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Nuclear Science Trailer at Wyoming Schools, Public Reception to Accomp
The Nuclear Energy Emerging Issue Forum will feature a public reception with interactive exhibits about nuclear industries Monday, April 13, from 4:30-6:30 p.m.
US on Iran: Does the World Need a Superpower Running Amok?
The US-Israel duo, adrift in a sea of intellectual and moral destitution, might risk the use of tactical nuclear weapons to defeat Iran.
Scientist leaves Yale for China, chip researcher’s death: 7 science highlights
From China closer to detecting US nuclear submarines to its jam-proof satellite network, here are some highlights from SCMP’s recent science reporting.
Lead architect of Iran nuclear deal rips Trump’s ceasefire deal: ‘catastrophically bad starting point’
Q&A: ‘If you are in the business of peace, you must talk to those who are at war’
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi on why he believes direct engagement is the only path to peace – and why he wants to lead the UN
China Expands Nuclear Infrastructure amid Global Arms Control Breakdown
Satellite imagery indicate that entire villages in Sichuan province were demolished in 2021–2022 to make way for expanded nuclear facilities.
The Centennial State’s nuclear energy opportunity
Colorado was given a clear opportunity earlier this year. On Jan. 28, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking potential hosts for Nuclear Energy Innovation Campuses — an early-stage process designed to identify states serious about shaping the next generation of energy development. What followed was not hesitation from local […]
Trump says Iran ‘no longer a threat’ after 32 days — outlines next phase of US war
Trump declares Iran "no longer a threat" after a 32-day military campaign, claiming nuclear sites were destroyed by B-2 bombers and warning of more strikes.
Pronatalists want more babies. Their solutions aren’t rooted in science
Conservative pronatalists want a return to the traditional nuclear family. But that family structure is at odds with how humans evolved.
New Process Shortens Nuclear Waste Timeline From 100,000 Years To Only Hundreds
Nuclear energy isn't exactly clean, with nuclear waste never exactly going away. But this inventive new process might help mitigate that particular problem.
Air Force and UCF partner to strengthen nuclear science research
Air Force Technical Applications Center collaborates with University of Central Florida to enhance research and workforce development in nuclear science.
Trump says Tulsi Gabbard 'softer' than him on Iran nuclear issue
"She's a little bit different in her thought process than me," Trump said aboard Air Force One. "But that doesn't make somebody not available to serve."
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope - First Details About the Major Heart of Chornobyl Expansion
A massive new storyline, two new regions - including the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant - that can take dozens of hours to explore, and much more. All in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope expansion announced at #XboxPartnerPreview:
Why politics, money, and construction capacity will limit any European turn toward nuclear power generation
The EU wants to reestablish the nuclear power supply it once had, when nuclear provided about a third of the bloc’s electricity supply. But Europe's industrial capacity, financial challenges, and politics are major obstacles to a European nuclear renaissance.
Biden political priorities impeded Iran negotiations, former secretary of state admits
Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken admitted that midterm elections complicated the Biden administration's push for a stronger Iran nuclear deal.
Epic flurry: How Trump’s words on Iran have yo-yoed over three weeks of war
He has dubiously claimed Iran posed an “imminent” threat to the US, months after declaring the US had “obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities. He’s given a multitude of reasons for launching a war in the first place. He has declared victory scores of times, only to qualify those claims later on. Over the course of nearly a month, President Donald Trump has yo-yoed from demanding “unconditional surrender” to teasing a possible detente.
Trump touts ‘significant’ Iran ‘present’ linked to Strait of Hormuz as deal talks heat up
President Donald Trump said Iran gave the U.S. a 'significant' oil and gas gift tied to the Strait of Hormuz, saying Iran is ready to make a deal on nuclear weapons.
Subtle health changes may signal progressive supranuclear palsy years in advance
Drawing from UK Biobank data, Mass General Brigham researchers have uncovered specific health factors linked to higher or lower risk of developing progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare but devastating ...
Your Thymus and Your Healthspan
Our thymus gland plays a central role in the development or our immune system, specifically for supporting T cell development (how these cells got their name, maturation and differentiation in the thymus) and discriminating between self and foreign, non-self antigen proteins with production of dendritic cells. As we age, our thymus gland shrinks—the process known as involution—with progressive change from spongy to fatty tissue, with loss of functionality. But this process, with respect to timeline and extent, markedly varies from one person to the next. And to make things even more complicated, our thymus gland anatomy and precise location in the chest also is highly variable. So the famous Frank Netter diagrams from the 1960s (such as at left below) don’t capture the remarkable heterogeneity that a random set of 12 chest CT scans (below at right). What I consider as 2 landmark papers in Nature this week (here and here) used AI to quantify health of the thymus in 2 large cohorts, and then correlate the metric to a broad array of health outcomes. In this edition of Ground Truths, I’m going to cover three questions: (1) How was thymus health determined by AI?; (2) How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? and (3) Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? Subscribe 1. How was thymus health determined by AI? This was accomplished by extensive work developing and validating an AI pipeline for 2 stages, the first for localization and segmentation of the thymus bed, and the second to quantify a digital marker, termed the thymic health score. There’s a lot to this algorithmic development, so I won’t go into all the details, but just provide a rudimentary outline of what was done. The 1st stage used supervised learning with 2 radiologists reviewing 2,461 chest CT scans. That work trained a 3D U-Net model to automatically identify the thymic bed’s 3D cropped region using center of mass coordinates, which reached 99.8% accuracy. The 2nd stage used a foundation model that was pre-trained with SwAV (which stands for Swapping Assignment between multiple Views), a self-supervised model, that generated a high-dimensional thymus representation of 4,096 features. That compares to the radiology reductionist and subjective scoring of 0 to 3 where 0 means the thymus is fully degenerated and fatty, and 3 is considered dense, intact glandular soft tissue. Notably, the self-supervised learning (SSL) performance was superior to supervised (AUC ~0.75 vs 0.55, respectively) reflecting the shallowness of the 0-3 classifier vs SSL’s holistic, self-taught AI. The thymic health score ranged from 0 to 100, with the highest number indexed to fully preserved thymic health. The algorithmic work extended to explainability with both Shapely value distribution, meaning the model