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.
The Swift Observatory is expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere on Wednesday and is ‘unlikely’ to cause harm.
As public opinion has soured on data centers, it’s selling ‘AI campuses’ as protectors, instead of noisy polluters.
In Florida, more than 20 polling sites are being moved due to intense flooding. Storms in the Southwest have also impacted some polling locations in Colorado, Newsweek reports, while Utah will let some voters impacted by flooding return ballots electronically, and Arizona officials are warning voters to check travel updates.
AwareCA provides emergency maps and alerts like Watch Duty, but directly from public safety agencies. The LA Times reports the app addresses fire officials’ “uneasiness” with Watch Duty, with Cal Fire’s David Acuña saying, with AwareCA “you’re not relying on, ‘Well, what did I hear on that really static-y radio?’”
[Los Angeles Times]
As tech billionaires pour record millions into Maine’s high-stakes Senate race, rural voters push back against the resource strain, rising utility costs, and phantom jobs of the AI data center boom.
OpenAI’s latest claimed breakthrough, one of three major results announced Monday, refutes the long-held Exponential Time Hypothesis. Wired captures the excitement and uncertainty among researchers. It’s a familiar story in mathematics, where a barrage of AI-generated discoveries has left researchers scrambling to understand what’s actually been achieved.
Reuters reports that Finnish police said the criminal probe will look into “ambiguities and shortcomings in the drainage and water management at the construction site.” Google also reportedly cleared forests around the data center site near Muhos, Finland before completing required environmental impact assessments.
The US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has successfully tested SpaceX’s disc-shaped Starfall reentry capsule in an effort to determine the viability of point-to-point rocket cargo deliveries. Starfall carried AFRL-developed cargo pods that were recovered after splashdown in the Pacific Ocean, containing essential survival kits that might be needed on real emergency missions.
Industry has drained the state’s water reserves for decades. Data centers are the breaking point.
AI data center projects are continuing to pop up across the US, with frequent opposition from locals concerned about their impact. Here are a few recent articles about the projects:
Oh boy. This move refers to BPC-157, TB-500, Mots-C, KPV, epitalon, and semax. A document outlining the decision indicates that this seems to be the Health Secretary’s call, even though FDA scientists advised against it in July. This broadens access, but still requires a patient-specific prescription and adverse reporting.
Knowing common health tech grifts comes in handy for assessing the secretive startups in You Can See Everything.
The deal was announced in April and is expected to close in 2027. It gives Amazon Globalstar’s constellation of 25 satellites and its spectrum — a welcome boost given its stalled launch timeline — and means Leo will now power the satellite services for Apple’s supported iPhones and Apple Watches.
[The Federal Communications Commission]
Some are even mad enough to vote for Democrats.
As expected, he made the announcement at a campaign rally in Texas on Tuesday. He claims the move will “unleash an estimated 210 million additional barrels of oil.” He’s rolling back Biden-era rules that were supposed to generate up to $98 billion in benefits by limiting climate and health risks.
Some midterm races come down to ‘people who hate data centers’ versus ‘people who hate them even more.’
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The simple $180 tracker is a sleek return to Fitbit’s roots, albeit with a little extra AI flair.
As SpaceX throttles Ukraine’s Starshield, experts warn that Elon Musk’s de facto monopoly over launch and satellite tech poses a major threat to global security.
Scientists are blaming climate breakdown for that record figure, which is almost double 2025’s, and only covers city areas — meaning the real number of deaths is likely higher. According to this new mortality report, Malta, Italy, and Hungary had the hightest rates of people succumbing to the heat.
Trump asked Musk on Wednesday to fully roll back the interruptions that neither has publicly taken responsibility for, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Today, the WSJ says the system is working “more normally” after the call, citing US and Ukrainian officials.
[The Wall Street Journal]
Yes, of course there are pay package incentives in play for Musk. But that’s not all.
We already basically lost the Gros Michel to Panama disease in the 1950s. The Cavendish replaced it in our fruit bowls, but because it’s sterile and relies on propagation, it’s threatened by climate change and disease. According to the Guardian, scientists may have found a solution:
This month, Yelloway – a research collaboration between Chiquita, the world’s largest banana company, and the crop-improvement company KeyGene – announced it had developed a fully fertile Cavendish banana, meaning it may be possible, through cross-breeding, to create new banana varieties that are commercially viable and resistant to disease.
