Sunday Special: NASA's X-59 jet goes supersonic

Welcome back, Superhuman. It’s been nearly 25 years since the iconic Concorde jet last took to the skies — but the dream of supersonic travel is far from dead. NASA’s much-anticipated X-59 jet cleared a major milestone this week, bringing supersonic passenger flights one step closer to takeoff. It seems like ultra-fast air travel is slowly inching towards reality.

1. Scientists administer therapy to reverse cellular aging in landmark trial: In a world-first, biotech startup Life Biosciences has treated its first human patient with a gene therapy that partially reprograms aged cells to behave like younger ones. The approach aims to activate 3 genes that nudge old cells back towards a more youthful state without erasing their specialized identity. If successful, this could possibly open the door to applying the same cellular rejuvenation strategy to other organs and age-related diseases.

2. The jet that could bring back supersonic travel just broke the sound barrier: NASA's experimental X-59 aircraft went supersonic for the first time over California's Mojave Desert, hitting Mach 1.077 at 43,400 feet. The milestone brings NASA closer to overturning a 50-year ban on supersonic flight over land, which has blocked faster commercial air travel since 1973. If the X-59 proves quiet enough, it could pave the way for passenger jets that fly coast to coast in half the time. See the breakthrough here.

3. Meet the giant crocodile that made life terrifying for our earliest ancestors: Scientists have identified a previously unknown crocodile that prowled the rivers of Ethiopia more than 3M years ago, right alongside the famous early human ancestor Lucy. Dubbed 'Lucy's Hunter', the 15-foot ambush predator was the dominant predator of its ecosystem, larger and more dangerous than any lion or hyena of the time. Scientists say it almost certainly hunted Lucy's species regularly. See the terrifying creature here.

4. Scientists inch closer to solving the neutrino mystery: China's JUNO neutrino observatory has delivered its first major result, measuring key properties of neutrinos with 1.6x greater precision than all previous experiments combined. Neutrinos are elusive particles that pass through Earth without a trace. The findings, which used just 59 days of data, bring us closer to potentially solving one of particle physics' biggest mysteries: determining the true mass hierarchy of neutrinos.

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1. Nuwa Pen: A smart pen that uses a triple-camera and AI to digitize your writing on any paper in real time, and even transcribe and organize your notes — no screen needed.

2. LunaBand: A wearable that pairs with LifeOS to plan your day around your body, goals, recovery, and energy. It creates an hour-by-hour plan based on your real-time health signals, and works without a subscription.

3. Timekettle W4 Pro: AI-powered earbuds that can translate conversations between 42 languages and 95 accents in real-time with 98% accuracy.

4. Ring Always Home Cam: A flying indoor security camera that can move from room to room instead of staring at one fixed angle, giving you a full-home sweep.

SOCIAL SIGNALS

💻 Touch Grass, or Else: A developer created a black hole that virtually lives inside his terminal. The longer you work without taking a break, the larger it grows, warping your code until you finally step away from the keyboard.

✈ Sky Colossus: Photos barely do it justice. The largest airplane in the world by wingspan, dubbed the Stratolaunch Roc, is longer than a football field. Check it out here.

☢ Caught on Cam: Radiation is all around us, but our eyes can't see it. Surprisingly, this old mobile phone camera picked up flashes from radioactive particles passing through its sensor.

🌈 Perspective Problem: We’ve grown up thinking rainbows are curved arches in the sky that are shaped like a semi-circle or a circle. The reality will surprise you.

💥 Collision Course: A golf ball hitting a steel plate at 150 mph behaves less like a solid object and more like a liquid. Slow-motion footage reveals just how dramatically it deforms on impact.

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Smart Jab: Scientists have developed an experimental vaccine that trains the immune system to intercept fentanyl in the bloodstream before it can affect the brain. In mice, the vaccine reduced fentanyl brain levels by 70% and maintained near-normal breathing after doses that would typically be fatal. Crucially, it also recognized dangerous variants like carfentanil and China White, without interfering with medical opioids like morphine or oxycodone. Human trials are up next.

Summer Ready: The FDA has added bemotrizinol to its list of permitted sunscreen ingredients — the first update to the US sunscreen ingredient list in two decades. Already widely used in Europe, Japan, Canada, and Australia for over 25 years, bemotrizinol is more stable than existing chemical sunscreens, stays on the skin rather than absorbing into the bloodstream, and offers stronger protection against UVA1 radiation that causes skin aging. You’ll probably see it on shelves by late summer.

Aging Like Fine Wine: A three-year study tracking nearly 4,000 adults aged 19 to 94 found that brain health can measurably improve at any age with just five to fifteen minutes of daily training. Participants showed gains in thinking clarity, emotional balance, and sense of purpose, including those in their 80s. The biggest improvements came from those who started with the lowest scores, suggesting the brain has more room to grow than most people assume.

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Until next time,

Zain, Faiq, and the Superhuman AI team