Astronomers Believe They’ve Detected an Atmosphere Around a Tiny, Icy World Beyond Pluto

This undated handout artist's impression released on May 4, 2026 shows the trans-Neptunian object (612533) 2002 XV93 occulting a background star as observations of a stellar occultation in January 2024 revealed gradual fading and recovery of the starlight, providing evidence for a very thin atmosphere around the object. (Handout / National Astronomical Observatory of Japan/Ko Arimatsu / AFP)

17:03-4 May 2026 AD ـ 19 Thul-Qi’dah 1447 AH

A new study suggests that a tiny, icy world beyond Pluto harbors a thin, delicate atmosphere that may have been created by volcanic eruptions or a comet strike.

Just 300 miles (500 kilometers) or so across, this mini Pluto is thought to be the solar system's smallest object yet with a clearly detected global atmosphere bound by gravity, said lead researcher Ko Arimatsu of the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan.

“This is an amazing development, but it sorely needs independent verification. The implications are profound if verified,” said Southwest Research Institute's Alan Stern, the lead scientist behind NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto and beyond. He was not involved in the study.

The finding offers fresh insight into our solar system’s farthest, coldest objects in a region known as the Kuiper Belt. Researchers used three telescopes in Japan to observe the object in 2024 as it passed in front of a background star, briefly dimming the starlight.

“It changes our view of small worlds in the solar system, not only beyond Neptune,” Arimatsu said in an email. Finding an atmosphere around such a small object was “genuinely surprising," he added, and challenges “the conventional view that atmospheres are limited to large planets, dwarf planets and some large moons.”

This so-called minor planet — formally known as (612533) 2002 XV93 — is considered a plutino, circling the sun twice in the time it takes Neptune to complete three solar orbits. At the time of the study, it was more than 3.4 billion miles (5.5 billion kilometers) away, farther than even Pluto, the only other object in the Kuiper Belt with an observed atmosphere.

This cosmic iceball’s atmosphere is believed to be 5 million to 10 million times thinner than Earth’s protective atmosphere, according to the study appearing Monday in the journal Nature Astronomy.

It’s 50 to 100 times thinner than even Pluto’s tenuous atmosphere. The likeliest atmospheric chemicals are methane, nitrogen or carbon monoxide, any of which could reproduce the observed dimming as the object passed before the star, according to Arimatsu.

Further observations, especially by NASA’s Webb Space Telescope, could verify the makeup of the atmosphere, according to Arimatsu.

“That is why future monitoring is so important," he said. "If the atmosphere fades over the next several years, that would support an impact origin. If it persists, or varies seasonally, that would point more toward ongoing internal gas supply” from ice volcanoes.

Centuries-old Japanese Art of Ikebana Draws Those Seeking Calm

This photo released by Hiroyuki Okada shows a free-style Ikenobo ikebana arrangement in Tokyo on March 11, 2026. (Hiroyuki Okada via AP)

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16:01-23 September 2026 AD ـ 12 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1448 AH

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16:01-23 September 2026 AD ـ 12 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1448 AH

Centuries-old Japanese Art of Ikebana Draws Those Seeking Calm

This photo released by Hiroyuki Okada shows a free-style Ikenobo ikebana arrangement in Tokyo on March 11, 2026. (Hiroyuki Okada via AP)

Ikebana, the Japanese art of arranging flowers, is a form of expression that dates back more than 500 years. It continues to blossom, quietly, not only with traditionalists but also with newcomers who find its blend of creativity and mindfulness to be restorative.

Ikebana can be a bit like solving a puzzle, except there’s no fixed answer. Because each flower, and human individual, is different, there are multiple solutions.

“There’s a ‘detox’ purifying factor, and a healing,” says Hiroyuki Okada, 40, who began taking lessons in ikebana about seven years ago. He now teaches Ikenobo, the oldest of three major ikebana schools, The Associated Press reported.

Ikenobo headmaster designate Senko Ikenobo speaks during an interview in Tokyo, on July 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Mayuko Ono)

Okada, who also teaches backflips to anyone who wants to learn, usually wears silver chains and jeans, but he wears a nice kimono when he formally demonstrates his arrangements. He considers himself typical of those drawn to ikebana today, people looking for joy, purpose, or solace from the daily grind or pain of modern life.

“In arranging (flowers), you are dealing with the life that is there, the beauty, of course, but you find what’s in your heart,” said Okada. “You come face to face with yourself.”

The Kyoto-based Ikenobo school, which is rooted in Buddhism, now has chapters around the world.

Okada's previous job at a nonprofit involved talking to people from around the world, and he realized how different — and alike — people were. When he switched to his current job, at a flower shop, he decided to take up a pursuit that was Japanese, so he could explore that aspect of himself, and one that could be done for a long time, alone.

Ikenobo ikebana instructor Hiroyuki Okada demonstrates a basic flower arrangement style called “Shoka Shofutai” at a studio in Tokyo on Aug. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuri Kageyama)

Observing how flowers and plants grow is part of the art Ikebana involves interacting with nature, although on a small scale — usually in a little vase.

“It is about the relationship of the creator with the flowers,” said Senko Ikenobo, headmaster-designate of the Ikenobo school.

Her family dates back generations to the originators of the art. Her father is the current headmaster.

Jeannette Haviland-Jones, professor of social psychology at Rutgers University, says studies have shown “that flowers and even flower scents promote happiness in people. We suggested a coevolutionary theory for this in which flowers became the ‘pets’ of the plant world.”

