Powerful GOES-T satellite launches to eye Earth’s weather, climate

Scientists will soon have a powerful new set of eyes in the sky to study Earth’s weather and climate. The GOES-T satellite lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station today (March 1) at 4:38 p.m. EST (2138 GMT), riding a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket into the final frontier. If all goes … Read more

Psychologists Urge Peers to Take Climate Action

The field of psychology must bolster its ability to address the health effects of climate change, according to a new report from the nation’s largest professional organization of psychologists. The American Psychological Association says its more than 133,000 members can do more to address climate change by broadening their impact on everything from mental health care to … Read more

Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine May Delay Europe’s ExoMars Rover Launch

Europe’s ExoMars rover, built to search for traces of life on the Red Planet, is unlikely to launch as planned in September aboard a Russian rocket as a result of sanctions rolled out by European countries in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.  The ExoMars mission, which comprises the Trace Gas Orbiter (in orbit around … Read more

Satellite photos show huge Russian military convoy nearing Ukraine’s capital Kyiv

Satellites have captured images of a massive convoy of Russian military vehicles 40 miles long (65 kilometers) nearing the besieged Ukrainian capital Kyiv as the country continued its resistance against Russia on the sixth day of that country’s invasion. The images, captured Monday (Feb. 28), show the convoy stretching from the town of Prybirsk, in … Read more

Spurred by pandemic, U.S. government will revisit federal policies on risky virus research | Science

In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. government is revisiting its oversight of experiments that involve modifying pathogens in ways that might make them more harmful to people. Yesterday, White House officials and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) asked an expert advisory board to undertake a swift, broad review of the agency’s … Read more

China quietly plans a pivot from ‘zero COVID’ | Science

China’s aggressive “zero COVID” strategy has served it remarkably well. The country has reported fewer than 154,000 cases and 5200 deaths from COVID-19 so far, a tiny fraction of the figures in the United States. But as the highly transmissible Omicron variant seeps into the country and the social and economic costs of the zero … Read more

How a culture of white privilege discourages Black students from becoming physicists | Science

This story is part of a special package being published this week about the barriers Black physicists face and potential models for change. Read more C. Smith/Science Apriel Hodari has spent many years studying how to improve training and reduce inequity in the scientific workforce. That research has brought her face to face with “the … Read more

First gene-editing treatment injected into the blood reduces toxic protein for up to 1 year | Science

The first team to disable a disease gene directly in a person through an infusion of the genome editor CRISPR reported yesterday that levels of the toxic protein made by the gene dropped as much as 93% for up to 1 year. The researchers hope the long-term reduction means patients in the clinical trial will … Read more

Why are efforts to boost the small number of Black U.S. physicists failing? | Science

This story is part of a special package about the barriers Black physicists face and potential models for change. Read more C. Smith/Science In the 1990s, physics departments at U.S. universities faced an existential crisis. The number of undergraduate physics majors had plummeted by 25% over 10 years, prompting fears that many departments might disappear … Read more

Ukrainian entrepreneur calls for faster, better satellite data to help fight Russian invasion

A Maxar satellite image shows Russian airborne forces in Zdvyzhivka, Ukraine, on Feb. 28, 2022. (Image credit: Maxar Technologies) Private Earth observation companies have been sharing satellite images of Ukraine and its bordering countries amid Russia’s military invasion, but these efforts are not actually helping resistance fighters on the ground, Ukrainian entrepreneur Max Polyakov said … Read more