Earth · Oct 18, 2026
Assessment finds rising extinction risk for reef-building corals
A reassessment classifies 44% of reef-building coral species with sufficient data as threatened with extinction.
The daily edition
Sunday, October 18, 2026
A reassessment classifies 44% of reef-building coral species with sufficient data as threatened with extinction. A University of Washington laboratory detected more Cladophialophora bantiana cases, including an increase relative to submitted sample numbers. Google's Willow experiment reports roughly a 40-fold reduction in state-preparation error using magic state cultivation.
THE DAILY SHOW · OCT 18, 2026Today’s stories. One curious world.
Narrated and written with AI, checked against primary sources. Our standards
In this edition
- EarthAssessment finds rising extinction risk for reef-building corals▶ 0:00
- SpaceAstronomers identify a star that would appear green up close▶ 3:54
- TechnologyGoogle tests a way to prepare more reliable quantum states▶ 2:51
- HealthOne lab reports more detections of a rare brain-infecting mold▶ 1:38
- DiscoveryA museum fossil overlooked since 1924 is Europe's first megaraptor dinosaur▶ 4:48
Every fact comes straight from primary sources, listed below.
The stories
Hover or tap a story for a preview.
Space · Oct 18, 2026
Astronomers identify a star that would appear green up close
University of Warwick researchers identify a white dwarf whose light would appear green to human eyes from sufficiently close up.
Technology · Oct 18, 2026
Google tests a way to prepare more reliable quantum states
Google's Willow experiment reports roughly a 40-fold reduction in state-preparation error using magic state cultivation.
Health · Oct 18, 2026
One lab reports more detections of a rare brain-infecting mold
A University of Washington laboratory detected more Cladophialophora bantiana cases, including an increase relative to submitted sample numbers.
Discovery · Oct 18, 2026
A museum fossil overlooked since 1924 is Europe's first megaraptor dinosaur
A braincase found on the Isle of Wight and held by London's Natural History Museum since 1924 has been named Invictibellatrix amberina, the first megaraptoran dinosaur known from Europe.
Sources & credits for this edition
Sources
- Nature: Nearly half of reef-building corals face elevated relative risk of extinction (Obura et al., Oct. 15, 2026)nature.com ↗ · used in Assessment finds rising extinction risk for reef-building corals
- IUCN press release: Nearly half of reef-building coral species face elevated relative risk of extinction (Oct. 15, 2026)iucn.org ↗ · used in Assessment finds rising extinction risk for reef-building corals
- NOAA Coral Reef Watch: Current Global Bleaching Status Updatecoralreefwatch.noaa.gov ↗ · used in Assessment finds rising extinction risk for reef-building corals
- NOAA news release: NOAA confirms 4th global coral bleaching event (Apr. 15, 2024)noaa.gov ↗ · used in Assessment finds rising extinction risk for reef-building corals
- RAS Techniques and Instruments: Any colour you like: the diverse chromaticities of white dwarfs (Hollands et al., Oct. 15, 2026; CC BY 4.0)doi.org ↗ · used in Astronomers identify a star that would appear green up close
- arXiv 2610.18966 (authors' version of the same paper)arxiv.org ↗ · used in Astronomers identify a star that would appear green up close
- University of Warwick press release: Green, pink and purple: astronomers reveal the surprising true colours of white dwarf starswarwick.ac.uk ↗ · used in Astronomers identify a star that would appear green up close
- Science: Magic state cultivation on a superconducting quantum processor (Rosenfeld et al., First Release Oct. 15, 2026)science.org ↗ · used in Google tests a way to prepare more reliable quantum states
- arXiv 2512.13908 (authors' version, CC BY 4.0): Magic state cultivation on a superconducting quantum processorarxiv.org ↗ · used in Google tests a way to prepare more reliable quantum states
- Google (official statement): Bringing the magic: Google breaks open a bottleneck in quantum computing (Oct. 15, 2026)blog.google ↗ · used in Google tests a way to prepare more reliable quantum states
- CDC MMWR: Notes from the Field: Molecular Detections of Cladophialophora bantiana at a Clinical Reference Laboratory, United States, 2009-2026 (Nelson et al.; early release Oct. 2, 2026; weekly issue Oct. 15, 2026)cdc.gov ↗ · used in One lab reports more detections of a rare brain-infecting mold
- Royal Society Open Science: A new megaraptoran dinosaur from the Lower Cretaceous Wessex Formation, UK, and its implications for theropod evolution and biogeography (Morrison et al., Oct. 14, 2026; CC BY 4.0)doi.org ↗ · used in A museum fossil overlooked since 1924 is Europe's first megaraptor dinosaur
- Natural History Museum, London, press release: UK dinosaur fossil identified as new long-clawed predator (Oct. 14, 2026)nhm.ac.uk ↗ · used in A museum fossil overlooked since 1924 is Europe's first megaraptor dinosaur
Image and footage credits
- Lead image: NOAA · Public domain, U.S. Government work (17 U.S.C. 105); NOAA page credit line "Image credit: NOAA"
- Lead image: M. A. Hollands et al., RAS Techniques and Instruments (2026), CC BY 4.0 · CC BY 4.0 (version of record licence per Crossref metadata for doi:10.1093/rasti/rzag069; publisher page not machine-readable from the box)
- Lead image: Rosenfeld et al., arXiv:2512.13908, Figure 1 · CC BY 4.0 (arXiv licence for 2512.13908, shown on the arXiv abstract page)
- Lead image: CDC, MMWR (Nelson et al., 2026), Figure · Public domain, U.S. Government work. MMWR: "All material in the MMWR Series is in the public domain and may be used and reprinted without special permission; citation as to source, however, is appreciated."
- Lead image: Morrison et al., Royal Society Open Science (2026), CC BY 4.0 · CC BY 4.0 (version of record licence per Crossref; figure file via Wikimedia Commons upload of the same paper figure)