News Room

A 12-foot-tall slice into the dark gray core of a model nuclear microreactor looms on the shop floor of the new Westinghouse Electric Company factory in Etna. It’s dotted with blank holes missing the control drums to control the rate of the reaction, shutdown rods to bring the nuclear chain reaction to a halt and an array of thin heat pipes to cool the heat produced from the fuel and transfer it to an open-air process that turns the fuel into power. Once assembled, the entire nuclear reactor would fit on the back of a semi-truck.

A brand new shape of commercial jet could be in the skies by 2030, if a partnership between Delta Air Lines and Californian aviation startup JetZero goes to plan. The pair are working together to produce a 2027 prototype for a new passenger plane with a “blended wing body” (BWB) that resembles a Stealth bomber. 

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign computer science professor Dr. Sheldon Jacobson joins John Williams to break down the ways that listeners can have minimal risk when selecting their picks for the tournament. Dr. Jacobson talks about the success of underdogs in March Madness as well as the seeding matchups you should keep an eye on. His website, BracketOdds, allows AI to fill out a bracket for you.

March Madness is fast approaching. The men’s and women’s college basketball teams, 68 of each, are gearing up for three weeks of frenzy on the court, as each team dreams of reaching the Sweet Sixteen, the Elite Eight or the Final Four. A few even have their sights set on being crowned the national champion.

The recent Consumer Price Index report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that prices have risen by three percent from one year ago. This is one percent above the Federal Reserve’s two percent inflation target, which they base on the Personal Consumption Expenditure Price Index.