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SpaceX's Starship has reached orbit for the first time, even though one of its engines failed during flight. The milestone marks a significant step for the rocket program, which is central to NASA's lunar plans and Elon Musk's long-term ambitions for Mars travel. Reports highlight that the vehicle survived the engine problem, showing the system's resilience during a test flight.

SpaceX's Starship, the largest rocket ever built, reached orbit during a test flight despite an engine problem during ascent. The milestone marks a major step forward for the vehicle that NASA plans to use for future Moon missions, and analysts are highlighting the rocket's resilience even with one engine underperforming.

Electric vehicles have outsold gasoline and diesel cars in Europe for the first time, marking a historic milestone in the shift away from combustion engines. The figures highlight how quickly European buyers are moving to battery-powered models as automakers expand their electric lineups and regulations tighten. Industry observers are calling it a symbolic turning point for the continent's car market.

Researchers have found that certain pancreatic cells can be converted into insulin-producing beta cells with a single genetic modification, according to a Wired report. The finding suggests a potential new avenue for treating diabetes by reprogramming cells already present in the pancreas, and it is drawing attention from readers following advances in regenerative medicine and genetic engineering.

SpaceX has put its Starship spacecraft into orbit for the first time, a milestone for the company's next-generation rocket program. The achievement came despite one or more engines malfunctioning during the flight. Starship is central to SpaceX's plans for deep-space missions, including trips to the Moon and Mars, and each test flight is closely followed worldwide.

Researchers have developed an electric thruster designed to intake molecules of air from the upper atmosphere and use them as propellant, potentially allowing satellites in very low orbits to refuel themselves and remain in orbit indefinitely rather than falling back to Earth. The concept could reshape low-orbit missions, cutting the need for onboard fuel and enabling longer-lived Earth observation satellites.

Aliko Dangote, Africa's richest person, has hired the engineers who built his Lagos refinery to work on a new crude processing plant in Kenya, with construction expected to begin this month. The move extends his refining ambitions beyond Nigeria, and observers are watching whether the project can replicate the scale and impact of his Lagos facility on East Africa's fuel supply.

MIT researchers have built a paper-thin swimming robot that moves using living muscle cells rather than motors. The soft robotic swimmer can navigate through watery mazes, demonstrating precise control of biohydraulic movement in a device thin enough to be flexible like paper. The work highlights growing progress in biohybrid robotics, where engineered living tissue is combined with synthetic materials to create machines that move in ways conventional robots cannot.

Electric vehicle sales are climbing across the European Union, with EVs now accounting for 21.7% of the car market in 2026. The figures point to a steady shift away from combustion engines as manufacturers roll out more affordable models and charging networks expand. Industry watchers are debating whether the pace of growth will hold as subsidies are trimmed in several member states.

Bain & Company's seventh Global Technology Report projects that the global artificial intelligence market could reach $6 trillion in annual value by 2031, driven by companies unlocking new value and innovation across industries. The forecast underscores how quickly AI investment and adoption are expected to grow, with the consulting firm framing the technology as a major engine of economic expansion over the rest of the decade.

Japan's Nikkei index rose 0.8%, with semiconductor-related shares driving the advance. Chip stocks have been a key engine of Asian market moves recently as investors track global technology and AI demand. Traders are watching whether the momentum in Japanese technology names can hold amid fluctuating global sentiment.

A study reported by The Guardian has found that used, high-mileage electric vehicles are more reliable than equivalent petrol cars, challenging a common assumption that EV durability drops sharply with age and mileage. The finding is being shared widely among drivers and environmental commentators, with many pointing to it as further evidence that electric cars are a dependable long-term alternative to combustion engines.

Young people in Gaza are building robots using whatever limited materials they can find, according to an Al Jazeera report. The story highlights how students and hobbyists continue engineering projects despite blockade, war damage and shortages of basic components. It presents their resourcefulness as a sign of resilience and hope, drawing attention to the obstacles facing education and technology in the territory.

Chinese solar manufacturer LONGi reports a new silicon solar cell efficiency record of 28.29%, closing in on the technology's theoretical limit of around 29%. The milestone highlights how far cell engineering has progressed and how little headroom remains for conventional silicon, intensifying focus on next-generation designs like perovskite tandem cells. Industry observers are weighing what the achievement means for future cost reductions and the solar sector's competitive race.

Harvard University has been named the world's best institution in 16 STEM subjects, according to a new subject-by-subject global ranking. The result reinforces the university's dominance across science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields, and is drawing attention from students, academics and university administrators tracking how leading institutions compare in individual disciplines worldwide.

French AI company Mistral AI has opened a new hub in Munich, Germany, dedicated to physics-based and industrial applications of artificial intelligence. The expansion signals Mistral's push beyond general-purpose chatbot models into specialized sectors such as engineering, manufacturing, and scientific computing, strengthening Europe's position in applied industrial AI.

Researchers report a new perovskite solar cell reaching 30.1% efficiency, achieved by engineering smarter perovskite layer structures to reduce energy losses. The result marks another step toward making perovskite-based panels competitive with, or better than, conventional silicon technology, and is drawing attention in the renewable energy field.

A new study reported by The Guardian finds that used electric cars with high mileage are more reliable than comparable petrol vehicles. The finding challenges a common assumption among drivers that EV batteries and motors wear out faster than combustion engines, and is likely to feed into ongoing debates about the used-EV market and the cost of switching to electric.