Latest science news: New comet approaches | Superbug breakthrough | COP30 updates

Lead

On Nov. 10, 2025, several major science stories converged: Canadian health authorities announced Canada has lost its measles elimination status after sustained transmission, a newly cataloged comet C/2025 V1 (Borisov) is due to make its closest approach to Earth on Nov. 11, and COP30 opened in Belém, Brazil, with a contested, low-attendance start. Together these developments span public health, planetary science and international climate politics, each carrying immediate consequences and longer-term implications for policy, research and public trust.

Key Takeaways

• Canada lost measles elimination status on Nov. 10, 2025, after persistent transmission for more than a year, reflecting falling routine vaccination rates and post-pandemic disruptions.
• Comet C/2025 V1 (Borisov), discovered by Gennadiy Borisov, will make its closest Earth approach on Nov. 11, 2025; it is not an interstellar object but shows high eccentricity and a faint tail.
• Euclid and Herschel observations indicate cosmic star formation peaked roughly 10 billion years ago, and galaxies have cooled as star formation rates declined over that interval.
• COP30 began in Belém with an emphasis on implementation, but several major emitters — including the leaders of the United States, China and India — did not attend the leaders’ summit.
• Researchers reported a promising antibiotic candidate active against drug-resistant bacteria in early-stage studies, offering potential new routes to treat hard-to-treat infections.
• A 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Japan’s northern coast on Nov. 9, 2025; initial assessments reported no immediate injuries or damage and tsunami alerts were downgraded.
• Blue Origin’s New Glenn launch—initially scheduled Nov. 9—was delayed to Nov. 12 due to weather, postponing its first NASA mission test flight.
• Archaeologists proposed that 5,200 grid holes on Peru’s Serpent Mountain served as accounting tools for ancient trade networks rather than ritual or alien activity.

Background

Measles elimination status is a formal designation awarded when endemic transmission of measles is interrupted for at least 12 months in a defined geographic area. That status reflects not only vaccine availability but also delivery systems, public acceptance and surveillance quality. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have reported drops in routine childhood immunizations; when combined with growing anti-vaccine sentiment in some communities, those declines create fertile ground for outbreaks of a highly contagious disease.

In planetary science, the last few years have seen a surge of interest in objects that either originate beyond the solar system or have unusual dynamical properties. The detection of 2I/Borisov in 2019 and 3I/ATLAS more recently renewed attention on high-eccentricity visitors and what they can reveal about other planetary systems. Meanwhile, space observatories such as Euclid and Herschel have been mapping star formation histories, showing a long-term decline in the universe’s stellar birthrate.

COP conferences bring nearly 200 parties together to negotiate collective and national responses to climate change. COP30 in Belém was billed as an “implementation” meeting focused on tangible steps to reduce emissions and increase resilience. However, political dynamics — including notable absences among the heads of the largest emitting states — complicate ambitions for bold, enforceable commitments this year.

Main Event

Health authorities announced on Nov. 10, 2025, that Canada no longer meets the criteria for measles elimination after more than a year of continuous transmission. Public health officials pointed to reduced routine vaccination uptake and missed childhood immunizations that followed the COVID-19 era disruptions as central drivers. Measles remains dangerous: globally it kills an estimated 1 to 3 children per 1,000 cases and can produce lasting complications such as immune amnesia and rare progressive neurological conditions.

In astronomy, comet C/2025 V1 (Borisov) drew attention as it approached closest to Earth on Nov. 11, 2025. Discovered by Gennadiy Borisov, the object shows a high orbital eccentricity and a faint or vanishing tail; despite public speculation about artificial origins, researchers emphasize it is not an interstellar object in the class of 2I/ and 3I/. Observatories mobilized for optical and radio follow-up to characterize its composition and trajectory.

Astronomers also continue to monitor 3I/ATLAS, the solar system’s recent interstellar visitor with an estimated age of more than 7 billion years, whose irradiated surface complicates provenance studies. Scientists caution that fascination with extraterrestrial technologies distracts from more informative questions about composition, isotopic ratios and dust properties that reveal formation history.

