Missed opportunities in the search for extraterrestrial life
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 10-Jun-2026 07:16 ET (10-Jun-2026 11:16 GMT/UTC)
Suppose there are signs of extraterrestrial life and we have not yet been able to detect them. What does that mean? In the renowned journal Nature Astronomy, researchers discuss the consequences of these so-called false-negative results. “We are currently investing a great deal of money in missions that might need to be designed differently.”
Azara’s owl monkeys, a small primate species found in South America, are heavier today than those that lived a quarter-century ago, and evidence suggests that rising temperatures might have driven the weight gain, according to a Yale-led study of a wild population.
The study — the first to link climate change to weight changes in living primates — is based on 287 weight measurements of 180 owl monkeys collected between 1999 and 2023 in Formosa, Argentina. The researchers found that the monkeys were about 50 grams (1.8 ounces) heavier in 2023 than in 1999, an increase equivalent to 4% of the mean adult weight of 1,300 grams (2.87 pounds).
The weight gain coincided with a period when daily mean temperatures in the region increased by more than 1 degree Celsius. The researchers also found that that warmer temperatures in a monkey’s first year of life predict heavier weights when they’re older.
“We found that owl monkeys today weigh more, not less, than they did in 1999, even though average temperatures have increased since then,” said lead author Jonathan Pertile, a Ph.D. student in anthropology in the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. “That’s surprising because scientists have long thought that being lighter is an advantage in warmer temperatures because it helps the body shed excess heat.”
The finding that warmer temperatures in the animal’s first year of life predicts heavier weight later suggests that the amount of energy monkeys spend staying warm while young might limit their growth, he said.
The study was published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B on May 20. Eduardo Fernandez-Duque, professor of anthropology in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and director of the Owl Monkey Project in Argentina, is the study’s senior author.
The Himalayas, often called the “Water Tower of Asia,” supply water to rivers that support nearly 2 billion people. However, new findings show that climate warming is threatening these river systems. Using satellite images and field observations from 1980 to 2020, researchers found that melting glaciers and thawing frozen ground are causing Himalayan rivers to shift course much faster than before, increasing the risk of flooding, erosion, and damage to roads, bridges, and other infrastructure.
Gold has been prized for thousands of years for its enduring shine, but Tulane University researchers have discovered that gold’s resistance to tarnishing depends on more than its chemistry. In a new study published in Physical Review Letters, researchers found that atoms on certain gold surfaces naturally rearrange themselves into protective patterns that dramatically suppress reactions with oxygen.
Cities don’t just change the landscape, they change the weather. According to a new study analyzing tens of thousands of rain events in Texas, whether urban areas make rain worse, lighter or simply different depends strongly on the type of storm. The research, published in Nature, examines more than 40,000 warm‑season storms that passed over or near Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio and Houston between 1995 and 2017. By sorting storms into distinct categories and tracking their three‑dimensional structure using weather radar, scientists found that the four urban areas strengthen some storms while weakening others.