was holistic not relying on any “magic” pixel, and occlusion sensitivity, demonstrating the model’s performance was not affected by ribs, sternum, lung tissue, but rather focused on the thymic bed directly. Below are a few saliency maps from the occlusion sensitivity that indicate the thymic bed focus, not affected by neighboring structures, using the jet color scale. Now the AI was ready for processing ~25,000 CT scans, each over 30 MB files, from the 2 large participant cohorts to provide a thymic health score, it did so in less than 14 hours, which is less than 2 seconds per scan! Share 2. How is thymus health linked to key clinical outcomes? The two cohorts were the National Lung Screening Trial, NLST (N=25,031) and the Framingham Heart Study, FHS (N=2,581) each with baseline demographics and long term follow up of >12 years for health outcomes. From the NSLT, you can see below that increased age and body-mass index were correlated to reduced thymic health. And, overall, men had reduced thymic health scores compared with women. There are a lot of graphs in the paper for outcomes, for both the NLST and FHS cohorts. To simplify the major outcomes, below is a composite Figure with striking reduction of all-cause mortality and for the different causes of death. The results were consistent between the 2 cohorts. For example, the cardiovascular mortality hazard ratio average was 0.57 in NLST and 0.38 in FHS (weighted to be 0.53 for the aggregate). The reduction of mortality also extended to digestive diseases and pulmonary disease (data not shown below). Lung cancer incidence was reduced by 36% for high vs low thymic health (Figure below, with a panel -incidence and b panel-mortality, adjusted for age, sex, BMI, smoking status). Notably, there was a smoker’s paradox: lower incidence and improved survival for lung cancer in smokers who had a high thymus health score. Smoking was associated with lower thymic scores whereas alcohol was not. Higher thymic health was linked to higher HDL cholesterol, lower triglycerides, lower fasting blood glucose, and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Inflammation biomarkers, such as C-reactive protein and interleukin-6, were elevated in the people with lower thymic health scores. In their second paper, the same team looked at the relationship between thymic score and outcomes for 3,476 patients receiving cancer immunotherapy. The non-small cell lung cancer progression-free survival was reduced in patients with low thymic health score. A parallel relationship for survival was seen for other types of cancer including melanoma, breast, and kidney with a 44% lower risk among high thymic scores (Figure). A similar pattern was seen with different immune checkpoint inhibitors. The thymus health score outperformed programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1)and tumor mutation burden (TMB) assay of the tumor and was an independent prognostic marker of progression-free survival. In this dataset, a direct connect with thymus score and adaptive immune function was noted with a correlation before cancer treatment for both T-cell diversity and thymus T-cell production (a metric known as T cell receptor excision circles). Thymus Removal Study There is a highly relevant citation about thymus function before moving onto ways to rejuvenate it. In 2023, a very important study of thymus removal during cardiothoracic surgery was published, with 1146 patients undergoing thymus removal vs 1146 matched controls (mean age 55 years). The adverse outcomes for thymus removal were striking, with a 2.9 higher risk of all-cause mortality and doubling of cancer incidence, 1.5 fold increase in cancer mortality, and 1.5-fold increase in autoimmune diseases. The immune function showed marked compromise after thymus removal, as reflected by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells (Figure below) Share Ground Truths 3. Are there ways we can promote a healthy (aka rejuvenate) thymus gland in our later years? In recent months we’ve learned a lot about the process of thymus involution and the pathways by which this may be modulated. Thymus involution is primarily due to loss to thymus epithelial cells (TECs) and there are 2 subtypes with different functions: the cortical, responsible for positive selection of T cells, and the medullary, for negative selection. When adipose tissue infiltrates the thymus, thymic adipocytes are pro-inflammatory, knocking out T-cell output. Likewise, systemic inflammation, or “inflammaging,” from smoking, obesity, and chronic stress promote thymic adipocytes. Now, from preclinical studies, we know about key pathways that account for these processes. Historically, back in 2014, FOXN1 was recognized as a single master transcription factor essential for TEC function, with studies in mice with forced FOXN1 upregulation leading to thymus regeneration. That laid the foundation for potential regrowth of quiescent thymus cells. It took awhile to find pathways to accomplish this goal and to even refute its role as the master regulator. The Liver-Thymus Axis Feng Zhang and his team recently showed that injection of an mRNA vaccine to the liver encoding DLL1, IL-7 and FLT3-L in combination, factors known to support thymopoiesis (Figure), successfully enhanced immune function in aged mice. However, the effect was transient. The FGF21 Story Two reports in 2025 addressed the thymus gland’s production of FGF21, a growth factor (fibroblast growth factor 21) and its control of thymus involution. This growth factor is also produced by the liver, but it doesn’t have impact on the thymus in aged rodent models. In contrast, The liver’s hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been shown to reverse senescent TEC structural changes. Growth hormone stimulates production of insulin growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in the liver and the thymus. Two small studies in human participants (TRIIM, for Thymus Regeneration, Immunorestoration, and Insulin Mitigation) of 6 and 50 people, respectively, treated with combined human growth hormone, metformin and DHEA, suggested the potential of slowing epigenetic aging and improving thymus mass and function. But the combination of drugs, small sample, and lack of controls make conclusions murky. Increased thymus FGF21 led to increased CD8 T cells in old mice and extended healthspan and improved physical performance. Building on the previous FOXN1 data, ablation of β-klotho, the obligatory co-receptor for FOXN1, accelerated thymic aging. The benefit to FGF21 was confirmed in a companion paper using an FGF21 knock-in mouse model showing thymus enlargement and increased TECs throughout the lifespan. (schematic Figure below). The accompanying editorial for these 2 papers speculated: “The proposed link between age-associated thymus involution and organismal aging is intriguing, and suggests we might seek to achieve systemic rejuvenation by counteracting thymic involution.” Other Factors Lessons from the Axolotl (Mexican Salamander) In an elegant set of experiments of the axolotl (Figure), known for its complete thymus regeneration after total surgical removal, mediators were identified. Surprisingly FOXN1 was dispensable. But midkine, a growth factor, appeared to be the driver, the initiator of thymus cell growth, survival, and repair. Other components that contributed were Postn+ (periostin-expressing mesenchymal niches) and Ccl19, a chemokine protein from the bloodstream. RANK and RANKL RANK (receptor activator of nuclear factor κB its ligand (RANKL) have been considered key regulators of medullary TECs. In a study of both aged mice and human thymus cell cultures, their key role was confirmed, with