Science & Technology — July 5, 2026

NASA launched a telescope rescue mission. The agency this week sent a first-of-its-kind $30 million robot to catch the falling Swift Observatory in orbit and boost it before it burns up in Earth's atmosphere.

Phys.org · Read more →

Fusion startup generated electricity from plasma. Wisconsin-based Realta Fusion said this week it took power directly from a plasma, apparently the first time anyone has generated electricity directly from a fusion reaction.

TechCrunch · Read more →

OpenAI floated a 5% government stake. Sam Altman reportedly held talks with the Trump administration this week about giving the U.S. government a 5% stake in OpenAI to ease mounting political pressure.

Ars Technica · Read more →