Engineer Jaakko Karras inspects a next-generation Mars helicopter rotor blade prior to testing it at supersonic speeds in the 25-foot Space Simulator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in November 2025.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The first series of tests used a three-bladed rotor design that could be flown on missions after SkyFall. A second test campaign used the actual two-bladed design that will fly on SkyFall. These blades are slightly longer, so they reached the same supersonic speed at a lower rpm. The faster spin resulted in a 30 percent boost in lift capability.

The team pushed rotor tip speeds to Mach 1.08, boosting the Mars vehicle’s lift capability by 30 percent. This breakthrough allows future missions to support heavier scientific payloads, including advanced sensors and larger batteries for extended flight.

“We thought we’d be lucky to hit Mach 1.05, and we reached Mach 1.08 on our last runs. We’re still digging into the data, and there may be even more thrust on the table. These next-gen helicopters are going to be amazing,” said Shannah Withrow-Maser, an aerodynamicist from NASA’s Ames Research Center.

At the same time that engineers are preparing to send more helicopters to Mars, NASA is working on a more massive rotorcraft named Dragonfly destined for Saturn’s moon Titan. Dragonfly will weigh nearly a ton, but flying on more distant Titan poses fewer challenges than on Mars because its atmosphere is thicker than Earth’s.

The only payloads on the Ingenuity helicopter were two cameras: a black-and-white imager for navigation and a higher-resolution color camera. Its longest flight in 2022 covered less than a half-mile and lasted 161 seconds. The aircraft had to land and recharge its batteries using solar arrays, and it used the nearby Perseverance rover as a base station to communicate with ground teams on Earth.

The SkyFall mission won’t have a rover nearby. The helicopters will have to communicate with mission controllers through orbiting relay satellites or a direct-to-Earth link. Future rotorcraft will use larger batteries to enable longer flights. Scientists would like to mount more sophisticated instruments on Mars helicopters to search for things like ice in the Martian soil. All of this will require heavier vehicles.

Breaking the sound barrier without breaking hardware moves us a step closer to fully exploiting this new mode of planetary exploration.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/05/engineers-at-nasas-jet-propulsion-lab-make-a-breakthrough-in-rotor-technology/

The actual shipwrecks of the HMS Erebus and the HMS Terror were not found until 2014 and 2016, respectively. Thanks to the cold water temperature, lack of natural light, and the layers of silt covering many of the artifacts, the ship and its contents were in remarkably good condition. Even some of the windowpanes were still intact. The first underwater images and footage showing the ships’ exteriors and interiors were released in 2019.

It’s in the DNA

2D forensic facial reconstruction of David Young, Boy 1st Class from the HMS Erebus, who died at Erebus Bay.

Credit: Diana Trepkov

For several years, scientists have been conducting DNA research to identify the remains found at these sites by comparing DNA profiles of the remains with samples taken from descendants of the expedition members. Some 46 archaeological samples (bone, tooth, or hair) from Franklin expedition-related sites on King William Island have been genetically profiled and compared to cheek swab samples from 25 descendant donors. Most did not match, but in 2021, they identified one of those bodies as chief engineer John Gregory, who worked on the Erebus.

By 2024, the team had added four more descendant donors—one related to Fitzjames (technically a second cousin five times removed through the captain’s great-grandfather). That same year, DNA analysis revealed that a tooth recovered from a mandible at one of the relevant archaeological sites was that of Captain James Fitzjames of the HMS Erebus. His remains showed clear signs of cannibalism, confirming early Inuit reports of desperate crew members resorting to eating their dead.

We can now add three more crew members identified through their DNA. As before, to make the identifications, the team extracted DNA from archaeological samples and compared it with mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA from descendants. These included a molar and humerus shaft from NgLj-3; two molars, a premolar, and a temporal cranium bone from NgLj-2; and a sample taken from a left humerus found in 2018 at NgLj-1. The researchers were able to identify three individuals: William Orren, able seaman; David Young, boy 1st class; and John Bridgens, subordinate officers’ steward. All served on the HMS Erebus, and they all died at Erebus Bay.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/05/dna-identifies-four-more-crew-members-of-doomed-franklin-expedition/

Pollen isn’t the only allergen impacted by climate change. Increased humidity, heat, and flooding also create ideal conditions for mold to flourish in places where it was previously rare.

That can cause mold allergies to flare up, especially in the aftermath of climate-driven disasters like hurricanes, or for patients living in older buildings, basement units, or other homes without proper ventilation, Tummala said.