multiple benefits of resorting TEC function, recruitment of progenitor cells, and T cell development. Subscribe Summing Up This body of work strongly supports the health of the thymus gland as a critical regulator of human healthspan, not just a correlate or link. The new landmark studies are reinforced by the regenerative biology experimental models that have shown, via an array of mediators, that healthspan of aged mice is at least in part dependent on thymus gland function and its critical role for maintaining adaptive immunity. It sure seems that we’d be better off having an immune reservoir of naive T cells instead of a profile in older adults of exhausted, low quality, memory T cells, with a senescent phenotype. It is striking that we ignored the importance of the thymus gland for many decades. A wake-up call was the results of the thymectomy matched control study reviewed here, with the opposite of high thymic health score improved health outcomes. The convergence of AI and healthspan here is notable. The exceptional and laborious work for developing and validating (no less explaining) the AI to quantify thymus health set the foundation for probing the connect the major health outcomes in two cohorts with extensive follow-up. We’ve never had a way to meaningfully quantify the thymus gland before, so this represents important leverage of supervised, self-supervised, and transformer models. The study wouldn’t have been possible without AI. And it begs the question as to whether there are ways we can maintain our thymus at a high health score. But it’s not so simple to rejuvenate our thymus. There are multiple risks including the induction of autoimmunity, increasing the risk of cancer, and inducing a pro-inflammatory state. For example, factors that increase TEC proliferation could compromise the medulllary negative selection process and leak out auto-reactive (self-attacking) T cells. Thymic cells could be induced to proliferate, but we know, for example, that growth hormone and IGF-1 are associated with an increase risk of cancer. If thymus rejuvenation doesn’t clear out the accumulated senescent cells in older adults, then inflammation within the gland could block the production of TECs. Keeping these risks in mind, we now have identified many ways to keep our thymus healthy as we age that undoubtedly will be tested in clinical trials going forward. Ultimately, the benefit-to-risk tradeoffs will be defined. In the meantime, we have desperately needed an immunome. As I’ve stressed in multiple prior Ground Truths, we have no test in the clinic to assess a patient’s immune status! It was very encouraging for me to get an email from Hugo Aerts, the senior author of the landmark papers in the days after they were published: “I also wanted to say that your Substack on “Why We Need an Immunome” was inspiring for this work. We found it a very compelling perspective and greatly enjoyed reading it.” Just having an assessment of a person’s immune status via a chest CT scan, with millions of these performed per year, might help in guiding the right immunotherapy for cancer (e.g. more intensive, combinations for those with low thymic health scores) and help define people who are increased risk for age-related diseases of cancer, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative. The main theme of Super Agers is that we now have many layers of data (genetics, proteins, biomarkers, organ clocks that can be integrated via multimodal AI) for us to define a person’s specific risk decades before one of these age-related diseases leads to symptoms, enabling prevention. From the new studies this week, we can add thymus health score as yet another way to understand a person’s risk, a window into their adaptive immune system and healthspan. And perhaps someday we will be able to safely rejuvenate the thymus, or maintain its health through one’s life, and use the thymus health score to monitor. NB: I wrote this post (No A.I.) A Quick Poll Loading... ********************************************************************* Thanks to Ground Truths subscribers (now > 200,000) from every US state and 212 countries. Your subscription to these free essays and podcasts makes my work in putting them together worthwhile. Please join! If you found this interesting PLEASE share it! Share Ground Truths Paid subscriptions are voluntary and all proceeds from them go to support Scripps Research. They do allow for posting comments and questions, which I do my best to respond to. Please don’t hesitate to post comments and give me feedback. Let me know topics that you would like to see covered. Leave a comment Many thanks to those who have contributed—they have greatly helped fund our summer internship programs for the past two years. It enabled us to accept and support 47 summer interns in 2025! We aim to accept even more of the several thousand who will apply for summer 2026.
An Iranian-American political science expert talks about Iran's nuclear program
NPR's Scott Simon speaks to Ariane Tabatabai, the Public Service Fellow at Lawfare, about the nature of Iran's nuclear program, and whether it, as President Trump has said, posed an "imminent threat."
Nuclear reactor developer X‑energy files for US IPO
X-energy has filed for an initial public offering in the United States, it said on Friday, as the reactor developer aims to tap growing investor enthusiasm for nuclear power.
Trump faces his most difficult Iran war decision: Will he deploy U.S. troops to seize uranium?
The president has been circumspect about how far he's willing to go to follow through on his pledge to destroy Iran's weapons program once and for all, including seizing or destroying the near-bomb-grade nuclear material that Iran possesses.
DOE Announces $293 Million Genesis Mission Funding for Quantum Science and AI-Driven Research
DOE announces $293M Genesis Mission funding for AI-driven research in quantum information science, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology, and nuclear energy.
‘Her answer is not credible’: Sen. Warner slams DNI Tulsi Gabbard’s testimony on threat posed by Iran nuclear program
What to know about Bill Gates’ nuclear science company planned for the former South Philadelphia refinery site
TerraPower Isotopes will manufacture a rare, radioactive isotope for use in developing cancer treatments.
Oklo Publishes Full-Year 2025 Financial Results and Business Update
Oklo Inc. (NYSE: OKLO) (“Oklo” or “the Company”), an advanced nuclear technology company, today published its financial results and business update for the q...
‘Worst-case scenario’: Middle East nuclear concerns haunt top health officials
The WHO is remaining “vigilant” for any kind of atomic threat.
Top Chinese nuclear, radar and missile experts vanish from engineering body site
Former CAE vice-president Zhao Xiangeng is among a number of academicians no longer profiled on the body’s website.
Trump is searching for an endgame to the Iran war
Senior officials privately expressed doubt the Trump administration can achieve the overthrow of Iran's government and the destruction of its nuclear program through military means.
Scientists crack a 20-year nuclear mystery behind the creation of gold
Gold and other heavy elements are born in some of the universe’s most violent events—but scientists still struggle to understand the nuclear steps that create them. Now, nuclear physicists have uncovered three key discoveries about how unstable atomic nuclei decay during the rapid neutron-capture process, the chain reaction responsible for forging elements like gold and platinum.
The dangerous lesson countries may take from the Iran war
Having a nuclear weapon has never looked more appealing.
