Tuesday, May 26, 2026

China launched the Shenzhou-23 spacecraft with three astronauts heading to the Tiangong space station, including Lai Ka-ying, who became the first person from Hong Kong to travel to space. One crew member is expected to stay aboard for approximately one year, a first for China's human spaceflight program.^[1]

Scientists have identified a new species of tiny blue octopus discovered nearly 6,000 feet beneath the waters of the Galápagos Islands. About the size of a golf ball, the creature was spotted during a deep-sea expedition crawling across the ocean floor near an underwater mountain.^[2]

Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu won the Palme d'Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival for his drama 'Fjord,' starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve, becoming the tenth filmmaker to win the prestigious award twice. The film centers on a Romanian and Norwegian couple whose new life in a fjord village does not go as planned.^[3]

Researchers have uncovered a massive new species of long-necked dinosaur in Thailand, named Nagatitan chaiyaphumensis, which weighed around 27 tonnes and lived more than 100 million years ago. Scientists believe it may be the last giant sauropod to have roamed Southeast Asia before rising seas transformed the landscape.^[4]

Scientists have discovered that a topical anti-aging drug called ABT-263 can dramatically improve wound healing in older skin by removing damaged senescent 'zombie cells' that accumulate with age. In aged mice, wounds healed much faster after treatment while the drug activated genes tied to collagen production and tissue regeneration.^[5]

Scientists exploring deep underwater canyons off Western Australia uncovered evidence of giant squid and identified 226 species by analyzing traces of DNA floating in seawater from depths exceeding 4 kilometers. Some of the creatures discovered may be new to science.^[6]