Who Is Reid Wiseman, Commander of the Artemis II Moon Mission?
Reid Wiseman, a 50‑year‑old former naval fighter pilot, will command NASA’s Artemis II mission, the agency’s first crewed flight to the Moon since 1972. Selected as an astronaut in 2009, Wiseman has logged extensive flight time, combat deployments, and two spacewalks on the International Space Station. Artemis II will send a four‑person crew on a lunar flyby, testing the Orion spacecraft’s deep‑space systems ahead of a planned surface landing. The mission positions the United States to re‑establish lunar leadership and pave the way for future Mars expeditions.
NASA Artemis II Moon Mission Live Launch Broadcast
NASA launched Artemis II, its first crewed flight under the Artemis program, from Kennedy Space Center at 1 p.m. today. The four‑person crew—Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen—will spend roughly ten days circling the Moon. The mission’s...
Researchers Unlock the Key to Axon Regeneration
Researchers at Icahn School of Medicine discovered that the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) acts as a molecular brake preventing axon regeneration after nerve injury. Genetic deletion or pharmacological inhibition of AHR in mouse models redirected neurons from a stress‑survival mode...
Why A 45-Minute Nap Can Reset Your Brain’s Learning Power (M)
A recent study shows that a 45‑minute afternoon nap can fully restore the brain’s capacity to learn new information. The nap length allows participants to cycle through both slow‑wave and REM sleep, which together reactivate hippocampal networks and clear metabolic...
SLAC-Led SuperCDMS Experiment Reaches Operational Temperature
The Super Cryogenic Dark Matter Search (SuperCDMS) experiment, led by SLAC, has successfully cooled its detector array to its target operational temperature of roughly 15 milliKelvin. This milestone enables the cryogenic germanium detectors to function at the sensitivity required for low‑mass...
Launching an Alert System for the Changing Sky
Stanford’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory has unveiled a new real‑time alert system that monitors rapid changes in the upper atmosphere and space‑weather conditions. The platform integrates data from ground‑based telescopes, satellite sensors, and machine‑learning models to issue warnings within seconds...
Rubin Observatory Has Started Paging Astronomers 800,000 Times a Night
The Vera C. Rubin Observatory’s Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) has begun issuing roughly 800,000 alerts each night to astronomers worldwide. An automated paging system routes these alerts in real time, flagging transient phenomena such as supernovae, asteroid...
Giant X-Rays Deliver the Sharpest View Yet of Fusion Plasma Gone Haywire
Researchers at SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source used ultra‑bright X‑ray pulses to capture the sharpest images yet of a laser‑driven fusion plasma that went unstable. The snapshots, taken with sub‑micron spatial resolution and 10‑femtosecond timing, revealed filamentary structures and turbulence...
Illuminating the Invisible
The Linac Coherent Light Source II (LCLS‑II) at SLAC has begun delivering femtosecond X‑ray pulses that enable scientists to film atomic‑scale motions in real time. Using a newly installed high‑speed detector array, researchers captured molecular vibrations and electron dynamics previously...
Ultrafast Quantum Light Pulses Measured for the First Time
Researchers at Technion have, for the first time, directly measured the temporal length of individual bright squeezed vacuum (BSV) pulses, a quantum light state with zero average electric field but massive fluctuations. Using a novel interferometric method, they reconstructed each...
A New Reptile Is Discovered, and Ten Poachers Book Flights To. . . Craig Stanford
A tiny mud turtle, now named the Vallarta mud turtle, was formally described in 2018 and is estimated to number only a few hundred individuals in the swamps of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Within days of the scientific announcement, poachers descended...
Oceans Are Darkening All over the Planet – What’s Going On?
Marine scientists have identified that roughly one‑fifth of the world’s oceans are becoming increasingly opaque, a trend dubbed "ocean darkening." Analysis of two decades of satellite imagery revealed large, contiguous regions where surface waters let in less sunlight. The phenomenon...
Text Mining Culture Conditions and Glycosylation Relationships
Researchers at the University of Delaware and Waters have created an automated text‑mining pipeline that extracts relationships between cell‑culture conditions and protein glycosylation with 88% accuracy. The extracted data are normalized and stored in a Bioprocess Knowledge Graph, enabling a...