Nuclear war fear? The food that protected Japanese people against atomic bomb radiation in Nagasaki
A perfectly balanced atom just broke one of nuclear physics’ biggest rules
Physicists have discovered a surprising new “Island of Inversion” in a place no one expected: among nuclei where the number of protons equals the number of neutrons. For decades, these strange regions—where atomic nuclei abandon their usual orderly structure and become strongly deformed—were thought to exist only in highly neutron-rich isotopes far from stability. But experiments on molybdenum isotopes revealed that molybdenum-84 behaves dramatically differently from its close neighbor molybdenum-86, even though they differ by just two neutrons.
Dave McCormick blasts Democrat 'political theater' on Trump's war powers, Iran threat
Sen. Dave McCormick, R-Pa., discusses the House vote on curbing President Trump's war powers regarding Iran strikes. He blasts Democrats for 'political theater,' emphasizing Iran's role as a terror financier and its nuclear ambitions.
Florida Politics: Florida is leading the next nuclear revolution
With advanced nuclear reactors nearing real-world testing in Idaho, it’s happening now. Florida can either wait and watch — or prepare and lead.
WSU celebrates 65 years of nuclear excellence
A major expansion currently underway will support the university's continuing commitment to research, training and America's energy future.
Fallout 76 | Venture through The Backwoods TODAY in Fallout 76’s latest free update
Expect some Uninvited Guests on your journey through the Appalachian post-nuclear wilderness with this free update for all players, including the legendary Bigfoot!
Scientists Don't Just Want to Neutralize Radioactive Waste—They Want It to Power Our Future
Virginia-based Jefferson Lab is leading a project to transform nuclear waste into usable electricity while also drastically reducing its radioactive life.
How Trump decided to strike Iran
Iran balked at a proposed deal Thursday, a senior U.S. official said. “They weren’t willing to say they will not have a nuclear weapon. Very simple,” Trump told NBC News.
US-Iran live updates: Israel, Iran trade strikes after Khamenei killed
The conflict follows weeks of rising tensions between the United States and Iran amid negotiations over its nuclear development programs.
'It's not true.' Trump's reasons for Iran attacks questioned
Donald Trump says Iran was close to developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles capable of striking the U.S. Analysts say that's not true.
Fact-checking statements made by Trump to justify U.S. strikes on Iran
President Donald Trump's accusation that Iran is building nuclear weapons that could "soon" reach the U.S. is contradicted by a 2025 federal government assessment that said Iran is years away from the ability to produce long-range missiles.
GE Aerospace, Nuclear Play Lead 5 Stocks Near Buy Points
GE Aerospace, Nuclear Play Lead 5 Stocks Near Buy Points
US strikes Iran: Trump’s gamble could spark wider Iran war
US strikes Iran as President Trump gambles on ending nuclear ambitions, risking a wider war and testing whether Americans are on board.
Area Man Accidentally Hacks 6,700 Camera-Enabled Robot Vacuums
Plus: The top US cyber agency falls into shambles, AI models develop an upsetting penchant for nuclear weapons, and more.
Trump announces attack on Iran, says US will 'destroy' its missiles
The U.S. aims to wipe out Iran's ballistic missile program, prevent it from obtaining a nuclear weapon and help its people seize control, Trump said.
The nuclear nightmare at the heart of the Trump-Anthropic fight
Should we trust Claude to stop a missile attack?
Trump Says He’s ‘Not Happy’ With Progress of Iran Talks
The president expressed his negative view of the status of nuclear talks as he weighed military strikes against Iran.
Chernobyl at 40: physics, politics and the nuclear debate today
Jim Smith reflects on the 1986 disaster and how it still shapes public perception of nuclear power
WATCH: ‘Can't let’ Iran have a nuclear weapon, Trump says
The U.S. has been building up its largest military presence of American warships and aircraft in decades in the Middle East, as the Trump administration plans to restart talks with Iran over its nuclear program.
US re-asserts 2025 strikes ‘obliterated’ Iran’s nuclear programme
The White House comment comes after a senior Trump aide said Iran is a week away from having material for nuclear bomb.
Trump said Iran’s nuclear program was ‘obliterated.’ So why is he looking to strike again?
In March, the US intelligence community assessed that Iran was “not building a nuclear weapon.”
BWX Technologies’ Stock Jumps. Its Nuclear Business Is Growing.
On Monday evening, BWX Technologies announced fourth quarter earnings per share of $1.08 from sales of $885.6 million.
Two Argonne scientists receive 2025 DOE Early Career Research Awards
Two Argonne scientists, David Kaphan and Yong Zhao, have been named to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Early Career Research Program for separate projects in catalysis and nuclear physics.
Will the US attack Iran? Trump weighs options, floats limited strike
'I guess I am considering that,' President Donald Trump said of as he weighed a limited strike on Iran amid nuclear negotiations.
Trump warns he's considering limited strikes as Iranian diplomat says proposed deal is imminent
President Donald Trump has warned that limited strikes against Iran are possible even as the country’s top diplomat says Tehran expects to have a proposed deal ready in the next few days following nuclear talks with the U.S. Trump’s remarks Friday came a few hours after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Aragchi said on MSNOW’s “Morning Joe” show that his country was planning to finalize a draft deal in “the next two to three days” to then send to Washington
Iran says US military build-up ‘unnecessary and unhelpful’, deal achievable
Top Iranian diplomat Abbas Araghchi says US 'has not asked' for zero uranium enrichment in nuclear talks.
Trump weighs strikes as he gives Iran ‘10 to 15 days’ to agree deal over nuclear programme
The US has amassed an arsenal of military assets in the Middle East that would allow it to launch an aerial bombing campaign against Iran
How the lightning strikes of nuclear science will fill foundational radiation research gaps
One path to becoming a successful researcher is to find an under explored scientific niche and add knowledge where it didn’t exist before.
Wazzu’s three-point barrage buries Pacific in 887-71 win
The Washington State Cougars snapped their three-game losing streak in a big way on Wednesday night, defeating the Pacific Tigers 87-71. WSU’s (12-16 overall, 7-8 in conference) offense went nuclear, finishing with an absurd 1.403 points per possession, their second-best mark of the season, and splashed 14 three-pointers. What makes the performance even more remarkable […]
MIT nuclear science professor talks U.S. airlifting nuclear reactors
NBC News' Ellison Barber talks to MIT Professor of Nuclear Science Jacopo Buongiorno about the U.S. airlifting nuclear reactors and what that could mean for nuclear power in the country.
