NASA EXPRESS -- Your STEM Connection for March 12, 2026

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

NASA STEM Engagement Make a STEM Connection: Pi Day Saturday is March 14 – or 3/14 – and more affectionately known as Pi Day! Celebrate by learning more about this mathematical wonder and how NASA uses it to explore the universe. Then, try out a NASA Pi Day Challenge! NASA Knows Article: What Is Pi? (Grades 5-8) 18 Ways NASA Uses Pi How Many Decimals of Pi Do We Really Need? Visit the NASA STEM Search to find more activities and resources. Virtual Learning Opportunities My NASA Data 2026 Encore Webinar Series Webinar Date:  March 17, at 7 p.m. EDT Contact: larc-mynasadata@mail.nasa.gov   Join the My NASA Data team for a series of webinars spotlighting tools and resources to enhance Earth science learning in grades 3-12 with educational materials available through the My NASA Data website.   This months’ webinar – My NASA Data: Exploring Customizable Resources –will explore the world of versatile educator resources, showcasing how these engaging tools can be easily adapted across grade bands or phenomena to create immersive educational experiences. Learn to harness the power of NASA data creating meaningful connections to NASA Earth science.   Click here to find details about the webinar series and register to attend. Virtual Career Connection: National Community College Month Registration Deadline: Tuesday, March 31 Event Date: Thursday, April 9, at 1 p.m. EDT Contact: hq-virtual-engagements@mail.nasa.gov   Join us for a virtual event celebrating Community College Month by exploring the important role community colleges can play in the path to becoming a trade professional in aerospace and space exploration fields.   This virtual career connection event will feature a NASA apprentice who is actively building humanity’s future in space. During this interactive virtual broadcast, they will share their career journey and discuss how community college education can be your gateway to exciting opportunities in aerospace.   Click here to register. More to Explore Student Spaceflight Experiments Program — Mission 22 to the International Space Station Inquiry Deadline: Wednesday, April 15 Contact: jeffgoldstein@ncesse.org   The National Center for Earth and Space Science Education and the Arthur C. Clarke Institute for Space Education announce Mission 22 to the International Space Station, a community engagement initiative in STEM. Open to school communities to engage students in grades 5-college, each selected community will choose a student-designed experiment to fly in low-Earth orbit on the space station.   For grades 5-12, each community is expected to engage at least 100 students in real microgravity experiment design and proposal writing. For community college and undergraduate levels, at least 20 students are expected to engage.   Click here to learn more. Partner Opportunities Teach Engineering Champions Institute Application Deadline: Sunday, March 15 Career Paths at the Intersection of Engineering and Atmospheric Science Webinar Date: Tuesday, April 7, at Noon EDT Jump Start Your Career With an Apprenticeship Browse Available Opportunities Now 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: Brightest supernovae are turbocharged by magnetars

Plus, why rhythmic music triggers automatic bopping and blinking ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

March 11, 2026—The lasting gut impact of antibiotics, the source of the universe's brightest supernovae and the origin of magic mushrooms.  —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor TODAY'S NEWS USGS The Kīlauea volcano on Hawaii's Big Island erupted on Tuesday, shooting fountains of lava some 1,300 feet into the air. | 1 min read A single course of some antibiotics affected microbial diversity in the gut more than others, a new study found. And the effects can last for several years. | 4 min read Men aged 35 or younger who already drink heavily may be even more likely to binge alcohol because of legal online sports betting, a new study has found. | 2 min read  Rhythmic music triggers synchronized eyeblinks and automatic bopping or swaying, new research suggests. | 2 min read Where did magic mushrooms come from? Scientists just got closer to an answer with the discovery of a new species that appears to have shared a common ancestor with the popular Psilocybe cubensis. | 2 min read  Why we're bad at detecting lies, according to scientists and the global reality TV show franchise The Traitors. | 14 min listen More News Want to dive deeper into the science that interests you? Consider a subscription to Scientific American. We're running a special March sale.​ TOP STORIES An artist's conception of a magnetar beaming out radiation. Astronomers found an extra-bright supernova powered by such an engine. Joseph Farah/Curtis McCully Supernovae Turbochargers Superluminous supernovae, massive exploding stars which can shine more than 10 times brighter than normal supernovae, get their exceptional glow from central stellar remnants called magnetars, a new study concludes. These city-sized, fast-spinning balls of neutrons—"the weirdest chunks of matter in the cosmos," writes Scientific American's Joseph Howlett—arise from extreme physics. Based on observations of a recent superluminous supernova, SN 2024afav, the study's authors showed that immense energy pumped from a magnetar was the best explanation for the supernova's luminosity and longevity.   Why this is cool: The observations of SN 2024afav also marked the first time that physicists have witnessed the birth of a magnetar, Howlett reports. Magnetars are a type of neutron star with magnetic fields up to 1,000 times stronger than normal.   What the experts say: "Everything about the system is extreme. The gravitational field is strong enough for the most exotic predictions of general relativity to be large effects," says Adam Ingram, an astrophysicist at Newcastle University in England.  Intestinal infections vaccine New safety and efficacy results in children look positive for a vaccine being developed to protect against intestinal infections with  "enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli" (ETEC) bacteria. These bacteria are the most common cause of potentially deadly childhood diarrhea in low-income regions. The vaccine—called ETVAX—provided immunity against the bacteria and had no adverse side effects, reports freelance science and health journalist Sahas Mehra.   The rationale: Beyond travelers' diarrhea, ETEC infections can lead to malnourishment in children below the age of five. Such infections cause up to 42,000 deaths annually. The vaccine might provide partial protection against multiple gut pathogens, Mehra reports.   What the experts say: An already approved oral cholera vaccine partially protects against some forms of ETEC diarrhea, but these cholera vaccines can build protection against "only a few different types of bacteria," says immunologist Ann-Mari Svennerholm, who co-authored the study. For the new vaccine, she and her team devised a formula using the four most common "adhesin" proteins, molecules that allow the bacteria to latch onto intestinal mucosa and that are found on the vast majority of enterotoxigenic E. coli.

WHAT WE'RE READING How Pokémon Go is giving delivery robots an inch-perfect view of the world. | MIT Technology Review Practicing law without a license: ChatGPT sued for legal fees | Law.com New falling cat paper just dropped! | Skull in the Stars An affection for apples ran through my childhood. My grandparents cared for three prolific apple trees on their Upstate New York property. Every winter, Grandma's fruit cellar was lined with jars of sliced apples and other produce. And grandparental gifts to my family included jars and bottles of apple jam, apple jelly and apple wine. My father would impress us by eating apples in their entirety, pectin-packed cores and seeds alike. Dad and his sister Judy were also nationally ranked vegetable judges, but not long ago, researchers developed an app to help assess apple health. Anyway, Happy Johnny Appleseed Day.  We always like to hear from you. Please send any comments, questions or thoughts to: newsletters@sciam.com. Thanks for reading.   —Robin Lloyd, Contributing Editor

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