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The New York metropolitan area was showing the effects of a prolonged cold spell in late January 2026. During a stretch of frigid weather, ice choked the Hudson River along Manhattan’s western shore.

Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey

During a stretch of frigid weather in late January 2026, ice choked the Hudson River along Manhattan’s western shore. The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 captured this image of the wintry landscape around midday on Jan. 28. This image uses representational color to distinguish ice (light blue) from open water and snow. Vegetation appears red.

Much of the ice in the image likely floated there from farther upriver, where tidal currents are weaker and salinity is lower. These conditions allow water to freeze sooner and at higher temperatures than the faster-flowing, brackish water near the river’s mouth, shown here.

Read more about the effects of river ice and how scientists track waterways.

Text credit: Lindsey Doermann

Image credit: Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey

Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey

During a stretch of frigid weather in late January 2026, ice choked the Hudson River along Manhattan’s western shore. The OLI (Operational Land Imager) on Landsat 8 captured this image of the wintry landscape around midday on Jan. 28. This image uses representational color to distinguish ice (light blue) from open water and snow. Vegetation appears red.

Much of the ice in the image likely floated there from farther upriver, where tidal currents are weaker and salinity is lower. These conditions allow water to freeze sooner and at higher temperatures than the faster-flowing, brackish water near the river’s mouth, shown here.

Read more about the effects of river ice and how scientists track waterways.

Text credit: Lindsey Doermann

Image credit: Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey

Origami and space exploration might not seem like they have much in common, but the traditional paper-folding technique solves one massive problem for space exploration missions - volume. Satellites and probes that launch in rocket housings are constrained by very restrictive requirements about their physical size, and options for assembling larger structures in orbit are limited to say the least. Anything that can fold up like an origami structure and then expand out to reach a fully functional size is welcome in the space community, and a new paper published in Communications Engineering by Xin Ning of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) and his lab describes a novel use case for the idea - electromagnetic waveguides.

Video: 00:01:21

For its most powerful flight yet, Ariane 6 lifts off for the first time with four boosters.

Designed for versatility, Ariane 6 can adapt to each mission: flying with two boosters for lighter payloads, or four boosters when more power is needed.

In its four-booster configuration, Ariane 6 can carry larger and heavier spacecraft into orbit, enabling some of Europe’s most ambitious missions — from science missions like PLATO to exploration systems such as Argonaut.

A major theme in communist governments is the idea of central planning. Every five years, the central authorities in communist countries lay out their goals for the country over the course of the next five years, which can range from limiting infant mortality to increasing agricultural yield. China, the largest current polity ruled by communists, recently released its fifteenth five-year plan, which lays out its priorities for 2026-2030. This one, accompanied by a press release of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC), the country’s state-owned giant aerospace corporation, has plenty of ambitious goals for its space sector.

Astronomers have discovered three still-growing galaxy clusters in the early universe that point to a faster track of evolution than expected.

The post Infant Galaxy Clusters Grew Faster Than Expected appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

A type of cognitive training that tests people's quick recall seems to reduce the risk of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease

A type of cognitive training that tests people's quick recall seems to reduce the risk of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease

A new proof solves a long-standing problem about the doughnut-shaped torus

Paul Erdős was one of the most prolific mathematicians to ever live, known for showing up at the door of others in the field and declaring they should host and feed him while they do maths together. His radical life should be immortalised by Hollywood in a comedy biopic, says columnist Jacob Aron

Paul Erdős was one of the most prolific mathematicians to ever live, known for showing up at the door of others in the field and declaring they should host and feed him while they do maths together. His radical life should be immortalised by Hollywood in a comedy biopic, says columnist Jacob Aron

Earthquake swarms can supercharge microbial growth

How do figure skaters like Ilia Malinin keep landing harder and harder jumps?

One type of friction can waste energy even when two perfectly smooth surfaces move against each other, but researchers are getting a handle on how to attenuate or stop it completely

One type of friction can waste energy even when two perfectly smooth surfaces move against each other, but researchers are getting a handle on how to attenuate or stop it completely

Babies show innate rhythm as NASA’s Artemis II mission hits delays, a major solar flare erupts and concerns grow over PFAS “forever chemicals”

Humans might have been sailing the sea between Greenland and Canada as long as it’s been unfrozen, archaeological evidence suggests

Earth Observatory

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2. Earth Observatory
3. A Grand, Snow-Rimmed Canyon

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Earth Observatory

1. Science
2. Earth Observatory
3. A Grand, Snow-Rimmed Canyon

• Earth
• Earth Observatory
• Image of the Day
• EO Explorer
• Topics
• More Content
• About