Solar Science
July 2026
Every article published in July 2026. 860 articles · Back to full archive
Constellations
In May 1986, Leonid Kizim and Vladimir Solovyov left the newly opened Mir, crossed 2,500 kilometres to Salyut 7, and returned carrying 350 to 400 kilograms of instruments — the only human voyage ever made from one space station to another
Constellations
In July 2026, German rocket startup Isar Aerospace signed a Nova Scotia launch-site agreement whose disclosed quarterly fee schedule totals US$112.5 million before per-launch charges, with plans for up to 40 flights a year from a Spectrum rocket that has never reached orbit
Science
A new study of seventeen tyrannosaur skeletons suggests T. rex took roughly forty years to reach its full size — meaning the most famous predator in history spent most of its life as something other than the giant we picture
Black Holes
In July 2026, Europe's Euclid telescope found 31 of the oldest quasars ever seen, two now shining with the light of a trillion suns when the cosmos was just 5 percent of its present age — their glow 13 billion years in the coming
Science
The rocks at the very summit of Mount Everest are limestone formed on an ancient ocean floor, and fossils of trilobites, sea lilies, and tiny crustaceans have been found in samples collected just six metres below the top of the highest point on Earth
Car Tech
On July 8, 2026, Waymo announced fully driverless taxis for four more American cities, its fleet now giving about half a million rides a week and aiming for a million a week before the year is out
Science
Scott Kelly spent 340 days aboard the ISS, and his telomeres—the protective caps on chromosomes that generally shorten with age—unexpectedly grew longer in orbit. Most shortened again within two days of landing, ultimately leaving him with many more critically short telomeres than before the mission, alongside separate signs of lasting chromosome damage.
Constellations
In 2026, the FCC authorized radio operations for Reflect Orbital’s first 18-metre space mirror, a single demonstration for a proposed 50,000-satellite system that one astronomy model says could raise the natural night-sky background by 200% to 300%
Mind & Meaning
Pooling 71 studies of nearly 100,000 people, researchers found heavier short-video use was linked to poorer attention, weaker impulse control and more stress — a pattern that held across youths and adults
Science
A typical AI-focused data centre consumes as much electricity as 100,000 homes; that demand has helped trigger a race to put computing clusters into orbit, where companies argue that near-continuous sunlight could eliminate the utility bill — though the solar arrays, launches and cooling hardware would still cost millions.
Technology
On 2 August 2026, Europe's grace period on its landmark AI law ends and the Commission gains the power to fine the makers of the most powerful models — for how they trained them and for what those systems do in the world
Constellations
We tend to assume life needs a star to begin, but a 2025 study found that some moons carried into deep space by planets expelled during supernova explosions could preserve subsurface oceans for billions of years — heated not by sunlight, but by the repeated gravitational flexing of their orbits.
Science
Mountain gorillas build immense muscle on leaves and stems — and the gut microbes that help power them produce the same short-chain fatty acids your own body absorbs
Constellations
SpaceX has asked to place 100,000 Gen3 satellites into 20 orbital shells split between 323–327.5 and 473–477.5 kilometers above Earth, each weighing up to 2,500 kilograms — more than 200 million kilograms of spacecraft before a single launch vehicle or drop of propellant is counted
Mind & Meaning