Deep-sea mining is the extraction of minerals from the seabed in the deep ocean. Most of the interest is in what are known as polymetallic nodules, which are potato-sized mineral deposits that have built up in layers over thousands of years. Found miles below the ocean’s surface, these nodules contain valuable metals used in batteries and electronics, but mining them could harm fragile and largely unexplored deep-sea ecosystems.

Everything in nature comes and goes—stars, planets, even our bodies—but what truly endures is repetition. The universe moves to a rhythm: the Sun brings the year’s shortest day on December 21 and its earliest sunset on December 7; the Moon cycles through fullness every 29½ days and repeats its elevation pattern every 18.6 years, reaching an extreme this year. Venus, fading from the morning sky, will return as a brilliant evening star later this winter—part of its elegant 8-year cycle. Saturn’s rings, now edgewise, won’t appear this way again until 2044. Even Earth’s poles follow a 26,000-year rhythm, and we’re now living in the rare moment when Polaris serves as the most perfectly placed North Star in that grand celestial cycle.

While childhood fears like nyctophobia—the fear of the dark—are common, even the Pleiades star cluster, traditionally linked to ominous folklore, adds to the eerie atmosphere as it rises each Halloween. But the real cosmic fright comes from science: in 1998, astronomers discovered that the universe’s expansion is accelerating—driven by a mysterious force called dark energy. With galaxies racing apart in an inexplicable frenzy, the universe may be headed toward a cold, empty end. Fittingly, it’s all part of the mystery in the Halloween night sky.

As autumn colors reach their peak, it's natural to wonder if the sky can show vivid hues too. Stars emit blue, red, and green light, but our eyes usually see them as white due to the mix. Cooler stars appear redder, while hotter ones lean blue, but the difference is subtle. Stars like Antares (red), Arcturus (orange), and Vega (blue-white) show noticeable color shifts. More intense colors appear when the Sun or Moon is low or during meteor showers, with green shooting stars standing out. The solar maximum has also triggered bright auroras, mostly green but occasionally red, with our eyes more sensitive to green in low light.

The musical “Wicked” is in the middle of its two-weekend run at Proctors in Schenectady. If you haven’t seen it yet, you should.

A new report from the nonprofit newsroom ProPublica details how the Environmental Protection Agency's allowance of self-reporting for pollution levels went unchecked.

NewsChannel 13 Meteorologist Reid Kisselback provides the regional weather summary for Saturday, November 2, 2025.

The Crandell Theater on Main Street in Chatham, NY had a lot going for it even before its recent renovation.

The EP will be released on November 5th on some streaming platforms. On November 6th, an extravaganza will take place at the Avalon Lounge in Catskill.

NewsChannel 13 Meteorologist Reid Kisselback provides the regional weather summary for Saturday, November 1, 2025.

Each weekday morning, The Roundtable's Joe Donahue is joined by various experts, journalists, educators, and commentators to discuss current events. On Roundtable Panel: The Week in Review, we feature your favorite panelists discussing news items from the previous week.

(Airs 10/31/25 @ 10 p.m.) The Legislative Gazette is a weekly program about New York State Government and politics. On this week’s Gazette: Local lawmakers urge Governor Hochul to sign legislation streamlining the program for Minority and Women owned Businesses in the construction industry, we’ll speak with the coalition director for the Patients’ Rights Action Fund, who are opposed to Medical Aid in Dying legislation, and we’ll take you to a small town in the eastern Adirondacks – an unexpected home to military exercises.