Science News Roundup: Boeing's top Starliner astronaut pulls out of space mission role; Creators of gene 'scissors' clinch Nobel as women sweep chemistry and more

Boom Supersonic rolls out demonstrator aircraft in bid to break sound barrier Boom Supersonic on Wednesday unveiled its first demonstrator aircraft X-B1, which is scheduled to begin flight testing next year, in a milestone for the U.S. startup planning a commercial airliner that can conquer the sound barrier.

Following is a summary of current science news briefs.

Boom Supersonic rolls out demonstrator aircraft in bid to break sound barrier

Boom Supersonic on Wednesday unveiled its first demonstrator aircraft X-B1, which is scheduled to begin flight testing next year, in a milestone for the U.S. startup planning a commercial airliner that can conquer the sound barrier. A handful of U.S. companies https://fr.reuters.com/article/us-airplane-supersonic-airports-idUSKCN1SL2IF are vying to bring back supersonic passenger travel which died out with the Anglo-French Concorde's retirement in 2003.

Boeing's top Starliner astronaut pulls out of space mission role

The chief astronaut for Boeing Co's long-delayed debut crewed flight to the International Space Station stepped down from the job on Wednesday, citing family priorities. Chris Ferguson, a 59-year-old retired NASA astronaut who joined Boeing in 2011 and became a Starliner test pilot in 2018, will remain on the Starliner team in a mission operations role, he said. The launch remains scheduled for next summer.

Creators of gene 'scissors' clinch Nobel as women sweep chemistry

Two scientists won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday for creating genetic 'scissors' that can rewrite the code of life, contributing to new cancer therapies and holding out the prospect of curing hereditary diseases. Emmanuelle Charpentier, who is French, and American Jennifer Doudna share the 10 million Swedish crown ($1.1 million) prize for developing the CRISPR/Cas9 tool to edit the DNA of animals, plants and microorganisms with precision.

(With inputs from agencies.)