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Indian Space Agency's Satellite Mission Fails Due to Technical Issue in Launch Vehicle

This photo released by Indian Space Research Organization shows the EOS-09 Earth observation satellite on board the PSLV-C61 launch vehicle at Sriharikota space center in southern India, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Indian Space Research Organization via AP)
This photo released by Indian Space Research Organization shows the EOS-09 Earth observation satellite on board the PSLV-C61 launch vehicle at Sriharikota space center in southern India, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Indian Space Research Organization via AP)
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Indian Space Agency's Satellite Mission Fails Due to Technical Issue in Launch Vehicle

This photo released by Indian Space Research Organization shows the EOS-09 Earth observation satellite on board the PSLV-C61 launch vehicle at Sriharikota space center in southern India, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Indian Space Research Organization via AP)
This photo released by Indian Space Research Organization shows the EOS-09 Earth observation satellite on board the PSLV-C61 launch vehicle at Sriharikota space center in southern India, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (Indian Space Research Organization via AP)

The Indian space agency’s mission to launch into orbit a new Earth observation satellite failed after the launch vehicle encountered a technical issue during the third stage of flight, officials said Sunday.
The EOS-09 Earth observation satellite took off on board the PSLV-C61 launch vehicle from the Sriharikota space center in southern India on Sunday morning, The Associated Press said.
“During the third stage ... there was a fall in the chamber pressure of the motor case, and the mission could not be accomplished,” said V. Narayanan, chief of the Indian Space Research Organization.
Active in space research since the 1960s, India has launched satellites for itself and other countries, and successfully put one in orbit around Mars in 2014.
After a failed attempt to land on the moon in 2019, India became the first country to land a spacecraft near the moon’s south pole in 2023 in a historic voyage to uncharted territory that scientists believe could hold reserves of frozen water. The mission was dubbed as a technological triumph for the world’s most populous nation.

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Semi-Transparent Crab, Tiny Lantern Shark Discovered in Australia

The new species of porcelain crab was found more than 100m below the ocean's surface. (CSIRO/Cindy Bessey)
The new species of porcelain crab was found more than 100m below the ocean's surface. (CSIRO/Cindy Bessey)
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Semi-Transparent Crab, Tiny Lantern Shark Discovered in Australia

The new species of porcelain crab was found more than 100m below the ocean's surface. (CSIRO/Cindy Bessey)
The new species of porcelain crab was found more than 100m below the ocean's surface. (CSIRO/Cindy Bessey)

A semi-transparent crab about the size of an almond and a tiny, glowing lantern shark are among two new species discovered by Australian scientists exploring the deep sea.

In late 2022, scientists from Australia's science agency CSIRO embarked on a research voyage in the Gascoyne Marine Park, about 20km off the coast of Western Australia.

According to BBC, Australia is one of the world's biggest biodiversity hotspots, home to more than a million different species, many of which are not found anywhere else on earth.

But - like much of the globe - large swathes of its water remain unexplored, and the animal and plant life within them unknown to science.

Among the hundreds of specimens collected during the 2022 voyage was the newly described West Australian Lantern Shark. Growing up to 40cm, it has large eyes and a glowing belly, and was found more than 600m below the ocean's surface.

“Lantern sharks are bioluminescent, with light produced by photophores located on their belly and flanks, which is where their common name comes from,” Dr Will White, a fish scientist, said.

They also discovered a new type of porcelain crab, about 1.5cm in length and found about 122m below sea level. They use hairs to catch food, instead of their claws.

“Porcelain crabs are known as filter feeders, feeding on plankton by using modified mouthparts with long hairs to sweep the water for small pieces of food such as plankton, rather than the typical crab method of grabbing and pinching food with their claws,” said Dr. Andrew Hosie, curator of aquatic zoology from the Western Australian Museum.

About 20 new species have been unearthed as a result of the voyage so far, including the Carnavon Flapjack Octopus, a rusty red creature around 4cm big.

