Breaking News, Business, Financial and Economic News, World News from EconoTimes

Become a contributor

Bookmark Econotimes

Sat, Feb 07, 2026 03:18 AM All times are UTC

Follow Series

©Econometrics LLC . All Rights Reserved.

Ian Whittaker

Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University

I completed my PhD in 2010 looking at the interaction of the Sun with the upper atmosphere of Venus. Since then I have held six postdoctoral contracts, covering medical imaging, solar physics, the Earth's radiation belts, lightning in tropical cyclones, X-ray astronomy, and X-ray observations of the Earth's magnetopause.

I currently teach at Nottingham Trent University, where I am responsible for astrophysics lectures, laboratory supervision, tutorials and student projects. I am very strongly interested in space science outreach, encouraging students and the public to take an interest in how our planet interacts with the solar system.

Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin: can they be more than 'space' joyrides for millionaires?

Jul 18, 2021 10:33 am UTC| Business

Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson and his team successfully flew to the edge of space on the Unity 22 mission aboard a Virgin Galactic plane on 12 July. The event was hailed as the start of space tourism, narrowly...

SpaceX astronaut launch: here's the rocket science it must get right

May 29, 2020 14:17 pm UTC| Science

Two NASA astronauts, Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley, will make history by travelling to the International Space Station in a privately funded spacecraft, SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule. It will also be...

Four graphs that suggest we can't blame climate change on solar activity

Jan 28, 2020 08:44 am UTC| Nature

The past decade (2010-2019) was the hottest on record and five of the top 10 warmest single years have all occurred since 2015, according to reports released by the UK Met Office and the World Meteorological...

Space milestones: here are the missions to look forward to in 2020

Jan 06, 2020 17:03 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

Last year was an excellent year for space exploration, with the icing on the Christmas cake the first ever image acquired of a black hole by the Event Horizon Telescope. This year, 2020, is set to be interesting too....

Internet jokesters call for people to storm Area 51 to find aliens – here's some science to consider

Jul 26, 2019 09:10 am UTC| Entertainment

Millions of people have signed up to a tongue-in-cheek Facebook event to storm the US military base Area 51 on 20 September to discover whether aliens are inside. While the organisers said it was a joke, the US military...

SpaceX Dragon 2 set for nail-biting landing – here's the rocket science

Mar 09, 2019 06:08 am UTC| Insights & Views Science

If all goes to plan, a fiery Dragon will light up the sky over the Atlantic before hopefully cooling off with a watery splashdown on March 8. The SpaceX Dragon 2 capsule is of enormous significance for spaceflight as it...

NASA wants to send humans to Venus – here's why that's a brilliant idea

Oct 16, 2018 14:55 pm UTC| Insights & Views Science

Popular science fiction of the early 20th century depicted Venus as some kind of wonderland of pleasantly warm temperatures, forests, swamps and even dinosaurs. In 1950, the Hayden Planetarium at the American Natural...

1 2 3

Economy

U.S.-India Trade Framework Signals Major Shift in Tariffs, Energy, and Supply Chains

The United States and India have taken a significant step toward a long-anticipated bilateral trade agreement by releasing an interim trade framework aimed at lowering tariffs, reshaping energy ties, and strengthening...

Dow Hits 50,000 as U.S. Stocks Stage Strong Rebound Amid AI Volatility

U.S. stocks surged on Friday, posting their strongest session since May 2025, as investors regained confidence following a turbulent week marked by sharp losses in technology shares and uncertainty around the artificial...

Gold and Silver Prices Rebound After Volatile Week Triggered by Fed Nomination

Gold and silver prices climbed on Friday, closing out an exceptionally volatile week in the precious metals market following a historic selloff. The turbulence was sparked by the nomination of former Federal Reserve...

RBI Holds Repo Rate at 5.25% as India’s Growth Outlook Strengthens After U.S. Trade Deal

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday kept its key repo rate unchanged at 5.25%, a widely expected decision that reflects confidence in Indias strong economic growth and easing external pressures following a major...

