NASA EXPRESS -- Your STEM Connection for Feb. 12, 2026

Check out NASA's latest STEM opportunities and learning resources.

NASA STEM Engagement NASA SpaceX Crew-12 Set to Launch Soon NASA is targeting no earlier than 5:15 a.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 13, for the next launch to the International Space Station. The SpaceX Crew-12 mission will lift off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Build excitement for the SpaceX Crew-12 launch with STEM activities and resources. Download the printable Commercial Crew A to Z Activity and Coloring Booklet, take an immersive virtual reality tour of Commercial Crew facilities, and use computer coding to create an interactive simulation of a spacecraft docking to the space station.   Find more ways to make a STEM connection to the mission with learning resources in the NASA STEM Search. Be a virtual guest for the launch of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-12 mission. Join us as four new crew members travel to the International Space Station for a long-duration mission.   Register to receive schedule updates and access to related activities and resources, including a boarding pass and a virtual passport stamp for email registrants. Organizations hosting launch-focused events, including school groups and museums, are also encouraged to register. Virtual Career Connection Event Mission Systems Unveiled –  The Future Technology of Deep Space Travel Registration Deadline: Tuesday, Feb. 17 Event Date: Thursday, Feb. 26, at 1 p.m. EST Contact: hq-virtual-engagements@mail.nasa.gov   Are you curious about the cutting-edge technologies powering humanity’s return to deep space? From advanced propulsion systems to life support technologies, join us for a virtual event to explore how emerging systems are making missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond achievable.   This event is part of a series for high school, career technical/trade education, and college/university students. Following the presentation, participants will have the opportunity to ask questions and learn about the presenter’s career journey.   Click here to register and find information for upcoming virtual events. More Ways to Get Involved Student Suborbital Flight Opportunity – Cubes in Space Registration Deadline: Friday, Feb. 27 Contact: info@cubesinspace.com   NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility and iEDU Inc. are offering an education program for formal and informal educators and their students, ages 11-18 years. Cubes in Space provides students the opportunity to design and compete to launch small experiments into space or near space.   Selected experiments will be launched via sounding rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia in late June 2026, or from a high-altitude, zero-pressure scientific balloon in New Mexico by NASA’s Balloon Program Office in late August 2026.   Only students who are U.S. citizens or permanent residents are eligible to participate in the sounding rocket program.   Click here to learn more. NASA EarthRISE Developers Academy Opportunities Application Deadline: Friday, March 6 Contact: NASA-DL-ERDA@mail.nasa.gov   The NASA EarthRISE Developers Academy provides 10-week research opportunities that build the next generation of science and technology leaders through an immersive, experiential model applying NASA Earth observations to real-world challenges. Participants work in teams, guided by NASA scientists and science advisors and in partnership with community organizations, to expand their research and science communication skills to address environmental concerns.   Open to currently enrolled college students, recent graduates, early career professionals, and transitioning career professionals, EarthRISE Developers Academy offers both in-person and virtual opportunities. Click here to browse eligibility requirements and summer opportunities. NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellowships Application Deadline: Thursday, April 2 Contact: npp@orau.org   The NASA Postdoctoral Program offers early career and senior scientists fellowships with NASA scientists and engineers. Opportunities relate to missions in Earth science, heliophysics, planetary science, astrophysics, space bioscience, aeronautics, engineering, human exploration and space operations, astrobiology, and science management. Fellowships are awarded annually up to three years. Applicants must have completed a doctorate or an equivalent degree before beginning the fellowship, but they may apply while completing degree requirements.   Click here to see current openings and apply. Partner Opportunities STEM Next Career Chat: Careers That Launch Missions – Inside Artemis II With NASA Event Date: Wednesday, Feb. 25, at 6 p.m. EST National Institute of Standards and Technology Summer Institute for Middle School Science Teachers Deadline: May 1 Save the Date: National STEM Festival in Washington, D.C. Event Dates: June 24-27 Want to subscribe to get this message delivered to your inbox each Thursday? Sign up for the NASA EXPRESS newsletter at https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/nasa-express. Are you looking for NASA STEM materials? Search hundreds of resources at https://www.nasa.gov/learning-resources/search. Check out the ‘Science for Everyone’ website! Science starts with questions, leading to discoveries. Visit https://science.nasa.gov/for-everyone. To view the site in Spanish, visit https://ciencia.nasa.gov. Are you looking for more NASA prizes, challenges, and crowdsourcing opportunities? Visit https://www.nasa.gov/get-involved/ to find ways to contribute to NASA’s work. Share This Email Share This Email Share This Email NASA Office of STEM Engagement We are engaging students in NASA’s exciting missions, broad range of careers, and unique opportunities. Visit nasa.gov/learning-resources/  Follow Us on Social Media The National Aeronautics and Space Administration As explorers, pioneers, and innovators, we boldly expand frontiers in air and space to inspire and serve America and to benefit the quality of life on Earth. Visit nasa.gov Follow NASA

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Today in Science: Do Winter Olympians eat enough?

