Science

USA Today reports: SpaceX’s latest unmanned Starship launch at first went off without a boom on Tuesday, but eventually broke up almost an hour after it took off. After two test flights ended in dramatic explosions earlier this year, SpaceX’s ninth test of its Starship vehicle experienced a “rapid unscheduled disassembly” on Tuesday, May 27, SpaceX confirmed on X. That’s …

The Washington Post reports: Engagement with digital technology was associated with a 58 percent reduced risk of cognitive impairment in people middle-aged and older, according to a study in the journal Nature Human Behavior. Researchers conducted a systematic review of 57 studies to see whether exposure to technology has helped or harmed cognition among the first generation of adults with …

Axios reports: Google’s newest AI video generator, Veo 3, generates clips that most users online can’t seem to distinguish from those made by human filmmakers and actors. Veo 3 videos shared online are amazing viewers with their realism — and also terrifying them with a sense that real and fake have become hopelessly blurred. Unlike OpenAI’s video generator Sora, released …

CBS News reports: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s airport screening program has detected multiple cases of the new COVID-19 variant NB.1.8.1, which has been linked to a large surge of the virus in China. Cases linked to the NB.1.8.1 variant have been reported in arriving international travelers at airports in California, Washington state, Virginia and the New York …

Wired reports: Cuts made by the Trump administration are threatening the function of a tiny but crucial office within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that maintains the US’s framework of spatial information: latitudes, longitudes, vertical measurements like elevation, and even measurements of Earth’s gravitational field. Staff losses at the National Geodetic Survey (NGS), the oldest scientific agency in the …

The Guardian reports: Moderna said on Wednesday it had withdrawn an application seeking approval for its flu and Covid combination vaccine candidate after discussions with the US Food and Drug Administration. The company said it would resubmit the application later this year with vaccine efficacy data from a late-stage trial of its experimental seasonal influenza vaccine, which it expects to …

Axios reports: Scientists at an iconic NASA research center in New York City have been told they have until the end of the month to vacate their building and everything in it— with nowhere else to go. The closure of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, a building owned by Columbia University and made famous for housing the diner …

Science.com reports: Interviews with science advocacy groups and scientists working in a range of disciplines confirm that what Jen Jones, director of the Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, calls “the fear factor” is rampant. Scientists “have been made to feel like they cannot open their mouth for fear of losing whatever they have left,” …

US News reports: As part of the 2025 Best States rankings, U.S. News evaluated adult obesity rates for all 50 states based on self-reported survey data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a partnership between the CDC and state health departments. Thirty-nine states with data available for 2023 posted age-adjusted obesity rates of 30% or more, with three hitting …

Science.com reports: The National Science Foundation (NSF), already battered by White House directives and staff reductions, is plunging into deeper turmoil. According to sources who requested anonymity for fear of retribution, staff were told today that the agency’s 37 divisions—across all eight NSF directorates—are being abolished and the number of programs within those divisions will be drastically reduced. The current …

CBS News reports: Getting a shingles vaccine may help with more than the viral infection that causes painful rashes — new research shows it can also lower the risk of heart disease. In a study, published Monday in the European Heart Journal, researchers found people given the shot had a 23% lower risk of cardiovascular events, including stroke, heart failure …

USA Today reports: If you’ve recently purchased tomatoes, you may want to check the label. There have been two separate recalls affecting tomatoes sold across 14 states. Ray & Mascari Inc. was notified by Hanshaw & Capling Farms of Florida that they were recalling the lot of tomatoes it sent to be repackaged into the 4 Count Vine Ripe Tomatoes …

CBS News reports: Nearly all of the remaining staff at the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health were laid off Friday, multiple officials and laid-off employees told CBS News, gutting programs ranging from approvals of new safety equipment to firefighter health. Much of the work at NIOSH, an arm of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, had …

Politico reports: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s congressionally mandated Health Hazard Evaluation program is one of many health and safety services on which firefighters depend that’s been shrunk or eliminated by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “reduction in force” — a purge of more than 10,000 employees. Firefighters are regularly exposed to toxins and …

The Guardian reports: Norway has launched a new scheme to lure top international researchers amid growing pressure on academic freedom in the US under the Trump administration. Following in the footsteps of multiple institutions across Europe, the Research Council of Norway on Wednesday launched a 100m kroner (£7.2m) fund to make it easier to recruit researchers from other countries. The …

The Daily Beast reports: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is worried about testosterone levels in American teens. The health secretary expressed concern about declining testosterone levels among teenagers as he spoke to Fox News on Tuesday night about a newly announced initiative to phase out eight artificial food dyes. “Seventy-four percent of our kids cannot qualify for military service,” he said. …

ABC News reports: The measles outbreak in western Texas has now reached 624 cases, with 27 new infections confirmed over the last five days. Nearly all of the cases are among unvaccinated individuals or among those whose vaccination status is unknown, according to new data published by the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) on Tuesday. The increase in …

Reuters reports: The Food and Drug Administration is suspending a quality control program for testing of fluid milk and other dairy products due to reduced capacity in its food safety and nutrition division, according to an internal email seen by Reuters. The suspension is another disruption to the nation’s food safety programs after the termination and departure of 20,000 employees …

Science.org reports: The National Science Foundation (NSF) has spent decades—and billions of dollars—trying to attract more women and members of underrepresented groups into science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Not anymore. Today NSF announced such efforts “are no longer aligned with its priorities” and that it is terminating any existing grant designed to improve the demographics of the scientific workforce. …

ABC News reports: White House Director of Science and Technology Michael Kratsios on Monday suggested the United States has technology that can “manipulate time and space.” The comment came during remarks on “the golden age of American innovation” at the Endless Frontiers Retreat in Austin, Texas. Kratsios said during the event that American technological developments have stalled compared to the …