Researchers estimate about 600 more are yet to be described and named, as it can take years for scientists to gather the information to prove they are unique.

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Mosquitoes Discovered in Iceland for First Time

Northern Lights, also called aurora borealis, illuminate the night sky near the town of Thorlakshofn, Iceland, October 12, 2025. (Reuters)
Northern Lights, also called aurora borealis, illuminate the night sky near the town of Thorlakshofn, Iceland, October 12, 2025. (Reuters)
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Mosquitoes Discovered in Iceland for First Time

Northern Lights, also called aurora borealis, illuminate the night sky near the town of Thorlakshofn, Iceland, October 12, 2025. (Reuters)
Northern Lights, also called aurora borealis, illuminate the night sky near the town of Thorlakshofn, Iceland, October 12, 2025. (Reuters)

Mosquitoes have been discovered in Iceland in a first for the island nation, which has long been one of the world's mosquito-free places, a researcher told AFP Monday.

Three Culiseta annulata mosquitoes, two females and one male, were sighted around 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the capital Reykjavik, according to Matthias Alfredsson, an entomologist at the Natural Science Institute of Iceland.

"They were all collected from wine ropes... aimed at attracting moths," the researcher said in an email, referring to a method of adding sugar to heated wine and dipping ropes or strips of fabric into the solution, which are then hung outside to entice the sweet-toothed insects.

Along with Antarctica, Iceland has long been one of the few places on earth without a mosquito population.

"It is the first record of mosquitoes occurring in the natural environment in Iceland. A single Aedes nigripes specimen (arctic mosquito species) was collected many years ago from an airplane at Keflavik airport," Alfredsson said, adding that "unfortunately, that specimen is lost."

Their presence could "indicate a recent introduction to the country, possibly via ships or containers," he said, but further monitoring in spring would be necessary to determine their further spread.

Rising temperatures, longer summers and milder winters, all brought on by climate change, create a more favorable environment for mosquitoes to thrive.

But Alfredsson did not believe that a warmer climate explained the discovery.

The species "appears to be well adapted to colder climates," which "allows them to withstand long, harsh winters when temperatures drop below freezing," he said.

He added that its "diverse breeding habitats... further enhances its ability to persist in Iceland's challenging environment."

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Indian Capital Chokes after Diwali Firework Frenzy

Toxic air blanketed India's capital after fireworks set off for the Hindu festival of Diwali worsened air pollution. Arun SANKAR / AFP
Toxic air blanketed India's capital after fireworks set off for the Hindu festival of Diwali worsened air pollution. Arun SANKAR / AFP
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Indian Capital Chokes after Diwali Firework Frenzy

Toxic air blanketed India's capital after fireworks set off for the Hindu festival of Diwali worsened air pollution. Arun SANKAR / AFP
Toxic air blanketed India's capital after fireworks set off for the Hindu festival of Diwali worsened air pollution. Arun SANKAR / AFP

Toxic air in India's capital hit more than 56 times the UN health limit early Tuesday, after fireworks for the Hindu festival of Diwali worsened air pollution.

This month, the Supreme Court relaxed a ban on fireworks during the festival of lights, allowing the use of less-polluting "green firecrackers" -- designed to emit fewer particulates, AFP.

The ban was widely ignored in past years, however, and environmental groups have expressed doubts about the efficacy of the supposedly greener explosives.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, just after the peak of the bursting fireworks, levels of cancer-causing PM 2.5 microparticles hit 846 micrograms per cubic meter in parts of New Delhi, according to monitoring organization IQAir.

That is more than 56 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum.

By Tuesday morning, PM2.5 concentrations had eased to around 320 micrograms per cubic meter — roughly 23 times WHO limits, but relatively typical for New Delhi in winter.

The city regularly ranks as among the most polluted capitals.

A study in The Lancet Planetary Health last year estimated that 3.8 million deaths in India between 2009 and 2019 were linked to air pollution.

The UN children's agency warns that polluted air puts children at heightened risk of acute respiratory infections.