Space Triumphs, Medical Marvels & More: Must-Read Science News (July 23–24, 2025)
On July 23, 2025, NASA and SpaceX launched the TRACERS tandem-satellite mission from Vandenberg Space Force Base aboard a Falcon 9 rocket to study how solar eruptions trigger magnetic explosions in Earth’s atmosphere. The two TRACERS probes will fly seconds apart through Earth’s polar magnetic cusp to observe magnetic reconnection events in real time. TRACERS is expected to yield more than 3,000 measurements per year to map how solar storms drive auroras and radiation surges and improve space-weather forecasts for satellites, power grids, and astronauts. In winter 2024–25 in the UK, a study of 537 hospitalized babies found maternal RSV