The Artemis II mission to the moon and back might be NASA’s biggest public triumph in decades. It nonetheless is not saving the agency from proposed budget cuts that would massively slash its space science budget.

President Donald Trump’s plan gives a “billion-dollar boost” to efforts to land on the moon, said CNN. But it also proposes “deep cuts” that would reduce the agency’s science programs by nearly 50%. 

What did the commentators say?
The budget cuts “could bring NASA down” after lifting “humanity’s spirits” with the Artemis mission, the Houston Chronicle said in an editorial. The U.S. must maintain its “momentum toward further exploration.” Otherwise, the Artemis success will be a “brief sugar high” instead of a “bellwether for continued human spaceflight.”

It’s an “odd choice” from a White House that has repeatedly promised to “put America first,” said Bill Nye at MS NOW. China is also looking to land on the moon by 2030, so it’s perplexing that the U.S. would “cede the lead” in the 21st-century space race. The U.S. cannot be “first in space” if it chooses to be “second in science and technology.”

The U.S. can still “shoot for the moon,” said former NASA scientist Kate Marvel at The New York Times. But we are “losing the ability to understand our own world.” Rather than debate policy, the Trump administration has “chosen to attack science itself.” NASA wants to “conjure the notion of inspiration.” For now, though, U.S. leaders are “diminishing our ability to see and understand our planet.”

What next?
The “all moon and little else” White House proposal is the “opening salvo in a multi-month budget process,” said Ars Technica. The Trump administration sought similar cuts to NASA last year but was “resoundingly rejected” by the GOP-led Congress. That may happen again. It would be a “mistake” to gut NASA’s science funding, said Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), who runs the Senate subcommittee that oversees the agency, to Politico. NASA is “doing big things” like Artemis “faster” than it used to, so “more resources” are required to succeed.

The internet is rife with trends promising to optimize your body, and right now, peptides are the It drug. Available as injectables, intravenous infusions, pills and nasal sprays, these chains of amino acids are rumored to help with weight loss, anti-aging and rapid muscle repair. But government restrictions have led to an increase in gray-market sales.

New wonder drug?
The human body naturally produces peptides. Researchers have known about some of them for decades, and “dozens have been turned into safe and effective drugs,” said The New Yorker. The hormone insulin, for example, “moves sugar from the bloodstream into cells” and is used to treat diabetes.

The drugs that are driving current wellness trends are part of a broad category of synthetic amino acids that includes “well-studied items like insulin and GLP-1 weight-loss drugs,” said Stat News. Unlike those two FDA-approved uses, however, the peptides being touted by some figures in the health sphere are part of a “thicket of newer drugs,” most of which have “comparatively little research” to support claims they can “treat injuries and chronic pain” or “boost energy.”

Off-label use of peptides was initially popular among bodybuilders, but in the “era of Make America Healthy Again,” peptides’ popularity has risen among the general public, said The New Yorker. Compounding pharmacies are experiencing soaring demand, and imports of gray-market peptides from China nearly doubled last year, said The New York Times. Influencers like “looksmaxxer” Clavicular and podcaster Joe Rogan, as well as Health Secretary Robert. F. Kennedy Jr., are among those singing their praises.

Kennedy and the gray market
In 2023, during Biden’s administration, the FDA placed 14 peptides on a “do not compound” list due to “potential significant safety risks,” including immune reactions, pancreatitis and accelerated growth of cancerous cells. But in February, Kennedy said the FDA would make changes to make their use more acceptable. 

A senior Health Department official confirmed that the FDA plans to move forward in allowing compounding pharmacies to produce the injectable peptides, said the Times. Lifting the restrictions would be done in an effort to curtail the use of “substandard” gray-market products, said Kennedy on Joe Rogan’s podcast. 

A visitor takes a selfie in front of flowering azaleas at Nezu Shrine in Tokyo, Japan. About 100 varieties of 3,000 shrubs attract visitors during the annual Azalea Festival.
Franck Robichon / EPA / Shutterstock

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