https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/04/new-data-reveals-strong-economic-momentum/

“It’s no surprise the leftovers of Biden’s economic disaster have been a drag on economic growth, but the underlying numbers tell the real story of the strong momentum President Trump is delivering. Robust core GDP, the highest gross domestic investment in four years, job growth, and trillions of dollars in new investments secured by President Trump are fueling an economic boom and setting the stage for unprecedented growth as President Trump ushers in the new Golden Age.” — Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt

Why aren’t big companies making the switch?
Despite the clear environmental benefits, major manufacturers have yet to embrace cornstarch-based products fully. One reason is that these sustainable alternatives require commercial-scale production to become cost-effective for the mass market.

But the good news is that corn is already one of the most widely grown crops in the world. It’s used not only as food and livestock feed but also in producing biofuels and industrial materials. This global supply chain makes it relatively easy for companies to purchase the raw materials needed to make PLA products.

Because cornstarch is already being grown in large quantities around the world, it could be readily integrated into existing supply systems. That means companies wouldn’t need to create new infrastructures to adopt the material.

 

Hydrogen-6: One of the furthest reaches of nuclear stability
Hydrogen-6, consisting of a single proton bound to five neutrons, represents one of the furthest reaches of nuclear stability.

“The extremely heavy hydrogen isotopes ⁶H – consisting of one proton and five neutrons – and ⁷H – with one more neutron – have the highest neutron-to-proton ratios known so far,” added the researchers.

Understanding such exotic isotopes is crucial for answering fundamental questions about how many neutrons can be held within an atomic nucleus. 

“However, experimental data on these exotic nuclei are scarce, and the results remain controversial. In particular, there is a long-standing debate about whether the ground-state energy of ⁶H is low or high,” remarked the press release.

Hegseth issues warning to Iran over Houthi support
The Houthis were designated as a foreign terrorist organization in March 2025 by the Trump administration

Iran is suspected of funding and aiding the Houthis, an action that Hegseth cautioned would have dire consequences. The secretary of defense issued the warning in a post on X on Wednesday.

8×8 amphibious tank 
The ACV-30 is an upgraded version of the baseline ACV platform. According to a press release by BAE Systems, the company aims to deliver direct fire support for Marine infantry units operating across diverse littoral and contested environments.

Central to the ACV-30’s configuration is the integration of a Medium Caliber Remote Turret System (RTS), a government-furnished equipment package that the Naval Information Warfare Integration Center Atlantic will install. 

This RTS enables the vehicle to project precision fires with a 30mm cannon while maintaining crew protection through remote operation.

BAE Systems said the vehicle’s dual-domain capability is engineered for open-ocean transit and seamless transition to shore-based operations. 

Corn-based pads could cut 220,000 tons of plastic waste dumped in oceans yearly
Researchers suggest cornstarch-based products could replace plastic sanitary products, reducing environmental impact while remaining scalable and cost-effective.

A new study has revealed a potential game-changer in the fight against sanitary waste. Researchers found sanitary pads made with cornstarch are 17 times more environmentally friendly than plastic-based ones.

Traditional sanitary pads contain about 90% plastic, equal to the plastic found in four grocery bags per pad. The environmental cost is staggering, with around 220,000 tons of sanitary products thrown away yearly. Much of this waste ends up in oceans, contributing to global plastic pollution.

The study highlights using a biodegradable material called polylactic acid (PLA)—a product made from cornstarch. PLA pads dramatically reduce environmental harm. Even though their production takes up more land, the overall impact is far lower because of their renewable sourcing and less toxic manufacturing processes.

“Research into sustainable sanitary materials has consistently shown that while many alternatives to traditional products exist, the key to widespread adoption lies in ease of production, price and scalability,” said Alice Medeiros de Lima, corresponding author of the study.

“Given the detrimental effects of plastic based sanitary products on the environment, transitioning to cornstarch-based products can significantly reduce waste and provide a more sustainable solution for the future.”

The clock behind the internet, finance, and GPS
Time isn’t just about watches and alarms — it powers everything from GPS to stock market trades to data centers.

