Nov. 18, 2023, 5:30 a.m. ET Nov. 18, 2023, 5:30 a.m. ET Starship prototypes at Starbase in Texas.Credit…Veronica Cardenas/Reuters For Elon Musk, Starship is really a Mars ship. He envisions a fleet of Starships carrying settlers to the Red Planet in the coming years. And for that eventual purpose, Starship, under development by Mr. Musk’s…
The mantra Elon Musk follows is “test early, break it, and learn”, and engineers at his SpaceX company certainly had a lot of lessons to learn after the first flight test in April. Starship’s fiery exhaust dug out an enormous hole under the launch pad, hurling debris in all directions. Scientists later calculated the forces…
How It Works: Doctors wait to cut the cord. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists already recommends delaying clamping by 30 to 60 seconds for both full-term and preterm newborns. Preterm babies are those born before 37 weeks of gestation. In preterm infants, delayed clamping leads to improved circulation, less need for blood transfusions…
On any given night, far from bright city lights, there’s a chance that you’ll see a beautiful streak shoot across the sky as a meteor flies overhead. But on special dates scattered throughout the year, skywatchers can catch a multitude of flares as meteor showers burst in the darkness. The next event is the Leonids,…
Regulators in Britain on Thursday approved the first treatment derived from CRISPR, the revolutionary gene-editing method. Called Casgevy, the treatment is intended to cure sickle-cell disease and a related condition, beta thalassemia. The manufacturers, Vertex Pharmaceuticals, based in Boston, and CRISPR Therapeutics, based in Switzerland, say about 2,000 patients in Britain with sickle-cell disease or…
BBC correspondent Jessica Parker has flown over Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, where the recent volcanic activity has been concentrated. Scientists say the area could face decades of increased volcanic instability. Fears of an impending eruption led to the evacuation of the town of Grindavik, which has partially sunk by more than a metre. It is thought…
If a troop of baboons encounters another troop on the savanna, they may keep a respectful distance or they may get into a fight. But human groups often do something else: They cooperate. Tribes of hunter-gatherers regularly come together for communal hunts or to form large-scale alliances. Villages and towns give rise to nations. Networks…
SpaceX is preparing for the second test flight of Starship, the giant rocket that is being built to carry NASA’s astronauts to the surface of the moon and Elon Musk’s ambitions to Mars. The Federal Aviation Administration granted regulatory approval for the launch on Wednesday, setting up an attempt on Friday morning. Here’s what you…
A Moment That Sums It Up: 3:46 p.m. The millionth vet joined the database on the afternoon of Nov. 11. Employees who had waited a dozen years for this moment wept. As the goal approached, the department had started an intensive email campaign, encouraging vets to sign up online or at V.A. medical centers. In…
The first time orcas appeared near his catamaran, Florian Rutsch was surprised, but prepared. Like many venturing around the Iberian Peninsula, Mr. Rutsch had browsed Facebook groups, Telegram chats and other online platforms where sailors have been swapping tips on a relatively recent phenomenon: How do you get orcas to leave your boat alone? In…