4 – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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Science

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.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
SPCX opens at $150 per share.

As reported by CNBC, the New York Times, and others, trading commenced at a price 11 percent above the $135 IPO price, but lower than the $175 shown in some earlier indications. It’s already spiked as high as $167, before falling back to $155. As long as the share price remains above $138, that is enough to make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.

It also gives SpaceX a market cap of over $2 trillion, making it currently the 6th most valuable public company in the US.

SpaceX is now publicSpaceX is now public
Andrew J. Hawkins
Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
The perfect gift for your partner.

A sun exposure-tracking pendant, in case they’re running low on tech-induced anxiety.

Digi Dave:

Hey babe, wake up, a new device that creates crippling anxiety about your health just dropped!

Get the day’s best comment and more in my free newsletter, The Verge Daily.

Emma Roth
Emma Roth
SpaceX sets IPO price at $135 / share.

That price puts SpaceX at a market valuation of around $1.77 trillion ahead of its record-breaking stock market debut on Friday. CNBC reports that SpaceX may allocate 20 percent of shares to retail investors, down from the previous expectation of 30 percent.

Andrew Liszewski
Andrew Liszewski
This exposure-tracking pendant will help you stay safe in the sun.

It’s a similar idea as L’Oréal’s My Skin Track UV sensor, but the $299 (discounted to $199 at launch) Gem smart jewelry wearable from The90 is a more stylish alternative. Its sensors measure UVA and UVB exposure throughout the day and based on your skin profile it will tell you how much sun is safe to get and when to reapply sunscreen through an app.

A person holds The Gem smart exposure pendant between the fingers while it’s worn around their neck.
The Gem is available for preorder now and the earliest orders are expected to ship this month.
Image: The90
I went to the woods to drink surprisingly great espresso

Is a $200 portable coffee machine what Thoreau meant by living deliberately?

Thomas Ricker
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Solar has overtaken coal in the US for the first time.

That’s according to data from energy think tank Ember, which says solar supplied a record 12.8 percent of US electricity in May 2026, compared to 12.2 percent for coal. That’s the fourth-lowest monthly share ever for the fossil fuel, despite the Trump administration’s efforts to boost coal industries.

A graph showing energy source comparisons in the US.
Solar and wind combined overtook coal in the US in 2024, now solar can do it alone.
Image by Ember
Jay Peters
Jay Peters
This week in the big AI data center buildout.

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:

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
New Starlink dishes are coming.

No telling if that Starlink Mini dish on the right includes an integrated battery, per rumors, but both terminals look thinner than current models. Elon Musk revealed them yesterday without any specs, pricing, or dates.

Elon Musk: “These are the new Starlink terminals, which we made in much higher volume than the current terminals. Ultimately, we think there’s probably going to be a few hundred million Starlink terminals out there.”
Elon Musk: “These are the new Starlink terminals, which we made in much higher volume than the current terminals. Ultimately, we think there’s probably going to be a few hundred million Starlink terminals out there.”
Image: SpaceX
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Starlink kits now default to $10 monthly rentals.

Instead of paying hundreds up front, new customers in “select markets” will have to rent their Starlink hardware for $10 per month on top of the monthly fee. It only applies to Residential plans currently, and renters can’t pause the service, but can buy their kit later by ”creating a support ticket,“ according to a support page. The move comes after Starlink recently raised prices on its monthly plans.

Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
NASA announced the astronauts for the Artemis III mission in 2027.

After the successful Artemis II test in April, NASA’s next crew will head to low-Earth orbit to “demonstrate critical systems needed for future lunar landings,” albeit without any Prada pajamas.

The four astronauts selected are Andre Douglas, Frank Rubio, Randy Bresnik, and Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano from the ESA.

Update: Added the names of the selected astronauts.

Mia Sato
Mia Sato
Watch Duty, the wildfire tracking app, is expanding to floods.

The non-profit service that millions of people relied on during the wildfires in Los Angeles last year will now track flooding nationwide. Users can get information on river gauges, precipitation data, and active warnings, and during life-threatening events, Watch Duty’s live reporting team will report back on hazards like dam/levee failures and downed bridges. Flood and wildfire tracking is available for free and with no ads.

Image: Watch Duty / watchduty.org
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Three new BlueBird satellites are go.

After Jeff Bezos’s New Glenn rocket failed to put BlueBird 7 into orbit, AST SpaceMobile will use Elon Musk’s trusty Falcon 9 to help build out AST’s space-based cellular broadband network useable by everyday smartphones. The delivery of those giant BlueBird 8, 9, and 10 satellites — which feature the largest commercial communications arrays ever deployed in low Earth orbit — is currently scheduled for Wednesday, June 17th.

AST SpaceMobile’s Bluebird 8, 9, 10 stacked and ready for payload integration. Don’t ask about Bluebird 7.
AST SpaceMobile’s Bluebird 8, 9, 10 stacked and ready for payload integration. Don’t ask about Bluebird 7.
Image: AST SpaceMobile
Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Here’s the first SpaceX AI data center.

“What we’re showing here is kind of a draft version of the version one of the SpaceX AI satellite,” said Elon Musk at the reveal on Monday. “It’s actually much simpler than a Starlink satellite.” The release of renders and specs for the space-based AI1 data center is very much timed to lend credence to the SpaceX IPO, which is set to begin trading on Friday.

On Monday SpaceX revealed a draft of its AI data center satellite.
On Monday SpaceX revealed a draft of its AI data center satellite.
Image: SpaceX
Richard Lawler
Richard Lawler
“The cell Donut Lab is testing, is definitely not a solid-state, screen printed sodium-ion battery.”

While the Verge Motorcycles spinoff Donut Lab has spent the last few months claiming to have solved solid-state batteries, science YouTuber Ziroth says he’s determined that the battery the company is testing is actually a lithium-ion battery cell.

