A critical NASA mission in the search for life beyond Earth, Mars Sample Return[1], is in trouble. Its budget has ballooned[2] from US$5 billion to over $11 billion, and the sample return date may slip from the end of this decade to 2040.
The mission[3] would be the first to try to return rock samples from Mars to Earth so scientists...
About a trillion tiny particles called neutrinos[1] pass through you every second. Created during the Big Bang, these “relic” neutrinos exist throughout the entire universe, but they can’t harm you. In fact, only one of them is likely to lightly tap an atom in your body in your entire lifetime.
Most neutrinos produced by objects such...
When President Joe Biden signed a US$95 billion foreign aid bill[1] into law on April 24, 2024, it started the clock on a nine-month window for TikTok’s China-based parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app. The president can extend the deadline by three months, and TikTok has indicated that it plans to challenge the law in court[2].
If...
Ever wonder what those colorful signs with symbols and numbers on the backs of trucks mean? They’re just one visible part of a web of regulations that aim to keep workers and the environment safe while shipping hazardous waste.
Transporting hazardous materials[1] such as dangerous gases, poisons, harmful chemicals, corrosives and radioactive...