The $3 million Breakthrough Prizes were awarded to researchers working at the forefront of math, physics and life sciences — including the scientists behind the first-ever photo taken of a black hole.
Why it matters: Scientists often work on the fringes of popular consciousness, but prizes like these are designed to help bring their discoveries to the public by celebrating their accomplishments.
The Pentagon is deferring $400 million in Hurricane Maria recovery projects in Puerto Rico so the funds can instead go toward construction of President Trump's border wall, a Defense Department list published Wednesday shows.
Why it matters: Puerto Rico declared bankruptcy in 2017 amid "the biggest government financial collapse in United States history," and it's still struggling to recover from Hurricane Maria. The funding had been allocated for 10 military construction projects in the U.S. territory.
About 1.5 million Floridians have moved inland to avoid the wrath of Hurricane Dorian. Such evacuations can be perilous — but in the future, networks of automated vehicles could help shuttle people out of harm's way more efficiently.
The big picture: Two colliding trends will likely make evacuations in this storm-prone population center trickier in the meantime, however. People are moving to south Florida in huge numbers, which will put far more people at risk. And battery-powered AVs and the infrastructure to support them are still a long way off.
Hurricane Dorian is lashing Florida's northeast coast with tropical conditions, with dangerous winds and coastal flooding reported in the state as the deadly storm heads toward the U.S.
The big picture: Dorian was downgraded to a Category 2 storm on Tuesday, but the National Hurricane Center warns that it'll remain a powerful hurricane, and it's forecast to move near or over the Carolinas' coast Thursday through Friday morning. States of emergency have been declared in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. Mandatory evacuations had been taking place in the 5 states since the weekend, affecting millions of people, per ABC News
