The deep sea is calling in the first teaser for Nautilus, a new adventure series inspired by Jules Verne’s landmark novel, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. “This summer, dive into a new adventure and discover a new world beneath the waves,” the voiceover states in the trailer. Shazad Latif stars as Captain Nemo, an Indian Prince robbed of his birthright and family. After becoming a prisoner of the East India Mercantile Company, Nemo seeks vengeance against those enemies who robbed him of everything. Nemo enacts his revenge-fueled plan by stealing a prototype submarine and escaping into the depths of the ocean with a group of his fellow prisoners. Nemo searches for a Viking treasure buried at the Pillars of Halvar. However, the East India Mercantile Company is right on Nemo’s tail, as they will do anything to stop his quest from succeeding. Related The Nautilus cast features Georgia Flood as Humility Lucas, Céline Menville as Loti, and Thierry Fremont as Benoit. Richard E. Grant, Anna Torv, and Noah Taylor are set to make guest appearances. Xavier Marchand and Anand Tucker developed and executive produced Nautilus. James Dormer wrote and executive produced the series. Vince Valitutti / Disney+ Disney+ had originally announced the series, but they later canceled it in a cost-cutting move. AMC later acquired the series for distribution in the United States and Canada. Amazon streamed the series via Prime Video in the UK and Ireland. Nautilus consists of 10 episodes, with the first two set to premiere at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Sunday, June 29. It will air on AMC and AMC+. Nautilus will then air weekly until the two-episode season finale on Sunday, August 17. Editors’ Recommendations

Preorders for its much-anticipated Switch 2 will happen soon, but later than originally promised

A mountainous region in Colombia was the site of many cases of early-onset Alzheimer’s. One researcher saw an opportunity to discover the genetic triggers of the disease.

Use all your screen Chrome for Android gets edge-to-edge UI update Chrome for Android is getting a neat visual upgrade. Ryan Whitwam – Apr 11, 2025 2:26 pm | 1 Credit: Ryan Whitwam Credit: Ryan Whitwam Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more The Internet might look a bit different on Android soon. Last month, Google announced its intent to make Chrome for Android a more immersive experience by hiding the navigation bar background. The promised edge-to-edge update is now rolling out to devices on Chrome version 135, giving you a touch more screen real estate. However, some websites may also be a bit harder to use. Moving from button to gesture navigation reduced the amount of screen real estate devoted to the system UI, which leaves more room for apps. Google's move to a "dynamic bottom bar" in Chrome creates even more space for web content. When this feature shows up, the pages you visit will be able to draw all the way to the bottom of the screen instead of stopping at the navigation area, which Google calls the "chin." As you scroll down a page, Chrome hides the address bar. With the addition of the dynamic bottom bar, the chin also vanishes. The gesture handle itself remains visible, shifting between white and black based on what is immediately behind it to maintain visibility. Unfortunately, this feature will not work if you have chosen to stick with the classic three-button navigation option. You may notice some problems with certain websites after the change rolls out. Since sites can draw to the bottom of the screen, important footers could end up behind the gesture bar. This could make elements like newsletter signups and cookie preferences more annoying to use or dismiss. Google's edge-to-edge migration guide advises web developers to utilize safe area insets, which will ensure that UI elements will not render directly behind the navigation bar. Simply being on Chrome 135 is not necessarily enough to get the dynamic bottom bar. A separate server-side update is rolling out to enable edge-to-edge viewing—there's no way to force this update, but in our testing, it appears to be rolling out widely. So the wait shouldn't be long. Ryan Whitwam Senior Technology Reporter Ryan Whitwam Senior Technology Reporter Ryan Whitwam is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering the ways Google, AI, and mobile technology continue to change the world. Over his 20-year career, he's written for Android Police, ExtremeTech, Wirecutter, NY Times, and more. He has reviewed more phones than most people will ever own. You can follow him on Bluesky, where you will see photos of his dozens of mechanical keyboards. 1 Comments

