Biomedical research in the U.S. is world-class in part^[1] because of a long-standing partnership between universities and the federal government.

On Feb. 7, 2025, the U.S. National Institutes of Health issued a policy^[2] that could weaken the position of the

Misinformation about scientific topics, including falsehoods such as vaccines cause autism and climate change being an entirely natural phenomenon, is an issue scientists have been discussing more and more^[1]. Widespread misinformation can lead to confusion about

Teenagers are falling in love with chatbots. Young people are reporting epidemic levels^[1] of loneliness^[2], and some are turning to technology to fill the void. Recent tragedies provide a glimpse into the extent of this trend and the dangers it poses.

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Members of billionaire Elon Musk's so-called government efficiency team have arrived at the Pentagon amid unprecedented incursions at other agencies across the federal government, but on Wednesday had yet to access the military's vast systems and data.

A defense official who was granted anonymity to speak candidly on the matter said that members of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, were conducting onboarding procedures like getting IT access set up this week. Musk's team of young aides with tech backgrounds has already accessed federal databases holding the sensitive information of millions of Americans, slashed agencies without Congress' consent, and triggered at least 11 lawsuits^[1].

Musk and President Donald Trump have called the incursions part of cost-cutting measures, but with little oversight and transparency, it remains unclear how the sensitive data is being protected and whether the activity is legal. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters last week^[2] that he welcomed Musk and his team and that he believed they could find "billions of dollars" in savings within the military. On Friday, news outlets reported that DOGE officials had their first meetings at the Pentagon.

Read Next: Naval Academy Nixes Classes, Topics as Full Scope of Trump Diversity Ban Remains Unknown^[3]

It is not clear what systems or databases the DOGE team will be granted access to as part of its work. At other agencies, the Trump administration has been secretive about what type of access Musk and his team were given, and the president brushed aside concerns over conflicts of interest for Musk, whose companies have billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government, including the Defense Department.

The DoD, with its roughly $850 billion budget, is the largest federal agency and holds much of the U.S.' most sensitive national defense information. It also includes more than 2 million service members, as well as facilities and programs at bases across the country and overseas that support them and their families.

As the team was getting ready to get started, The Washington Post reported Wednesday^[4] that Hegseth also ordered the Pentagon to develop plans for cutting 8% from the defense budget every year for the next five years.

The effort to cut government spending by Musk, the world's richest man, has led to deep and brutal cuts that have gutted agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created to protect Americans from unfair financial practices by banks and other financial institutions. The effort has also led to numerous court challenges and raised grave concerns from critics about its constitutionality^[5].

The prospect of Musk and his team combing through the Pentagon budget also raises questions about how they will deal with conflicts of interests since the Defense Department is deeply connected to Musk and his companies.

Specifically, the U.S. government has paid Musk's company SpaceX billions in federal contracts -- around $17 billion since 2015 -- according to a government website that tracks federal spending^[6].

Musk's space launch company has earned more than $5 billion in contracts just from the Defense Department since 2008, with a huge majority being spent by the Air Force^[7] on launch services.

Neither Hegseth nor Trump expressed concern about the conflicts of interest in allowing a major defense contractor into Pentagon systems to access data and manipulate spending.

In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity^[8] that aired Sunday, Musk simply assured Hannity: "I'll recuse myself."

Trump followed up by assuring Hannity that Musk "won't be involved" in any conflicts, without explaining how any official oversight would be handled and why Congress, which authorizes the defense budget, was not being consulted.

The pair did not say that any outside agency or authority would be involved in verifying the claims, but Trump did seem to acknowledge the possibility of Musk taking actions that would benefit him and his electric vehicle business Tesla.

"I said, 'Do the right thing' -- where they're cutting way back on the electric vehicle subsidies," Trump said.

Despite Musk's promises and claims to transparency, last week the White House told reporters that the billionaire will not be filing a public financial disclosure, allowing the full scope of his financial interests to remain hidden.

Related: 'We Welcome DOGE': Hegseth Says Musk Can Find Billions of Dollars in Pentagon Cuts^[9]

Members of billionaire Elon Musk's so-called government efficiency team have arrived at the Pentagon amid unprecedented incursions at other agencies across the federal government, but on Wednesday had yet to access the military's vast systems and data.

A defense official who was granted anonymity to speak candidly on the matter said that members of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, were conducting onboarding procedures like getting IT access set up this week. Musk's team of young aides with tech backgrounds has already accessed federal databases holding the sensitive information of millions of Americans, slashed agencies without Congress' consent, and triggered at least 11 lawsuits^[1].

Musk and President Donald Trump have called the incursions part of cost-cutting measures, but with little oversight and transparency, it remains unclear how the sensitive data is being protected and whether the activity is legal. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters last week^[2] that he welcomed Musk and his team and that he believed they could find "billions of dollars" in savings within the military. On Friday, news outlets reported that DOGE officials had their first meetings at the Pentagon.

