Science & Technology — June 5, 2026

The Morning Brief Desk · Friday, June 5, 2026 · Updated June 18, 2026 · How the Brief is made

NASA’s Mars orbiter ends 11-year mission. The MAVEN spacecraft studied Mars’ atmosphere since 2014. It lost contact with Earth this week after exceeding its planned two-year mission by nearly a decade.

Ars Technica · Read more

Flesh-eating screwworm detected in Texas. The USDA confirmed the first case of New World screwworm in the US since 1966, marking the parasite’s first breach of the US-Mexico border in decades.

Ars Technica · Read more

Fusion startup raises $465M for Microsoft plant. Helion Energy secured funding to build a fusion power plant for Microsoft by 2028, part of the tech giant’s push for carbon-free electricity.

TechCrunch · Read more

Scientists shrink powerful laser onto a chip. EPFL researchers developed a chip-scale ultrafast laser that matches the performance of room-sized femtosecond lasers, opening new possibilities for portable medical devices and precision manufacturing.

Science Daily · Read more

US deploys flies and dogs against screwworm. Federal agencies plan to release sterile male screwworm flies and deploy detector dogs to combat the flesh-eating parasite’s first US appearance since 1966.

BBC World · Read more

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