- A small Antares microreactor at Idaho National Lab reached criticality, a key step toward producing electricity.
- Antares says it could begin generating power by late 2027 and see field deployments (initially for the military) by the end of 2028.
- The milestone fits a government push to fast‑track advanced nuclear — hailed as a comeback by supporters but criticized over safety, cost and unresolved waste issues.
Latest stories in Science.
- NASA ordered Crew-12 to shelter in their docked Crew Dragon and don spacesuits as a precaution after a worsening air leak on the Russian side of the ISS.
- The leak traces to Russia’s Zvezda module, and NASA and Roscosmos have been debating causes and repairs for months.
- Officials said the leak rate reportedly rose from about one pound of air per day to two pounds, prompting the precautionary move.
- The FDA has accepted an AI-driven “digital liver” tool into its ISTAND pilot program to help predict drug-induced liver injury.
- The model compares new small-molecule drugs to existing medicines to flag liver-toxicity risk, aiming to catch safety problems earlier.
- Acceptance is the first step in a qualification process that could let drugmakers use the tool in regulatory submissions and potentially reduce animal testing.
- A research buoy will be pulled June 16 as the National Science Foundation moves to dismantle most of the Ocean Observatories Initiative by 2027, ending a decade of continuous deep‑ocean monitoring.
- Scientists say the timing is especially bad with an El Niño and marine heat waves on the way — losing below‑surface sensors will make it much harder to track warm water, low‑oxygen zones and other hidden changes.
- The OOI cost about $386 million, ran 900+ sensors and supported 500+ studies; only a seafloor cable for seismic/volcanic data will remain after budget‑driven cuts.
- Microsoft says an AI-designed quantum chip (Majorana 2) puts commercially useful quantum machines within reach by 2029, putting it on par with IBM’s timeline.
- The chip swaps usual materials for lead after AI-driven materials work, which Microsoft says produced up to 1,000-fold improvements in some metrics.
- Some physicists criticize a lack of publicly released data and reproducibility; Microsoft cites trade secrets but says it has shared results with DARPA.
- FDA proposes letting makers of cell and gene therapies for rare, life‑threatening diseases use existing scientific, manufacturing and clinical knowledge from similar products to speed development.
- Agency says leveraging that prior knowledge could streamline submissions and reviews and help accelerate personalized treatments when traditional trials aren’t feasible.
- The move comes amid recent scrutiny of FDA rare‑disease decisions and the resignation of Commissioner Marty Makary; the agency is now led by acting Deputy Commissioner Kyle Diamantas.
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