Overdoing it could give you heart disease or cancer

Science & technology | Dont stop him nowCan Musk put people on Mars?Whether successful or not, his attempt to do so will reshape Americas space programmePhotograph: Alamy Mar 27th 2025HUMAN LAWS can be changed, waived or broken. Physical laws are less biddable. When it comes to putting humans on Mars, which he sees as the first step towards the planets settlement and humankinds salvation, Elon Musk now has little to worry about from human law. Mr Musk has overseen the gutting of the FAA, Americas aviation authority and a sometime obstacle to his company SpaceX, by his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). What is more, he stands at the side of an American president who, as well as having little regard for legal strictures, explicitly endorses Mr Musks Martian agenda. In his inaugural address President Donald Trump declared that it was time for Americans to pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars. This was not a one-off. He repeated the aspiration in his address to Congress six weeks later. Explore moreThis article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline Dont stop him nowFrom the March 29th 2025 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the editionReuse this content

Science & technology | Dont stop him nowCan Musk put man on Mars?Whether successful or not, his attempt to do so will reshape Americas space programmePhotograph: Alamy Mar 27th 2025HUMAN LAWS can be changed, waived or broken. Physical laws are less biddable. When it comes to putting humans on Mars, which he sees as the first step towards the planets settlement and humankinds salvation, Elon Musk now has little to worry about from human law. Mr Musk has overseen the gutting of the FAA, Americas aviation authority and a sometime obstacle to his company SpaceX, by his so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). What is more, he stands at the side of an American president who, as well as having little regard for legal strictures, explicitly endorses Mr Musks Martian agenda. In his inaugural address President Donald Trump declared that it was time for Americans to pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars. This was not a one-off. He repeated the aspiration in his address to Congress six weeks later. Explore moreThis article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline Dont stop him nowFrom the March 29th 2025 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the editionReuse this content

Science & technology | Hunt for the red-hot OctoberClimate change may make it harder to spot submarinesThe sound of their engines will not travel as farPhotograph: U.S Navy photo Mar 27th 2025THE PENTAGON does not do climate-change crap, said Pete Hegseth, Donald Trumps defence secretary, on March 9th. We do training and warfighting. Fair enough. But a new NATO study illustrates how closely the two are linked.Explore moreThis article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline Hunt for the red-hot OctoberFrom the March 29th 2025 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the editionReuse this content

The risks of vaping may be worth the benefits

Science & technology | Deep divesWhy dont seals drown?They can time their dives to match their blood oxygenFeeling buoyantPhotograph: Reuters Mar 20th 2025FREE-DIVING IS a perilous sport. Divers, swimming underwater without oxygen tanks, frequently black out from low oxygen and put themselves at risk of drowning. Marine mammals such as seals, by contrast, can spend most of their lives below the surface without running such risks. A paper published in Science on March 20th explains why: seals can apparently sense how much oxygen they have in their blood and plan their actions accordingly.Explore moreScience & technologyThis article appeared in the Science & technology section of the print edition under the headline Deep divesFrom the March 22nd 2025 editionDiscover stories from this section and more in the list of contentsExplore the editionReuse this content

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