You may have seen Black Hole, the image, but have you heard of the upcoming Black Hole, The Movie? This week, astronomers launched a new campaign to capture video footage of the supermassive black hole pulsing at the heart of the M87 galaxy.

PLUS:

• Sunlight and fungi inspiration can help recycle plastic waste into vinegar
• Ancient kangaroos were hopping giants
• How monogamy helps termite colonies number in the millions
• Our infant universe's primordial soup was soupy, according to new study

Starfish don't have brains, and yet they're able to mobilize hundreds of tiny hydraulic tube feet to get around. Now scientists are getting an understanding of just how they do that.

PLUS:

• Atmospheric pollution from an individual rocket re-entry event measured for the first time
• How the Earth’s greenhouse age transitioned into a world with frozen poles
• What is dark matter? The contenders — from WIMPs to dark matter stars
• Quirks Question: why doesn’t flowing water freeze at the same temperature as still water?

(Correction: A previous version of the dark matter story referred to a study published last fall that mapped the distribution of dark matter, but the study was published on Jan. 26, 2026.)

From the pressurized space suits to living in underground spaces, it's clear that living on Mars would cause irreversible biological changes to any humans living there, to the point that it may be impossible for them or their descendants to return to Earth. With bigger heads and lighter bodies, might we also end up looking like Martians?

PLUS:

• Yellowstone’s predators battle it out, and wolves remain top dog
• fossil of the earliest veggie-eater found in Nova Scotia
• Covid is disappearing in animals, which is good news for deer but not as good for humans
• how genes affect our lifespan more than we thought