4.17.2023

Starship Launch

SpaceX will attempt to launch its massive Starship launch vehicle this morning, a key step toward the company's ambitions of ferrying humans to Mars (and potentially beyond). The system, made up of a first-stage booster and a reusable spacecraft, is both the tallest and most powerful rocket ever assembled. 

Today's launch primarily tests the vehicle's ability to successfully separate from the first-stage boosters and briefly reach orbit. The entire test, if successful, would take roughly 90 minutes (see timeline). While both are ultimately intended to be reusable, the first-stage booster will make a splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico, while the capsule will land in the Pacific Ocean. CEO Elon Musk highlighted the uncertainty in the test, saying the vehicle has a 50% chance of reaching orbit. 

See how the company moved from its prototype Starhopper to the current Starship here (w/video). The launch window begins at 8 am ET; catch the livestream here.

Sudan Unrest

Dozens were killed and hundreds more were injured over the weekend as fighting broke out between Sudan's military and an opposing militia. The violence is the latest roadblock for the Horn of Africa country, which is struggling to transition to democracy since 2019 protests ousted longtime military dictator Omar al-Bashir.

The current conflict pits two former allies against each other: current Sudanese army head Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Lt. Gen. Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, leader of the powerful paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The two men joined together in a 2021 military coup to forestall fledgling plans to hand over power to civilians, but a late 2022 transition agreement with pro-democracy supporters provoked tensions between the two men, specifically around plans to integrate Hamdan's militia into the broader Sudanese army.

Both sides made claims of success over the weekend in the capital of Khartoum, where a four-hour humanitarian cease-fire was called Sunday. Track the conflict here.

India's Population Boom

India is on track to pass China as the world's most populous country sometime this month, experts say, a position held by China since the United Nations began tracking data in 1950. Both countries updated population data last summer—it is possible the changeover already occurred—but models project India will end the year with around 1.429 billion people, compared to China's 1.426 billion. 

India has added 1 billion people in the past 70 years, and analysts say the country's growing population may position it as a top economic power in coming decades. More than 40% of the population is under 25 years old (see data), with an overall median age of 28, compared to 38 in the US and 39 in China. Conversely, the rapid growth has strained public services and health infrastructure, among other challenges.

The US has a population of 333 million, having grown 0.4% last year. Visualize the world's population density here. 

Science & Technology

Business & Markets

Politics & World Affairs

Visualizing the seven wonders of the ancient world.

What to know about tomorrow's Tax Day. 

How high inflation has shaped the economics of dating.

Watch waves from a stormy sea slam the English coast.

Rare giant otter gives birth to triplets. 

Ultraviolet light reveals ancient biblical text.

Woman spends 500 days alone in a cave.

English artist creates enormous, geometric snow art.

Clickbait: Think twice before drinking trendy "raw water." 

Historybook: Benjamin Franklin dies (1790); Bay of Pigs Invasion begins in Cuba (1961); Apollo 13 returns safely to Earth (1970); Victoria Beckham born (1974); Former first lady Barbara Bush dies (2018).