The Planet (on, and off)

Japan’s prime minister says his country is on the brink of not being able to function as a society because of its falling birth rate. Fumio Kishida said it was a case of “now or never.” Japan — population 125 million — is estimated to have had fewer than 800,000 Read more…

An exotic green comet that has not passed Earth since the time of the Neanderthals has reappeared in the sky ready for its closest approach to the planet next week. Discovered last March by astronomers at the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in California, comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) Read more…

California state officials “claim that the 12.5 million electric vehicles expected on California’s roads in 2035 will not strain the grid,” writes the nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization Cal Matters. “But their confidence that the state can avoid brownouts relies on a best-case — some say unrealistic — scenario: massive Read more…

“Astronomers have detected a radio signal from the most distant galaxy yet,” reports Space.com — thanks to a naturally occurring phenomenon called gravitational lensing. “The signal is bent by the presence of another massive body, another galaxy, between the target and the observer,” says researcher Nirupam Roy, an Associate Professor Read more…

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has certified the design for what will be the United States’ first small modular nuclear reactor. The rule that certifies the design was published Thursday in the Federal Register. It means that companies seeking to build and operate a nuclear power plant can pick the Read more…

For nearly a year and a half, a Massachusetts high school has been lit up around the clock because the district can’t turn off the roughly 7,000 lights in the sprawling building. The lighting system was installed at Minnechaug Regional High School when it was built over a decade ago Read more…