Peptonics Solves Cell Culture Defoaming Debacle
Researchers have demonstrated that the peptide‑based surfactant Peptonic ih‑T1010 performs on par with the industry‑standard poloxamer 188 in CHO and HEK293 fed‑batch cultures for monoclonal antibodies and AAV vectors. The new surfactant dramatically reduces foam formation, allowing manufacturers to skip...
From Apollo to Artemis, and Then Beyond
The Apollo program not only secured the 1960s Space Race but also acted as a catalyst for the nascent digital industry, absorbing roughly 60% of the decade’s microchip output. Its cultural resonance inspired generations of engineers and programmers, embedding technology...
Feds Invest over $16 Million in Trio of Prairies-Based Cleantech Research Projects
Canada’s Natural Resources department has earmarked roughly $21 million USD for 12 clean‑energy projects, including more than $11.7 million USD directed to three Prairie‑based initiatives. Carbon Alpha in Calgary will receive about $7.3 million USD to develop seismic‑survey technology for carbon‑capture measurement in...
Nickel-Rich Rocks Discovered by Perseverance Hint at Complex Chemistry on Early Mars
Perseverance’s instruments detected unusually high nickel concentrations—up to 1.1 % by weight—in 32 sedimentary rocks within Neretva Vallis, the ancient river channel feeding Jezero crater. The nickel is tightly associated with iron‑sulfide minerals and sulfate phases such as jarosite and akaganeite,...
Amgen, Zai Lab Team up on DLL3; Janux Gets $35M Milestone Payment
Amgen and China‑based Zai Lab have announced a Phase 1b clinical study that combines Amgen’s T‑cell engager Imdelltra with Zai Lab’s experimental antibody‑drug conjugate zocilurtatug pelitecan, targeting the DLL3 protein in aggressive neuroendocrine cancers. The trial will evaluate safety and early...
DNA Testing Can Help Right Racial Imbalance in Breast Cancer
Routine genomic testing with Agendia’s MammaPrint and BluePrint can narrow the long‑standing survival gap between Black and white women with early‑stage, hormone‑receptor‑positive breast cancer. In a study of more than 1,000 matched patients, Black women were twice as likely to...
Aspect Aerospace Raises $2.4M To Develop Single-Board Satellites for Space-Based Environmental Monitoring
Aspect Aerospace announced two financing milestones: a $1.9 million Direct‑to‑Phase II SBIR award from the U.S. Space Force and a $500 000 pre‑seed investment from its incubator SOSV, totaling $2.4 million. The company’s Single‑Board Satellite (SBS) platform packs up to 100 miniature satellites onto...
TOP 5 Most Notable US Rocket Launch Sites with Long Histories
The United States now operates a mixed network of government‑run and privately‑licensed launch sites, with twelve commercial spaceports complementing four federal facilities. Vandenberg Space Force Base tops the list with over 700 launches since 1959, while Cape Canaveral Air Force...
A Paralyzed Musician Is Using a Brain Implant to Create Music
Research psychologist Galen Buckwalter, paralyzed since age 16, has six brain implants that translate his motor‑cortex activity into musical tones. The implants, each with 64 channels, provide 384 data streams that are decoded into pitch, allowing him to play a...
Atom Swapping Arrives for 5-Membered Cyclic Ethers
Researchers at the National University of Singapore have unveiled a skeletal‑editing method that replaces the oxygen atom in five‑membered saturated cyclic ethers with nitrogen, sulfur, carbon or selenium. The protocol uses triphenylphosphine and N‑bromosuccinimide to generate a dibromo intermediate, which...
Nature's Photocopiers Caught 'Doodling'—Scientists Say It Could Revolutionize How DNA Is Written
Researchers at the University of Bristol have shown that DNA polymerases, the enzymes that normally copy genetic material, can also generate entirely new DNA sequences in a process dubbed “doodling.” By using nanopore sequencing they mapped thousands of these untemplated...
What It Takes to Keep Astronauts Safe in Deep Space
NASA’s Artemis II mission will launch this week, sending four astronauts on a ten‑day lunar flyby to validate deep‑space life‑support and hardware. Materials scientist Debbie Senesky explains that the mission relies on advanced composites, carbon‑fiber structures, and emerging 3‑D‑printed parts to...
