On September 22, 2020, the United States marked a grim milestone in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, with the coronavirus having killed its 200,000th victim. The number of American casualties currently stands at 203,800, the highest of any single nation in the world, with the U.S. suffering over one-fifth of theread more

Long-range space exploration is currently hamstrung by having to accelerate spacecraft in comparative fits and starts using rocket engines that can only fire for a few minutes at a time, followed by months, years, and even decades of the spacecraft coasting from planet to planet. However, a propulsion method thatread more