Science & Technology — July 11, 2026

China lands orbital rocket booster. China's state-owned space company recovered its Long March 10B booster after an orbital launch. Only SpaceX had done that before. The feat sharpens the U.S.-China spaceflight rivalry.

Scientific American · Read more →

Wally Funk dies at 87. The last surviving member of the Mercury 13, women who passed astronaut tests in the 1960s but were barred from NASA's program, flew to space at 82.

Ars Technica reports Funk spent her life advocating for women in aviation and aerospace, a fight that began after she and 12 other women passed the same screening exams given to male astronauts, only to be shut out of the space program. Her flight at age 82 made her the oldest woman ever to reach space, a distinction she held at her death.

Ars Technica · Read more →

Solid-state battery flaw explained. Researchers discovered how soft lithium metal growths called dendrites crack the hard ceramic inside solid-state batteries and trigger short circuits, potentially enabling safer, longer-lasting EV batteries.

The failure mechanism had been a long-standing mystery, according to Science Daily, and understanding how the soft metal filaments breach a much harder ceramic material gives engineers a specific target to design against. Beyond electric vehicles, the finding could inform the development of consumer batteries, where solid-state designs are pursued for their promise of improved safety and durability over conventional cells.

Science Daily · Read more →

Heat wave threatens all-time western U.S. records. The National Weather Service warns a 'widespread and significant' heat wave could topple all-time temperature records across drought-hit western states this weekend.

Phys.org · Read more →