Prolonged Transfection Complex Stability for Reliable Large-Scale AAV Manufacturing
Gene‑therapy manufacturers face a bottleneck when adding large volumes of AAV transfection complex to bioreactors within a narrow time window. Mirus Bio’s VirusGEN Transfection Complex Stabilizer, used with TransIT‑VirusGEN reagent, cuts the required complex volume from roughly five percent to...
70% of Americans Unaware of Autism Brain Donation
A new Autism BrainNet survey of 1,007 U.S. adults shows that while 92% believe brain research is vital for autism, 70% have never heard of post‑mortem brain donation. Only 15% realize organ‑donor registration does not automatically include brain donation, and...
The ‘Chicken Ick’: Why We Suddenly Become Disgusted by Foods We Used to Like
The “chicken ick” describes a sudden, visceral disgust toward chicken that many experience despite previously enjoying it. Researchers link the reaction to sensory mismatches, such as unexpected smell, taste, or texture, and to social cues that trigger emotional contagion via...
Can Science Predict When a Study Won’t Hold Up?
A DARPA‑funded initiative called SCORE set out to create an AI‑driven credit score for scientific papers, hoping to flag research that would stand up to replication. The project examined hundreds of studies across fields, comparing original results with repeat experiments....
How a 20-Year Old Asthma Drug Is Boosting Food Allergy Research
A 20‑year‑old asthma medication, Xolair (omalizumab), is now accelerating food‑allergy research, especially for peanut sensitivities. Recent clinical trials combined the drug with oral immunotherapy, cutting severe reaction rates by roughly 70 percent. The FDA has recently cleared the first oral...
Novel Glutathione Formulation Increases Bioavailability of ‘Master’ Antioxidant
Researchers published a randomized crossover trial showing that LipoMicel, a micellar glutathione formulation, delivers substantially higher systemic exposure than standard oral glutathione, even at a lower 300 mg dose. Compared with a 500 mg standard supplement, LipoMicel increased incremental area under the...
Male Octopuses Have a Favourite Arm that They Mostly Use for Sex
Researchers at Nagasaki University have identified the third right arm of male octopuses as a specialised hectocotylus used exclusively for sperm transfer. The study observed that males fiercely protect this arm, pulling it back when touched and avoiding predators that...
LIGO Data Hints at Supernovae so Powerful They Leave Nothing Behind
Researchers analyzing LIGO’s gravitational‑wave catalog have identified a pronounced gap in black‑hole masses around 45 solar masses. The finding aligns with theoretical predictions that pair‑instability supernovae completely disrupt stars above a certain size, leaving no black‑hole remnant. The study also notes...
500-Million-Year-Old Spider Relative Has Claws Where It Shouldn’t
Harvard paleontologists have identified a 500‑million‑year‑old fossil, Megachelicerax cousteaui, that sports a pair of frontal claws where Cambrian arthropods normally have antennae. The three‑inch sea predator is the oldest known chelicerate, pushing the group’s origin back by roughly 20 million years....
A Fossil Reveals Early Relatives of Spiders — Armed with Claws
Scientists have described a remarkably preserved fossil from Utah’s Wheeler Formation that dates to roughly 500 million years ago, representing the oldest clear example of chelicerae—front claws—found in early spider and scorpion relatives. The specimen’s well‑developed claws settle a long‑standing debate...
CERN Timepix Chips Fly to the Moon
Artemis II launched with six CERN‑developed Timepix chips integrated into NASA’s Hybrid Electronic Radiation Assessor (HERA) system. The detectors will monitor real‑time radiation composition, intensity, and energy as the crew passes through the Van Allen belts and encounters galactic cosmic rays....
Transforming Water Treatment: Fermilab’s Innovative Electron-Beam Technology Takes on PFAS Pollution
Fermilab’s Illinois Accelerator Research Center, partnered with Proficio Consultancy, is advancing a compact superconducting radio‑frequency (SRF) electron‑beam accelerator to destroy PFAS in contaminated water. The design and analysis phase is complete, and fabrication and installation of the pretreatment and post‑treatment...
