March 30, 2026—The first humans to leave Earth’s orbit in more than 50 years, the science of static electricity and a new COVID variant is spreading. Plus, take advice from a chatbot with a grain of salt.
—Andrea Gawrylewski
Chief Newsletter Editor
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Whitney Hayward/Portland Press Herald/Getty Images
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NASA is currently targeting April 1 to launch the Artemis II crewed mission to the moon. The mission has been postponed multiple times this year due to problems with the spacecraft that arose during testing. The four astronauts—Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen—arrived in Florida on Friday and have been in quarantine since March 18 so that no one carries any germs on board. The weather forecast currently appears 80 percent in favor of a launch this week, according to a program manager at NASA.
The mission: The Artemis II mission will be the first time humans will have left Earth’s orbit since Apollo 17 in 1972. The 10-day mission will do a fly-by around the far side of the moon, further out in space than any other human has gone before. While on board, the astronauts will be gathering data on the effects of spaceflight on human health (increased radiation and microgravity among many). Plus, during the three hours they’ll be on the moon’s dark side, the astronauts will analyze and photograph geologic features, such as impact craters and ancient lava flows, according to NASA.
Why this matters: The flight is designed to test out much of the technology that will be used in later moon missions, such as the planned Artemis III and Artemis IV and beyond‚ as well as informing the agency’s future plans for a permanent human settlement on the moon.
Join the discussion: Are you excited to see people return to the moon? Let us know what questions you have about this and upcoming missions by joining the discussion here.
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If you ask a chatbot for advice, it’s more likely to affirm your existing point of view than a human is, according to a new study. Researchers curated a list of scenarios posed to the Reddit community “ Am I The Asshole,” where people post a description of their interpersonal conflicts and users tell them if they were in the wrong. Among queries where humans thought the poster was the “asshole,” chatbots endorsed the posters’ actions more than 50 percent of the time, on average. Why this is important: Sycophantic AI can change people’s behavior and harm their relationships. In the study, participants asked AI chatbots who was wrong in their own interpersonal situations. When more sycophantic models assured participants that they were right, participants reported they were significantly less likely to apologize or change their behavior in the future. The study authors warn this could be happening on a large scale since nearly half of U.S. adults under age 30 have sought relationship advice from AI.
What the experts say: Seeking advice from real people instead of a chatbot can result in “social friction,” says Anat Perry, a social psychologist at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, who was not involved in the study. And that’s a good thing. “It doesn’t make us feel good, this friction, but we learn from it.” —Emma Gometz, newsletter editor
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