Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, July 6th

Posted: 6th July 2026

July 6, 2026

Panoramic view of Envision’s wind farm in Shanxi, China. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.

The clear winner of Trump’s war in the Middle East is… China, says new report

Beijing, whose stockpiles and renewables industry allowed it to withstand the energy shock, is now gaining from the global solar, wind, and EV push, writes
Amy Hawkins. Read more.

In Nebraska, nuclear gets a “yes,” while wind and solar get a “no”

Across the state, nuclear is getting a warm welcome in communities that typically oppose large-scale clean energy projects, reports Anila Yoganathan. Misinformation doesn’t help. Read more.

Beyond alarmism: A realistic assessment of Bushehr’s plutonium risk

Sasan Karimi analyzes Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant to respond to claims of an imminent 200-bomb threat, detailing technical realities of reactor-grade plutonium. Read more.

From Chicago to Uganda, scientists track the wildlife diseases that could infect humans—or spark the next pandemic

Today is World Zoonoses Day, which is observed to raise awareness about Zoonotic diseases that spread from animals to humans. To mark this date, we revisit Carlyn Kranking’s 2021 deep dive into how human activity can make it easier for these infections to spread. Read more.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Climate Change: New Data, New Debate

Every shift in the field of climate brings new levels of scientific disinformation. The Bulletin’s most recent virtual program underscored this by illuminating a disinformation narrative around a worst-case emissions scenario from the UN that was dialed back after renewable energy costs fell. Speakers included climate experts Genevieve Guenther and Michael E. Mann, with BulletinPresident and CEO Alexandra Bell as moderator. Watch now.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY

“There’s no question that record sea surface temperatures like we’re seeing right now—which are due partly to El Niño, and partly to longer-term human-caused warming—fuel more extreme weather, since warmer oceans mean more moisture in the atmosphere which is available to intensify storms systems and produce heavy rainfall.”

— Michael Mann, a climate scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, “Punishing heat wave hits eastern US, with a preview of what’s to come,” CNN

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