Rubric 01
Science
What we know, what we are learning, and what the labs are not telling you.
493Science
Space Force triples rocket contract to 17 billion
The Pentagon just made a surprising move. It tripled the maximum value of its main rocket launch contract from $5.6 billion to $17 billion. This is not a slow increase over years. It is a single, abrupt jump that...
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494Science
Space Force triples rocket launch contract ceiling to 17 billion
The U.S. Space Force announced in July 2026 that it tripled the maximum value of a major launch contract under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program. The contract ceiling now stands at $17 billion, up from...
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495Science
Measuring the lasting happiness boost from holidays
For decades, researchers studied the psychological benefits of relaxation and leisure activities in general reading, for example, was well documented. But vacations themselves received patchy scientific attention....
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496Science
How NASA Langley Created the Mars Landing Blueprint
In 1968, NASA faced a problem that seemed to defy the laws of physics. A spacecraft heading to Mars would hit the thin Martian atmosphere at more than 10,000 miles per hour. 2] No one had ever slowed something that fast...
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497Science
Paraparticles may upend standard model of physics
The simplest explanation is often the wrong one. Physics has long divided the universe into two kinds of particles: fermions, which make up matter, and bosons, which carry forces. This binary seemed complete, written...
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498Science
Research grants are hidden bets on the future
A scientist choosing a research direction resembles a poker player pushing chips to the center of the table. Both act on assumptions about an uncertain future. The poker player bets that the next card will complete a...
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499Science
Moon holds Helium-3 key to US security
The moon contains a resource that does not exist in significant quantities on Earth: Helium 3, also written as He 3. This isotope is an ideal fuel for fusion reactors and will become critical for the future of quantum...
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500Science
Complex sugar found in Milky Way molecular cloud
For decades, astronomers have puzzled over how life's essential building blocks arrived on Earth. The question of how complex organic molecules could survive the violent formation of a star system remained unresolved. A...
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501Science
Epstein-Barr virus triggers multiple sclerosis immune attack
For years, the story of multiple sclerosis had a gap at its center. Doctors knew that the immune system attacked the protective myelin sheath around nerves in the brain and spinal cord. They could see the damage on...
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502Science
Ketogenic diet linked to small intestine cancer risk
For nearly a century, scientists have known that what we eat can influence the growth of cancer, but the precise mechanisms remained stubbornly unclear. The ketogenic diet, first developed in the 1920s to treat...
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503Science
Naked mole rat queen scent suppresses reproduction
For decades, researchers watched a puzzle unfold underground. In naked mole rat colonies, only one female ever gives birth. The queen reigns for decades, sometimes longer than a human lifespan. Meanwhile, every other...
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504Science
Global inequality persists across generations
From the vantage point of a satellite, the Earth at night is a patchwork of light and dark. The bright clusters are cities where wealth concentrates. The dark stretches are where billions live without reliable...
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