America’s Department of Defense is gearing up for a future conflict in space, as China and Russia deploy missiles and lasers that can take out satellites and disrupt military and civilian communications. The White House this month proposed a $30 billion annual budget for the U.S. Space Force, almost $4 Read more…
Paris voted overwhelmingly Sunday to banish for-hire electric scooters from the streets of the French capital, delivering a blow to operators and a victory for road safety campaigners. The referendum means the City of Light, once a pioneer in embracing e-scooter services, is set to become the only major European Read more…
“SpaceX has its first commercial cargo contract to the lunar surface,” says Jaret Matthews, the founder of the tiny startup Astrolab which makes a moon rover the size of a Jeep Wrangler. On Friday, Astrolab announced that it had signed an agreement with SpaceX for its Flexible Logistics and Exploration Read more…
What does a stressed plant sound like? A bit like bubble-wrap being popped. Researchers in Israel report in the journal Cell on March 30 that tomato and tobacco plants that are stressed — from dehydration or having their stems severed — emit sounds that are comparable in volume to normal Read more…
The foodstuff feeds more than half the world — but also fuels diabetes and climate change. According to Indonesian legend, rice was bestowed upon the island of Java by the goddess Dewi Sri. Pitying its inhabitants the blandness of their existing staple, cassava, she taught them how to nurture rice Read more…
In the midst of perpetrating what federal prosecutors say was a massive corporate hacking campaign, Israeli private detective Aviram Azari in 2017 received welcome news. A group of hackers in India wrote him to say they had successfully infiltrated the email and social-media accounts of a group of environmental activists Read more…
European Union countries gave final approval on Tuesday to a landmark law to end sales of new CO2-emitting cars in 2035, after Germany won an exemption for cars running on e-fuels. The approval from EU countries’ energy ministers means Europe’s main climate policy for cars can now enter into force Read more…