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Featuring the latest in daily science news, Verge Science is all you need to keep track of what’s going on in health, the environment, and your whole world. Through our articles, we keep a close eye on the overlap between science and technology news — so you’re more informed.

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SpaceX is reportedly building a network of spy satellites for US intelligence

According to Reuters, a classified $1.8 billion contract with the National Reconnaissance Office involves hundreds of satellites with “Earth-imaging capabilities.”

SpaceX Starship launch: third time’s the charm?

The first two Starship flight tests ended in an explosive fashion. On its third attempt, the spacecraft lasted much longer.

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Are science journals prepared to deal with AI-generated glurge?

So far, the obvious giveaway phrases (“As of my last knowledge update in September 2021,” and “Certainly, here is a possible introduction for your topic”) are appearing primarily in low-tier journals. But after Penis Rat, I am somewhat concerned about the quality of peer review.


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SpaceX can reportedly block employees from selling shares over “dishonesty.”

Leaked documents viewed by TechCrunch say SpaceX can prevent former or current employees from selling shares during a tender offer if they engaged in “an act of dishonesty against the company” or violated policies.

Since SpaceX is a private company, this could prevent employees from selling their shares until SpaceX goes public — which may not even happen. SpaceX also reserves the right to buy back vested shares six months after an employee leaves the company, TechCrunch reports.


So, where exactly is that lead in your Stanley Quencher?

The 3D X-ray startup Lumafield did a CT scan of a Stanley Quencher water bottle to show you without destroying one (but if your viral insulated cup does happen to break, you should return it).

You can see where an airhole in the stainless steel outer layer is vacuum-sealed with a small lead pellet, which appears red in the image below. That way, it never comes in contact with your beverage in the inner flask or with you on the outside.


A diagram of a CT-scanned Stanley Quench separated into sections.
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The first major offshore wind farm in the US just started powering homes in New York.

This is BIG in more ways than one. With blades longer than the Statue of Liberty is tall, these are 12 massive next-generation turbines towering over the Atlantic. Together they should be able to generate 130 megawatts of clean energy for some 70,000 homes. For comparison, the US only had the capacity to generate 42 megawatts from offshore wind until now. More big offshore projects are on the way (and just a reminder, there’s no evidence to show they’re harming whales).


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Is anyone surprised Shell is walking back its commitments to pollute less?

We are talking about the the same industry profiting by creating the climate crisis. Shell previously promised to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which is impossible unless the company pivots away from dirty energy. Shell’s blaming consumers for its own lack of follow through, saying “investment in oil and gas will be needed” to meet demand.


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Fossil fuel companies are using AI to drill faster.

They’ve used AI for years to find new oil and gas reserves. Now, more advanced AI is helping them drill oil wells more efficiently. Within a few years, a significant chunk of wells could be drilled autonomously, Bloomberg reports. That brings costs down and helps dirty energy compete with renewables like solar and wind, which have become cheaper alternatives to fossil fuel power plants that wreck air quality and cause climate change.


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All of the angles on the launch of SpaceX’s third Starship flight test.

The Starship was reported “lost” before it could splash down after reentry as planned. but for a better look at the takeoff, the folks at NASASpaceflight put together a few different camera angles from this morning’s events.


SpaceX successfully launched its Starship, but the vehicle was ‘lost’ after reentry

Two prior attempts exploded soon after launch, but this Starship prototype’s trip to space and back lasted 49 minutes.

Starship reentry views.

As Starship reenters Earth’s atmosphere, the external cameras are capturing the heat and plasma field generated.


Starship reentry
Image:SpaceX
The Starship won’t attempt an in-flight engine relight this time.

We’ve skipped over one planned element of this test flight, as the Starship 28 prototype continues on its way toward a planned splashdown.


View of Earth from an external camera on the Starship prototype
Image: SpaceX
Propellant transfer demo completed.

SpaceX finished another test for this Starship flight and ended internal views from the flight. As the live broadcast continues, it has gone in and out as the vehicle continues to barrel roll in space on its way to a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean.


View of Earth from Starship vehicle in space.
Image: SpaceX
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Now Starship is in a “coast phase.”

The next milestone for this flight test is a planned in-space relight of the Raptor engines, which is scheduled for 40:46 into the flight, or a about 18 minutes from now.


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SpaceX says the Super Heavy booster “fell a little short” of its planned relight control.

On the stream, we watched the return of the Super Heavy booster rocket after separation, which seemed to have partial success on some of its planned maneuvers as it came back to Earth. The commentators noted it “feel a little short,” of the plan, but didn’t go into detail.


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Starship flight test three is under way.

The vehicle took off successfully and is now heading toward the “Hot-staging (Starship Raptor ignition and stage separation).”


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SpaceX’s Starship reentry plans.

As we wait to see if the Starship will launch, SpaceX posted this clip showing what the splashdown could be like.


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Chilling effects.

The countdown just crossed T-10 minutes and counting.


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Where is the Starship supposed to go?

If everything works out as planned, the Starship will attempt an in-space relight of its Raptor engines and eventually splash down in the Indian Ocean, as shown in this animation.


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SpaceX readies its third Starship rocket test flight: watch the launch here.

