In July 2024, NASA’s Perseverance rover spotted a unique rocky cliff covered with strange spots on Mars. On Earth, these marks are almost always created by microbial life.
Of course, those spots aren’t definitive proof of alien life. But they are the best indication yet that life may not be a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon.
But the only way to know for sure is to bring home a sample of that rock to study.
Now, just a year and a half later, the project to do so is on life support, with zero funding flowing in 2026 and very little support left in Congress. As a result, those promising rocks may be stuck there forever.
It also means that, in the race to find evidence of alien life, the US has effectively ceded its pole position to its biggest geopolitical rival: China. The superpower is going full force with its version of a mission to bring home rock samples. It is weaker than US and European missions, and the rock samples it will take from Mars will likely not be of as high quality. But that won’t be the headline people remember—the one in scientific journals and history books.
Nearly a dozen project insiders and scientists in both the US and China shared with me the story of how the US took the lead in the new space race. It is full of wildest dreams and promising discoveries – as well as mismanagement, eye-watering costs and, ultimately, anger and despair. Read the full story.
-Robin George Andrews
This article is also part of the Big Story series: MIT Technology ReviewMost importantly, ambitious reporting. The stories in the series take an in-depth look at the technologies ahead and what they will mean for us and the world we live in. Check out the rest of them here.
This company claims success of the battery. Now they need to prove it.
When a company claims to be manufacturing batteries, some questions are bound to arise.
Interest has been growing since Finnish company Donut Lab announced last month that it had a new solid-state battery technology that was ready for mass production. The company said its batteries can charge very fast and have high energy density which will translate into ultra-long-range EVs. Additionally, it was claimed that the cells could operate safely in extreme heat and cold, contain “green and abundant materials” and that they would cost less than today’s lithium-ion batteries.
