Today in Science: SpaceX's Starbase is a bad neighbor

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May 30, 2025—State laws can have a national impact. Plus, Starbase is already annoying its neighbors, and even healthy people need vaccines.    —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor TODAY'S NEWS SpaceX rockets stand near the end of a neighborhood street in the company's Starbase launch complex in this photograph from October 2021. Mark Felix/Bloomberg via Getty Images Starbase, SpaceX's launch site, is now officially a town in South Texas. But already it's facing opposition from residents outside the city limits about the noise and environmental impact of rocket launches. | 5 min read Hurricane season starts June 1, and it's expected to be a busy one. Many communities are still recovering from previous storms and cuts to the National Weather Service have meteorologists and other experts worried. | 5 min read Would you say you're flourishing? Scientists are attempting to measure what makes someone flourish in life (it's more than just being happy). Listen to the first takeaways from the Global Flourishing Study. | 18 min listen The latest version of Grok, the chatbot created by Elon Musk's xAI, is promoting fringe viewpoints about climate change in a way it hasn't done before, observers say. | 6 min read More News TOP STORIES Duty to Warn  In 1986 California passed Proposition 65, requiring companies to display warnings on products with unsafe levels of toxic chemicals. A recent study found that, rather than adding warnings to their labels, many companies reformulated their products, from cleaning products to tech items, to lower the levels of toxic chemicals or replace them entirely.   What they found: The study examined the concentration of 37 chemicals in the blood and urine of Californians and non-Californians. For most of the chemicals, levels in people's bodies decreased after they were included in the 1986 law—both in California residents and across the nation.   Why this happened:  In interviews conducted with dozens of companies, researchers discovered that manufacturers opted to reduce, remove or replace toxic chemicals, in many cases to avoid litigation. The study results suggest the state law compelled manufacturers to reformulate their products nationally.   Ripley Cleghorn; Source: "Trends in NHANES Biomonitored Exposures in California and the United States following Enactment of California's Proposition 65," by Kristin E. Knox et al., in Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 132, No. 10; October 2024 (data)

PLAY NOW If you read Scientific American this week you should do pretty well on the science quiz. Also check out today's Spellements puzzle. This week, reader Eleni M. spotted that the word actin was missing from Spellements this week. Actin is a protein in cells that helps with cell movement and muscle contraction. Great word, Eleni! More Games EXPERT PERSPECTIVES Vaccines are the cornerstone of a healthy immune system and a healthy life, write Aimee Pugh Bernard and David Higgins, an immunologist and preventive medicine physician, respectively. "Vaccines are one of the most tested and proven ways to stay healthy," they say. "Of all the tips available to improve your health, one recommendation is clear: Even healthy, fit people need recommended vaccines to stay healthy and live well." | 3 min read More Opinion MOST POPULAR STORIES OF THE WEEK YouTube Science Star Derek Muller Confronts PFAS "Forever Chemicals"—In His Own Blood | 10 min read SpaceX's Ninth Starship Test Flight Delivers Mixed Results | 4 min read Hypervelocity Stars Hint at a Supermassive Black Hole Right Next Door | 5 min read I do recommend you listen to the fascinating conversation that Science, Quickly host Rachel Feltman has with Victor Counted, an associate professor of psychology at Regent University in Virginia and part of the team behind the Global Flourishing Study. One of the big takeaways from their survey of more than 200,000 people from more than 22 countries is that "flourishing is a lifespan thing," as Counted puts it. Our earliest experiences of family, health and struggle seem to create the framework for whether we flourish or not throughout our lives. Making more money as an adult is not the key to really thriving.  In what ways are you flourishing in your life? Send any thoughts or ideas to: newsletters@sciam.com. Have a great weekend.   —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

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Northern lights may be visible in 15 US States tonight

