In nuclear era, it has proven cheaper to build offensive weapons than play defense. One thing that’s evident about President Donald Trump’s proposal for the Golden Dome missile defense shield is that designing, deploying, and sustaining it will cost a lot of money, at least several hundred billion dollars,…
Come for the science. Stay for the adorable pics of happy pupsters with their favorite toys. Certain dogs can not only memorize the names of objects like their favorite toys, but they can also extend those labels to entirely new objects with a similar function, regardless of whether or…
President Trump’s assertions about political violence ignore the facts. After the Sept. 10, 2025, assassination of conservative political activist Charlie Kirk, President Donald Trump claimed that radical leftist groups foment political violence in the US, and “they should be put in jail.” “The radical left causes tremendous violence,” he…
Making digits seems to involve gene activity that was needed to make a cloaca. Evolution has adapted the digits of mammals for an enormous range of uses, from our opposable thumbs to the spindly digits that support bat wings to the robust bones that support the hoofs of horses.…
The problem arose early Tuesday when the spacecraft’s main engine shut down earlier than expected. A problem with the main engine on Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus XL spacecraft will keep it from delivering 11,000 pounds of supplies and experiments to the International Space Station as scheduled on Wednesday. In a…
“We’re excited that Northrop is ready to deliver this incredibly beneficial increase in capacity.” What happens when you use a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus supply ship? A record-setting resupply mission to the International Space Station. The first flight of Northrop’s upgraded Cygnus spacecraft, called…
NatGeo’s new documentary series, Top Guns: The Next Generation, shows the sweat behind the spectacle. The blockbuster success of the 1986 film Top Gun—chronicling the paths of young naval aviators as they go through the grueling US Navy’s Fighter Weapons School (aka the titular Top Gun)—spawned more than just…
Push to revive nuclear energy relies on deregulation; experts say strategy is misplaced. In May, President Donald Trump signed four executive orders to facilitate the construction of nuclear reactors and the development of nuclear energy technology; the orders aim to cut red tape, ease approval processes, and reshape the…
“When you turn off those spacecraft’s radio receivers, there’s no way to turn them back on.” Federal funding is about to run out for 19 active space missions studying Earth’s climate, exploring the Solar System, and probing mysteries of the Universe. This year’s budget expires at the end of…
Meanwhile, Congress is trying to keep serious scientists from weighing in. While the Trump administration has continued to refer to efforts to avoid the worst impacts of climate change as a scam, it has done almost nothing to counter the copious scientific evidence that demonstrates that climate change is…
