Justine Calma

That’s how University of Miami hurricane researcher Brian McNoldy describes how explosive Hurricane Otis’ growth was right before it slammed into Acapulco, Mexico. It strengthened into a devastating Category 5 hurricane in record time, catching residents and forecasters off guard. The storm killed at least 27 people when it hit Wednesday, and residents are still reeling from what is likely to be one of the costliest storms to hit Mexico. Tropical storms draw strength from heat energy, allowing them to intensify more rapidly with climate change.

It’s called the Dragonfly rotorcraft lander, designed to one day zip across Saturn’s largest moon, Titan. To prepare it for the icy moon’s dense atmosphere, NASA and Johns Hopkins APL engineers have already tested a smaller model in a subsonic wind tunnel. The lander is supposed to reach Titan in the mid 2030s, where it’ll be used to study the origins of life.

The Energy Department announced the ‘largest ever’ investment in the power grid today. That includes funding for microgrids that can protect residents from outages. It’s a solution The Verge wrote about and New Orleans residents have been calling for since Hurricane Ida caused a deadly blackout in 2021. The story was selected for HarperCollins’ The Best American Science and Nature Writing last year, and one of our photos by Avery Leigh White won an American Photography 38 award.

A ban on glitter and microbeads often used for exfoliation in cosmetics goes into effect today. The European Commission also proposed even more measures to stop plastic pellets from winding up in the ocean, wildlife, and people’s bodies. The goal is to reduce that pollution 74 percent by 2030.