The U.K. Ministry of Defence recently tested the DragonFire laser weapon at a facility in Scotland, destroying high-speed drones with its targeted energy technology.
Why it matters: Militaries have been working on directed energy for years, but it hasn't been widely adopted.
The ozone hole over the Antarctic in 2025 was the fifth smallest since 1992 — "the year a landmark international agreement to phase out ozone-depleting chemicals began to take effect," per a new NOAA-NASA report.
Why it matters: While the ozone hole varies in size from year to year, the report says this year's monitoring shows "controls on ozone-depleting chemical compounds established by the landmark Montreal Protocol and subsequent amendments are driving the gradual recovery of the ozone layer."