The Alaskan Permafrost Is Thawing. Here’s Why That’s so Worrying
A new study shows that a Wisconsin‑sized area of Alaskan permafrost now releases about 12 cubic kilometers (three trillion gallons) of fresh water each year, a volume exceeding the total output recorded in the early 1980s. Between 1980 and 2023,...
Can AI Agents Automate Scientific Discovery?
Nvidia’s GTC keynote highlighted a new wave of agentic AI systems—OpenClaw, Kosmos, LabOS, Latent‑Y and Dyno Psi‑Phi—designed to automate and accelerate scientific discovery. These agents combine large‑language models, XR interfaces and robotic labs to compress months of research into days while...
Link Found Between Antibiotics and Depression in Pregnancy
A large Japanese cohort of 94,490 pregnant women found a stepwise association between antibiotic use and psychological distress in early‑to‑mid pregnancy. Women who took antibiotics both before conception and after pregnancy recognition faced a 50% higher odds of severe distress...
AIAA Anticipates Artemis II Launch with Collection of Technical Papers
AIAA announced a complimentary collection of technical papers tied to NASA’s Artemis II mission, drawing from the Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets and AIAA SciTech Forum papers published between 2024 and 2026. The papers are hosted on AIAA’s Aerospace Research Central...
Lambert–Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome: Early Recognition, Diagnostic Precision, and Therapeutic Advances in Small Cell Lung Cancer
Lambert‑Eaton Myasthenic Syndrome (LEMS) is increasingly recognized as a prodromal marker for small‑cell lung cancer (SCLC), prompting clinicians to screen earlier. Recent advances in auto‑antibody assays and electrophysiological testing have sharpened diagnostic precision, allowing treatment to begin before overt tumor...
Physicist Recreates Neutron Star Reaction, Reveals How Explosive Stars Forge Elements
A Mississippi State University physicist has successfully recreated the extreme conditions of a neutron‑star merger in the laboratory, enabling direct observation of rapid neutron‑capture reactions that forge heavy elements. Using high‑energy laser pulses to compress and heat target material, the...
Researchers Use JWST to Reveal Hidden Details of W51 Star Formation
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have obtained unprecedented infrared images of the W51 star‑forming complex, exposing dense cores and massive protostars previously hidden by dust. The observations include high‑resolution spectroscopy that maps gas outflows, shock fronts, and chemical...
Researchers Say Robotic Exoskeletons Using Haptic Feedback Help in Violin Duo Coordination
A European Union‑funded study shows that haptic feedback delivered through wearable robotic exoskeletons significantly improves coordination between violin duos. Researchers tested 20 pairs of musicians and found the highest performance when touch, sight, and hearing were combined. The CONBOTS project...
April-June 2026 Issue of Aerospace America Now Live
The April‑June 2026 issue of Aerospace America is now live, featuring the cover story “The New Space Race” by Leonard David and associate editor Cat Hofacker. The article examines the United States’ renewed push to land astronauts on the Moon, a goal...
STAT+: Insilico Medicine CEO on How Best to Use AI in Drug Development
Insilico Medicine, a veteran AI‑driven drug discovery firm, announced a partnership with Eli Lilly that includes a $115 million upfront payment and up to $2.75 billion in milestone‑based total consideration. The deal leverages Insilico’s generative‑AI platform to co‑develop novel therapeutics, primarily targeting metabolic...
Tracker-Based Agrivoltaics Turn Fields Into Wind-Safe Zones
Cornell University researchers used CFD modeling to show that single‑axis tracking solar panels can serve as effective windbreaks for crops, reducing shelter‑zone wind speeds by up to 70% compared with a single row of trees. A novel lowered‑first‑row panel configuration...
Working Together, Indigenous Peoples & Researchers Describe New Amazonian Palm
Researchers from the University of Zürich, working with the Cacua Indigenous community in Colombia’s Vaupés region, identified a previously unknown palm species, now named Attalea taam. The discovery emerged after locals offered the botanists a fruit they had long harvested,...
Researchers Build a Robotic Swarm with No Electronics, No Batteries and No Brains
Georgia Tech researchers have created an electronic‑free robotic swarm whose behavior emerges solely from its mechanical design. Tiny particle robots latch, release and reconfigure when exposed to external vibrations, eliminating the need for sensors, processors or batteries. The system scales...