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A commentary published in Nature argues that ongoing negotiations for a global plastics treaty should explicitly address how armed conflicts and energy insecurity affect plastic production and waste management. The authors contend that wars and fuel shortages can shift countries toward greater reliance on plastics for energy or materials, complicating efforts to curb plastic pollution worldwide.
SB Energy, a SoftBank-owned data-center developer, offered OpenAI a discount valued at $5.5 billion as part of an agreement to build data-center capacity together. The concession strengthens the financial relationship between SB Energy and OpenAI as they work to develop new infrastructure projects.
NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope lifted off from Kennedy Space Center aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket, beginning its mission to investigate dark matter and dark energy. Shortly after launch, the telescope successfully deployed its solar panels and sun shade, with remaining instruments set to activate in coming weeks. First images are expected in early 2027, with the observatory eventually beaming back 1.4 terabytes of data daily.
SpaceX is set to launch NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope aboard a Falcon Heavy rocket, with a launch window opening at 7:26 a.m. EDT. The telescope will settle nearly 1 million miles from Earth, using a 300-megapixel infrared camera and a coronagraph to map dark matter and search for Earth-like exoplanets, with all data made publicly available.
NASA's $4.3-billion Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope launched successfully atop a SpaceX rocket from Kennedy Space Center, carrying the largest infrared digital camera ever built along with a large mirror originally built for a spy satellite. The observatory, named after NASA's first chief astronomer, is now headed to its operational orbit to study dark energy, map millions of Milky Way stars, and search for exoplanets.
NASA has named its next major space observatory after Nancy Grace Roman, the agency's first chief astronomer and a key figure behind Hubble. The telescope will offer a field of view at least 100 times wider than Hubble's, allowing it to capture light from potentially a billion galaxies over its operational life.
A venture capital commentator argues that the next major wave of American innovation is shifting from software toward physical infrastructure like energy, logistics and manufacturing, and that the Gulf South region is positioned to lead it. The region accounts for over 40% of US crude production and half of national refining capacity, alongside major LNG, aerospace and defense hubs, plus global trade links to Latin America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The author points to events like the 3rd Coast Venture Summit in New Orleans as evidence that founders and investors are already organizing around this thesis.
NASA plans to launch the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on Aug. 30, a $4.3 billion observatory built from a spare satellite donated by the National Reconnaissance Office roughly 15 years ago. The telescope will search for Type 1A supernovas and study dark energy, the mysterious force driving the universe's expansion, while also hunting for exoplanets.
Erin Katz of Allen Service told CNET that homeowners should avoid turning off air conditioning entirely while traveling, since a home left to overheat can damage electronics, kill houseplants, and endanger pets. Instead, she recommends raising the thermostat only a few degrees above the usual setting, such as 75°F instead of 70°F, to save energy without letting the home get dangerously hot.
Seattle-based Interlune is developing technology to extract helium-3, a rare isotope embedded in lunar soil by billions of years of solar wind bombardment, with the goal of eventually mining it from the Moon and returning it to Earth. The company has been working on methods to simulate and accelerate the natural process that deposits helium-3 into lunar regolith, testing extraction techniques ahead of any full-scale mining mission.
An industry commentary argues that data center providers can no longer treat energy access as a late-stage formality. With surplus grid capacity disappearing, the piece calls for providers to engage utilities earlier and plan for long-term power partnerships rather than opportunistic siting.
New reactor designs, including smaller modular units, are being developed to make nuclear fission a more flexible and reliable source of carbon-free electricity. This shift comes after decades in which nuclear power failed to deliver on early promises of cheap, abundant energy following its transition from wartime use to civilian power generation.