Michel Nieva and his novel, Dengue Boy We have read all sorts in the New Scientist Book Club, from Octavia E. Butler’s classic slice of dystopian fiction, Parable of the Sower, to space exploration in Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Alien Clay. Michel Nieva’s Dengue Boy (and this isn’t the article for you if you are yet to read it: spoilers ahead!) was something else entirely: a weird and technicolour vision of a dire future in a flooded world, where our perspective is that of a humanoid and homicidal mosquito. There were parts of this novel that I loved, in particular Nieva’s wild inventiveness in dreaming up his future world. This is a place where the Antarctic ice thawed in 2197, and where rising sea levels mean that “Patagonia – a region once famous for its forests, lakes, and glaciers – was transformed into a disjointed trail of small, scorching-hot islands”. Advertisement It is a place where, thanks to “the total deforestation of the Amazon and all the forests in China and Africa, hundreds of thousands of previously unrecorded viruses now appeared every year”. And where the endless and awful ingenuity of humanity mean people are now trading on the Financial Virus Index. Powered by quantum computers, this is “capable not only of determining with 99.99% efficacy which of these new viruses would unleash a new pandemic, but also of gathering shares in the companies likely to benefit from their effects and offering them up to the market in packages which sold like hotcakes”. Brilliant idea! I also think Nieva’s writing (ably translated by Rahul Bery) occasionally leaps to elevated levels. At one point, our protagonist is early to school (because she can fly there, unlike her classmates snarled in traffic). She has to “wait there, completely still, for several minutes, hours even, not knowing what to do with her excessive corporality”. Excessive corporality! What a gloriously apt description for this miserable mosquito. There is an unbearable poignance, which has stayed with me since finishing, in Nieva’s vision of a Great Iceberg Gallery, where the super-rich can go to see bits of ancient ice floes. “One could not walk through the Great Iceberg Gallery and not feel the sudden weight of the world in its infancy. A reliquary of true planetary jewels, its combined age was greater than that of all humanity.” Join us in reading and discussing the best new science and science fiction books Sign up to newsletter And I can only admire Nieva’s virtuosity in thinking himself into the mind of a murderous mosquito. I think he largely pulls this off, and I enjoyed how my sympathies half wanted to be with our “stubbornly homicidal” protagonist, and half were violently put off by her actions. Some of you also saw a lot of positives in the novel. “Once I worked out this is South American magical realism rather than science fiction, I’m enjoying it (big fan of Gabriel García Márquez, Italo Calvino and Umberto Eco). It’s a completely different genre,” wrote Emma Weisblatt on our Book Club Facebook group, where all these comments are from. “It’s weird, surreal and allegorical and I think on those terms it works quite well.” For Terry James, the start of the book was difficult, as it requires a lot of suspension of disbelief to accept Nieva’s mosquito protagonist (and its implausible size) – and then you have to deal with the “rough language”. But Terry was glad he kept going. “The more I read, the more I enjoyed it. I found the literary technique of revealing the inner struggle of the poor alongside the absurd wealth, privilege, and opulent extravagance of the rich as extremely effective,” he wrote. “This book is creative.” I think David Jones nailed it when he said it “wasn’t comfortable reading”, but he “actually quite enjoyed it”. “It’s a very dystopian satirical and quite gory view of the future. A day to read and a day to digest how I felt about it,” he wrote. But – and perhaps this is because I’m not a connoisseur of steampunk, as the novel is described on its cover – I found much to dislike too. That “excessive corporality” I so enjoyed in the mosquito comes out in various scenes of violence and sexual depravity that I found difficult to read. I’m a Stephen King fan – I don’t mind a bit of horror and gore. But I didn’t really understand what the abundance of vulgarity brought to the story here, other than totally grossing me out. I hated the sheepies! Really hated them! (Some might say: that was the point, but for me it was a point I wasn’t keen to see made.) And I found the parts of the novel when our mosquito was out on its bloody adventures far more compelling than the Borges-esque “computer game within a computer game” section that we got to later on. That was on the wrong side of surreal for me, or I just wasn’t getting it. Terry James also took issue with the “Mighty Anarch” component of the story and failed to grasp any meaning in it. “I call this kind of ideology pseudo-intellectual because it sounds very smart but is not meaningful in a holistic, integrated system,” he wrote. Overall, for me, this wasn’t a book I’d return to, and I would say the majority of our members were also more negative than positive on this one. Judith Lazell found it “disappointing”. “Gratuitous sexual fantasy and undeveloped characters; violence explicit and revolting. Perhaps that was the point,” she wrote – although she did add that Nieva’s “description of the local environment [was] effective in evoking an awful place to live”. For Eliza Rose and Andy Feest, it was their least favourite book club read so far. Like me, Eliza also wasn’t a fan of the body horror – but she liked the corrupt corporations part of the storyline. “I feel he did tell a story and I suppose ended it satisfactorily but I didn’t need all the gore,” she wrote. Andy described the story as “plain weird”, and felt that while Nieva had come up with an interesting concept, he could have used a lot more backstory and detail. “The end was disappointing (not to say confusing too),” wrote Andy. “Overall, I was thankful that this was a shortish book as I am not sure I would have finished it if it were a larger novel (and I hate not finishing books I’ve started… and paid for).” Perhaps Andy won’t have to pay for the next book we’ll be reading: Larry Niven’s Ringworld, an old classic that many of you may have on your shelves. Come and tell us what you think of it on our Facebook page for book club members, try out an extract here and get an insight into how Larry came up with the mechanics of his epic creation in this piece he’s written for us here. Topics:

