reach its maximum size in about 11 billion years and then begin contracting, ultimately ending in a 'big crunch' approximately 20 billion years from now, based on new data from dark energy observatories.^[2]

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin discovered that the ancestor of all complex life—the ancient microbe that gave rise to plants, animals, and fungi—was oxygen-loving, reshaping understanding of how eukaryotes evolved.^[3]

The SpaceX Crew-12 mission successfully launched on February 13 and docked with the International Space Station on February 14, carrying NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, ESA astronaut Sophie Adenot, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev for an eight-month science expedition.^[4]

A study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B suggests that the number of vertebrate species on Earth may be twice as high as previous estimates due to widespread 'cryptic species'—organisms that appear identical but are genetically distinct.^[5]

UCSF researchers tested generative AI against human research teams on complex medical datasets and found the AI could analyze the data faster while maintaining accuracy, according to a study published in Cell Reports Medicine.^[6]

A study from SUNY College of Optometry suggests that the global rise in myopia (nearsightedness) may be driven more by dim indoor lighting than screen time, pointing to the eye's need for outdoor light exposure to develop properly.^[7]

Countries at President Trump's Board of Peace meeting pledged $7 billion for Gaza reconstruction and agreed to contribute troops to an eventual 20,000-strong stabilization force, as diplomatic efforts continue following the October ceasefire.^[8]

U.S. freestyle skiers won gold in the mixed team aerials event at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, earning the United States its 11th gold medal of the Games—a new all-time American record for gold medals at a single Winter Olympics.^[9]