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Artemis II astronauts have returned to Earth but we aren’t yet tired of hearing about their incredible journey. A new PBS documentary is now streaming on YouTube. It dives into the Artemis Program and the latest attempts to send humans back to the moon. This week, NASA released some amazing images of a comet flying towards the sun. The nonprofit American Rivers also released its annual report about the most endangered US rivers. And ESA posted an old-fashioned image of Mars that highlighted some interesting changes on the surface. Here are some of the science stories we found interesting this week. A comet gets too close to the SunEarlier this month, an unknown comet came very close to the Sun. But it couldn’t stand the heat. NASA shared images of the encounter on April 4 showing the comet exploding as it swings round our star. NASA noted in a post on social media that this was the “first and last observed flyby” of the Sun. “The comet C/2026 A1 was first discovered on January 13, this year. As it approached the sun, a number of instruments observed it: NASA and ESA’s SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory), NASA’s STEREO, (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory), and NASA’s PUNCH, (Polarimeter for Unifying the Corona and Heliosphere). This allowed multiple views of its passage. In a narrow-field view captured by SOHO’s coronagraph, the comet looks like it is crashing into the sun. The wide view from NASA STEREO, however, shows that it actually swings closely around the Sun before breaking apart. 2/4

This close-up view of the SOHO spacecraft’s coronagraph shows comet C/2026A1 (MAPS), approaching the Sun, on April 4.

After the comet has passed behind the disk only a dust cloud is visible. pic.twitter.com/PbkzqPnZ5F– NASA Solar System (@NASASolarSystem) April 16, 2026 MAPS was one of a family of comets aptly called Kreutz sungrazing comets, and according to Karl Battams, the principal investigator for SOHO’s coronagraph, its destruction occurred likely several hours before what would have been its closest approach. Potomac named the most endangered river in USThe nonprofit conservation group American Rivers released its 2026 report about the most endangered rivers across the country. Data centers played a major part in its top pick. According to American Rivers the Potomac River in the US is the most threatened due to both the threat of sewage contamination from aging pipe networks and the “unprecedented increase in data center developments” in its proximity. The Potomac River basin includes parts of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, DC. The report states that in January, the catastrophic failure at the Potomac Interceptor wastewater pipeline in Montgomery County, Maryland, released hundreds of millions gallons of untreated sewage directly into the Potomac River and Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. This caused bacteria levels to reach over 4,000 times what is considered safe for recreational use. American Rivers notes that the Potomac Interceptor, which is over 60-years-old, is one of many pipes in the region, including those at or beyond the 50 year service life. Data center development has exploded in places like Virginia, Maryland, and could also put pressure on local energy and water sources. Data centers can also cause pollution in the river. The report states that the region has over 300 data centres and is on course to have 1,000 centers, which will occupy roughly 200 million square foot of buildings – enough to cover 3,472 soccer fields – on an estimated 20,000 acre of land. “These facilities are a growing threat to water quality and quantity. Yet, they are approved without meaningful transparency, regulatory reviews, and assessments of cumulative impacts. “The organization wants Congress to reauthorize funding bills for infrastructure so that aging systems can upgraded. It also wants regulators in these state to require transparency regarding data centers’ resource usage, along with comprehensive environment assessments, before development plans are approved. Mars ash – then vs nowESA/DLR/FU BerlinerThe European Space Agency shared this week a look at the changes that have occurred since NASA’s Viking orbiters observed a region of Mars in 1976. New images taken by ESA’s Mars Express show how dark volcanic dust has encroached on a large area of land in the Utopia Planitia Basin. You can see a side-by-side comparison of images taken from both time periods in the blog post. It’s a rare instance of a change on the surface that has occurred so quickly, according to ESA. The agency explains that “the spread of the ash in the last 50 years can be explained by two factors: either the ash was picked up and blown around by martian winds or the ochre-colored dust that covered the dark ash had been blown off.” “Before you go, be sure to check these stories out too:The PBS Artemis II documentary is streaming on YouTubeNAACP sues xAI over data center pollutionThere’s yet another study about how bad AI is for our brainsThis article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/a-comet-gets-destroyed-by-the-sun-data-centers-endanger-the-potomac-river-and-more-science-news-160000714.html?src=rss