Science & Technology — July 19, 2026

First atmosphere found on a habitable-zone rocky planet. Astronomers this week detected helium escaping from LHS 1140b, the first atmosphere confirmed on a rocky, temperate planet in its star's habitable zone.

Space.com characterizes the finding as a milestone in the search for life beyond Earth, because a temperate, rocky world that retains a gas envelope is a key requirement for potential habitability. The signal came from helium observed streaming away from the planet, which the outlet reports is the evidence establishing that LHS 1140b holds onto an atmosphere at all.

Space.com · Read more →

New York froze new data centers. Gov. Kathy Hochul this week signed the nation's first statewide moratorium on new hyperscale data centers. The freeze pauses environmental permits for up to a year to study grid and water impacts.

According to The Verge, the move responds to the construction boom driven by artificial intelligence, which has raised questions about how large computing facilities strain electricity supplies and water resources. During the pause, which can last as long as a year, the state is to study those effects before environmental permitting for new hyperscale facilities resumes. No other state has enacted a comparable statewide freeze, the outlet reports.

The Verge · Read more →

FDA approved a potent cholesterol pill. Regulators this week approved Merck's Lipfendra, the first pill to block the cholesterol-regulating protein PCSK9, cutting LDL to roughly half the levels most statins achieve.

Scientific American · Read more →