Pollen piles on

For many people, seasonal allergies are mainly a nuisance: itchy eyes, runny noses, and a seemingly never-ending cold. But pollen also messes with sleep, ups the risk of sinus infections, causes people to miss school and work, and can pose more serious dangers. A 2024 study based in Texas found that allergies can account for a significant portion of emergency department visits for asthma attacks during periods of high pollen counts.

People with allergies are also sensitive to other respiratory triggers, such as heat waves and increased air pollution, Tummala said.

On days with heavy wildfire smoke from Canada, Tummala said her patients experience the miserable effects of multiple respiratory stressors. During one such period last summer, a patient told her they were afraid to go outside.

“That’s just really sad,” Tummala said. “That’s not how you should live your life.”

Drought is another climate-intensified problem. Rain typically washes pollen out of the air. Without it, the fine powder can blow around for weeks without relief, Wees said.

For Tummala, the connection between seasonal allergies and growing climate hazards further illustrates the already pressing need for action to mitigate global warming.

“It’s a modifiable risk factor,” she said. “Climate change is something we can do something about.”

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy, and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/05/how-climate-change-makes-your-allergies-worse/

The bottom line: Astronauts likely won’t exceed Artemis II’s distance from Earth on most lunar landing missions, but it’s conceivable that on some occasions, circumstances will align to propel a crew a little beyond the 252,756-mile mark. The sure bet will come when someone finally takes aim at Mars.

“Big disappointment”

Haise, the only Apollo 13 astronaut still living, didn’t care much for the record he and his crewmates set in 1970. It was a consolation prize, of sorts, for Haise. You probably know the story of Apollo 13’s aborted lunar landing and the around-the-clock, high-stakes effort to bring the crew home.

Still, among the more than 100 billion people who have walked the Earth in human history, the Artemis II astronauts have ventured farther from the cradle than anyone else. Sure, it’s not walking on the Moon, but it’s something more than a piece of trivia.

Haise, 92, spoke with Ars as Artemis II made its way back to Earth earlier this month. We present our conversation below, lightly edited for clarity.

Ars: How closely have you followed the Artemis II mission?

Fred Haise: Not real close. Today, I have not seen anything. I just got home from my great-grandson’s baseball game. I noticed, from their projected flight plan, they’re past the Moon, sort of on their cruise back toward Earth for the reentry. I’ve seen the pictures they’ve shot, which are excellent. They have better cameras and better equipment than we had on Apollo, because it really looks like they got much higher-resolution pictures than we were able to from that altitude.

Ars: I presume this all brings back some memories for you.

Haise: Vaguely. When they splash down Friday, if you go to the next day, Saturday, the 11th, that’s when I launched, 56 years ago. So, yes, I’ve lived several lifetimes, the Shuttle program, then in the business world. It was a long time ago.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/artemis-ii-broke-fred-haises-distance-record-but-he-is-happy-to-pass-it-on/

The US Space Force released a list Friday of a dozen companies working on Space-Based Interceptors for the Pentagon’s Golden Dome initiative, a multilayer defense system to shield US territory from drones and ballistic, hypersonic, and cruise missile attacks.

The roster of Golden Dome Space-Based Interceptor (SBI) contractors, some of which were previously reported, includes Anduril Industries, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics Mission Systems, GITAI USA, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Quindar, Raytheon, Sci-Tec, SpaceX, True Anomaly, and Turion Space.

The Space Force made 20 individual awards the 12 companies in late 2025 and early 2026 using an acquisition mechanism known as Other Transaction Authority, or OTA, agreements. OTAs allow the Pentagon to bypass federal acquisition regulations and cast a wide net to attract a larger number of potential contractors, and are especially useful for rapid prototyping. That is exactly what the Space Force wants to see with the first phase of the SBI program.

The agreements have a combined value of up to $3.2 billion, and will capitalize on a mix of public and private investment to move SBIs closer to testing in low-Earth orbit.

Officials have not released details of each company’s contribution, but the contractors come to the SBI program with different skill sets. The agreements are for early stage development and tech demos, not for full-scale production, which will come with a significantly higher price tag.

“No additional information will be available at this time due to operational security requirements regarding the SBI program,” the Space Force said in a statement.

The usual players

Some of the companies on the list, such as SpaceX, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, are well known in the space industry. They seem positioned to become lead or prime contractors. Others, such as Anduril and True Anomaly, are full-stack developers that are newer to the space industry but have lofty ambitions in the national security market. Sci-Tec and Quindar have expertise in software. Turion develops space sensing technology, and GITAI USA had its start as an in-space robotics company.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/this-is-whos-developing-golden-domes-orbital-interceptors-if-theyre-ever-built/

On top of that, when analyzing the beaks, the team noticed a distinct pattern. The wear wasn’t uniform. The right edge of the jaw was consistently more worn down, chipped, and scratched than the left. The team concluded this asymmetry wasn’t an accident but a proof of lateralized behavior. It’s a tendency we observe in modern octopuses, which often favor a specific side of their body or a particular eye when performing complex tasks.

