Science News Roundup: Chinese EV maker Nio invests in nuclear fusion startup; More than half of the world's large lakes are drying up, study finds and more

The newly established company, Neo Fusion, will research and develop technologies that aim to bring controlled fusion for commercial uses globally in two decades, the source said. Bezos' Blue Origin wins NASA contract to build astronaut lunar lander A team led by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin won a coveted $3.4 billion NASA contract to build a spacecraft to fly astronauts to and from the moon's surface, the U.S. space agency said on Friday, a breakthrough for the company two years after it lost out to Elon Musk's SpaceX in another competition.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Chinese EV maker Nio invests in nuclear fusion startup

Chinese electric vehicle maker Nio has invested in a startup firm that is developing fusion technologies, according to a source with direct knowledge and a company filing, placing more bets in other areas of the energy sector. The newly established company, Neo Fusion, will research and develop technologies that aim to bring controlled fusion for commercial uses globally in two decades, the source said.

More than half of the world's large lakes are drying up, study finds

More than half of the world's large lakes and reservoirs have shrunk since the early 1990s, chiefly because of climate change, intensifying concerns about water for agriculture, hydropower and human consumption, a study published on Thursday found. A team of international researchers reported that some of the world's most important freshwater sources - from the Caspian Sea between Europe and Asia to South America's Lake Titicaca - lost water at a cumulative rate of around 22 gigatonnes per year for nearly three decades. That's about 17 times the volume of Lake Mead, the United States' largest reservoir.

Bezos' Blue Origin wins NASA contract to build astronaut lunar lander

A team led by Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin won a coveted $3.4 billion NASA contract to build a spacecraft to fly astronauts to and from the moon's surface, the U.S. space agency said on Friday, a breakthrough for the company two years after it lost out to Elon Musk's SpaceX in another competition. Blue Origin plans to build its 52-foot (16-meter) tall Blue Moon lander in partnership with Lockheed Martin Corp, Boeing Co, software firm Draper and robotics firm Astrobotic. NASA picked Blue Origin over a rival bid led by Leidos Inc-owned defense contractor Dynetics that also included Northrop Grumman Corp.

Long-necked dinosaur fossil found by Argentine scientists is one of biggest ever

Argentine paleontologists have discovered the remains of a gigantic new species of long-necked herbivorous dinosaur in the country's southern Patagonia region, saying the beast ranks as one of the largest ever discovered. The find in the Pueblo Blanco Nature Reserve, presented on Thursday, was first discovered by scientists in 2018. The dinosaur's bones were so big they caused the van carrying them to a Buenos Aires laboratory to tip over, though no one was injured and the remains were left intact.

(With inputs from agencies.)