Friday, October 16, 2026

Governments voted to abolish the leap second, ending the 50-year practice of adding extra seconds to clocks to keep atomic time aligned with Earth's rotation; under the new system taking effect in May 2027, clocks will be allowed to drift up to one hour from astronomical time before a correction is applied.^[1]

Scientists at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory identified a potentially more efficient path to fusion ignition by reversing the traditional approach: heating plasma first then increasing its density, calculations that could help future reactors reach self-sustaining fusion with far less energy.^[2]

A fossil that sat overlooked in London's Natural History Museum for nearly a century has been identified as a new species of predatory dinosaur, Invictibellatrix amberina — the first megaraptoran discovered in Europe, which lived approximately 120 million years ago.^[3]

Astronomers using the Vera C. Rubin Observatory identified an asteroid more than 2.5 kilometers across that completes a full rotation in just over four minutes — making it the largest known ultra-fast-spinning asteroid, a finding that challenges existing theories about asteroid composition.^[4]

A global assessment published in Nature found that 44% of reef-building coral species now face elevated risk of extinction, up from about one-third in 2008, with climate change identified as the primary driver of their decline.^[5]

An international team of astronomers using ALMA detected fully deuterated methanol in space for the first time around a protostar, opening a new window into how organic molecules that seed planets and potentially life form in planet-building zones.^[6]

Scientists in China's Yunnan province discovered Dianjunus rex, a giant fungus producing fruiting bodies up to 50 centimeters high and weighing 2.2 kilograms — the largest known in its phylum — representing an entirely new fungal family with a lineage dating back 65 million years.^[7]

Researchers at the University of Exeter discovered that the deadly fungus Candida auris can copy its entire genome to survive antifungal treatment, revealing a new mechanism that helps explain how the pathogen develops drug resistance.^[8]

NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy signed a memorandum of understanding to advance nuclear-powered space exploration, a partnership aimed at developing nuclear power and propulsion technologies for future missions to the Moon and Mars.^[9]

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European leaders to push for stronger support in applying 'real pressure' on Russia, as Ukrainian forces resumed drone attacks on Russian oil refineries following a brief truce.^[10]