Day in Review: NASA Fires Up Powerful Lithium-Fed Thruster for Trips to Mars

A novel electromagnetic thruster passed an initial test in a specialized chamber at JPL. With further development, these thrusters 

Missions __ News __ Galleries __ Events April 28, 2026 Technology NASA Fires Up Powerful Lithium-Fed Thruster for Trips to Mars A novel electromagnetic thruster passed an initial test in a specialized chamber at JPL. With further development, these thrusters could support human missions to the Red Planet. Full Story, Video, and Images

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Today in Science: DARPA invents an AI to fact-check weapons claims

The SciFy program tests whether adversaries’ wild weapons boasts are BS ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­

April 28, 2026—DARPA built an AI to fact-check weapons claims. Plus, the shoe at the center of record-breaking marathon times, and PCOS might affect men, too.    —Andrea Gawrylewski Chief Newsletter Editor TODAY'S NEWS Sabastian Sawe celebrates winning the 2026 London Marathon. Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty Images Kenya’s Sabastian Sawe won the men’s London Marathon last weekend with a record-setting time of one hour, 59 minutes and 30 seconds. He and the second place winner, and the first place women's winner, were wearing Adidas shoes specifically designed for marathoning. Here's how they work. | 4 min read            Join the discussion: Some people say such gear amounts to "technological doping." Do you think athletes should be able to use performance-enhancing gear? Let us know what you think by joining our online discussion here.  Polycystic ovary syndrome might affect men, too. Many doctors don't know about it. | 5 min read The war in Iran is threatening regional water supplies through direct attacks on desalination plants, oil spills and the threat of nuclear waste contamination. | 5 min read  Private space company Astrobotic revealed it carried out a successful test of two of its "ring of fire" rotating detonation rocket engines. Watch the test here. | 2 min read Today, a nuclear fusion energy start-up announced that it has applied to join a U.S. power grid. But daunting technical hurdles remain. | 2 min read Americans trust vaccines scientists as much as they do other scientists, a new U.S. survey finds. | 2 min read  Last week, more than 100 retired NASA astronauts formed a nonpartisan organization dedicated to promoting U.S. constitutional principles such as the rule of law, checks and balances and the peaceful transition of power. | 2 min read More News Science matters, don't you agree? Support science journalism you can trust with a subscription to Scientific American. Try it out for 90 days for only $1! TOP STORIES Military Fact Check How can the U.S. military determine whether rumors of international technology development are actually plausible? To assess the feasibility of scientific developments, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) launched SciFy, the Scientific Feasibility program. The program is building tools that will help determine which scientific claims are real, and which are BS. How it works: For instance, what if Rival Country A claims it has made armor out of a material that can repair itself? Using AI analysis, the SciFy program might run through the following assessment: For such an armor to be possible, the material would need to be solid in the equatorial jungles as well as in the polar tundra. But maybe the scientific literature or a simulation of the material’s properties says it would be a liquid on a tropical summer day. No liquid armor allowed; ergo, infeasible. In addition to assessing foreign developments, the tool could also allow defense and intelligence agencies to predict whether certain domestic projects should get a green light. What the experts say: The SciFy projects must rely on an element of humanlike intuition. “Feasibility goes beyond the commonly heard concepts of validation and replication,” says SciFy program manager Erica Briscoe, “and really gets into this speculative space that is a bit of judgment and a bit of art.” The project first tested how well its tool works analyzing materials science claims. It’s currently in a testing phase on AI, and then will shift to quantum computing.

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VIDEO OF THE DAY An African leopard on camera eating bats from a cave in Uganda. Bosco Atukwatse/VSPT Kyambura Lion Project Researchers in Uganda set up wildlife cameras to monitor African leopards and spotted hyenas in a national park. They caught on film 10 species eating or scavenging bats at a known Marburg-virus hotspot, which can transfer into humans and cause a fatal haemorrhagic fever. It might be the first confirmation that leopards eat live bats. They also caught on video more than 200 people—tourists, trainees from a local wildlife institute and children with school groups — approaching the cave where the cameras were set up. PUZZLER Can you unscramble this image of our July 1931 issue? This cover shows a train engineer looking out the window at a signal, but his cabin could be equipped with an electrical system to duplicate them. These interior signals were revolutionary, letting trains maintain full speed even in harsh weather.  Make no mistake, anyone who can run a marathon in less than two hours, or anywhere close to two hours for that matter, is a formidable athlete (shoutout to my fellow turtle-paced runners!). But some athletic purists have argued that souped-up apparel and equipment constitute “technological doping,” and regulations usually come after the fact. For example, the governing body for water sports banned swimsuits inspired by shark skin in the 2008 Olympics, but only after the gold medalists wearing the suits had thoroughly trounced the competition. What do you think? Should athletes be able to gear up in whatever they like? I hope you share your thoughts with other readers here.  Thanks for reading. Reach out to me anytime: newsletters@sciam.com. Until tomorrow!   —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

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