In biology, lateralized behavior is usually linked to a highly sophisticated, specialized nervous system. “Of course, we cannot directly measure intelligence from a fossil,” Iba said. “But the asymmetric wear suggests that these animals may also have had advanced and individualized hunting behavior, similar in some ways to modern octopuses.”

They were not just huge and powerful. They were probably smart.

The evolutionary arms race

A highly intelligent, 19-meter-long cephalopod actively hunting and crushing prey suggests that the Cretaceous evolutionary arms race wasn’t entirely dominated by vertebrates. By shedding heavy shells like those seen in early nautiloids and ammonites, the ancestors of modern octopuses traded passive defense for active offense. They gained explosive swimming speed, vast improvements in eyesight, and the neurological capacity required for advanced cognition.

“Our study highlights convergent evolution. Vertebrates and cephalopods have very different evolutionary origins, but both evolved toward becoming large, intelligent marine predators with powerful jaws, flexible bodies, high mobility, and advanced behavior,” Iba said. He notes that Cretaceous marine ecosystems were most likely way more complex than we thought.

Iba also hopes the Digital Fossil Mining technique can be used to learn more about this complexity. “One major direction is to apply Digital Fossil Mining to many more fossil-bearing rocks,” he told Ars. “This approach allows us to uncover organisms and structures that were previously almost invisible in the fossil record.” The technique, he thinks, is especially important for animals like octopuses and squids, which rarely fossilize.

The team ultimately wants to reconstruct a more complete history of cephalopods. “More broadly, our goal is to reveal the hidden components of ancient ecosystems and build a much more complete picture of how past ecosystems really worked,” Iba said.

Science, 2026. DOI: 10.1126/science.aea6285

https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/meet-the-19-meter-cretaceous-kraken-that-swam-with-mosasaurs/

Shortly after their discovery, carbon nanotubes seemed to be a material wonder. There were metallic and semiconducting forms; they were tiny and incredibly light; and they could only be broken by tearing apart chemical bonds. The ideas for using them seemed endless.

But then the reality of working with them set in. It was hard to get a pure population of metallic or semiconducting forms. Synthesis techniques tended to produce a tangle of mostly short nanotubes; those that extended for more than a couple of centimeters remain rare. And while the metallic version offered little resistance to carrying electric current, it was hard to send many electrons down the nanotube.

Materials scientists, however, are a stubborn bunch, and they’re still trying to get them to work. Today’s issue of Science includes a paper describing the addition of a chemical to carbon nanotube bundles to boost their ability to carry current to levels closer to those of copper. While the more conductive nanotubes weren’t stable, the discovery may point the way toward something with a longer shelf life.

Doped nanotubes

Carbon nanotubes come in various forms. In the case of single-walled nanotubes, you can think of them as taking a sheet of graphene, rolling it up into a circle, and linking together the two opposite ends you just brought together. These can also be different diameters. There are also multi-walled carbon nanotubes, where a second nanotube (and maybe third, and maybe more beyond that) is wrapped around the first.

When metallic, these offer little resistance to electron flow along the nanotube. But, because most of their electrons are tied up in the chemical bonding needed to form the nanotube, there’s not a lot of them available to carry current. So, a lot of people have tried developing dopants—chemicals that can be mixed in small quantities that change the behavior of the bulk material. In this case, the goal was to find chemicals that would act as electron donors, adding to the amount of current that could potentially be sent down the nanotube.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/researchers-get-carbon-nanotube-wiring-to-conduct-more-like-copper/

The gravitational constant, affectionally known as “Big G,” is one of the most fundamental constants of our universe. Its value describes the strength of the gravitational force acting on two masses separated by a given distance—or if you want to be relativistic about it, the amount a given mass curves space-time. Physicists have a solid ballpark figure for the value of Big G, but they’ve been trying to measure it ever more precisely for more than two centuries, each effort yielding slightly different values. And we do mean slight: The values vary by roughly one part in 10,000.

Still, other fundamental constants are known much more precisely. So Big G is the black sheep of the family and a point of frustration for physicists keen on precision metrology. The problem is that gravity is so weak, by far the weakest of the four fundamental forces, so there is significant background noise from the gravitational field of the Earth (aka “little g”). That weakness is even more pronounced in a laboratory.