Rubio plans to update Netanyahu on US-Iran talks in Israel next week, officials say
Secretary of State Marco Rubio plans to travel to Israel next week to update Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the U.S.-Iran nuclear talks
Vanderbilt Health remembers C. Leon Partain, former chair of Radiology
Clarence Leon Partain, MD, PhD, professor emeritus of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, whose work in nuclear medicine and magnetic resonance imaging helped shape the field of academic radiology, died Jan. 28 in Brentwood, Tennessee. He was 85. After beginning his career as a nuclear engineer at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and as faculty at the University of Missouri and the University of North Carolina, Dr. Partain joined the ranks at Vanderbilt Radiology in 1980 and was promoted to professor in 1984. He later became the first Carol D. and Henry P. Pendergrass Professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences and chair of the department (1992-2000), and subsequently the director of the Center for Imaging Research. Shortly after arriving in Nashville, Dr. Partain began to lead Vanderbilt Radiology’s nuclear medicine division. He remained in this role until he was named the department chair. Dr. Partain specialized in multiple fields, including nuclear medicine, magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography. Following his time as chair, Dr. Partain shifted his focus to research and spent time working clinically with radiology’s chest imaging section. In 2015, he retired and was honored for his years of service and named as emeritus faculty. Dr. Partain also held an appointment as professor of Biomedical Engineering. A Tennessee native, Dr. Partain was born in Memphis and later graduated from high school in Clarksville. He then received his BS in nuclear engineering from the University of Tennessee, his MS and PhD in nuclear engineering from Purdue University and his MD from Washington University. He completed his residency training in diagnostic radiology and nuclear medicine at the University of North Carolina. Dr. Partain was clinically trained and certified in diagnostic radiology and nuclear radiology by the American Board of Radiology (ABR) and the American Board of Nuclear Medicine. Throughout his career, Dr. Partain contributed to the growth of Vanderbilt Radiology and received many academic and research accolades across the specialty through various associations. During his time leading the department, clinical studies increased from 180,000 to 260,000 cases per year, emerging technological imaging equipment expanded the department’s capabilities, and units for angiography and fluoroscopy were added to the tool kit. The department also expanded its footprint with outpatient imaging in Nashville, Bedford County and more. Research continued to expand with continued growth in scientific findings and millions in grant funding for radiopharmaceuticals, functional MRI, nuclear medicine, X-ray, ultrasound and more. Dr. Partain is celebrated for being instrumental in bringing the first MRI and PET/CT machines to the Medical Center. His efforts helped build Vanderbilt Radiology’s prestige in the world of academics and research both nationally and internationally. His society affiliations included the American College of Radiology, the American College of Nuclear Medicine, and the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (ISMRM). He served as president of the Radiological Research Alliance of the Association of Academic Radiologists and has held executive roles as a member of many radiological society boards. Dr. Partain was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging from 2000 to 2013 and a member of the editorial boards of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the American Journal of Roentgenology, Academic Radiology, the Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Investigative Radiology. He has authored/co-authored/edited six textbooks, including one of the first comprehensive textbooks on MRI, “Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Imaging.” Dr. Partain has also authored/co-authored/edited approximately 100-plus book chapters and 200-plus journal articles. In 2000, Dr. Partain received the Distinguished Service Award from the ABR. In 2014, he received the Distinguished Service Award from the ISMRM. In 2016, he received the Alumni Achievement Award from Washington University for his “contributions to advance the fields of nuclear medicine and medical imaging.” Dr. Partain served the ABR as an examiner for 20 years, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education as a member of the Nuclear Medicine Residency Review Committee, and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in multiple capacities. A devout Baptist deacon and man of committed faith, he is survived by his wife of 62 years, Judy; children, David (Rebecca), Teri (Bland), and Amy; brother, Larry (Deb); brother-in-law, Tom (Cathy); grandchildren, Sarah (Brandon), Amy, Luke, Tucker, Alex, Ryan and Jake; cousins and a host of nieces and nephews. Vanderbilt Health is grateful to Dr. Partain for his decades of service and major contributions to clinical and research imaging.
NANO Nuclear Reports Q1 FY 2026 Financial Results and Provides Business Update
Management to hold webcast today at 5:00 pm EasternNew York, N.Y., Feb. 17, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) (“NA...
NANO Nuclear Reports Q1 FY 2026 Financial Results and Provides Business Update
Management to hold webcast today at 5:00 pm Eastern
Live updates: Nuclear talks between US and Iran set to begin in Geneva
The US is planning to meet with Iranian officials today in Geneva, sources tell CNN. Follow here for the latest.
U.S. and Iran Gear Up for Nuclear Talks Amid Rising Tensions
President Trump has called on Iran to reach an immediate accord or else face the threat of a possible U.S. attack.
US increases military pressure on Iran ahead of high-stakes talks
The US military is continuing a significant buildup of air and naval assets in the Middle East ahead of planned talks with Iran in Geneva on Tuesday. The pieces are being moved into place both to intimidate Tehran and to have options to strike inside the country should negotiations over its nuclear program fail, multiple sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Rubio meets Orbán in Budapest as US and Hungary are to sign a civilian nuclear pact
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is meeting Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in Budapest as the two countries move to sign a civilian nuclear cooperation deal
Why after 70-plus years of readership I won’t renew my Washington Post subscription
My brother and I read a lot growing up. Our Dad, a bomb-designing nuclear engineer with the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), purchased our first television the day after we graduated from high school. Yes, there was a statement therein regarding his opinion of a pernicious distraction from our academic pursuits. I can’t imagine what he […]
Trump's Genesis Mission gets its first set of 26 sure-to-succeed objectives
: DoE bets AI can speed fusion, unlock decades of nuclear data, and probe fundamental physics
Arundhati Roy is right, not Wim Wenders – here are eight films that have changed politics
From ‘honour’ killings to nuclear war, some screen works have led directly legislative action – despite what jury head Wenders suggested at the Berlin film festival
Live updates: Pam Bondi expected to face questions about Epstein files at House hearing
Get live updates and the latest news as Pam Bondi faces questions from Congress about the Epstein files and Trump meets with Benjamin Netanyahu on Iran's nuclear program.
