Might viruses encourage cancer growth?

June 19, 2026

Might viruses encourage cancer growth?

June 19, 2026—A strange shift in perspective occurs when viewing the Earth from space or from deep underwater. Plus, research on how viruses may encourage tumor growth, and remnants of a binary star system.

—Andrea Gawrylewski

Chief Newsletter Editor

TODAY'S NEWS

A large, red, irregularly shaped cloud sprawls across the upper half of the image. A turquoise cloud blooms at center, punctuated by bright stars and bursts of gas and dust.

This composite of radio, infrared, optical and ultraviolet data shows the region around IC 443, a famous supernova remnant also known as the Jellyfish Nebula. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/M. Michailidis et al. 2026; DSS (optical); MWSIP/ESA/Planck (radio); NASA/WISE/JPL-Caltech/UCLA (infrared); NASA/Swift (ultraviolet); SRG/eROSITA (x-ray)

These two clouds of supernova debris (which astronomers named the Jellyfish Nebula) may be the remnants of what was once a binary star system—a pair of stars bound together by gravity and orbiting a common center. | 3 min read
Japan’s catastrophic Tohoku-Oki earthquake in 2011 was so strong that it caused the entire country to “slip,” in some areas by as much as five or six millimeters, according to new research. | 3 min read
A new method that detects whether bones have been burned reveals Homo erectus brought fires into caves 1.79 million years ago, which is far earlier than previously thought. | 3 min read
In a world first, a man living with HIV received a lung transplant from an HIV-positive donor. | 3 min read
Ancient worshipers gathered at ruins just five kilometers from Stonehenge that researchers call a "prototype" for the famous archeological site. | 2 min read
Next summer, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft will approach several asteroids near Jupiter. It has already made some fascinating observations of one asteroid it flew by last year. | 3 min read
Irrational numbers like pi or the square root of 2 are not all irrational in the same way. In trying to approximate these numbers, mathematicians have discovered surprising patterns and mysteries. | 5 min read

TOP STORIES

We Should Be Both

As a child, physicist and writer Alan Lightman possessed a voracious curiosity about the natural world. That drive propelled him to devise rudimentary rockets, discover the laws of a swinging pendulum, build his own incubators and more, all as a very young person. “I was curious about the world. I wanted to understand why things were what they were,” he writes in our latest issue, which explores the state of American science. Meanwhile, he read poetry and wrote short stories. He also composed his own poetry, probing questions of morality and unrequited young love.

Why this matters: “I think many young people have a natural interest in the arts and humanities as well as in the sciences, but we are often pushed in one direction or the other by our friends, our parents and our teachers,” Lightman says. “We should resist those early pressures to be a ‘scientific type,’ always rational and deliberate, or an ‘artistic type,’ always intuitive and spontaneous. We can be both. And we should be both.”

“Science tells us about the physical world. The arts and humanities tell us how to live in that world, the world of people. Science has given us automobiles, antibiotics, computers. The humanities have given us values and guidance on how to live our lives. Now more than ever, when much of the world, including the U.S., has lost its moral compass, leading to a dog-eat-dog mentality, we need science combined with literature, philosophy, history and art. We need to discover not only the physical world but also our own humanity."

Black and white underwater photo of a diver on the seabed wearing a mask in front of a pod-like habitat

An underwater habitat in the U.S. Virgin Islands was first placed in 1969. NOAA Central Library Historical Fisheries Collection

The Underview Effect

When astronauts gaze over Earth from space, they experience “the overview effect,” which evokes a feeling of awe, gratitude, and connection to Earth. A recent study describing the experiences of 14 aquanauts shows how observing our planet from deep below sea level can cause a similar feeling.

What aquanauts feel: When marine biologist Mark Patterson stepped outside of his underwater lab at night, he was surrounded by bioluminescent plankton shining like stars. “That’s when I felt, ‘Wow, this is the coolest thing maybe I’m ever going to do: live underwater,’” he says. The study performed a series of interviews with Patterson and other divers and found evidence of a perspective shift coming from an intense sense of awe and connection to humanity and the planet. The authors suggested that the amount of time aquanauts spend living on the ocean floor (days, sometimes weeks) might be part of why this occurs, but each aquanaut experienced the effect differently.

What the experts say: You don’t have to go all the way to space to find awe in the natural world, says lead study author Kristen Kilgallen, a psychology Ph.D. candidate at Northeastern. It can come simply from trying something new that disrupts everyday routines. “You can find exploration rewarding in and of itself, regardless of what you find,” she says. “That’s what keeps you engaged with the world.” —Emma Gometz, newsletter editor

YOUNG AMERICAN SCIENTISTS

A GIF of an interview with Jaye Gardiner in a lab setting

Jeffery DelViscio

Jaye Gardiner is an assistant professor of biology at Tufts University, where her lab puts a unique spin on cancer research. The team explores whether consistent exposure to a routine virus such as the one that causes the common cold somehow changes the body’s extracellular matrix to make it more conducive to cancer growth. The extracellular matrix is made up of molecules that can make fibers and create networks and support for the body’s tissues. “I want to take the ideas and kind of run with the nonconventional connection between virology and cancer biology,” Gardiner says. Read more here and watch an interview with Gardiner about her work.

PLAY NOW

First question of this week's science quiz

How well did you keep up with science news this week? Put yourself to the test with this week's science quiz! Also, check out today's Spellements puzzle. Remember, if you spot any words missing from Spellements, send them to: games@newsletters.com.

RECOMMENDED READS

Every Friday in summer we're recommending a great, freshly-published science read. Tell us what you're reading, or if you try any of our recommendations!

Salt Lakes: An Unnatural History

By Caroline Tracey. Norton, April 3, 2026.

Salt Lakes by nature writer Caroline Tracey is a great fit for summer reading. The book follows her journeys exploring salt lakes—important, imperiled and very strange ecosystems—in the U.S. and beyond. Utah’s famous Great Salt Lake, where a partnership of environmentalists and Mormons are rallying to sustain a delicate ecosystem, launches Tracey’s story of learning to love these seemingly unimpressive places. Other locales featured include the dying Aral Sea, California’s artificial Salton Sea, and even Mexico City’s Lake Texcoco. Tracey pairs her evocative nature writing with an exploration of her own queer identity, putting a unique human spin on these landscapes. —Meghan Bartels, senior reporter

As a child, I remember discovering mica on the rocks on a gravel pathway behind our house; picking violets and pressing them between book pages; and watching a clutch of birds chirp furiously for their mother from a hole in a tree. Children are innately fascinated by the natural world, and that curiosity is the wellspring for scientific exploration and reading about science. How did the natural world fascinate you as a kid? I'd love to hear about it.

Thanks for reading Today in Science! I hope you can get out into nature this weekend. And send any other questions or feedback on this newsletter to newsletters@sciam.com.

—Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

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