{"id":480713,"date":"2026-03-17T17:27:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T17:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/480713\/"},"modified":"2026-03-17T17:27:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T17:27:11","slug":"live-science-today-super-el-nino-looms-and-starlink-hits-10000-satellites-in-orbit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/480713\/","title":{"rendered":"Live Science Today: Super El Ni\u00f1o looms and Starlink hits 10,000 satellites in orbit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today’s top story <\/p>\n

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\"The\n<\/p>\n

More heatwaves could be on the way as forecasters predict the onset of El Ni\u00f1o. (Image credit: Kevin Carter via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

A “super El Ni\u00f1o” is on the cards this summer, and it could supercharge temperatures to make 2027 a contender for the hottest year on record<\/a>.<\/p>\n

That’s according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Climate Prediction Center, which declared there is a 62% chance the natural climate pattern will emerge between June and August, and a 1-in-3 likelihood it will be especially strong.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

That’s big news for our increasingly disrupted climate, with El Ni\u00f1o<\/a> tending to strengthen hurricane activity over the central and eastern Pacific while suppressing hurricanes in the Atlantic, and triggering extreme weather such as floods, droughts and heatwaves across the globe.<\/p>\n

The trend<\/p>\n

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\"Parallel\n<\/p>\n

Parallel streaks in the skies left by satellites, many of them Starlink constellations. Starlink accounts for roughly two-thirds of all active satellites in orbit. (Image credit: Alan Dyer\/VWPics\/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

There are now 10,000 Starlink<\/a> satellites above our heads. The news comes as a Falcon 9 rocket, which launched from California last night, added 25 new satellites to the growing low Earth orbit constellation<\/a>. [Spaceflight Now]<\/p>\n

It’s a remarkable technical achievement, especially considering the tens of thousands of avoidance maneuvers satellites in the array need to complete to avoid crashing into each other. But it also comes at a great cost to radio astronomy<\/a> and potentially to nearby spacecraft<\/a>, while also raising the odds of an uncontrolled orbital chain reaction<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Three to readU.K. officials race to contain the spread of a bacterial strain of meningitis behind a fatal outbreak in Kent, England.<\/a> [The Guardian]Federal court blocks Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.\u2019s vaccine changes, alongside his remaking of a key vaccine advisory panel.<\/a> [The Hill]A single injection of mRNA-like treatment could help heart muscle heal after a heart attack in mice and pigs. Could it work in humans too?<\/a> [Live Science]Say it, said it<\/p>\n

Word of the day: Etosha \u2014 An Oshindonga (dialect of Namibian) word that translates roughly to “Great White Place.” The Etosha Pan is an approximately 1,800-square-mile (4,700 square kilometers) salt flat north of Namibia’s capital, Windhoek. And it looks absolutely stunning from space<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Quote of the day: “Think of your brain like a city: while the whole city is awake and active, a few specific ‘neighborhoods’ (brain regions) decide to turn off their lights for a second. If those neighborhoods are responsible for attention, you experience a lapse.”<\/p>\n

Elaine Pinggal<\/a>, a neuroscientist at Monash University, Melbourne, on how sleep-like brain activity can make our attentions lapse, and how adults with ADHD experience them much more often<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fun and games<\/p>\n

This crossword by Senior Staff Writer Harry Baker<\/a> took our Editor-in-Chief Alexander McNamara<\/a> one minute and 55 seconds to complete. Think you can beat him?<\/p>\n

Follow Live Science on social media<\/p>\n

Want more science news? Follow our Live Science WhatsApp Channel<\/a> for the latest discoveries as they happen. It’s the best way to get our expert reporting on the go, but if you don’t use WhatsApp we’re also on Facebook<\/a>, X (formerly Twitter)<\/a>, Flipboard<\/a>, Instagram<\/a>, TikTok<\/a>, Bluesky<\/a> and LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/p>\n