In the latest effort to resolve the issue, scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) spent the last decade replicating one of the most divergent recent experimental results. The group just announced their results in a paper published in the journal Metrologia. It does not resolve the discrepancy, but it gives physicists one more data point in their ongoing quest to nail down a more precise value for Big G.

Isaac Newton introduced the concept of a gravitational constant when he published his law of universal gravitation in the late 17th century, although it didn’t get its Big G notation until the 1890s. Newton thought it might be possible to measure the strength of gravity by swinging a pendulum near a large hill and measuring the deflection, but he never attempted the experiment, reasoning that the effect would be too small to measure. By 1774, the Royal Society had established a committee to determine the density of the Earth as an indirect measurement of Big G, using a variation of Newton’s pendulum concept.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/we-still-dont-have-a-more-precise-value-for-big-g/

“Russia remains a capable space power, even while its space industry suffers from systemic underfunding, quality control issues, international sanctions, and export controls,” US intelligence agencies wrote in their annual unclassified threat assessment released earlier this year.

Russia’s space industry has far less money than the US and Chinese space programs. Russian factories produce fewer satellites, and Russian rockets launch less often than the world’s other two leading space powers. But Russia seems to have a unique theory for the use of anti-satellite, or ASAT, weapons.

Whiting said Russia “has come to the conclusion that they’re a conventional arms deficit” compared to the United States and its NATO allies. Russian forces are seeking to get an asymmetric advantage anywhere they can.

“They’re looking for novel ways to try to balance that correlation of forces, to use a Soviet term,” Whiting said. “So they’re looking at nuclear, cyber, and space, and that’s why, when we read the reports over the last two years that Russia may be considering placing a nuclear ASAT on orbit, we find those just incredibly troubling.”

US forces rely on space-based assets for all major military operations. Satellite capabilities, such as overhead surveillance, navigation, missile warning, and electronic warfare, are now “fully nested in” all military planning. If you take away any of these capabilities, US forces “cannot fight the way they are designed or sized,” Whiting said.

“We’ve noted that the Chinese and the Russians have studied us since Desert Storm (in 1991),” Whiting said. “They deeply have tried to understand how is it that the United States is able to create such global effects with what appears to be such small number of forces, and they’ve assessed that space is one of those foundational issues. So now they have developed a suite of counter-space weapons.”

The United States, China, Russia, and India have each demonstrated the ability to destroy a low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite using a ground-launched missile. Russia’s development of co-orbital ASAT, or counter-space, weapons has long focused on LEO. That may be changing with the launch of a suspected Nivelir or similar mission last year toward geosynchronous orbit more than 20,000 miles above Earth.

https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/us-space-command-russia-is-now-operationalizing-co-orbital-asat-weapons/

Scientifically, it will be used to image exoplanets in distant orbits from their stars. But it also serves an engineering purpose: starting the development of a coronagraph for the planned Habitable Worlds Observatory that will need to be 100 times more effective at blocking out stars.

Compared to something like the Webb Telescope, Roman is also delightfully simple. It has relatively few moving parts that need to be deployed once in space, and those that exist, like the solar arrays and high-gain antenna, are simple spring-loaded devices. Once latches are released, they’ll simply open into place, a process that NASA’s Melton said will start as soon as 20 minutes after the NGRST separates from the launch vehicle. Commissioning is planned to take only 90 days, and Melton told Ars that it could be doing science before it completes the final burn to put it into orbit around the L2 Lagrange point.

He said the fuel needed to keep it in orbit will be the primary factor limiting the observatory’s life. Using very conservative estimates of its rate of use, NGRST will be sent to space with 10 years of fuel, so barring a major hardware failure, it’s likely to be operational for quite a bit longer.

What will we be looking for?

One of the key targets of the NGRST surveys is what are called baryon acoustic oscillations. In the extremely early Universe, matter was dense enough that sound waves could create interference patterns in the material, with areas forming that had higher or lower densities than average. As the Universe expanded, these patterns were frozen into place and ultimately formed regions with a higher or lower density of galaxies.

Identifying these patterns at large scales can tell us about the composition of the Universe, including the factors that shape most of its structure: dark matter and dark energy. Tracking how they evolve over time could also help us determine whether dark energy is changing with time rather than being in constant acceleration. There have been hints that some details of our understanding of these factors are wrong, and the NGRST will provide an independent measure of them.

https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/eight-months-early-and-under-budget-the-roman-telescope-is-ready-to-launch/