Watch SpaceX launch advanced GPS satellite today | Northern lights may be visible in 15 US States tonight | Elon Musk says Mars in 2026 is '50/50' Created for ceo.studentlike.spuniv@blogger.com | Web Version May 30, 2025 CONNECT WITH SPACE.COM       Something amazing every day. SIGN UP ⋅   WEBSITE The Launchpad Watch SpaceX launch advanced GPS satellite today (SpaceX) Liftoff of the GPS III SV-08 satellite is scheduled to take place today (May 30) at 1:23 p.m. ET. Read More Northern lights may be visible in 15 US States tonight (Rob Schultz via Getty Images) Auroras may be visible from Alaska to Oregon as speedy solar winds fuel geomagnetic storm conditions. Read More Spaceflight Elon Musk says Mars in 2026 is '50/50' (SpaceX) SpaceX is still shooting for Mars next year with its giant Starship vehicle, despite some recent explosive hiccups with the megarocket. Read More How to watch Blue Origin launch 6 tourists on May 31 (Blue Origin) Liftoff of the NS-32 mission is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET on Saturday (May 31). Read More Science & Astronomy Black hole rips a star apart inside a galactic collision (Legacy Surveys / D. Lang (Perimeter Institute) / INAF / F. Onori) The brutal star-destroying tidal disruption event is only the second ever seen in interacting galaxies. Read More Scientists found a possible new dwarf planet (nagualdesign; Tom Ruen, background taken from File:ESO - Milky Way.jpg/Wikimedia Commons) "It's very rare to discover an object both large and with an exotic orbit." Read More SpaceX SpaceX aiming for record-breaking 170 launches in 2025 (SpaceX) The company's current mark is 134, which was set last year. Read More Entertainment Who is the best Doctor? Every 'Doctor Who' ranked (BBC) We step inside the TARDIS to rank every Doctor so far, from William Hartnell through to Ncuti Gatwa. Read More   Sign Up  |    Update Profile  |    Unsubscribe Privacy Policy  |    Cookies Policy  |    Terms and Conditions CONTACT US: FEEDBACK  |    ADVERTISE Future US LLC © Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10036

Week in Science: SpaceX's ninth Starship test flight is a mixed bag

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May 30—This week, SpaceX's ninth Starship test flight yields mixed results, a YouTuber brings attention to "forever chemicals," and hypervelocity stars are screaming through the Milky Way. Enjoy and have a great weekend! —Andrea Gawrylewski, Chief Newsletter Editor

Top Stories

YouTube Science Star Derek Muller Confronts PFAS "Forever Chemicals"—In His Own Blood YouTube star Derek Muller built an 18-million-subscriber YouTube empire by challenging misconceptions about science. Now his own blood test and a sudden EPA reversal give his work urgent relevance. Deni Ellis Béchard

Hypervelocity Stars Hint at a Supermassive Black Hole Right Next Door Some stars streaking through the Milky Way at millions of kilometers per hour probably trace back to a supermassive black hole in a neighboring galaxy Phil Plait

SpaceX's Ninth Starship Test Flight Delivers Mixed Results The largest, most powerful launch vehicle ever built is meant to be a key part of SpaceX's plans to send humans to Mars—and NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon, too Gayoung Lee

New Contacts Let You See Infrared Light—Even with Your Eyes Closed Straight out of science fiction, these contact lenses convert infrared light into visible light that humans can see Elizabeth Gibney, Nature magazine

What FDA's Planned Limits on COVID Vaccinations Mean for Health Despite the fact that vaccines against COVID have already undergone strict safety reviews and that people continue to die from the disease, Trump's FDA is moving to reduce access to annual COVID boosters for healthy Americans Stephanie Armour, KFF Health News

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Building an LLM for Dolphin Chatter A large language model for dolphin vocalization could let us better understand these beloved marine mammals Melissa Hobson, Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Alex Sugiura

The Creepy Calculus of Measuring Death Risk Meet micromorts and microlives, statistical units that help mathematicians to calculate risk Manon Bischoff

Ministrokes Can Be Just as Dangerous for the Brain as Regular Strokes Ministrokes, also known as transient ischemic attacks, can eventually lead to cognitive declines as steep as those that follow a full-on stroke, new research finds Paula Span, KFF Health News

These Climbers Summited Mount Everest in Record Time. Did Inhaling Xenon Help? British climbers recently reached the top of Mount Everest in record time. They inhaled xenon gas before the trip. But was that the decisive factor? Stephanie Pappas

Republican Megabill Called a 'Nightmare Scenario' for Clean Energy The One Big Beautiful Bill Act, passed by the House of Representatives last week, would slow efforts to green the energy system as climate change accelerated Benjamin Storrow, E&E News

Astronomers Discover Mysterious Object Bursting with X-Rays A celestial object some 15,000 light-years away is emitting bright flashes of radio and X-rays that scientists are struggling to explain Robert Lea, SPACE.com

Elon Musk's Grok Chatbot Has Started Reciting Climate Denial Talking Points The latest version of Grok, the chatbot created by Elon Musk's xAI, is promoting fringe climate viewpoints in a way it hasn't done before, observers say Scott Waldman, E&E News

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