Among the evidence, as run down by Electrek, is the expansion pattern shown during VTT’s third-party testing, Donut Lab’s “production vehicle” claims that didn’t add up, and a questionable history for CT Coatings, the battery tech’s apparent supplier.

TC Sottek
TC Sottek
Go for Artemis III.

NASA’ trailer for its Artemis III mission is sick as hell. How could anyone not be hyped for this crew?

Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
Amazon’s Starlink competitor gets a much needed extension. 

Jeff Bezos’ Leo service had an FCC deadline of July 30th to launch half of its planned 3,232-satellite constellation. To date it’s only launched 331. The waiver comes with conditions meant to incentivize Amazon to move quickly, which would be a lot easier if Bezos’ semi-reusable New Glenn rocket hadn’t exploded and destroyed its only launchpad.

Jay Peters
Jay Peters
Google follows Anthropic in signing a compute deal with SpaceX.

Per a regulatory filing, Google will pay SpaceX $920 million per month from October 2026 through June 2029, as reported by TechCrunch.

In a statement to TechCrunch, Google says that it’s a “short-term” agreement to help meet “surging customer demand for our agent platform, Gemini Enterprise, which has been even higher than we expected.”

Anthropic’s deal with SpaceX was announced in May.

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Amazon is picking up the pace of Leo satellites launches.

There are over 330 Leo satellites already in orbit, but the 36 planned for the next Arianespace mission is still smaller than the 48 satellites Amazon was planning to launch on a Blue Origin rocket that exploded during testing last week. This batch of satellites will launch from a spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, on June 17th.

An illustration showing a size comparison for two Amazon Leo payloads
Image: Amazon
What do you mean my new smart scale is ‘built for GLP-1 users’?

The GLP-1 tech boom is coming.

Victoria Song
Jess Weatherbed
Jess Weatherbed
Peloton takes on Pilates.

Peloton has acquired Skōp, a Pilates-focused startup that builds real-time form-tracking technology. That suggests there might be new Peloton hardware on the horizon, as the company tries to recover from its post-covid slump. In a statement, Peloton CEO Peter Stern said:

“Form is everything in Pilates, so we are taking a purposeful approach to ensure we develop the most effective, safest, and fun experiences possible—ones people will keep doing for life.”

TC Sottek
TC Sottek
Elon Musk’s $2 trillion IPO hits a guardrail.

The S&P just found the backbone that Nasdaq discarded on the street alongside the rest of New York City’s trash. While others are bending the rules to accommodate SpaceX and other gargantuan IPOs, the S&P is standing firm. “No changes will be made” to accommodate these mega offerings.

Victoria Song
Victoria Song
Dexcom doubles down on nondiabetic CGM use.

First off, it announced today that it plans to acquire Nutrisense — a CGM startup that targets nondiabetics. Stelo, its over-the-counter CGM, is also getting an FDA-cleared redesign that includes “pattern recognition, proactive AI coaching, and personalized weekly and daily summaries.” Hopefully, these moves help ease the data fatigue I experienced in my yearlong experiment with CGMs as a nondiabetic.

Elon Musk is steamrolling Wall Street to become a trillionaire
Play

Elon destroyed Twitter, but somehow still won as he prepares to take SpaceX public in what could be the biggest IPO ever.

Nilay Patel
Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
NASA ends MAVEN orbiter mission after 11 years of collecting atmospheric data from Mars.

NASA hasn’t heard from MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) since December 6th. A review board concluded that the spacecraft was in an unrecoverable state after emerging from the far side of Mars because it was rotating at an “unusually high rate,” which drained the batteries, cutting off power to MAVEN’s communications systems.

Dominic Preston
Dominic Preston
SpaceX gets a Terafab tax break.

Grimes County, Texas, awarded the company a property tax exemption for its planned $55 billion Terafab semiconductor plant. Local residents seem to feel the same way about the project as many do about data centers, and this tax break won’t help. As local landowner Rhonda Nesloney put it in court:

“Elon was on the news bragging he’s about to be a trillionaire . . . and you want to consider giving him a tax abatement.”

Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
SpaceX is reportedly aiming to raise $75 billion in its IPO.

CNBC reports details from a new filing ahead of SpaceX’s IPO on June 12th and notes a mention that xAI, which merged with SpaceX earlier this year, bought $269 million worth of Tesla megapack batteries in April.

At the $135 per share price tag, SpaceX would be valued at $1.77 trillion, which assumes the EchoStar spectrum and Cursor transactions close. The valuation would make SpaceX the seventh-biggest company in the U.S. by market cap, and put it above Tesla, which is valued at about $1.6 trillion.

Trans teens want to talk about their future

The Trump administration might not want trans kids to exist, but they’re living their lives anyway.

Grace Byron
Stevie Bonifield
Stevie Bonifield
Withings launches the BodyFit body comp scale, a $279 budget-priced update to its BodyScan.

The BodyFit, available starting today, is a more affordable alternative to Withings’s $600 “longevity station” BodyScan 2 or the original BodyScan, which got a tariff price hike to $499.95 last year. Withings claims the BodyFit can deliver a “DEXA-level” “full-spectrum, 6-zone body composition scan in just 10 seconds.”

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Thomas Ricker
Thomas Ricker
“We will fly again before the end of this year.”

That’s Dave Limp, Blue Origin CEO, commenting on New Glenn’s return to service after last week’s spectacular explosion that seriously damaged LC-36 — the rocket’s only launchpad. If the timeline holds it would be on the optimistic side of estimates and good news for NASA and Amazon who need the partially reusable, heavy-lift launch vehicle operational to meet their respective targets of returning to the Moon and competing with Starlink.