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene bought thousands of dollars of stock in 17 different companies as markets began to tank in the wake of Trump's tariff announcement. Allison Robbert/AFP via Getty Images 2025-04-11T18:29:58Z Save Saved Read in app This story is available exclusively to Business Insider subscribers. Become an Insider and start reading now. Have an account? Markets tumbled — and then soared — on Trump's tariff announcements in the last two weeks. Now, Democrats are suggesting Trump engaged in market manipulation and insider trading. Lawmakers and Cabinet officials have weeks to disclose any trades they made in the last week. As the stock market began to slide in the wake of President Donald Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, Sen. Bernie Moreno offered a suggestion: Buy the dip."I would go out and buy stocks today," the Ohio Republican told reporters the day after Trump announced a 10% baseline tariff and a host of steeper "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of countries. "Lots of opportunity, lots of companies that have great valuation. There's no reason that Apple stock should be down."Moreno's financial advice may have been a bit early — the market tumbled even further in the days after he made those remarks — but broadly, he was correct. Stock markets regained much of their prior value after Trump announced on Wednesday that much of his tariffs would be paused for 90 days.Now, some Democrats are lobbing accusations of insider trading and market manipulation, pointing to Trump's declaration earlier that morning that it was a "great time to buy." In letters to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of Government Ethics, Democratic senators have argued that the president or others close to him may have bought up stock with the knowledge that markets were about to rebound due to a tariff pause."We need to get to the bottom of the possible stock manipulation that is unfolding before the American people," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Thursday.The White House, for its part, is denying the allegations."It is the responsibility of the President of the United States to reassure the markets and Americans about their economic security in the face of nonstop media fearmongering," White House spokesman Kush Desai said in a statement. "Democrats railed against China's cheating for decades, and now they're playing partisan games instead of celebrating President Trump's decisive action yesterday to finally corner China."There's not yet any evidence that any Trump allies traded on prior knowledge of the president's announcement, and we may not have a full picture of which politicians even bought the dip until mid-to-late May. Members of Congress and executive branch officials, including cabinet members, have 45 days to disclose any stock trades they've made.Some are calling on their colleagues to come clean before then. "Any member of Congress who purchased stocks in the last 48 hours should probably disclose that now," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York wrote on X. "You might as well get it out into the public domain now because it's coming later, and there's nothing that you can do about it," Jeffries said.'We're not here to feed at the trough'One lawmaker who has already disclosed purchasing stocks during the dip: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of Trump's staunchest allies in Congress. Please help BI improve our Business, Tech, and Innovation coverage by sharing a bit about your role — it will help us tailor content that matters most to people like you. What is your job title? (1 of 2) Entry level position Project manager Management Senior management Executive management Student Self-employed Retired Other What products or services can you approve for purchase in your role? (2 of 2) Advertising / Marketing Client / Account Management Company strategy HR / Training / Office support Managing budgets IT / Telecoms / Tech Recruiting new employees Sales Software development Financial Other None of the above By providing this information, you agree that Business Insider may use this data to improve your site experience and for targeted advertising. By continuing you agree that you accept the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy . Thanks for sharing insights about your role. On Monday, the Georgia Republican plunged somewhere between $19,000 and $285,000 into the stock market, buying up shares in 17 different companies — including Apple — in the day's after Trump's announcement. Many of those stocks have enjoyed a net gain since then.In a statement to BI, Greene said that her trades had been made by someone else on her behalf. She also dismissed the idea of putting her assets into a blind trust, as some ethics-minded lawmakers advocate."After many successful years of running my own business, I ran for Congress to bring that mindset to Washington. Now that I'm proudly serving the people of Northwest Georgia, I have signed a fiduciary agreement to allow my financial advisor to control my investments," Greene said. "All of my investments are reported with full transparency. I refuse to hide my stock trades in a blind trust like many others do." Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio says he didn't take his own financial advice: "I don't buy stocks." Andrew Harnik/Getty Images The episode has once again brought the issue of stock trading in Congress to the fore. The trades made by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband have long been a source of controversy, and for years, lawmakers in both parties have been trying to ban the practice."Frankly, I don't care if Democrats did it, I don't care if Republicans did it, we're not here to feed at the trough," Ocasio-Cortez said. "There is either an appearance or, at worst, an active intent when you have this conflict of interest."Many lawmakers have run for office in recent years on banning stock trading, or have voluntarily opted not to trade themselves. That includes Moreno, who told BI this week that he ultimately didn't take his own advice."I don't buy stocks," Moreno said, adding that during his 2024 Senate campaign, he agreed to sell off his stocks "so that we wouldn't have uncomfortable, weird conversations like this."Sen. Josh Hawley told BI that the controversy was all the more reason to pass his bill to ban not just lawmakers, but executive branch officials from trading stocks. "That would take care of most of those concerns," he said.Still, the Missouri Republican was dismissive of the actual claims of insider trading."The President didn't decide what he was going to do until he did it," Hawley said. "This idea that it's some elaborate insider scheme? Democrats have too much time on their hands." Recommended video

For many years, Donald Trump has viewed unpredictability as one of his greatest negotiating assets.He believes deliberately acting “crazy,” as he reportedly told aides in 2017, is a highly effective way to win concessions in advance of a deal. As I’ve written, this is akin to what President Richard Nixon dubbed the “madman theory” — that if he convinced foreign leaders he was willing to do unthinkable things, they’d back down out of fear.The problem was that savvy observers like investors and foreign leaders caught on to this game. So during Trump’s first term, conventional wisdom set in: Trump may say scary things, but he’s typically bluffing. In the end, he is rational, knows when to step back from the brink, and does not want a truly destructive outcome. Often, there was seemingly good reason to believe this: The pre-pandemic economy remained strong, Trump avoided major new wars, and he didn’t pull out of NATO.Now, in his second term, Trump has decided to blow up that assumption by imposing chaotic, impulsive, and bizarre tariffs that shake the global economy. He’s not just threatening anymore: He’s actually implementing his destructive and dangerous ideas. (At least for a little while — he did back off some of them on Wednesday amid market turmoil, though others remain.)It is entirely possible — likely, in my view — that Trump’s hoped-for endgame for his trade war remains a series of “big, beautiful deals,” with details flexible and to be determined and, that in his own mind, all he’s doing is trying to increase his leverage. That is: He’s still trying to implement madman theory.Even regarding China, where the trade war is most intense, it could well be that Trump will settle for something far short of the massive disruption that truly decoupling our economy from theirs would entail — that the endgame is a deal.But even if all this is true and Trump’s end goals are not as unreasonable as his current behavior reflects, he’s still doing grave and potentially long-lasting damage to the United States and its reputation and position in the global economy.Trump is shredding the US’s economic and business reputationIt turns out that trying the madman schtick, not just with individual foreign leaders but with the entire global economy all at once, is far riskier. And it turns out that by actually following through on his threats and putting giant tariffs into effect, Trump crossed an important line. He exploded investors’ conventional wisdom that he would, in the end, back down. So they’re responding — by ditching US bonds and currency.Now, Trump’s team did anticipate that the trade war might drive the dollar down — some of them even wanted that because it would help make US exports more competitive. They did not, however, anticipate the ominous spikes in US Treasury bond yields. In fact, Trump advisers had previously said they were trying to drive bond yields lower.US Treasury bonds are typically viewed as an extremely safe asset — they mature with interest after a set period. The interest rate, or “yield,” fluctuates based on market demand. Basically, when investors become more eager to put their money in US bonds, the interest rate drops. But when investors prefer to put money elsewhere, the interest rate goes up (demand for bonds is lower, so a higher interest rate is necessary to make it “worth it” for investors).Typically, a crisis drives investors to the safe asset of Treasury bonds. But now a Trump-invented crisis is doing the opposite and driving them away. This is a major problem both because US interest payments on its debt will rise and because it heightens the risk of a financial crisis.The reason for investors’ flight from US bonds seems obvious — a country run by a “madman” who’s willing to throw millions of business models into chaos on a whim does not seem particularly stable and reliable. The US’s global reputation