News

Scientists have predicted that our Milky Way galaxy may host more than 100 faint satellite galaxies—far beyond the roughly 60 that have already been cataloged—using cutting-edge dark matter simulations and new mathematical models (Live Science, July 14, 2025).

A landmark study published by the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research and Utrecht University reveals a startling reality: The North Atlantic Ocean contains some 27 million tons of nanoplastics—pollution so fine that it had long evaded detection.

Whether it’s the conflict in Gaza, the war in Ukraine, or recent actions against Iran, many are quick these days to cry “war crime”—though, generally, they only do so about actions taken by the side they personally find offensive. Frankly, the idea that only certain acts in war, with all of its murder and destruction, should be designated “crimes” is fundamentally odd. War is terribly destructive physically, mentally, and ecologically. In humanity’s attempt to “moralize” war, governments devise conventions and treaties banning what they believe to be the worst of war’s atrocities.

According to an extensive survey, 62 percent of all commercial honeybee colonies died between June 2024 and January 2025 (Science, June 30, 2025). This record-setting die-off followed the death of 55 percent of commercial colonies the previous winter. New research found that almost all the hives tested positive for viruses spread by the varroa mite, which has affected colonies worldwide since the 1980s.

The war in Ukraine has changed Europe, especially Eastern Europe. Nations that recently felt safe from conflict are now preparing for the inevitable. In the words of an Estonian official who oversees crisis preparedness, “It’s not a question of if [Russia] will attack. It is a question about when” (Politico, June 16, 2025).