A massive landslide on Aug. 10, 2025, at Tracy Arm fjord in southeast Alaska generated a megatsunami with an estimated run-up of about 481 metres, the second-highest wave ever recorded. Researchers led by Dan Shugar reconstructed the event using satellite imagery, seismic records, field surveys and modelling and determined roughly 64 million cubic metres of rock collapsed onto the toe of the South Sawyer glacier in under a minute. The collapse produced a seismic signal equivalent to a magnitude 5.4 event and set up a seiche that oscillated in the fjord for roughly 36 hours. Happening in the early morning, the wave struck an area frequently visited by cruise ships and tour boats but caused no reported fatalities; several operators have since removed Tracy Arm from itineraries. Authors of the study, published in Science on May 6, 2026, link the failure to rapid glacier retreat and warn that warming-driven ice loss is increasing the hazard of landslide-generated tsunamis in fjord regions globally.

Researchers at ETH Zurich and European partners have for the first time induced thousands of tiny, monitored earthquakes deep beneath the Swiss Alps as part of the Fault Activation and Earthquake Rupture (FEAR-2) experiment. Working in the BedrettoLab — a facility carved into a 5.2 km ventilation tunnel beneath about 1.5 km of mountain — teams injected 750 cubic metres of water into boreholes over four days in late April, remotely controlled from Zurich. The injections produced roughly 8,000 seismic events on the targeted fault and on nearby perpendicular faults, with local magnitudes ranging from about -5 to -0.14. The experiment fell just short of its magnitude-1 target; researchers plan another attempt in June to refine injection angles. No surface shaking was detected and scientists say the activity added only a small fraction of natural risk. The project aims to improve understanding of fault mechanics and to guide safer underground activity such as geothermal development, mining and wastewater disposal.

A tiny trans-Neptunian object beyond Neptune, cataloged (612533) 2002 XV93, appears to be encircled by an ultra-thin atmosphere, according to a study led by Ko Arimatsu of Japan’s National Astronomical Observatory published in Nature Astronomy in May 2026. Observers at three Japanese sites monitoring a January 10, 2024 stellar occultation recorded a gradual dimming of starlight — a refractive signature consistent with a gaseous envelope rather than a sharp occultation edge. The putative atmosphere is extremely tenuous, roughly 5 million to 10 million times thinner than Earth’s atmosphere and an estimated 50–100 times thinner than Pluto’s. Possible sources include recent cometary impact or active cryovolcanic outgassing, though alternative explanations such as rings were considered less consistent with the data. Authors call for independent verification — particularly spectroscopic follow-up with facilities like NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope — to confirm composition and persistence. Senior planetary scientists, including Alan Stern, have urged caution pending more observations.

Blue Origin’s uncrewed Blue Moon MK1 lander, Endurance, has completed a full environmental test campaign inside NASA’s large Thermal Vacuum Chamber at Johnson Space Center, agency and industry accounts said in early May 2026. The campaign simulated deep-space vacuum and extreme temperature cycles to validate electronics, thermal systems and structure ahead of an uncrewed Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) demonstration mission that will carry two NASA science payloads. Separately, a full-scale Blue Moon Mark 2 crew cabin mock-up is now operational at Johnson for human-in-the-loop training and design feedback as NASA prepares for orbital rendezvous and docking tests targeted for 2027 and crewed lunar returns in the following years. Blue Origin plans to launch its lander on its New Glenn rocket, but New Glenn’s flight status and schedule remain subject to an FAA investigation of a recent second-stage failure, a factor that could affect timelines. Key qualification steps still required include autonomous navigation, cryogenic propellant handling, precision landing and ascent back to orbit before any crewed missions.

NASA engineers at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California have tested next-generation Mars helicopter rotor blades in a simulated Martian atmosphere and driven rotor-tip speeds beyond Mach 1. During a 137-run campaign concluded in March, teams mounted a three-bladed rotor in JPL’s 25-Foot Space Simulator, evacuated the chamber and backfilled it with carbon dioxide to Martian pressures, then increased rpm and headwinds until tip speeds reached Mach 1.08 at about 3,750 rpm. That regime boosted lift by roughly 30%, a gain that could allow future aircraft to carry heavier science instruments, larger batteries and longer-duration flight systems. A two-bladed SkyFall rotor design reached comparable tip speeds at about 3,570 rpm. The rotors, built by AeroVironment, were tested to assess structural integrity near the sonic edge and to inform designs for the agency’s next-generation Mars aerial vehicles.

A study published online May 7, 2026 in the journal Emotion finds older adults report fewer recent regrets and experience less intense negative emotion when reflecting on past mistakes than younger adults. Researchers led by Julia Nolte surveyed 90 U.S. adults aged 21 to 89, asking participants to list up to five recent regrets (past year) and five long-term regrets, then rate the emotions each evoked and whether they were regrets of commission (actions taken) or omission (missed opportunities). While both age groups reported a similar number of long-term regrets, older participants showed lower levels of “hot” emotions such as anger, embarrassment and irritation and were less likely to undertake active psychological repair. Younger adults reported more regrets of commission and were more likely to plan corrective actions. The authors note the findings could reflect age-related shifts in emotion regulation or generational cohort differences and call for further research to determine underlying mechanisms and broader generalisability.