was the safest place in a storm, but now, Trump is causing the storm, and investors are responding by fleeing the US.I wrote back in January that “it’s very difficult to send a credibly intimidating madman message to foreign leaders while at the same time sending a reassuring message to markets.” And now, it’s clear that Trump’s attempt to intimidate the world is doing his own economy great harm, in a way that will be difficult to recover from unless he somehow overcomes his addiction to making unhinged tariff threats (or the Supreme Court reins him in).Trump has grown more willing to embrace risk and chaosI’ve written about the institutional guardrails that, in Trump’s first term, often effectively held him back from doing damaging things. But in some ways, the most important guardrail is Trump himself — his own instincts about political self-preservation and calculations about when it is time to step back from the brink.Throughout his first term, Trump did many risky, controversial, and provocative things. But he also (often at the behest of pleading advisers) was willing to decide that this particular firing or that particular provocation would be going too far. He drew the line somewhere.But as the term went on, he kept drawing that line closer to the edge of the cliff. Take, for instance, his unprecedented attempt to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, which many Republicans initially assumed was cheap talk. It took his followers storming the Capitol and sending members of Congress fleeing in terror before he backed down.Now, back in office, and surrounded by “yes men” and ideologues, Trump feels newly empowered to do what he wants — to take massive risks or do things that would have seemed unthinkable in his first term. Hence Liberation Day.At the beginning of this week’s market turmoil, some Trump allies claimed he was totally unbothered since the economic pain was just hitting “Wall Street” and not “Main Street.” This was a ludicrous thing to say — many businesses and jobs are at risk, and American consumers’ confidence in the economy is plummeting — but some feared the Trump team was so disconnected from reality that it believed it.Then, amidst those ominous signs in the bond markets, Trump blinked on Wednesday. This appeared to confirm that the worst-case scenario of Trump’s disconnection from reality was not, in fact, true, and investors responded with enthusiasm. But his simultaneous escalation against China (and new tariff threats against Mexico on Thursday on an entirely separate issue) shows he’s extremely reluctant to give up the tariff weapon. So as of early Friday afternoon, the markets were still tumultuous.What will be sufficient to spur Trump to back down again? Where is the line this week, this day, this hour? And how much pain will our economy and our country suffer before he decides enough is enough?See More: Politics

A peachy discount (Nintendo) SHOPPING – Contains affiliated content. Products featured in this Metro article are selected by our shopping writers. If you make a purchase using links on this page, Metro.co.uk will earn an affiliate commission. Click here for more information. A deal on Argos offers a discount across all Nintendo Switch 2 accessories and games, including Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza. The high price for Mario Kart World may have caught everyone off-guard, but a new promotion can help reduce some of the financial damage. If you sign up to receive marketing emails at UK retailer Argos before Wednesday, June 18, you’ll be sent a voucher code which will give you £10 off any order of at least £60. While this offer applies to anything from Argos, it is a perfect way to reduce the price of physical Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World (£74.99) and Donkey Kong Bananza (£64.99), or accessories like the Switch 2 Pro Controller (£74.99). There are some caveats to this deal. You’ll have 12 days to use the code once generated (they are usually sent within 15 minutes of signing up), and you have to pay £1.95 for delivery, as Argos only offers free delivery on orders over £100. In other words, you’ll technically save £8.05 overall, but it’s still something. Unfortunately, you can’t get around this hiccup by stacking up orders, as Argos will apply the £1.95 charge to each item and deliver them separately. It’s likely you could dodge it by using the free store collection option after the Switch 2 launches on June 5, but as you can only pre-order items at this stage, that option is currently unavailable. On the upside, you can get several codes if you have unused email addresses going spare. You can only apply one code per item, but if you’re picking up Mario Kart World and the Switch 2 Edition of The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, for example, you can save £8.05 on both. More Trending You could use this offer on a Switch 2 console too, but Argos is currently sold out on those, and it’s unclear when the retailer will be restocked. Once you’ve claimed the offer, you can stop receiving marketing emails by clicking on the ‘Unsubscribe from Argos Emails’ link at the bottom of the email voucher. Nintendo Switch 2 Joy Con 2 Controller Red & Blue – £74.99 Nintendo Switch 2 Wireless Pro Controller – £74.99 Mario Kart World – £74.99 Donkey Kong Bananza – £64.99 The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom – £64.99 The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild – £64.99 Super Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV – £64.99 Kirby & The Forgotten Land + Star Crossed World – £64.99 The Nintendo Switch 2 is set to launch in two bundles, with the console alone priced at £395.99 and a Mario Kart World bundle costing £429.99. You can check out the latest information on where to pre-order here. Donkey Kong Bananza is out in July (Nintendo) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy

