– January 7, 2026 (London time) – One of the biggest recent surprises in astronomy is the discovery that most stars like the Sun harbor a planet between the size of Earth and Neptune within the orbit of Mercury — sizes and orbits absent from our solar system. These ‘super-Earths and sub-Neptunes’ are the galaxy's most common planets, but their formation has been shrouded in mystery. Now, an international team of astronomers has found a crucial missing link. By weighing four newborn planets in the V1298 Tau system, they've captured a rare snapshot of worlds in the process of transforming into the galaxy's most common planetary types.

Ventilatory ratio (VR) is a simple bedside index reflecting pulmonary dead space and is associated with outcomes in acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This study developed and validated separate 30-day mortality prediction models for high and low VR subgroups using multicenter critical care databases. Subgroup-specific models demonstrated superior predictive performance compared with cross-applied models, highlighting the importance of VR-based stratification for improving prognostic accuracy and supporting more individualized ARDS management strategies.

Scientists at the University of Missouri have identified a small group of unusual objects in the early universe. Using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), Haojing Yan and his team at Mizzou’s College of Arts and Science spotted these strange objects, which seem like one galactic thing but have the unmistakable fingerprints of something else entirely.

Advanced quantum detectors designed at Texas A&M University are reinventing the search for dark matter, an unseen force that science has yet to explain.

Our galaxy’s supermassive black hole is famous for being one of the dimmest in the universe. Evidence from a new space telescope shows that might not always have been the case. Sagittarius A*, located at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, appears to have flared dramatically sometime within the past few hundred to 1,000 years, according to X-ray emissions observed by the XRISM space telescope. These surprising findings unveil new details of how supermassive black holes evolve. They also teach astronomers lessons about the history of our cosmic home.

Acute sepsis profoundly changes how intravenous fluids behave within the body. Using a sheep model, researchers investigated fluid distribution during health and sepsis following crystalloid infusion. They found that sepsis reduced urine output, impaired vascular responsiveness, and diverted most infused fluid into a nonfunctional interstitial third space. These alterations explain why standard fluid therapy becomes less effective during sepsis and underscore challenges in managing circulation and organ perfusion clinically safely.