Netanyahu to push Trump to take tough Iran stance during White House visit
Israeli PM is expected to press the president to take a harder line over Iran’s nuclear program
Celebrating Women in Science Day 2026 at CERN
Every year, on 11 February, CERN celebrates the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. In an effort to amplify diverse voices in STEM, six women scientists from CERN open up about their careers and the lessons they hope to pass on to the next generation. Francesca is an Italian biomedical engineer pursuing her PhD at CERN, working in the robotics team of the Beams Department. She’s currently working on the MARCHESE project, in affiliation with Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, focusing on contactless monitoring of physiological parameters. Despite choosing a scientific career and often volunteering in scientific outreach initiatives, Francesca continues to nurture her passion for the humanities and arts. “I firmly believe that collaboration and inclusion are the right paths to improve the world together. I’m driven by a strong curiosity about everything around me.” Berare is a Turkish experimental physicist who worked with the ATLAS experiment during her MSc and PhD on searches for physics beyond the Standard Model. During her PhD, she became a Support Scientist for the Beamline for Schools (BL4S) competition, which marked the beginning of her journey combining research with science communication. She now works for both BL4S and ELISA, the mini proton accelerator at CERN’s Science Gateway. She fondly remembers the moment when the BL4S 2022 winners arrived at the experimental zone: “I felt incredibly lucky to share my passion with young, curious and really passionate people. We spent two weeks of beam time together watching their ideas turn into reality. All the intricate details of running an experiment, we accomplished them as a team.” Mia is a Canadian research fellow in the Accelerator Systems Department, working on beam developments for fundamental physics with radioactive molecules. Mia pursued a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering before moving to Vancouver for a master’s degree in engineering physics. Her interest in radioactive ion beam production brought her to CERN, where she studied actinide beams for three years as a PhD student in the Marie Curie European Training network “LISA” (Laser Ionisation and Spectroscopy of Actinides) at ISOLDE – a facility at CERN where scientists study the properties of atomic nuclei, with further applications in fundamental studies, astrophysics, and material and life sciences. Laura is a German mechanical engineer at CERN working on research and development to produce cavities for future accelerators. She studied mechanical and aerospace engineering at the Technical University of Munich. She joined CERN four years ago as a technical student for her master’s thesis and continued as a fellow working on collimators. Laura says that “as a child, I took part in girls’ day initiatives, which sparked my fascination for astrophysics and engineering. Later, it felt natural for me to give something back by organising workshops for young students to make STEM seem less intimidating and more accessible.” She particularly enjoys being close to the CERN Main Workshop and understanding how design ideas become real components. Paraskevi is a Greek physicist working at CERN’s HiRadMat (High-Radiation to Materials) facility, designed to deliver high-intensity beams to an irradiation area where material samples, as well as accelerator component assemblies, can be tested. She studied physics at NKUA, specialising in nuclear and particle physics, and is now pursuing her PhD at HiRadMat in collaboration with the University of Liverpool, studying novel materials for high-intensity beam diagnostics. “Continuous learning is one of my biggest motivators, and I am looking forward to exploring the limits of our knowledge on beam-material interactions,” says Paraskevi. Silvia is a Spanish physicist and deputy project manager for the Muon Drift Tube of the CMS detector, a general-purpose detector at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). She started her career at CERN more than 20 years ago as a technical student, working on prototypes of the first dipoles for the LHC. “My first motivation came in high school, from my teacher,” says Silvia about what made her pursue a career in STEM. “My favourite part about my job is learning. You can learn something new every day.” In parallel to this initiative, like every year since 2017, from 2 to 6 February 66 women scientists and engineers visited schools in Geneva, Switzerland, and in the Haute-Savoie and Ain regions of France to meet with students. Organised in collaboration with CERN, the University of Geneva, EPFL, LAPP and LAPTh, this event allowed more than 4200 students between 6 and 17 years old to meet a woman scientist, discuss their profession and career path, ask questions and participate in classroom activities.
NANO Nuclear to Hold First Quarter Business Update on February 17, 2026
New York, N.Y., Feb. 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NANO Nuclear Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: NNE) (“NANO Nuclear” or “the Company”), a leading advanced nuclear micro
Trump says nuclear talks in Oman were 'very good,' claims Iran wants a deal 'very badly'
President Donald Trump says Iran "wants to make a deal very badly" after indirect nuclear talks mediated by Oman reportedly show diplomatic progress.
US accuses China of secret nuclear test as Trump admin calls for broader nuclear weapons agreement
The United States on Friday accused China of carrying out a secret nuclear test in 2020 as the Trump administration calls for a broader nuclear weapons agreement including both China and Russia.
Live updates: The latest on the Trump administration as US-Iran talks are underway in Oman
Nuclear talks between the US and Iran are underway in Oman. Meanwhile, lawmakers remain sharply divided over DHS and ICE funding. Follow for live news updates.
DC Wrap: Dems make DHS demands; nuclear treaty expires; Bessent defends tariffs
A look at the day's biggest stories in national politics
Fears of nuclear arms race rise as US-Russia treaty expires
The expiration of the last remaining nuclear treaty between the United States and Russia on Thursday has sparked fears about a nuclear arms race, with the two biggest nuclear superpowers without limits on their arsenals for the first time in decades.
US-Russia nuclear treaty expires as warnings grow of new arms race
A nuclear treaty first signed in 2010 is expiring this week. If it's not replaced, experts say a global arms race could be in the cards.
The last US-Russia nuclear treaty is about to expire. What happens now?
Is an arms race inevitable in the post-New START world.
Civic Science Media: Reimagining How We Communicate Science
A 2022 award winner of the National Academies’ Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications, J.D. Allen discusses his civic science media framework, his nuclear energy broadcast initiative, and how incorporating community engagement and solutions-focused journalism improves science storytelling.
ASNC says PET is now the preferred nuclear imaging test for CAD
Which imaging modality is better for evaluating heart patients, PET or SPECT? After years of discussions and debates, the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology is now ready to point to PET as the No. 1 choice. “There are no clinical scenarios or patient subgroups where cardiac PET with myocardial blood flow should be excluded," the group wrote.