Besides a flower's beauty and fragrance, the feel of its petals and leaves to the touch is crucial, like petting a kitten or a puppy, according to Okada.

There are toddlers who do Ikenobo, copying their moms, and there are devoted centenarians. The headmaster-designate says she has seen ikebana help women who are juggling work and motherhood, or taking care of aging parents.

Ikebana has a healing effect similar to that of yoga, meditation or play, says Mayu Shimizu, who works for an online educational service and has been taking lessons from Okada for about three years.

“I like this moment of nothingness when you are concentrating on the flowers before you,” she says. “My mind feels clearer. I feel more at peace, and gentle.”

One traditional Ikenobo arrangement is shoka shofutai, which attempts to arrange the flowers, leaves and branches as they might look in nature, reaching toward sunlight or bending in the wind. The vase, sometimes crafted from wood or pottery, also becomes part of the arrangement's vision.

Yet the overall look is pure and simple, expressing the life cycle of flowers — from blossoming through withering — through three main elements:

— Shin, the tallest element, is arranged first, representing one's core, reaching up toward the sky.

— Soe, which is trimmed to about two-thirds the height of the shin and is placed at the side, expresses the flower’s individuality. The leaves might be slightly faded, representing the later stages of life.

— Tai, the third element, is the future. Choose a blossom or fresh small leaves — things that are being born.

There are also freer, spinoff styles that look more like casual, Western-style bouquets than the stoic, textbook-oriented shoka shofutai. That may feel easier, and more fun, for beginners.

Just as ikebana connects a person with flowers, those who practice the art say it’s also about the passing of the art over generations, connecting people.

Varieties

In First, French Presidential Candidate Gives Birth During Campaign

Marine Tondelier, National Secretary of Les Ecologistes (the Ecologists - EELV - French Green Party) party arrives for a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron about the situation in the Middle East and Ukraine and their consequences for France's security and energy supplies, at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, September 18, 2026. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier

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10:12-23 September 2026 AD ـ 12 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1448 AH

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10:12-23 September 2026 AD ـ 12 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1448 AH

In First, French Presidential Candidate Gives Birth During Campaign

French Greens leader and candidate in the 2027 presidential election Marine Tondelier said Wednesday she had given birth to a son, emphasizing that she would press on campaigning while prioritizing the health of her child.

Tondelier, 40, was the first candidate in French politics to campaign while pregnant and, while acknowledging the challenges, she had expressed hope it would push issues including infertility and motherhood up the agenda.

Her boy Leon was born in Lens in northern France on September 18, Tondelier told AFP, saying the family had kept the news private for a few days.

He was born hours after Tondelier as Greens chief had attended a rare meeting at the Elysee Palace where President Emmanuel Macron had warned France's political leaders over the risk of Russian hybrid attacks.

She told AFP that the birth had gone "very well," adding that she would be "working differently" for a while and "trying to figure out how to balance a presidential campaign with a newborn, whose health and well-being come first."

Already the mother of a 7-year-old boy, Tondelier was confirmed as the candidate for the Greens on Monday. In December, the party will decide whether to maintain her candidacy or withdraw and throw the party's weight behind another left-wing figure.

Polls currently show Tondelier, who has the slogan "another Marine is possible!" in reference to far-right frontrunner Marine Le Pen, lagging well under five percent in the first round of voting.

Varieties

Voting Opens in Alaska's Annual Fat Bear Week

A brown bear eats his catch while fishing for salmon in Brooks Falls, Alaska on August 12, 2023. (Photo by JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

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07:16-23 September 2026 AD ـ 12 Rabi’ Al-Thani 1448 AH

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Voting Opens in Alaska's Annual Fat Bear Week

A brown bear eats his catch while fishing for salmon in Brooks Falls, Alaska on August 12, 2023. (Photo by JOHN MOORE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

Polls opened Tuesday in the only American election that really matters: Fat Bear Week.

While the United States might be gearing up for midterm ballots that will decide who runs Washington, hundreds of thousands of people were readying to vote on animals gorging themselves in rural Alaska.

In a contest that has rapidly become one of the internet's favorite moments, the brown bears of Katmai National Park unwittingly compete in a series of head-to-head contests to see which one of them has most impressively piled on the pounds ahead of hibernation.

Viewers can watch a livestream of the enormous animals as they scoop salmon from the Brooks River, or browse biographies of some of the top contenders, including before-and-after pictures showing how much weight the bears have gained over a summer of feasting.

"For each match-up, vote for the bear you believe best exemplifies fatness and success in brown bears," said organizers, according to AFP.

"The bear with the most votes advances to the next round. Only one will be crowned Fat Bear Week champion."

Last year's winner, Chunk, beat out a stiff challenge from two-time winner Grazer.

Summer and early autumn are key fueling periods for the brown bears, which will not eat for five months of hibernation, relying on their store of fat to survive the punishing Alaskan winter.

The online contest began in 2014 with just a few thousand people voting, but has now turned into an eagerly awaited exercise in tongue-in-cheek democracy with more than a million people voting every year.

The aim is to raise awareness of brown bears and their habitat in Alaska, and the risks they face from human activity.

Astronomers Believe They’ve Detected an Atmosphere Around a Tiny, Icy World Beyond Pluto

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Centuries-old Japanese Art of Ikebana Draws Those Seeking Calm

In First, French Presidential Candidate Gives Birth During Campaign

Voting Opens in Alaska's Annual Fat Bear Week

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