Health & Science

• Thursday, November 12th 2026 - 10:51 UTC

  British Antarctic Survey begins a season featuring the largest-ever penguin census

  

  The British Antarctic Survey (BAS), the UK’s national operator in Antarctica, began its 2026/27 research season in late October, including the largest penguin census ever carried out on the continent, with flights from the British Rothera station and from Chile’s Marsh station on King George Island.

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• Friday, October 16th 2026 - 13:59 UTC

  Royal Navy urged to replace defective Ice Patrol HMS Protector

  

  The Royal Navy's only ice patrol vessel has been towed into Devonport, reportedly with a double engine failure, raising fresh concerns over how the news will be interpreted by Argentina. HMS Protector fulfils an icebreaking role to monitor the demilitarized Antarctic and support safe navigation for scientific research in challenging conditions.

• Tuesday, October 13th 2026 - 23:00 UTC

  Pope Leo XIV has lung cancer and underwent successful surgery, Vatican says

  

  Pope Leo XIV, 71, has been diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma and underwent successful surgery on Tuesday at Rome’s Gemelli hospital, where doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung, the Holy See said in a medical bulletin. The operation comes three weeks before the start of his tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, whose schedule has not been changed.

• Monday, October 12th 2026 - 07:04 UTC

  BAS researchers uncover chinstrap penguins massive colony decline in Antarctic volcanic island

  

  A remote volcanic island near Antarctica has lost its title of largest penguin colony in the world, as new research reveals massive population declines, igniting fears for species’ survival. Researchers from British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have uncovered the loss of over half a million chinstrap penguins from the Antarctic island of Zavodovski in the South Sandwich Islands.

• Tuesday, September 29th 2026 - 21:37 UTC

  Lula remark on medical exams sparks controversy five days before the vote

  

  A remark by Brazilian President and re-election candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva about men's reluctance to undergo prostate examinations has sparked a controversy in the final stretch of the campaign, after opposition figures linked it to child sexual abuse. Lula's campaign has taken the matter to the Superior Electoral Court.

• Thursday, September 3rd 2026 - 00:48 UTC

  Norway prepares to open The Whale Museum, 190 miles north of the Arctic Circle

  

  By Sarah Kula for the Smithsonian Magazine
  
  Called The Whale, the new venue is under construction in Andenes, a village on the northern tip of the island of Andøya, roughly 190 miles above the Arctic Circle. It’s scheduled to begin welcoming visitors on June 4, 2027, inviting guests to explore the majestic marine mammals through science, art, storytelling, sound and architecture.

• Wednesday, August 19th 2026 - 21:47 UTC

  A personalized mRNA therapy passes a phase 3 melanoma trial for the first time

  

  Pharmaceutical companies Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, and Moderna announced on Wednesday that their individualized neoantigen therapy, intismeran autogene, met its endpoints in a phase 3 trial in melanoma patients. It is the first positive result at that stage for an mRNA-based cancer treatment.

• Wednesday, August 19th 2026 - 08:45 UTC

  Australia launches program to vaccinate colonies of little penguins against avian influenza

  

  According to ABC News Australia wildlife conservation agencies in the state of Victoria have launched a program to vaccinate little penguins against the H5 strain of avian influenza. Over the next few weeks, experts plan to capture and vaccinate more than 5,000 birds in colonies on Philip Island and St. Kilda.

• Wednesday, August 12th 2026 - 00:05 UTC

  Colombia asks for supplies but not foreign rescue personnel after the earthquake

  

  Colombia's government has requested international aid in the form of supplies for those affected by Monday's magnitude 7.4 earthquake, but has not called for foreign rescue teams, despite offers from at least six countries and multilateral bodies.

• Wednesday, August 5th 2026 - 21:44 UTC

  SpaceX rocket stage crashes into the Moon after 18 months adrift

  

  The upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket struck the lunar surface on Wednesday near the Einstein crater, in an unplanned impact that NASA described as safe and posing no risk to Earth or to missions operating on the Moon.