“Time signals are used literally billions of times each day for everything from setting clocks and watches to ensuring the accurate time stamping of hundreds of billions of dollars of electronic financial transactions,” said Liz Donley, who leads NIST’s Time and Frequency Division.

NIST-F4 helps steer the official U.S. time scale, known as UTC(NIST), and contributes to the global timekeeping standard, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Its ultra-precise data helps ensure systems worldwide stay synchronized down to the microsecond.

Combining electron beam, high-res spectrometers
“This measurement could only be carried out thanks to the unique combination of the excellent quality of the MAMI electron beam and the three high-resolution spectrometers of the A1 Collaboration,” noted Professor Josef Pochodzalla from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU).

The experiment also overcame significant technical hurdles, including the use of an unusual, elongated lithium target (45 mm long, 0.75 mm thick) positioned along the beam axis to maximize interaction probability, and the careful handling of the highly reactive and fragile lithium material.

Despite the rarity of the process, yielding roughly one ⁶H event per day over a four-week measurement period, the high precision and low background noise of the experiment provided a clear signal and confirmed the isotope’s production and its unexpectedly low energy state.

The contract award, announced as part of the FRP Lot 5/6 acquisition cycle, comprises the vehicles’ production and fielding support, spare parts provisioning, and test equipment. 

This award represents the US Marines’ focus on integrating lethality, survivability, and maneuverability into the Corps’ next-generation amphibious platforms.

Hegseth’s posts would seem to suggest his message was in response to that event. Later, on his personal X account, Hegseth reposted a March Truth Social post by President Donald Trump in which the president also warned Iran of supporting the Houthis. 

“The hundreds of attacks being made by Houthi, the sinister mobsters and thugs based in Yemen, who are hated by the Yemeni people, all emanate from, and are created by IRAN,” Trump said in the social media post. “Any further attack or retaliation by the ‘Houthis’ will be met with great force and there is no guarantee the force will stop there.”

Message to IRAN:

We see your LETHAL support to The Houthis. We know exactly what you are doing.

You know very well what the U.S. Military is capable of — and you were warned. You will pay the CONSEQUENCE at the time and place of our choosing.

— Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (@SecDef) May 1, 2025

Other details and production
The company is also projecting that the Lumberjack drone can be launched from ships, making it an even more attractive proposition. Further, the fully autonomous drone can also take orders from personnel on the ground to carry out missions.

With a roughly 200-mile range, Northrop expects the drone to fill out the gaps for weapons that can strike at a little longer range than artillery without needing planes in the air.

The submunitions it can carry include Hatchet – a six-pound, miniature precision strike munition – developed by Northrop.


The company has been conducting Lumberjack’s flight tests since 2024 with a research and engineering division of the US defense. It now invites customers to bring it into the production and actual testing phase.

It remains to be seen whether Lumberjack – or any drones with similar capabilities – are inducted by the US forces in the coming days.

US Marines unveil new tanks that swim and strike with 30mm cannon precision
The ACV-30 primary armament is a Kongsberg MCT-30 remote turret system armed with the Northrop Grumman Mk44 Bushmaster II 30mm chain gun.

Just days after China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) showcased its new type of amphibious anti-tank missile platform, the US Marine Corps has also started to arm itself with similar platforms.

In a powerful step toward modernizing its amphibious warfare capability, the service has awarded BAE Systems a  $188.5 million full-rate production (FRP) contract to deliver 30 ACV-30mm (Amphibious Combat Vehicle – 30mm) vehicles.

Gross domestic investment soared by 22%. This is the highest in four years and comes as businesses and consumers — bolstered by rising take-home pay — fuel an economic boom.
Monthly indicators, which capture growth trends at a much higher frequency, all point to accelerating growth AFTER President Trump took office. Private employment gains, consumer spending, capital investment, and aggregate hours worked have all accelerated since January, while inflation has decelerated.
An unprecedented surge in imports due to tariff frontrunning contributed to most of the decline.