Axios

Asteroids, comets and meteorites are increasingly essential to scientists' understanding of our solar system.

Why it matters: These objects are proxies for the elements and chemicals present in the early solar system.

Severe storms swept across much of the eastern and southern U.S. overnight, bringing heavy rain, damaging winds and large hail to several states, per the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The big picture: At least two people died from the storms, while downed trees and power lines left thousands of homes across the area without power on Tuesday morning.

Officials in Juneau, Alaska, declared an emergency Sunday after record glacial flooding destroyed at least two buildings and forced residents to evacuate.

Driving the news: The Mendenhall River first flooded Saturday following a major glacial dam outburst from Suicide Basin, a side basin on the 3,000-year-old Mendenhall Glacier, some 12 miles north of Alaska's state capital, per a statement from the City and Borough of Juneau.

U.S. scientists at the federal Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California announced Sunday that they achieved net energy gain in a nuclear fusion reaction for a second time — this time with a higher energy yield.

Why it matters: Scientists have worked for decades to develop nuclear fusion as a source of effectively limitless clean energy, but Axios' Alison Snyder notes that there's still a long way to go in overcoming further scientific, technical and financial hurdles for it to become a commercial power supply.