Sunday, April 12, 2026

NASA's Artemis II crew splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean on Friday evening, completing a historic 10-day, 700,000-mile journey around the Moon—the first crewed lunar mission since 1972 and a new record for the farthest distance ever traveled by humans.^[1]

Hungary holds parliamentary elections today in a closely contested vote that could end Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's 16-year rule, with polls showing opposition leader Péter Magyar's Tisza party leading Orbán's Fidesz party.^[2]

Peru holds presidential elections today with a record 35 candidates competing—the country's ninth president in nearly as many years—amid widespread voter frustration with political instability and rising crime. A runoff between the top two candidates is expected on June 7.^[3]

Researchers at the University of Chicago discovered that zeaxanthin, a common nutrient found in leafy greens and sold as an eye-health supplement, strengthens immune T cells and enhances the effectiveness of cancer immunotherapy treatments.^[4]

Scientists have discovered why perovskite solar cells work so well despite containing structural defects. Researchers found that networks of defects inside the material actually help separate and guide electrical charges efficiently, potentially advancing the development of low-cost next-generation solar technology.^[5]

A fossil discovery in China's Yunnan Province has revealed that complex animal life appeared at least 4 million years earlier than previously believed. The 540-million-year-old fossils include early relatives of starfish, worm-like creatures, and even ancestors of animals with backbones, dating to before the Cambrian explosion.^[6]

The HETDEX survey has discovered tens of thousands of massive hydrogen gas halos surrounding galaxies from 10 to 12 billion years ago, increasing the known number of these structures from about 3,000 to over 33,000 and providing new insights into how galaxies grew during the early universe.^[7]

Researchers have discovered a strange new kind of superconductivity in uranium ditelluride (UTe2), where electricity flows with zero resistance under extremely strong magnetic fields that would normally destroy superconductivity in other materials.^[8]