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scienceThursday, July 23, 2026

Europe's heat-driven drought crisis deepens

The climate crisis is making Europe's drought far more likely and severe, with a new study quantifying just how much global heating is to blame. Meanwhile, a dark matter lab nears completion in Australia, and scientists finally explain why female southern right whales float upside down.

Sources

Climate and drought

A stark new attribution study puts numbers on how global heating is driving Europe's drying soils and water bodies.

#01www.theguardian.comJul 23

Climate crisis-driven heat ‘sucking soils dry’ as extreme drought hits Europe

The Guardian reports on a scientific analysis showing climate crisis-driven heat is 'sucking soils dry' across Europe. The study found heatwave conditions are now 80 times more likely in western Europe and 40 times more likely in eastern Europe due to global heating, with soil dryness in the west made five times more likely by fossil fuel emissions.

8 min readRead original

Physics and space

Two deep-science stories from opposite ends of the spectrum: dark matter detection and whale behavior.

#02www.spaceaustralia.comJul 23

Australia’s Dark Matter Quest | Spaceaustralia

Spaceaustralia visits the nearly completed Stawell Underground Physics Laboratory in Victoria, Australia, which will host a sensitive dark matter detector a kilometer underground. The facility aims to detect elusive dark matter particles thought to make up a quarter of the universe's mass.

#03www.nationalgeographic.comJul 23

Scientists finally have an explanation for this weird whale behavior

National Geographic reports on a new theory explaining why female southern right whales float upside down. Based on rare video footage, scientists propose the behavior is an energy-saving strategy for mothers during long migrations between Antarctic feeding grounds and warmer breeding grounds.

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How ESA's Moonlight program aims to provide navigation and communications services on the Moonstarlust.org
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Multi-Agent AI Framework Targets High-Purity Recovery of Critical Transition Metalswww.azom.com
The U.S. Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory will lead a Genesis Mission project to help secure the nation’s critical mineral supply by developing AI tools to improve recovery of valuable transition metals from spent lithium-ion batteries.