For some athletes, calorie needs are extraordinary ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

February 11, 2026—The diets of Winter Olympians, what came before the big bang and a CDC-independent review of vaccine science. —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor TODAY'S NEWS Harold Feng/Stringer/Getty Images A Russian dialect coach discusses the linguistics behind how she helped Heated Rivalry star Connor Storrie master challenging Russian sounds and build a believable accent. | 18 min listen The U.S. Food and Drug Administration won't consider a new mRNA vaccine for the flu despite the technology's life-saving promise and use in COVID shots. | 2 min read The American Medical Association is launching an effort to evaluate vaccine safety and effectiveness independently of U.S. government health agencies. | 2 min read Maize farmers in Peru's Chincha Valley were fertilizing their crops with seabird poop as early as the year 1250. | 3 min read A variety of hair extensions—from natural to synthetic—may contain chemicals linked to cancer and reproductive issues, a new study finds. | 3 min read There's more to Winter Olympians' diets than calories—but for some, there are also lots and lots of calories. | 6 min read  For discussion: We've seen large language models improve rapidly at tasks many thought would never be possible. Despite the hype, people with subject matter expertise repeatedly find some models lacking. Do you think this type of AI is on track to reach or exceed an expert level in any fields or professions? Post your comments by reading our article on a first-of-its kind math exam for AI, scrolling down to the tan box and clicking "Join the Discussion."  More News Supporting our work means amplifying science. Consider a subscription to Scientific American and back independent science journalism! Subscriptions are 50% off! TOP STORIES All About Space/Getty Images Before the Big Bang The big bang originated our universe, but some cosmologists are tackling theories for what came before the big bang, aka, "before before," writes Scientific American contributor Sarah Scoles. Researchers developing three leading ideas of the ultimate origins of the universe, called "the no-boundary proposal," "a bouncing, cyclic cosmos" and "mirror universe," operate at the blurry intersection of physics and philosophy. These cosmologists accept that this mystery, as well as observations to support their theories, may or may not be forthcoming in their lifetime. But this is how science is developed—by probing the inaccessible. How it works: The no-boundary proposal is an attempt to use math to re-create the universe, as we see it today, from a finite globe, where there's "no north of north," Scoles writes. The bouncing, cyclic cosmos posits that what appears as a big bang giving birth to our universe is actually a "big bounce"—cycling oscillations between a cosmos ballooning, slightly shrinking and then expanding. Finally, the mirror universe idea can be likened to "the points of two ice cream cones touching each other," with their contact representing the big bang, Scoles writes. Time proceeds forward from the center on our side but backward on the other. What the experts say: "I'm happy to listen to any framework, but I only start taking it seriously when it produces a clean observational target that a real instrument can go after. If there isn't a discriminant you can measure, you're doing metaphysics with equations," says Brian Keating, a cosmologist at the University of California, San Diego.

Is All Math Solvable? Computers can solve myriad problems efficiently, but there's a set of problems—called "NP problems"—that they can't yet. Solving Sudoku puzzles of any size, scheduling a flight tour within a budget, predicting how proteins will fold and encryption schemes are examples of these problems. These types of computational problems can't necessarily be solved quickly but their solutions can be verified efficiently. Fortunately, in 1972 a computer scientist found that an efficient algorithm that could solve any one of 21 special NP problems also could solve the other 20 as well as every NP problem, writes freelance math writer and puzzle creator Jack Murtagh. How it works: Consider this example of the traveling salesperson problem: if given a budget and a list of cities to go to, could an algorithm figure out if you can go to all the cities and stay within budget? An algorithm could be made for such a task, but as the number of cities on the list grows, the number of routes to check rises exponentially, and the calculation is out of reach for supercomputers to complete. If mathematicians can find an efficient algorithm for such an NP problem, it would mean that all such problems have an efficient solution. "We just don't know it yet," Murtagh writes.   What the experts say: If an efficient algorithm to solve NP problems were found, math problems with practical applications across fields such as biomedical engineering, cartography and more could be solved. Plus, the person who finds an efficient algorithm to solve an NP problem, or who proves that no such algorithm exists, could win a million-dollar prize from the Clay Mathematics Institute. —Emma Gometz, newsletter editor   WHAT WE'RE READING Primordial impact may explain why the moon is asymmetrical | Eos These hackers are turning dead vapes into musical synthesizers | Wired Botox to nose vibrations: The new treatments offering hope to migraine patients | BBC At the end of recent days, it's a treat to watch the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics recaps available for streaming. Last night, we marveled at the endurance and focus of the men's 20km individual biathlon competitors. In Claire Cameron's story noted above, "What does it take to eat like an Olympian," you'll learn that for high-intensity, long-duration events such as the biathlon, athletes might burn some 7,000 calories, which equates to eating 17 plain bagels from a popular vendor. The story is packed with remarkable dietary details. Our full entertaining and highly informative "Science of the Olympics" coverage can be found here.  Thanks for reading. Please send any thoughts, feedback and Olympic science insights to: newsletters@sciam.com.   —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor

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