
NASA faces a financial crisis and does not have the technological means or funding to follow through with its goal of landing astronauts on Mars by mid-2030s, a leading astronomer told lawmakers this week.

Just a day after the devastating tornadoes struck in Oklahoma, the mayor of Moore — which was practically wiped out by the storm winds — is calling for new regulations aimed at preventing a similar calamity.

Iran is moving forward with a contested uranium-enrichment program, a slap in the face to the West which has charged the nation with unlawful pursuit of nuclear weaponry.
Alabama medical experts are puzzled by a respiratory illness that sent seven to the hospital and ultimately killed two.

Blake Shelton and NBC are putting together a benefit for Oklahoma tornado victims.

As Moore, Okla., begins to dig out of the wreckage wrought by Monday's killer storm, attention is shifting to the steps state officials may take to limit the loss of life the next time a tornado strikes — a question of "when," not "if."

For Al Gore, it's "a sad milestone." Scientists have announced that the level of carbon dioxide in the Earth's atmosphere has reached a "record" level of 400 parts per million.

Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse took Republicans to task on the Senate floor for failing to properly address climate change, referencing the ongoing tornado devastation in the Midwest as proof of that immediate action is needed.

In 1987, Ronald Reagan mused that if the world were about to be devastated by an alien force - perhaps a collision with a large asteroid - peoples of all nations, ideological persuasions and political parties would come together to save the planet and our civilization.