The space station is a critical platform for large-scale scientific experiments and an outpost for deep-space exploration. Within it, complex conditions such as microgravity, radiation, containment, and oligotrophy create a unique environment where microbial communities coexist with humans, significantly influencing the ecosystem stability.

Recently, Science China Life Sciences published an article titled "An Early Microbial Landscape: Insights from the China Space Station Habitation Area Microbiome Program (CHAMP)." This study provides the first comprehensive analysis of the characteristics and temporal dynamics of microbial communities during the early operational phase of China space station. The results offer a scientific foundation for microbial management in future long-term manned missions, emphasizing the importance of microbial balance for both human health and mission success.

Lead, pesticides, brominated flame retardants, plastic additives, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),  and heavy metals. This is what researchers at Lund University in Sweden found when they collected dead hedgehogs to investigate the environmental pollutants found in urban environments. 

Policies around waste management and processing are making global inequalities worse, argues an environmental professor.

New projections by the UNSW Institute for Climate Risk & Response (ICRR) reveal a 4°C rise in global temperatures would cut world GDP by around 40% by 2100 – a stark increase from previous estimates of around 11%.