Some who hope to witness Monday's total solar eclipse may see the sun obscured by clouds instead of by the moon.

There's still plenty of time for forecasts to change, but meteorologists predict that eclipse day storms could blanket parts of the path, which stretches from Mexico and Texas through Maine and parts of Canada.

If clouds don't get in the way, viewers in the path wearing eclipse glasses will see the moon begin to slowly cover the sun until it is completely blocked, a period of darkness called "totality" during which temperatures drop and the sun's corona will be visible.

What's the forecast along the eclipse's path?

Clouds are expected in much of the eclipse's path Monday thanks to storms that are moving across the central U.S.

We have no good reason to believe that aliens have ever contacted Earth. Sure, there are conspiracy theories and some rather strange reports about harm to cattle, but nothing credible. Physicist Enrico Fermi found this odd. His formulation of the puzzle, proposed in the 1950s and now known as "the Fermi Paradox", is still key to the search for extraterrestrial life (SETI) and messaging by sending signals into space (METI).

The Earth is about 4.5 billion years old, and life is at least 3.5 billion years old. The paradox states that, given the scale of the universe, favorable conditions for life are likely to have occurred many, many times. So where is everyone? We have good reasons to believe that there must be life out there, but nobody has come to call.

The European Space Agency said Thursday it will launch a satellite in June which will improve weather forecasting in the Arctic—a region highly exposed to the effects of global warming.

The Arctic Weather Satellite (AWS) was designed over three years by European aerospace company OHB.

The satellite, which is to be launched by a SpaceX rocket taking off from California, weighs 125 kilograms (275 pounds) and is 5.3 meters (16 feet) long with its wings deployed.

The mission is particularly important for research into global warming, said Swedish Education Minister Mats Persson.

"Mitigating climate change is a priority and space data is essential for analyzing the changes and identifying" the effective solutions," he said.

With a lifespan of approximately five years, the satellite will support others already in orbit "and provide accurate short-term weather forecasts for the Arctic region," the ESA said.

The Arctic is warming faster than the rest of the planet.

Its glaciers, forests and frozen carbon-rich soil are in danger of undergoing irreversible changes causing potential cascading repercussions across the globe.

Intuitive Machines recently had a major breakthrough, successfully becoming the first non-governmental entity to land on the moon in February. At least the landing was partially successful—the company's Odysseus lander ended up on its side, though its instruments and communication links remained at least partially functional. That mission, dubbed IM-1, was the first in a series of ambitious missions the company has planned. And they recently released a paper at the LPSC 2024 conference detailing features of a unique hopping robot that will hitch a ride on its next moon mission.