Read Next: Naval Academy Nixes Classes, Topics as Full Scope of Trump Diversity Ban Remains Unknown^[3]

It is not clear what systems or databases the DOGE team will be granted access to as part of its work. At other agencies, the Trump administration has been secretive about what type of access Musk and his team were given, and the president brushed aside concerns over conflicts of interest for Musk, whose companies have billions of dollars in contracts with the federal government, including the Defense Department.

The DoD, with its roughly $850 billion budget, is the largest federal agency and holds much of the U.S.' most sensitive national defense information. It also includes more than 2 million service members, as well as facilities and programs at bases across the country and overseas that support them and their families.

As the team was getting ready to get started, The Washington Post reported Wednesday^[4] that Hegseth also ordered the Pentagon to develop plans for cutting 8% from the defense budget every year for the next five years.

The effort to cut government spending by Musk, the world's richest man, has led to deep and brutal cuts that have gutted agencies like the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created to protect Americans from unfair financial practices by banks and other financial institutions. The effort has also led to numerous court challenges and raised grave concerns from critics about its constitutionality^[5].

The prospect of Musk and his team combing through the Pentagon budget also raises questions about how they will deal with conflicts of interests since the Defense Department is deeply connected to Musk and his companies.

Specifically, the U.S. government has paid Musk's company SpaceX billions in federal contracts -- around $17 billion since 2015 -- according to a government website that tracks federal spending^[6].

Musk's space launch company has earned more than $5 billion in contracts just from the Defense Department since 2008, with a huge majority being spent by the Air Force^[7] on launch services.

Neither Hegseth nor Trump expressed concern about the conflicts of interest in allowing a major defense contractor into Pentagon systems to access data and manipulate spending.

In an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity^[8] that aired Sunday, Musk simply assured Hannity: "I'll recuse myself."

Trump followed up by assuring Hannity that Musk "won't be involved" in any conflicts, without explaining how any official oversight would be handled and why Congress, which authorizes the defense budget, was not being consulted.

The pair did not say that any outside agency or authority would be involved in verifying the claims, but Trump did seem to acknowledge the possibility of Musk taking actions that would benefit him and his electric vehicle business Tesla.

"I said, 'Do the right thing' -- where they're cutting way back on the electric vehicle subsidies," Trump said.

Despite Musk's promises and claims to transparency, last week the White House told reporters that the billionaire will not be filing a public financial disclosure, allowing the full scope of his financial interests to remain hidden.

Related: 'We Welcome DOGE': Hegseth Says Musk Can Find Billions of Dollars in Pentagon Cuts^[9]

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., tore into the Trump administration's efforts to bar transgender people from the military on Tuesday as she weighed whether to block any ban from taking effect while a lawsuit works its way through the courts.

During the first day of arguments in a hearing that will last at least another day, Judge Ana Reyes spent Tuesday picking apart the Trump administration's arguments that President Donald Trump's executive order in and of itself is not a ban on transgender military service.

The order "calls an entire category of people dishonest, dishonorable, undisciplined, immodest, who lack integrity -- people who have taken an oath to defend this country, who have been under fire, people who have taken fire for this country," said Reyes, an appointee of former President Joe Biden.

Read Next: Army Cuts Outreach at Girls School After Dropping Recruiting at Black Engineering Event^[1]

"We're dealing with unadulterated animus," she added.

Reyes was hearing arguments as part of a lawsuit filed by two LGBTQ+ advocacy groups on behalf of several transgender service members and recruits. The plaintiffs asked the court to issue a preliminary injunction to prevent a ban on transgender service members from being enacted as the lawsuit progresses through the legal system.

Lawyers from the Justice Department argued that an injunction would be premature since the Pentagon has not fully implemented Trump's order yet, while lawyers for the plaintiffs maintained that harm is already being done to their clients since gender-affirming medical care has been halted and accessions for transgender recruits have been paused.

While Reyes agreed to delay her decision on an injunction until after the Pentagon issues its formal implementation plan later this month, she appeared highly skeptical the Defense Department's policy would be anything other than a ban based on the language in Trump's order.

"I firmly believe that the policy that we get on the 28th is going to be little different from the executive order, but … I'm sure will clarify it in a way that is clear that this is a transgender ban or most transgender ban," Reyes said.

In late January, Trump ordered the Pentagon to adopt a new policy^[2] on transgender military service. While the order left most of the details of the policy to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to determine, it directed the Pentagon to adopt a policy that reflects the administration's position that being transgender is "not consistent" with military service.

"Beyond the hormonal and surgical medical interventions involved, adoption of a gender identity inconsistent with an individual's sex conflicts with a soldier's commitment to an honorable, truthful and disciplined lifestyle, even in one's personal life," the order says in its "purpose" section. "A man's assertion that he is a woman, and his requirement that others honor this falsehood, is not consistent with the humility and selflessness required of a service member."

