Science & Tech news · 26 October 2026
NASA's Swift Observatory Ends Its Nearly 22-Year Science Mission
NASA has officially ended the science mission of the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory after nearly 22 years, as its orbit dropped too low for stable telescope pointing. The spacecraft is expected to re-enter the atmosphere within weeks.
RIKEN Scientists Achieve Simultaneous High-Fidelity Control of Five Silicon Spin Qubits
RIKEN researchers have simultaneously controlled five silicon spin qubits at approximately 99.9% fidelity, overcoming a key error source that had blocked the scaling of silicon quantum processors.
James Webb Telescope Finds Three Black Holes Inside One Ancient Galaxy
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have discovered three simultaneously active supermassive black holes inside a single galaxy located over 12.5 billion light-years away, just 1.2 billion years after the Big Bang.
A Painted Liquid Can Stop Tooth Decay in Children Without Drilling
A large US clinical trial published in JAMA Pediatrics found that a silver diamine fluoride solution applied in seconds to young children's teeth arrested decay in over half of affected baby teeth, with no drilling, injections, or sedation needed.
Heat Pumps Will Strain Electricity Grids Far More Than Climate Change Itself
A University of Michigan study modelling 183 US counties through 2060 found that widespread heat-pump adoption could increase extreme peak electricity demand by up to 104% in cold regions — a larger effect than climate warming alone.