Science

Space Race

NASA’s Boss Just Shook Up the Agency’s Plans to Land on the Moon

Sean Duffy called out SpaceX for being “behind schedule” on a lunar lander and said he’d explore other options.

Bad Bugs

Resistant Bacteria Are Advancing Faster Than Antibiotics

Tick Tock

New Report Finds Efforts to Slow Climate Change Are Working—Just Not Fast Enough

Health

Sperm From Older Men Have More Genetic Mutations

Researchers confirmed that sperm accumulate mutations over the years, increasing the risk of transmitting diseases to offspring.

A Quarter of the CDC Is Gone

Another round of terminations, combined with previous layoffs and departures, has reduced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention workforce by about 3,000 people since January.

Covid Shots Are About to Be Widely Available Again

The CDC no longer broadly recommends the Covid-19 vaccine, but US residents will still be able to get one if they want.

Scientist Who Was Offline 'Living His Best Life' Stunned by Nobel Prize Win

Fred Ramsdell was on vacation in the Wyoming wilderness when he and two colleagues received the honor for their breakthroughs in immunology.

Environment

The EPA Is Ending Greenhouse Gas Data Collection. Who Will Step Up to Fill the Gap?

With the agency no longer collecting emissions data from polluting companies, attention is turning to whether climate NGOs have the tools—and legal right—to fulfill this EPA function.

The LA Fires Spewed Out Toxic Nanoparticles. He Made It His Mission to Trace Them

Nicholas Spada is one of the only scientists in the world using a nuclear x-ray process to study deadly nanoparticles in wildfire smoke. What he’s uncovered in California is a nightmare.

MAHA Wants Action on Pesticides. It’s Not Going to Get It From Trump’s Corporate-Friendly EPA

The White House’s new Make America Healthy Again strategy makes some asks of the EPA—but critics say the agency is too industry-friendly to make a difference.

US Taxpayers Will Pay Billions in New Fossil Fuel Subsidies Thanks to the Big Beautiful Bill

A report finds that President Trump’s flagship legislation will grant $40 billion in new subsidies to the oil and gas industry over the next decade.

Climate

Why US Power Bills Are Surging

Americans are paying more for electricity—and rates will keep rising. But after a period of pain, rates should level off as the benefits of a shift away from fossil fuels begin to be felt.

China Is Leading the World in the Clean Energy Transition. Here's What That Looks Like

The country spends like no one else on renewables and has reshaped the global market. Is it enough?

Former Google CEO Will Fund Boat Drones to Explore Rough Antarctic Waters

Scientists have a lot of questions about our planet’s most important carbon sink—and a new project could help answer them.

Coke Designed a Plastic Bottle to Sell the World More Soda

The modern 20-ounce bottle launched Cola-Cola’s iconic shape into the plastic era. It also held more Coke than the glass containers and cans that came before. An excerpt from the new book, Consumed.

Energy

Australia’s March Toward 100 Percent Clean Energy

The country’s grid operator says shifting from coal to clean power is not only possible but inevitable. The work there could provide a road map for other countries.

Europe Pledges $600 Million for Clean Energy Projects in Africa

The EU’s Global Gateway plan is challenging China’s Belt and Road Initiative to influence Africa, by providing funding that will expand access to electricity.

5 More Physics Equations Everyone Should Know

These five equations should be part of your mental toolkit. They might even improve your bowling score.

OpenAI Teams Up With Oracle and SoftBank to Build 5 New Stargate Data Centers

The new sites will boost Stargate’s planned capacity to nearly 7 gigawatts—about equal to the output of seven large nuclear reactors.

Space

Mystery Object From ‘Space’ Strikes United Airlines Flight Over Utah

Government investigators are gathering data to confirm what exactly cracked the windshield of a 737 Max aircraft at above 30,000 feet.

How to See Comet Lemmon This October

This long-duration comet will make its closest approach to Earth this fall, before disappearing into the outer solar system for another 1,000 years.

SpaceX’s Second-Gen Starship Signs Off With a Near-Perfect Test Flight

This was the last flight of SpaceX’s V2 Starship design. Version 3 arrives next year.

Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS Is Spewing Water Like a Cosmic Fire Hydrant

Analyses of its emissions using NASA’s Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory indicate that the interstellar comet probably has a very different structure than comets in the solar system.

Physics and Math

Easter Island’s Moai Statues May Have Walked to Where They Now Stand

An archaeological mystery gets one step closer to being solved.

AI Is Changing What High School STEM Students Study

A degree in computer science used to promise a cozy career in tech. Now, students’ ambitions are shaped by AI, in fields that blend computing with analysis, interpretation, and data.

A New Algorithm Makes It Faster to Find the Shortest Paths

A canonical problem in computer science is to find the shortest route to every point in a network. A new approach beats the classic algorithm taught in textbooks.

The Mystery of How Quasicrystals Form

New studies of the “platypus of materials” help explain how their atoms arrange themselves into orderly, but nonrepeating, patterns.

Biotech

This Startup Wants to Put Its Brain-Computer Interface in the Apple Vision Pro

California-based Cognixion is launching a clinical trial to allow paralyzed patients with speech disorders the ability to communicate without an invasive brain implant.

A Startup Used AI to Make a Psychedelic Without the Trip

Mindstate Design Labs, backed by Silicon Valley power players, has created what its CEO calls “the least psychedelic psychedelic that’s psychoactive.”

Crispr Offers New Hope for Treating Diabetes

Gene-edited pancreatic cells have been transplanted into a patient with type 1 diabetes for the first time. They produced insulin for months without the patient needing to take immunosuppressants.

Moderna CEO Responds to RFK Jr.’s Crusade Against the Covid-19 Vaccine

Speaking at a WIRED event Tuesday, Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said he was “encouraged” by the company’s dialogue with the FDA—but acknowledged recent setbacks.