Read the latest news from regional and global sources, presenting different voices and perspectives.

Science AFP 'Significant declines' in some species after deep-sea mining: research
Deep-sea mining could impact marine life stretching from the tiniest bottom dwellers to apex predators like swordfish and sharks, a major piece of industry-funded research found Thursday. The Metals Company -- a leading deep-sea mining firm --...

Scientists spot object possibly from outside our solar system 'headed for Earth'
Scientists have detected an object they believe may have originated from another star-system - and it appears to be heading in Earth's direction. The European Space Agency (ESA) said today that its scientists have detected what could be the...

Research initiative uses game cameras and 3D scanning to study native birds and plants
Bridging bird and plant conservation here in Hawaiʻi is the mission of a new project called the Lost Manu Research Initiative. A blooming Cyanea horrida The research project incorporates game cameras and 3D scanning of museum collections to...

Research At Alaska SeaLife Center Extended Through 2027 Under Federal Permit
Scientific research on marine mammals at the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward will continue through early 2027, following a newly approved extension by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric...

Hawaiian Electric tests goat grazing as vegetation management option for landowners
July 2, 2025, 11:46 AM HST Shannon McCann feeds goats during a tour at the Surfing Goat Dairy. PC: Cammy Clark (11.18.23) As part of its ongoing wildfire safety strategy, Hawaiian Electric completed a successful demonstration on Maui using...

Scholars, descendants gather to explore Spanish Hawaiian migration history
Spanish Hawaiian Heritage Association will host an international conference at UC Davis in September – a celebration of their heritage that traces its roots from Spain to the sugar cane fields of Hawaii and then to California and farming...

Scholars tackle the American West’s big questions
The American West has long loomed large in the cultural imagination, depicted by artists from poets to filmmakers as a symbol of innovation and limitless possibility. In his opening lecture of the spring quarter interdisciplinary course The...

Researchers launch new search to find Amelia Earhart’s plane
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our...

Third-ever confirmed interstellar object blazing through Solar System
Astronomers on Wednesday confirmed the discovery of an interstellar object racing through our Solar System -- only the third ever spotted, though scientists suspect many more may slip past unnoticed. The visitor from the stars, designated...

Scientists tracking ‘interstellar’ object that has come to us from another solar system
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our...

Telling tourists to go home has a history
Anti-tourism protests are not new. They happened in ancient Rome, 19th-century England and after World War II, writes FREYA HIGGINS-DESBIOLLES. This hot European summer, anti-tourism protests have made headlines, from Barcelona to Venice, Mallorca...

Federal funding shift brings UH Hilo STEM support program to a close
Reading time: 2 minutesNorth Kohala service project The University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo’s nearly 20-year involvement in a national effort to support underrepresented students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) has come to an...

Gabbard’s team has sought spy agency data to enforce Trump’s agenda
Ellen Nakashima, Warren P. Strobel, Aaron Schaffer A special team created by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has expressed a desire to gain access to emails and chat logs of the largest U.S. spy agencies with the aim of using AI...

Mysterious interstellar object is caught on camera hurtling through the solar system - as scientist claims it could be an alien spacecraft
A mysterious interstellar object has been caught on camera for the first time as it hurtles through the solar system. First spotted by NASA on July 1, scientists from around the world have now confirmed that this unexpected visitor has travelled...

Hawaiian Tropic, Banana Boat parent faces greenwashing allegations
Edgewell Personal Care Australia and its US-based parent company, Edgewell Personal Care Company (Edgewell PCC) are facing legal action due to alleged misleading claims about their Hawaiian Tropic and Banana Boat sunscreens being ‘reef friendly.’...

What to know about conversion therapy, Wisconsin Supreme Court ruling
The Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled that a legislative committee's rejection of a ban on conversion therapy was unconstitutional. The decision gives more power to the governor and less to the Republican-controlled legislature. Reactions to the...

Ecowatch: Why oceans matter to our health
I’VE been fascinated by the ocean since I learned to scuba dive 20 years ago – a sport I love. But what I see now beneath the surface is a far cry from then: bleached corals and depleted marine life, and it leaves me with a deep sense of sadness....

Trump’s Budget Plan Threatens Closure of Mauna Loa Climate Lab and Cuts to NOAA Research
The Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, which has been at the forefront of global climate monitoring since the 1950s, is facing possible shutdown under the Trump administration’s proposed 2025 federal budget. The lab is best known for producing the...

Dark Matter Could Create Dark Dwarfs at the Center of the Milky Way
Dark matter is one of Nature's most confounding mysteries. It keeps particle physicists up at night and cosmologists glued to their supercomputer simulations. We know it's real because its mass prevents galaxies from falling apart. But we don't...

Mars volcano that dwarfs Earth’s tallest ones seen in new image
A dazzling image taken by NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter shows an unprecedented view of a 12-mile-high volcano poking through clouds at dawn on the Red Planet. Arsia Mons, which dwarfs Earth’s tallest volcanoes, and its two neighboring volcanoes...