Investment and Statecraft: The International Politics of Sovereign Wealth Funds - Georgetown Journal of International Affairs
In 1953, Kuwait established the world’s first sovereign wealth fund to invest the country’s oil revenues and generate returns that would reduce its reliance on a single resource. Since then, over 100 separate funds have been created to preserve national wealth and ensure long-term fiscal sustainability. Today, they manage over $10 trillion in global assets. In this discussion with GJIA, political economist Kathryn Lavelle explains the increasingly novel dynamics that surround fund behavior and what the world can come to expect from their growing presence in international financial markets. GJIA: When it comes to the roles sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) play in global markets and politics, what would you say makes them unique? Kathryn Lavelle: Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) operate on behalf of governments as investors. That in itself is a strange relationship. Within them, a core contest takes place between the state’s interests (or sovereign) part of the dynamic, and the money interests (or wealth) part of it, and these two aspects are frequently in contradiction, serving fundamentally different goals. SWFs are also quite fascinating because when you talk to the people who manage these funds, they have an interest in convincing you that the decisions are made almost exclusively on a financial basis—they really will go to great lengths to differentiate their government owners and those who make the management decisions. At the same time, these people ultimately answer to someone in power. Therefore, for most SWFs, it remains deeply unclear who is actually making the investment decisions and for what purposes. Of course, it is not always clear how other vehicles, such as hedge funds and private equity make the decisions they do, but I think what a lot of people find particularly disconcerting about SWFs is that they seem to act on behalf of people who have a different identity from their own. People who could be trying to manipulate politics and markets in a way that would have a long-term effect on their own populations. Regular investors come and go at will, and they only share an interest in profit as far as most of us understand. However, SWFs have that extra “sovereign” part right behind them that obscures their true interest. GJIA: These funds can be found in countries all across the globe, in both authoritarian states and democracies. Would you say SWFs differ in their goals and structures between regime-type? KL: It is not necessarily regime type that makes the goals and structures of SWFs different. It has to do with their economies. Let’s look at a country like China. There’s going to be a debate about exactly how to characterize the regime, but it is a country with many different kinds of sovereign wealth funds, and a particularly opaque state connection to each. At one time, some of the state-owned Chinese oil companies created specialized investment vehicles listed outside Chinese markets that excluded parts of the firms that were more associated with human rights violations. At the same time, the China Investment Corporation (CIC)—China’s largest SWF—draws a lot of concern, not necessarily because of its investment activities, but because of the dynamics of global politics. So, I wouldn’t really tie differences to regime types themselves in a wholesale way, but rather to how such funds are perceived and how they are structured. Saudi Arabia’s SWF is getting all kinds of attention for its involvement in Hollywood, and this takes me right back to when I was a student in the 1980s, when people were concerned about Japanese investment entities buying assets in Hollywood. They aren’t quite the same in financial terms, but it’s the same kind of concern about foreign investment that drives people to be suspicious, and the whole idea that “foreigners are influencing Hollywood.” This holds true across industries, and it reflects where politics are in places like the United States right now. One metric we can try to look at is transparency, where all the funds will tell you, “we are transparent.” The problem you’ll keep running into with this approach is how you value things. When trying to do comparative studies of equity markets, you’ll find that every country doesn’t use Generally Accepted Accounting Principles like we do in the United States. A fund may appear opaque politically and not want people to show what they’re invested in or what their intent with that investment is, but they could also just not be able to report it because of the way it was purchased, or the kinds of shares they purchased. There are some assets out there that really are difficult to put a monetary value on. GJIA: To what extent do domestic politics shape SWF behavior in both the investing “home” country and the recipient “host” country? KL: This depends on the type of fund present and also on the extent to which voters’ political views are able to influence the fund. For example, in a democratic home state like Norway, the SWF doesn’t invest in nuclear weapons or tobacco because of social concerns, but there is a continuing debate over whether it should invest in oil, even though that’s where most of the money comes from. The degree to which Norway will continue to make those investments, and whether they contradict the government’s overall climate goals, is an open question in Norwegian politics. Because of the way the fund’s governance is structured, it may not be easy to resolve. On the other hand, some people consider pension funds, like the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) in Ohio, to be quasi-SWF. They have a very strict separation between the people who make up the management division and the fund owners. No teacher or professor would want to invest in things that may harm the future of their students. At the same time, a fund manager might see an opportunity in a diversified multinational corporation that offers a good return, despite it deriving part of its revenue from e-cigarettes. These contests are very apparent. Domestic politics can work in host countries too. A good example is Singapore’s SWF, Temasek, investing in Thailand’s telecommunications sector. If you study political economy, you already know that countries everywhere are uncomfortable with foreign ownership of their telecom sectors because a foreign entity could monitor or manipulate our communications with each other. In the case of Temasek, there was significant pushback from Thai citizens surrounding the deal, which went on to influence national political sentiment toward Singapore as a whole, underscoring the risks some SWFs may face with their investment choices. In this case, fund behavior led to the dissolution of the entire Thai government in 2006 and a subsequent coup d’état. GJIA: To address some of this unease, the Santiago Principles were established in 2009 to ostensibly promote trust and transparency. From your perspective, have these mechanisms actually changed fund behavior? KL: In international relations theory, we always like to have a clear set of norms and best practices—the orientation we want the proverbial ship to be going in. In that regard, the Santiago Principles at least got the discussion going about which direction SWFs should take at a time when people were very skittish about the growing size of these funds. Nobody wanted them to be out there and potentially destabilizing economies, so talks about disclosure, conditions for withdrawal, and the independence of managers were helpful when initiated. The biggest stumbling block was that there wasn’t exactly a good way to measure compliance with the Principles, let alone how to hold funds to them. If you read the Principles, they’re overall quite vague. In general, a fund doesn’t want to reveal how and why they make certain investment decisions because that information is proprietary—a fund makes money off of how and why it makes decisions—so how do you reconcile that with loosely-defined ideas of openness? Some decisions might have a political purpose. The bottom line is that trying to figure out and assign a score to compliance is not easy, and it is therefore the reason why the Santiago Principles never really got off the ground to the point where they could truly direct fund behavior. GJIA: Many emerging markets are looking to build their own SWFs from mineral and oil revenues. Historically, have funds shaped development trajectories in these countries? KL: I think the big story in international emerging markets investment is that the investment is increasingly no longer unidirectional. In the past multinational corporations of primarily Western background were the main form of foreign direct investment in a country. That has changed dramatically, to the point