Though fume-free, their brake pads and tyres disintegrate over time

By Matt Novak Published April 11, 2025 | Comments (0) | The Space Shuttle Discovery is the back drop as U.S. Vice President Mike Pence chairs the 6th meeting of the National Space Council on "Leading the Next Frontier" at the National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, August 20, 2019 in Chantilly, Virginia. © Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images After NASA’s Space Shuttles were retired in 2010, they were eventually sent to museums in Florida, California, New York, and the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Virginia. But Texas Republicans are not happy that the Lone Star state didn’t get one, given its historic significance to space travel. And they’ve introduced legislation to take the space shuttle currently at the Smithsonian and bring it to Houston. U.S. senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz introduced a new bill on Thursday called the Bring the Space Shuttle Home Act, which would require the space shuttle Discovery to be transferred from the Smithsonian to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Discovery was sent to the Smithsonian because it’s the oldest shuttle that’s still space-worthy, making it invaluable for future research and study. If the legislation passed, it would require the Smithsonian to come up with a plan for moving the shuttle, and that’s where things get very, very tricky. As the news outlet collectSpace explains, it’s virtually impossible to move the shuttle because the hardware used to relocate the four shuttles back in 2012 was destroyed. One of the modified Boeing 747 jetliners that moved the shuttles to their current homes is sitting in a museum and isn’t flightworthy, while the other would need new engines and a lot of other modification work to make it fit for purpose, according to collectSpace. Even assuming you successfully flew Discovery to Houston, the work on the ground would present its own problems. Getting the Endeavour from the L.A. International Airport to the California Science Center took three days to cover just 12 miles. Hundreds of trees had to be removed, and while it was quite a spectacle to watch the slow-moving shuttle wind through the city, it was an enormous undertaking. NASA employed one of its modified Boeing 747s to ferry three of the orbiters to their new homes. On a rainy night in April 2012, Discovery arrived at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Photo: NASA What about just taking Discovery apart and reassembling it? That would destroy the thermal blankets and tiles, according to collectSpace, some of the many things that make it valuable as an existing flightworthy shuttle for future research and study. And even if it were broken up into smaller pieces, those parts would still be far too large to move through traffic in any normal way. But none of that seems to be a concern to the Texas senators who are trying to make this happen. Sen. Cornyn complains that Texas wasn’t given one of the shuttles because President Barack Obama was playing politics. “Houston played a critical role throughout the life of the Space Shuttle program, but it is clear political favors trumped common sense and fairness when the Obama administration blocked the Space City from receiving the recognition it deserves,” Cornyn said in a statement posted online. “I am proud to lead the effort to finally bring Discovery home to Houston, where future generations of Texans and Americans can come to learn about the city’s integral role in our nation’s space shuttle program.” Incredibly, it doesn’t seem like the two Texas senators even bothered to talk with Space Center Houston before coming up with their idea, according to collectSpace. And while it sounds like the museum directors aren’t opposed to the plan, it does seem extremely odd they wouldn’t have been consulted in advance of such disruptive legislation. “Home to the Johnson Space Center and its famed Mission Control, Houston has an unparalleled reputation and history in the exploration of the new frontier,” Sen. Cruz said in a statement. “It is past time that the Space Center Houston Museum houses a Space Shuttle, given the unique relationship between the entire program and its support staff in Houston. Bringing the Discovery to its final home will offer hundreds of thousands of visitors each year the opportunity to engage with a living piece of NASA’s history and understand why Houston is known worldwide as ‘Space City.’” Discovery first launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Aug. 30, 1984, and landed from its final mission to the International Space Station on March 9, 2011. Daily Newsletter You May Also Like By Passant Rabie Published April 11, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published April 10, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published April 9, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published April 5, 2025 By Passant Rabie Published April 3, 2025 By Isaac Schultz Published March 30, 2025