NPR News Now - NPR News: 02-02-2025 11PM EST

Episode Date: February 3, 2025

NPR News: 02-02-2025 11PM ESTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The indicator from Planet Money is diving into the world of batteries. Not the kind you buy at the grocery store. We're talking really big batteries, the kind that can power thousands of homes. This technology came seemingly out of nowhere. We're digging deep into the battery industry in three back-to-back episodes. Listen to the indicator from Planet Money podcast on NPR. on NPR. Live from NPR News, I'm Dale Willman. Stock futures are lower tonight after President Donald Trump announced this weekend that he'll place tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China. Those tariffs are set to take effect on Tuesday.

Japan's Nikkei average is also down almost 2.5 percent on that news. Speaking with reporters as they return to Washington tonight, Trump acknowledged that the tariffs will hurt Americans. We may have short-term, some little pain, and people understand that, but long-term the United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world. We have deficits with almost every country, not every country, but almost. Top officials in China, Canada and Mexico meanwhile say that they planned to respond

following the Trump administration announcement on tariffs. Most Canadian and Mexican imports will see a 25% tax while goods from China will be charged at a 10% rate. MPR's Joe Hernandez has more. Canada says it will place a 25% tariff of its own on more than $150 billion worth of U.S. imports. On Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged the U.S. to abandon its plan to impose tariffs on its northern neighbor, but he said that if the U.S. plan took effect,

Canada would move forward with its tariffs and leave other options on the table too. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Saturday that she didn't want a confrontation with the US, but vowed to respond to the Trump administration plan with tariffs and other measures. Statements from China's Foreign Ministry and Commerce Ministry denounced the US tariffs and said the country would take unspecified quote, corresponding countermeasures in response. Joe Hernandez, NPR News. In Japan meanwhile the topics index has dropped by two and a quarter percents. The

National Science Foundation says it's going to start paying researchers again after a Trump administration imposed freeze of about a week. As NPR's Jonathan Lambert reports, the move comes after a court order requiring NSF and other federal agencies to resume those payments. On Sunday at noon Eastern, the NSF said that the agency will resume distributing funds to scientists who had received grants. They have been unable to access their funds since Tuesday when the agency froze payments as they reviewed how their grants complied with new executive orders, especially those targeting

diversity, equity, and inclusion. The freeze left hundreds of people unable to access money allocated for their salary and their research. On Friday, a court issued a temporary restraining order that required the NSF and other agencies that froze funds to resume payment. On Sunday, the NSF complied with that order. While it is still reviewing existing grants for compliance with Trump's executive orders, NSF clarified that it cannot stop payments because of this review. Jonathan Lambert, NPR News. And you're listening to NPR News. NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory say they're set to launch a new telescope into space called Sphere-X.

As Ari Daniel reports, the mission will examine the origin and structure of the universe and search for components of life in the Milky Way. The telescope looks like a giant funnel and weighs less than a grand piano. Housed inside is an instrument that will map the entire celestial sky in infrared in just six months. Spheerex will answer a set of fundamental questions about the cosmos. Why does our universe look the way it does? How did galaxies form and evolve? And it will peer inside dust clouds between stars in search of essential molecules of life.

James Fanson is project manager. I expect the unexpected to come out of the data for this mission as well. Spheerex is scheduled to launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on a Falcon 9 rocket. For NPR News, I'm Ari Daniel. New Orleans officials say that city is ready to host next week's Super Bowl between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. An attack there on New Year's Day has led to concerns about security lapses in the city.

Officials say there will be thousands of armed law enforcement agents at the Superdome where the game will take place along with bomb-sniffing dogs. Rory McIlroy finished with two birdies and an eagle on the back nine today to win the Pebble Beach Pro-Am Golf Tournament that was underway in California. He finished the day with a 66-1 two-strokes ahead of Shane Lowry who finished second. It was McIlroy's 27th win on the PGA Tour. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News. Usher, Yo-Yo Ma, Boy Genius, Shaka Khan, Billy Eilish, Weird Al. I'm Dale Willman, NPR News.