where you have companies from so-called “developing countries” taking over companies in the United States. Therefore, the landscape of international investment has changed, and I think SWFs are certainly a possibility to be the next step in the game. Historically, you didn’t need an entire financial vehicle to reinvest commodity revenues in your country, but as emerging markets get more financially sophisticated, their capacity to operate such funds has increased. SWFs would allow treasuries to move from relying on holding foreign exchange assets like cash or government bonds to having broader financial markets and targeted growth areas, while easing pressure on welfare expenditures. GJIA: With their increasing financial weight, do you see the presence of SWFs being a factor in the political choices leaders will have to make with regard to domestic and foreign policy? KL: It will depend on just how big the funds get. One of the reasons people are already apprehensive is because of their scale, and if certain SWFs in certain countries achieve a large-enough size, the presence will absolutely be cause for concern. The other factor political leaders will have to consider are their objectives. It’s not always clear how to define a SWF, or even where its activity is concentrated, but it is certainly a worry from the perspective of national security of opaque external investment. More than that, I think one of the most interesting questions going forward is whether the United States, the home to the world’s largest financial markets, will develop its own fund, for which the Trump administration announced a plan. There have also been several proposals in Congress. Were it to come into being, it would have tremendous weight. At the same time, one of the hallmarks of U.S. capitalism is a lack of government ownership of shares, so it would not be clear how such a fund would be received in domestic politics, or which direction it would take. Given how politically fragmented the country is, a Democratic administration would likely be concerned about different sectors of the economy, such as healthcare, and want investment there, rather than a Republican administration, which might prefer defense industries. No investment vehicle could thrive under conditions of such instability. Moreover, it remains unclear where the money to fund a theoretical U.S. SWF would come from. It would be a fundamentally different entity depending on whether it is financed with debt, economic surplus, commodities, or the sale of state companies, as in the case of Singapore. If it is debt, or government borrowing of some form, then the fund would have to outperform whatever the cost of that debt is, which is not an easy thing to do. I think our political leaders have enough on their plate. Our system has worked well keeping political and investment functions generally separate. We have seen different forms of business rise and fall, and even the perception of different countries, all of which funds are tied to. Unless a major SWF either starts—like in the case of the United States—or collapses—an issue that concerns the Saudis, I don’t see any political tsunamis on the horizon. . . . Kathryn Lavelle is the Ellen and Dixon Long Professor of World Affairs at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Her research explores the exchange between domestic and international and political institutions with a particular emphasis on political economy and multilateralism. Dr. Lavelle’s first book, The Politics of Equity Finance in Emerging Markets, explored the political circumstances that surround large issues of stock in the developing world. After being granted tenure at Case Western, she was awarded an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellowship and named the William A. Steiger fellow, a designation given to the most promising political scientist in her class of fellows. While in Washington during 2006-2007, she worked on the staff of the House Committee on Financial Services on issues related to domestic and international monetary policy. Dr. Lavelle holds a PhD in political science from Northwestern University; an M.A. in government and foreign affairs from the University of Virginia; and a bachelor’s degree in international economics from Georgetown University. She is a permanent member of the New York Council on Foreign Relations. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and length. Interview conducted by Sid Mehrotra. Image Credit: Jason Leung, Unsplash Content Licenses, via Unsplash
Scientists say quantum tech has reached its transistor moment
Quantum technology has reached a turning point, echoing the early days of modern computing. Researchers say functional quantum systems now exist, but scaling them into truly powerful machines will require major advances in engineering and manufacturing. By comparing different quantum platforms, the study reveals both impressive progress and steep challenges ahead. History suggests the payoff could be enormous—but not immediate.
The nuclear power station at the centre of the political divide in Scotland
The twin reactors of Hinkley Point C in Somerset will form the first nuclear power plant built in the UK for 30 years.
‘A southern economy in the north’: how Warrington has adapted to change
Good transport links and the quietly booming nuclear sector are helping the Cheshire town to thrive
Nuclear Science Committee Bureau reflects on achievements and future directions
The meeting took place on 14-16 January 2026 in Paris, France.
The ultra-cold temperatures needed for epic nuclear science
One of the world's most sophisticated scientific facilities is turning to ultra-low temperatures to try and unravel hidden secrets of our Universe.
The ultra-cold temperatures needed for epic nuclear science
One of the world's most sophisticated scientific facilities is turning to ultra-low temperatures to try and unravel hidden secrets of our Universe.
China's 'artificial sun' reactor shatters major fusion limit — a step closer to near-limitless clean energy.
China's EAST nuclear fusion reactor has successfully kept plasma stable at extreme densities, passing a major fusion milestone and potentially bringing humanity closer to wielding near-limitless clean energy.
Trump signals US to start striking drug cartels in Mexico
President Trump said the US will begin targeting drug cartels with military strikes, and suggested the operations could take place in Mexico.
Here’s the science behind nuclear weapons testing
Nuclear weapons haven’t been tested in the United States since 1992. Find out why, and what could happen if the hiatus ends.
Trump Family Businesses Rake in $4 Billion After His Reelection with Focus on AI, Crypto & Nuclear
Ventures launched by the Trump family since Donald Trump’s reelection have generated at least $4 billion in proceeds and paper wealth for the Trump family. With investments across sectors like real estate, hospitality, media, cryptocurrency and more, the Trumps are “increasingly integrating their business empire” into the wider U.S. economy, says David Uberti, who has been reporting on the family’s self-enrichment for The Wall Street Journal. The coupling of Trump’s economic and political influence is raising major questions about conflicts of interest. “You have all of these different business interests in different areas in which the government regulates,” and this “proximity to power may help along some of these deals and the valuations at which they’re made.” We look at the Trumps’ cryptocurrency venture World Liberty Financial and the Trump Organization’s planned $6 billion merger with a firm hoping to build a nuclear fusion plant to power AI data centers with Uberti, who says such “very speculative, highly risky corners of financial markets” are key to the family’s investment strategy.
China’s “artificial sun” just broke a fusion limit scientists thought was unbreakable
Researchers using China’s “artificial sun” fusion reactor have broken through a long-standing density barrier in fusion plasma. The experiment confirmed that plasma can remain stable even at extreme densities if its interaction with the reactor walls is carefully controlled. This finding removes a major obstacle that has slowed progress toward fusion ignition. The advance could help future fusion reactors produce more power.
Two unstable atoms are rewriting neutron star explosions
Scientists have precisely measured two unstable atomic nuclei that play a crucial role in explosive X-ray bursts on neutron stars. The results reveal faster nuclear reactions than previously thought, reshaping how we understand element formation in extreme cosmic environments.
Science in 2050: the future breakthroughs that will shape our world
Nature - Nuclear fusion. People on Mars. Artificial general intelligence. These are just some of the advances that could come by the mid-century mark.