Earth system science

A compilation of recent solar system discoveries from the past few months is drawing attention, pulling together findings from recent planetary science reports. The roundup highlights how quickly new observations of planets, moons, and small bodies are accumulating, and viewers are engaging heavily with the summary of what has been learned about Earth's cosmic neighbourhood lately.

Astronomers have reported detecting a radio signal from Beta Pictoris b, a giant exoplanet orbiting the young star Beta Pictoris about 63 light-years from Earth. The observation, covered by science outlets, is drawing attention because radio emissions from a planet beyond the solar system could offer a new way to study exoplanets' magnetic fields and atmospheres.

NASA reports that the James Webb Space Telescope has provided new insights into colossal planet-destroying collisions, capturing observations of debris and aftermath from impacts between planetary bodies. The findings give scientists a rare look at the violent processes that shape planetary systems, echoing the kind of giant impact thought to have formed Earth's Moon.

Researchers writing in Nature argue that environmental legal frameworks need to be updated to reflect Earth system dynamics, meaning the interconnected processes that regulate the planet's climate, ecosystems and stability. They say current laws treat environmental problems in isolation, while issues like climate change and biodiversity loss interact across scales, and legal systems must evolve to manage these systemic risks effectively.

NASA's OSIRIS-REx mission brought samples of asteroid Bennu back to Earth, and analyses show the space rock contains material from both the inner and outer reaches of the Solar System. Researchers describe Bennu as a kind of 'Frankenstein' asteroid, assembled from fragments with very different origins, offering new clues about how the Solar System formed.