NASA’s renewed efforts to build a sustained human presence on and around the Moon have spurred plans to integrate lunar research with exploration and commercial activity. Meanwhile, international rivalries have prompted the Defense Department to reform its space activities, while that same competition puts pressure on NASA to pursue a more direct path to the lunar surface.

A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change outlines the difficult path to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The Trump administration has neither rejected nor embraced the report, consistent with its generally ambivalent posture toward climate science.

University of Oklahoma meteorologist Kelvin Droegemeier received broad, bipartisan praise from senators at a hearing on his nomination to lead the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. Droegemeier repeatedly stressed that science must be free from political influence and outlined his views on growing global R&D competition, particularly from China.

President Trump has signed legislation that updates the Department of Education’s $1.2 billion Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. The new law expands support for integrating STEM education into CTE efforts and complements recent White House initiatives focused on workforce development.