Adam Minter

What’s the cost of a good suit these days? At NASA, apparently, it’s about $500 million. That’s according to a new audit of the space agency’s 14-year quest to design and build a new generation of spacesuits. Without major changes to the program, the new duds will take at least four more years to…

The sea floor between Hawaii and Mexico is covered in potato-sized rocks that contain many of the metals necessary to make electric-car batteries. All that’s needed is a way to lift them to the surface for processing. At least, that’s the theory behind the Metals Co., a business formed earlier this…

When a tower the size of the Empire State Building begins to sway, the tenants panic. Last week, that’s what happened in Shenzhen, China’s top technology hub. Video shows thousands of people sprinting and screaming out of the SEG Plaza, an iconic 20-year-old skyscraper. The sway returned on…

Recycling is “dead,” say the obituaries. And if it’s not dead it’s “broken,” “not working,” “in the bin,” “failing,” a “charade,” “a lie,” and of course “too good to be true.” This gloomy narrative has gained momentum over the past three years as cities struggled to find places to send the stuff…

In March, the boy’s hockey team at Minnesota’s Hill-Murray School was on the way to defending its championship title. But on the verge of the state tournament, it got bad news: A player from a previous opponent had tested positive for Covid-19. Under state rules, Hill-Murray was subject to a…

Although Hawaii re-opened to tourists in October, it took a combination of spring break and pent-up travel fever before the airports felt close to normal again. By mid-March, the number of arriving domestic passengers exceeded 2020’s anemic levels by 400%. A surge in visitors is undoubtedly good…

Each spring, millions of Chinese gather around their televisions for two hours of naming and shaming corporate brands, for offenses ranging from poor customer service to outright fraud. This year, the Consumer Rights Day extravaganza was mostly the same, with offenders including Ford Motor Co. Yet…

Last week’s contentious meeting between Chinese and US delegations in Alaska was entering its second hour when Mars entered the conversation. First mention was made by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who invoked the recent landing of the Perseverance rover as an example of a successful US…

Last Thursday, China’s top leaders gathered for the annual opening of the country’s parliament. President Xi Jinping was front and center during speeches devoted to the economy, technology policy and other hot-button issues. But he didn’t speak officially until later in the day, when he stopped by…