After the first two Starship tests went up in flames, SpaceX says it’s now attempting “a number of ambitious objectives” for today’s targeted 9:25AM ET launch, including:

The successful ascent burn of both stages, opening and closing Starship’s payload door, a propellant transfer demonstration during the upper stage’s coast phase, the first ever re-light of a Raptor engine while in space, and a controlled reentry of Starship. It will also fly a new trajectory, with Starship targeted to splashdown in the Indian Ocean.


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SpaceX’s projected Starship launch time keeps moving.

If SpaceX attempts another Starship launch this morning, it now says the launch could happen about an hour and a half into the planned 110-minute launch window that started at 8AM ET.

An update from SpaceX said it is “go for propellant load,” and the launch is targeting 9:25AM ET. An official livestream has not started yet, but the folks at Spaceflight Now are broadcasting live with cameras set up near the Boca Chica, TX, launch site.

Update March 14th, 8:26AM ET: Updated launch timing (again) from SpaceX.


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Please don’t pet the toxic cat.

Residents of Fukuyama City are looking for a cat that fell into a vat of toxic chemicals at a metal plating factory. After reviewing security footage, officials believe it fell in the tank containing hexavalent chromium on Sunday night, crawled out, and ran off.

Locals are keeping an eye out but are urged not to touch the potentially highly toxic cat. Personally, I’m rooting for the cat’s eventual rise as the greatest supervillain the world has ever seen.


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Japan’s Space One rocket goes up in smoke.

The solid-fueled “Kairos” rocket carrying an experimental government satellite exploded just seconds after launching on Wednesday. The Space One startup had hoped to become the first private Japanese company to put a satellite into orbit.

‘The rocket terminated the flight after judging that the achievement of its mission would be difficult,’ company president Masakazu Toyoda said at a news conference.


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One small step for man, one potential nuclear step for mankind’s future on the Moon.

Space.com points out this recent announcement that China and Russia are considering putting a nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2035, linked to their plans for a joint lunar outpost.

Roscosmos CEO Yury Borisov says they’re readying technology that could carry out the mission autonomously — an ambitious statement considering it couldn’t quite nail an attempted lunar landing last August.


Hate daylight savings time? Blame this guy who liked to collect bugs.

People have blamed farmers and Benjamin Franklin for the switch, but modern daylight savings time was first proposed in 1895 by George Hudson, an entomologist in New Zealand who wanted to use the extra daylight to collect insects.

The idea was later promoted in England by William Willett, a builder and golfer, who wrote in 1907 that the extra daylight would offer more time for outdoor activity. Both England and the US started implementing the practice to save energy during World War I.


Image: United Cigar Stores Company, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Stratolaunch, still in the game, pulls off a powered hypersonic test flight.

This is the first successful powered flight of its reusable Talon-A TA-1 autonomous hypersonic plane, which it announced yesterday “reached high supersonic speeds approaching Mach 5” during the test.

The TA-1 launched from Roc, its massive twin-fuselage plane that recently flew with the TA-1, attached and fully-fueled for the first time. Eventually, the company hopes to launch space planes from the 385-foot-wide flier.


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AI, Bitcoin mining, and clean tech manufacturing could push US power grids to the brink.

Electricity shortages could become a big problem over the next several years unless the US races to get more sources of clean energy online, The Washington Post reports. Data centers for AI and crypto mining are huge energy vampires. And the resurgence of domestic manufacturing for everything from semiconductors to EV batteries and solar panels are also expected to put extra strain on aging power grids.


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90 scientists sign letter aimed at preventing AI bioweapons.

That’s a haunting thought, but the letter outlines principles for the responsible use of AI in designing new proteins (aka the building blocks of life). The fear is that AI could be used to generate new viruses or toxins. That said, the letter doesn’t seek to ban AI use completely — in fact the scientists say the benefits outweigh the harms. Rather, they’re hoping to regulate the actual equipment used to generate new genetic materials.


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Don’t believe all the hype about AI helping fight climate change, a new report warns.

Because of all the energy it consumes, AI might actually make things worse by driving up greenhouse gas emissions. There’s also the risk of AI being weaponized to spread climate disinformation. You don’t have to take my word for it; this report from the Climate Action Against Disinformation coalition brings together current research on the issue.


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So there’s a Chinese policy directive to “delete America.”

The idea is to get American tech giants out of the country:

Document 79 was so sensitive that high-ranking officials and executives were only shown the order and weren’t allowed to make copies, people familiar with the matter said. It requires state-owned companies in finance, energy and other sectors to replace foreign software in their IT systems by 2027. 

Also, the Chinese government plans to splash out on science and tech — spending $51 billion this year, a 10 percent increase over last year.


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House Democrats are looking into Russia’s alleged Starlink use.

The Washington Post reports that Jamie Raskin and Robert Garcia sent a letter to SpaceX on Wednesday night, expressing concern that the company “may not have appropriate guardrails and policies in place” to prevent Russia from illegally acquiring Starlink terminals.

Ukraine claims that Russia has deployed the terminals in occupied areas of eastern Ukraine. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk says, “To the best of our knowledge, no Starlinks have been sold directly or indirectly to Russia.”


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Maybe third time’s the charm for SpaceX’s Starship.

The third flight test for the Starship rocket might take place on March 14th at 7:30AM ET, SpaceX has announced on X. (This is assuming the FAA signs off, and that it's not delayed for some other reason.)

Starship’s last two tests failed memorably; during the most recent November launch the booster and Starship exploded after their separation.