NASA Astronauts Return Home After Extended Stay on ISS

Minnesota State Senator Justin Eichorn, a Republican, was arrested on Tuesday for allegedly soliciting a minor for prostitution. According to the Bloomington police department, Eichorn believed he was communicating with a 17-year-old girl online, but was instead corresponding with police detectives. The 40-year-old senator, who is married with four children, now faces felony charges. Eichorn recently garnered attention for proposing a bill to classify "Trump derangement syndrome" as a mental illness, a term used by some Trump supporters to describe perceived liberal obsession with former President Donald Trump. The bill, which defines the syndrome as an acute paranoia triggered by Trump’s presidency, has faced widespread criticism from opponents, including State Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, who called it “possibly the worst bill in Minnesota history.” In light of the charges against Eichorn, the Minnesota Senate GOP and the Republican Party of Minnesota have called for his resignation, citing the seriousness of the allegations. Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges emphasized the consequences for those who exploit minors, stating, "you can expect that we are going to lock you up."

Researchers utilizing the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) have produced the most detailed map of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) to date, unveiling insights into the Universe's infancy approximately 380,000 years after the Big Bang. This breakthrough, detailed in three preprint papers on arXiv, highlights significant advancements in understanding the mass and scale of the Universe, as well as the ongoing debate over the Hubble constant, which measures the Universe's expansion rate. Dr. Suzanne Staggs from Princeton University remarked, "We are seeing the first steps towards making the earliest stars and galaxies," emphasizing the importance of high-resolution light polarization data gathered by ACT. The findings indicate that the observable Universe extends nearly 50 billion light-years from Earth and contains an estimated mass equivalent to around 1.9 trillion solar masses, with a substantial portion being composed of dark matter and dark energy. Despite the new findings, tensions remain regarding the Hubble constant, as measurements of distant versus local expansion rates continue to diverge. "This is a problem that needs to be resolved," Staggs noted.

At least 40 people have died as severe tornadoes and wildfires ravaged parts of the U.S. Midwest and South over the weekend. Missouri was hardest hit, reporting 12 fatalities, while Texas and Kansas experienced destructive dust storms leading to additional deaths and pile-ups involving dozens of vehicles. The intense weather event affected over 100 million residents and resulted in nearly 150 wildfires in Oklahoma alone. Missouri’s Governor Mike Kehoe described the devastation as "staggering," stating that numerous homes, schools, and businesses have been destroyed or severely damaged. Local officials reported scenes of destruction, with homes reduced to debris fields. In Oklahoma, strong winds of up to 133 km/h fueled wildfires that consumed 69,000 hectares and destroyed approximately 300 structures. States of emergency have been declared in Arkansas, Georgia, and Oklahoma as flood advisories extend across multiple southern and midwestern states. By Sunday evening, over 320,000 people were without power, with thousands still affected into Monday.