SAN ANTONIO — September 9, 2025 — A Southwest Research Institute-led team has reported the first detection of gas on the distant dwarf planet Makemake, using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). This discovery makes Makemake only the second trans-Neptunian object, after Pluto, where the presence of gas has been confirmed. The gas was identified as methane.

A team of astronomers have observed an explosion in the universe unlike any ever witnessed before. The mysterious repeating gamma-ray bursts were spotted outside our own galaxy using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT).

Organic molecules detected in the watery plumes that spew out from cracks in the surface of Enceladus could be formed through exposure to radiation on Saturn’s icy moon, rather than originating from deep within its sub-surface ocean. The findings, presented during the EPSC–DPS2025 Joint Meeting in Helsinki this week, have repercussions for assessing the habitability of Enceladus’s ocean.

Superconducting sensors can detect single low-energy photons. UZH researchers have now used this capability to search for light dark matter particles in the universe.

Salamanders and chameleons, despite evolving in different habitats, use the same “slingshot” tongue mechanism powered by ordinary tissues, tendons and bone. This biological design could be scaled for human applications, from biomedical devices that clear blood clots to large-scale tools for disaster recovery or space exploration. The findings underscore how nature’s solutions can guide technological innovation.

Just like litter is a big problem on Earth, space junk is cluttering up outer space. To dispose of this junk, a Tohoku University researcher demonstrated the utility of a special plasma thruster.