NASA is updating its guidelines on how to prevent contamination of the Solar System

An artistic rendering of astronauts landing on the surface of the Moon again | Image: NASA After years of debate, NASA plans to update its guidelines for how much biological contamination of other worlds will be allowed while the agency explores the Solar System. The new rules would relax some of the agency’s requirements for how to explore the...

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Right-to-repair advocates say hospitals need new rules to keep equipment working

Photo by MORRIS MAC MATZEN/AFP via Getty Images An advocacy group is urging lawmakers to make sure hospitals can repair their own equipment — citing a survey of over 200 medical professionals. The US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) has released a new report on how “right-to-repair” rules affect medical professionals, especially during the...

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After the pandemic, doctors want their new robot helpers to stay

A robotic helping hand in a crisis Continue reading…

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Doctors are better at treating COVID-19 patients now than they were in March

Nurses assess a COVID-19 patient in New York. | Photo by Robert Nickelsberg / Getty Images But they still don’t have good tools to help people who aren’t severely ill Continue reading…

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Harvard and MIT sue the Trump administration over decision to deport international students enrolled in online-only schools

Photo by Maddie Meyer / Getty Images Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are suing the Trump administration over Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s recent rule requiring international students to take in-person classes in order to remain in the US. The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court in Boston, says that ICE’s actions...

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Robotic lab assistant is 1,000 times faster at conducting research

The machine uses an industrial robotic arm to manipulate equipment made for humans. | Image: University of Liverpool Researchers have developed what they say is a breakthrough robotic lab assistant, able to move around a laboratory and conduct scientific experiments just like a human. The machine, designed by scientists from the UK’s University...

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SpaceX delays launch of latest batch of Starlink satellites, with two hitchhiking spacecraft

Update July 8th, 12:00PM ET: SpaceX postponed today’s launch due to bad weather in the area. The company decided to proceed through the countdown of the launch up until one minute before the planned takeoff in order to collect data from the rocket. A new date for the will be decided soon. Original Story: Just a week after launching a GPS satellite...

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House budget bill denies major increases for NASA to fund ambitious Moon program

An artistic rendering of astronauts on the Moon, mining resources. | Image: NASA House appropriators don’t intend to substantially increase NASA’s budget, potentially jeopardizing the agency’s plans of sending astronauts back to the Moon by 2024. Today, the House Appropriations Committee released its latest funding bill for fiscal year 2021,...

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Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro tests positive for COVID-19

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro at the Planalto Palace in Brasília, Brazil, on June 30, 2020.  | Photo by Andre Borges/NurPhoto via Getty Images Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has tested positive for COVID-19, he announced today. He is 65 years old. Over the weekend, he attended a US Independence Day event with US Ambassador Todd Chapman....

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There’s no quick fix for climate change

Illustration by Ana Kova It could take decades before cuts to greenhouse gases actually affect global temperatures, according to a new study. 2035 is probably the earliest that scientists could see a statistically significant change in temperature — and that’s only if humans take dramatic action to combat climate change. Be ready for the long...

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