NASA has taken another giant leap toward uncovering the origins of the universe, launching a new space telescope on a mission to explore the building blocks of existence. Spherex — Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer — will survey hundreds of millions of galaxies and their "combined cosmic glow" to give scientists new "insights into the universe's evolution since the Big Bang," said The Independent. 

How does it work? 
Spherex will spend two years orbiting Earth from a distance of just over 400 miles, collecting imagery of galaxies and stars. Its camera uses near-infrared wavelengths and splits incoming light into 120 colors, like a "prism creating a rainbow from a sunray," said The Times. This technique, known as spectroscopy, will help scientists work out the "chemical footprint" of each object and its distance, "indicating when in the universe's history it was formed." 

What is it looking for? 
The $488 million telescope will help to "answer fundamental questions," said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, NASA's acting head of astrophysics. "How does the universe work? How did we get here within that universe, and are we alone?" 

Mapping the universe in this way will also shed light on the physics of a cosmic phenomenon called "inflation" — "what sparked the universe to increase in size by a trillion-trillionfold nearly instantaneously after the Big Bang," said CNN. Spherex will also search for hidden reserves of water, carbon dioxide and other life-sustaining molecules frozen within the clouds of gas and dust in which new planets and stars form. 

Is there anything else out there? 
Packed alongside Spherex on the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launch was NASA's $150 million Punch — Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere — a "constellation of four suitcase-size satellites designed to study our Sun," said Space.com (a sister site of The Week). The four satellites will work together to take 3D images of the sun's corona to discover the origins of solar wind and track its journey across the solar system. 

Scientists hope data captured by Punch will help them more accurately predict these events. Punch will "revolutionize our physical understanding of space weather events," said Punch principal investigator Craig DeForest, and "how they propagate through the inner heliosphere on the way to Earth."

Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the International Criminal Court earlier this month on the charge of "murder as a crime against humanity." But while the former president of the Philippines may face punishment for his alleged actions, the country's war on drug trafficking that led to his arrest may have a more complex fix than putting Duterte in handcuffs. 

Duterte has been charged by the ICC for allegedly ordering the systemic, extrajudicial killings of Filipinos accused of dealing drugs. However, some legal analysts say his arrest may not be the solution.

Allegedly thousands killed
Duterte was an "indirect co-perpetrator for the crime against humanity of murder, allegedly committed in the Philippines," said the ICC. He's accused of being criminally responsible for 43 murders from 2011 to 2019. But the total number of deaths during his rule is allegedly much higher. 

His war on drug trafficking involved the "extrajudicial killings of somewhere between 6,000 and more than 12,000 people, mostly urban working class and poor," said The Nation. The victims were "described by police as 'drug suspects'; all were deprived of due process." The dead reportedly included children as young as 3. 

Complex problem
If Duterte is brought to trial, it likely will not be until 2026. While his arrest is an "exceedingly rare case of the international justice system holding a strongman accountable," it may not have a wider effect in the Philippines, said Foreign Policy. It will be "difficult for the families of drug war victims to bring cases against members of the Philippine National Police," many of whom are alleged to have carried out the killings. 

The Philippines needs "laws that will rebuild and strengthen institutions to make sure that they can withstand the next time another Duterte comes along," said Leila de Lima, a former Philippine senator, to Foreign Policy. But the country's government is still filled with his supporters. Duterte's daughter Sara Duterte is the Philippines' vice president and is leading in the polls to replace Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. as president. 

All of these factors have left the future of the drug war uncertain. Marcos is "gambling that he can eliminate the Dutertes as a political force without any major backlash," said The New York Times. The "issue is now likely to be front and center during the midterm elections."