At COP30’s opening in Belém, speeches and cultural presentations framed the meeting’s ambitions, but attention quickly turned to attendance and implementation. UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell stressed urgency and the need for faster emissions reductions and resilience-building. With several major leaders absent, negotiators signaled a push for practical coalitions and operational financing mechanisms rather than high-profile leader-led declarations.

Analysis & Implications

The loss of measles elimination status in Canada is a red flag for public health infrastructure and vaccine confidence. When routine immunization coverage dips below herd-immunity thresholds—commonly cited at about 92–95% for measles—communities become vulnerable to outbreaks sparked by imported or locally circulating strains. Reclaiming elimination will require catch-up campaigns, restored surveillance, targeted communication to hesitant communities and sufficient resources to close immunity gaps, particularly among children born during the pandemic.

For planetary science, C/2025 V1 and objects like 3I/ATLAS offer complementary insights. High-eccentricity visitors teach us about dynamical scattering in other systems; compositional studies can test whether extrasolar planetesimals share isotopic and volatile patterns with solar-system material. Even when an object is not interstellar, rapid-response campaigns maximize scientific return—especially for faint, rapidly evolving comets whose gas and dust signatures change with solar approach.

COP30’s opening underlines a growing tension in global climate governance: the difference between headline pledges and fundable, implementable actions. Absence of top leaders makes it harder to secure binding, cross-border measures at the summit level, but the meeting’s focus on operational mechanisms—finance for tropical forests, technical assistance for resilience, and sectoral coalitions—could produce incremental but concrete progress. The effectiveness of such outcomes will hinge on follow-through at national levels and availability of finance from public and private sources.

Comparison & Data

The table summarizes numeric anchors that help compare very different scientific and societal stories: public-health benchmarks (status dates), astronomical approach dates, cosmological timescales, and geophysical magnitudes. Each figure carries different response timescales and policy levers—vaccination campaigns are rapid but resource-intensive, while cosmological findings shift scholarly understanding over decades.

Reactions & Quotes

“We must move much, much, faster on both reductions of emissions and strengthening resilience.”

Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary (official)

Stiell used the COP30 opening to press for accelerated action and practical tools to meet climate goals, arguing that the science demands quicker implementation rather than prolonged negotiation.

“It is unlikely”

Avi Loeb, Harvard astronomer (commenting on artificial-origin claims)

Even proponents of exotic hypotheses have tempered public speculation about alien probes, and professional astronomers emphasize observational tests over extraordinary conjecture.

“Measles is highly preventable, and the vaccine remains our best defense against severe outcomes and long-term complications.”

Public health official (paraphrase of national statements)

Health agencies framed the Canadian status change as a call to intensify routine immunization and targeted outreach, noting the clear evidence linking coverage declines to renewed transmission.

Unconfirmed

• Claims that C/2025 V1 (Borisov) is an engineered or artificial object remain unsupported by published observational evidence and require extraordinary proof.
• Precise national-level drivers and full age breakdowns for Canada’s measles resurgence remain subject to detailed epidemiological review and have not yet been publicly released in full.

Bottom Line

These stories together illustrate two lessons: first, scientific discovery and public-health practice are tightly coupled to social and political conditions—vaccination coverage, research coordination and political leadership all matter. Second, rapid headlines (about alien probes, dramatic climate pronouncements or new antibiotics) should be balanced with sober assessment and follow-up: confirmatory data, peer review and resourced implementation are what turn intriguing findings into lasting benefit.

In the coming days expect intensifying public-health action in Canada to address measles, continued observational campaigns for C/2025 V1 and sustained negotiations and side deals at COP30 aimed at translating commitments into finance and projects. For readers: seek updates from primary agencies and peer-reviewed results as they emerge, and treat early reports as the start of an evolving story rather than a final verdict.

Sources

• Live Science — Latest science news (news)
• UNFCCC — COP30 official information (official/UN)
• NASA/JPL — comet imagery and orbital information (research/agency)
• World Health Organization — measles surveillance and elimination criteria (official/health)
• European Space Agency — Euclid mission results (research/agency)