Japan Economy Poised for Q4 2025 Growth as Investment and Consumption Hold Firm

Japans economy is widely expected to have returned to growth in the final quarter of 2025, supported by strong corporate investment and resilient consumer spending, according to a recent Reuters poll of economists. The...

Politics

Federal Judge Restores Funding for Gateway Rail Tunnel Project

A New York federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to release frozen federal funds for the $16 billion Gateway Project, a critical rail infrastructure initiative connecting New York and New Jersey. The ruling,...

Pentagon Ends Military Education Programs With Harvard University

The U.S. Department of Defense has announced it will terminate all professional military education programs connected to Harvard University, marking a significant shift in the Pentagons approach to academic partnerships....

Trump Signs “America First Arms Transfer Strategy” to Prioritize U.S. Weapons Sales

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed a new executive order reshaping how the United States prioritizes foreign military sales, marking a major shift in long-standing U.S. arms export policy. The order establishes the...

TrumpRx.gov Highlights GLP-1 Drug Discounts but Offers Limited Savings for Most Americans

President Donald Trump has launched a new prescription drug pricing website, TrumpRx.gov, aiming to showcase his administrations efforts to reduce drug costs in the United States. The website focuses heavily on negotiated...

U.S. to Begin Paying UN Dues as Financial Crisis Spurs Push for Reforms

The United States will make an initial payment toward the billions of dollars it owes the United Nations within weeks, according to comments made by U.S. Ambassador Mike Waltz in a recent interview with Reuters. The move...

Science

SpaceX Prioritizes Moon Mission Before Mars as Starship Development Accelerates

Elon Musks SpaceX is shifting its near-term space exploration strategy, choosing to prioritize a return to the Moon before pursuing missions to Mars, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar...

NASA and SpaceX Target Crew-11 Undocking From ISS Amid Medical Concern

NASA has confirmed that the agency, in coordination with SpaceX, is targeting no earlier than 5 p.m. Eastern Time (2200 GMT) on Wednesday, January 14, for the undocking of the SpaceX Crew-11 mission from the International...

Neuralink Plans High-Volume Brain Implant Production and Fully Automated Surgery by 2026

Elon Musks brain-computer interface company Neuralink is preparing for a major expansion, announcing plans to begin high-volume production of its brain implant devices and transition to a fully automated surgical procedure...

Jared Isaacman Confirmed as NASA Administrator, Becomes 15th Leader of U.S. Space Agency

The U.S. Senate has officially confirmed billionaire private astronaut Jared Isaacman as the new NASA administrator, making him the 15th leader in the agencys history. The confirmation, which took place on Wednesday, marks...

Senate Sets December 8 Vote on Trump’s NASA Nominee Jared Isaacman

The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee announced it will vote on December 8 on President Donald Trumps renewed nomination of private astronaut and tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman to lead NASA. Isaacman, known for his...

Technology

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says AI Investment Boom Is Just Beginning as NVDA Shares Surge

Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang reaffirmed his bullish stance on artificial intelligence, calling the massive capital expenditure flowing into AI infrastructure both appropriate and necessary as the industry...

Amazon Stock Rebounds After Earnings as $200B Capex Plan Sparks AI Spending Debate

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) delivered a mixed but closely watched earnings report, beating Wall Street expectations on revenue while unveiling a massive long-term investment plan that unsettled investors. The e-commerce and...

Global PC Makers Eye Chinese Memory Chip Suppliers Amid Ongoing Supply Crunch

Major PC manufacturers including HP, Dell, Acer, and Asus are reportedly exploring the option of sourcing memory chips from Chinese semiconductor companies for the first time, as a prolonged global supply crunch continues...

OpenAI Expands Enterprise AI Strategy With Major Hiring Push Ahead of New Business Offering

OpenAI is significantly accelerating its enterprise AI strategy by hiring hundreds of new employees for its technical consulting division, according to a report by The Information, citing a person familiar with the...

SoftBank Shares Slide After Arm Earnings Miss Fuels Tech Stock Sell-Off

SoftBank Group Corp. (TYO:9984) shares tumbled sharply on Thursday, tracking a steep decline in Arm Holdings (NASDAQ:ARM) after the UK-based chip designer reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the December quarter....