Trump's order gave Hegseth 30 days to draft an implementation plan and 60 days to carry out that plan.

Since Trump's order, Hegseth issued a memo directing the military services^[3] to stop accepting recruits with histories of gender dysphoria and stop providing some gender-affirming health care for transgender service members while he crafts a comprehensive policy.

And since Hegseth's order, medical care has already been denied, according to sworn statements filed by service members last week in support of the lawsuit. For example, Navy^[4] Petty Officer 3rd Class Audrie Graham said he was already in a hospital gown and hooked up to an IV ahead of a double mastectomy when his surgeon told him she could no longer perform the procedure because of Hegseth's memo.

Army Staff Sgt. Roan Pickett said he was driving from Fort Johnson^[5], Louisiana, to Los Angeles on previously approved leave to get care for a postoperative complication from a previous gender-affirmation surgery when he received a call from a superior saying he would be considered AWOL if he didn't return immediately. And another soldier, Master Sgt. Amiah Sale, said she has a time crunch on a preliminary injunction decision because she is scheduled to get an orchiectomy later this month before a permanent change of station^[6] in March to South Korea, where the surgery is unavailable.

During Tuesday's hearing, Jason Lynch, trial attorney for the Justice Department, argued Trump's order was not itself a ban because it directs the Pentagon to come up with a policy and suggested the Pentagon's ultimate policy may fall short of a full ban. Lynch cited the transgender military service policy during the first Trump administration, which was somewhat more narrow than the full ban he had initially ordered in 2017.

"Every guidance document that we have filed with the court talks about pausing, waiting, holding on, there's more guidance coming, don't do anything yet," Lynch said.

But, Reyes noted, the first Trump administration never questioned transgender troops' honor, truthfulness, discipline, humility and selflessness like Trump's order last month did.

"If we had President Trump here right now, and I said to him, 'Is this a transgender ban,' what do you think he would say?" Reyes asked Lynch.

When Lynch replied that he had "no idea" what Trump would say, Reyes shot back that "I do."

"He would say, 'Of course it is,'" Reyes continued. "Because he calls it a transgender ban, because all the language in it is indicative of, if not requires, a transgender ban."

Reyes also repeatedly pressed Lynch on whether the administration has any empirical evidence that transgender service members are harming the military's ability to be ready for war. Lynch offered none.

"Can you and I both agree that the greatest fighting force the whole history has ever seen is not going to be impacted in any way by less than 1% of the soldiers using a different pronoun than what others might want to call them," Reyes said. "Do you agree with me that if our military is negatively impacted in any kind of way that matters by certain people having to use certain pronouns, we all have a lot bigger problems than pronoun use, we have a military that is incompetent?"

While Reyes spent most of Tuesday's hearing ripping into the Trump administration, she also expressed some skepticism at the plaintiffs' argument that banning transgender service members would have hurt military readiness since estimates place the number of transgender people serving in the military around, at most, 15,000 out of more than 2 million troops.

"Can you agree, just like the government can't really say that allowing this small percentage of people who have been seen militarily fit to serve is going to negatively impact military preparedness and unit cohesion, can say for the same reason that [a ban] won't negatively impact it?" Reyes asked the plaintiffs' lawyer.

The lawyer, Jennifer Levi, senior director of transgender and queer rights at GLAD Law, responded by pointing to statements from former Biden administration Pentagon officials submitted as part of the lawsuit supporting open transgender service.

"The military experts who have submitted declarations in this case have said that a policy that excludes transgender people that have met the rigorous requirements of service would undermine the readiness as well as the lethalities of the force," Levi said.

The hearing on the preliminary injunction request is scheduled to continue Wednesday. Before adjourning for the day, Reyes also said she would hold another hearing March 3 after the expected release of the Pentagon's implementation plan.

Related: Transgender Recruits and Gender-Affirming Health Care Restricted by Hegseth Memo^[7]

Cancer arises when your cells grow uncontrollably and refuse to die^[1] when they should. Normally, your body is equipped with regulatory processes to prevent this chaos. One such mechanism involves a protein called p53^[2]. Often dubbed the “guardian of the genome^[3],” this protein plays a pivotal role in ensuring that your cells grow,...

Traumatic brain injury^[1] is a leading cause of death and disability^[2] in the world. Blunt force trauma to the brain, often from a bad fall or traffic accident, accounts for the deaths of over 61,000 Americans^[3] each year. Over 80,000 will develop some long-term disability.

While much of the physical brain damage occurs instantly – called...

Restrictions on medical care for transgender youth assume that without the ability to medically transition, trans people will vanish.

As of 2024, 26 U.S. states^[1] have banned gender-affirming care for young people. Less than a month into office, President Donald Trump issued numerous executive orders targeting transgender people, including a...