15 riveting images from the 2025 UN World Oceans Day Photo Competition

An Indian designer, Manish Tripathi, has created a mission badge for Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla’s upcoming Axiom-4 spaceflight—a design that blends India’s rich cultural heritage with its modern space ambitions. The badge features iconic symbols like the Gaganyaan mission logo, the historic Aryabhata satellite, and the Jantar Mantar observatory, all woven together with India’s map. It’s a small but meaningful way to showcase the country’s growing role in space exploration.

Editor’s Note: This isn’t just about a patch on a spacesuit—it’s a symbol of India’s rising influence in global space missions. By embedding cultural and scientific landmarks into the design, the badge tells a story of where India has been and where it’s headed. For a country making big moves in space (like the Gaganyaan mission), this kind of representation matters—it’s national pride, literally reaching for the stars.

Think "global warming" and "climate change" mean the same thing? Not quite. This piece breaks it down: global warming is about rising temps (thanks to stuff like burning fossil fuels and chopping down forests), while climate change covers the bigger domino effect—wild weather, melting ice, and seas creeping higher. The good news? We’re not powerless. Switching to clean energy and planting more trees can help put the brakes on the mess we’ve made.

Editor’s Note: Words matter, especially when we’re talking about the planet’s future. Understanding the difference between these terms isn’t just semantics—it shapes how we grasp the crisis and what we do about it. Plus, the article nudges us toward solutions, which is key when eco-anxiety runs high. It’s a reminder that while the stakes are massive, so are our chances to act.

A new study shows that fish, such as rainbow trout, suffer severe pain for up to 24 minutes when killed using standard methods like air asphyxiation. The research highlights that the distress isn’t just during slaughter—stressful conditions before death also worsen their suffering. Scientists are pushing for better stunning techniques and stricter welfare rules to reduce this prolonged agony.

Editor’s Note: Most of us don’t think much about how the fish on our plates actually die, but this study forces a tough conversation. If fish feel pain for that long, it challenges the ethics of current fishing and farming practices. It’s not just about humane treatment—it could also push for industry changes, from how fish are caught to how they’re processed. Whether you eat seafood or not, it’s a reminder that how we treat animals, even out of sight, matters.

Astronomers have spotted something wild in the distant YSES-1 system—thick, high-altitude clouds packed with minerals (possibly even iron) swirling around a young exoplanet called YSES-1b. These clouds are so dense they might be causing literal iron rain to fall on the planet. The whole system is just a baby in cosmic terms, only a million years old, and it’s already serving up fascinating clues about how planets form. Plus, there’s a mysterious dust disk hanging around, adding another layer to the puzzle.

Editor’s Note: This isn’t just a sci-fi fantasy—it’s real science showing us how bizarre and extreme alien worlds can be. Studying young systems like YSES-1 helps astronomers piece together how planets, including our own, came to be. And iron rain? That’s the kind of weird, dramatic detail that reminds us the universe is way stranger than we imagine.

NASA is firing up rockets from a tiny Pacific island to study weird, patchy clouds in the upper atmosphere that keep messing with radio signals. These "Sporadic-E layers" appear randomly in the ionosphere and can scramble GPS, radio comms, and even air traffic control systems. The SEED mission will chase down why these disruptive clouds form near the equator, hoping to crack the code on their erratic behavior.

Editor’s Note: Ever lost GPS signal or had your radio cut out unexpectedly? Blame these invisible atmospheric troublemakers. NASA’s not just launching rockets for fun—they’re trying to fix a real-world headache for pilots, sailors, and your phone’s navigation. If they figure out how these clouds work, we might get fewer dropped calls and more reliable tech where it counts.