Current amphibian development may not have been typical of early land vertebrates. For decades, biologists thought that early tetrapods, ancient vertebrates that started conquering the land over 300 million years ago, developed like modern amphibians—beginning their lives as purely aquatic tadpoles and then metamorphosing into terrestrial adults. “A lot…
The purpose of Starfall is to support the “transport and delivery of goods through space.” A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on Tuesday to test a new reentry vehicle designed to deliver cargo anywhere in the world from low-Earth orbit. The company developed the new saucer-shaped reentry pod,…
The Space Force wants to cut the time to field new satellites from years to weeks, days, or hours. Rocket Lab quietly launched a small satellite from New Zealand on Friday in a high-flying military exercise to test the US Space Force’s ability to rapidly respond to a crisis…
At least three coal plants have been repeatedly cited for violating environmental regulations. In 2023, after years of pollution, equipment failures, and health concerns, the Cumberland Fossil Plant in Tennessee was slated to close within the decade. The coal-fired plant had been part of a multibillion-dollar settlement in 2011…
A French launch startup is scrapping the name of its rocket, apparently due to a trademark issue. Welcome to Edition 8.46 of the Rocket Report! We don’t mention Starship in the body of this week’s report, so I’ll give a brief update here. The next test flight of SpaceX’s…
Researchers say these coral strongholds may help repopulate more degraded reefs. MAJURO, Marshall Islands—Perched on the bow of an aluminum landing craft, Anne Cohen gazed a few yards ahead of the vessel toward a yellow robot gliding across the emerald Majuro lagoon. The unmanned surface vehicle, called Yellowfin, was…
“I consider this a success already, just from the fact that we’re even going to try this.” WALLOPS ISLAND, Virginia—Just 10 months ago, NASA asked three companies if they could do something nobody had done before. Could they build and launch a satellite to save a $500 million astronomy…
It’s unclear whether the system is currently intact. In May, the federal government announced without warning that it would take apart a network of ocean monitoring systems that it had spent over $350 million to build. No reason was given for the decision to shut down the Ocean Observatories…
We can’t blame the Neolithic Transition for the plague anymore. Plague swept through groups of hunter-gatherers in southeastern Siberia 5,500 years ago, leaving dozens dead in its wake—with DNA from Yersinia pestis bacteria still trapped inside their teeth. University of Oxford ancient DNA researcher Ruairidh Macleod and his colleagues…
Elsewhere, beyond-classical quantum hardware, plus classical computing fires back. Quantum computing news usually picks up near the end of the year, as companies try to provide evidence that they are hitting benchmarks on time. However, there have been interesting announcements as the summer starts this year, from incremental progress…
