DUNGUN, May 18 — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof has called for greater emphasis on research and development (R&D) in energy storage technology following the launch of the 100MW/400MWh Santong Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) project developed by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB).

Fadillah, who is also the Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, said the move was crucial to reduce Malaysia’s dependence on imported batteries while building domestic capabilities in the production and development of energy-related technologies.

“I hope this first BESS launch will serve as a starting point for TNB to continue expanding its efforts, particularly in strengthening cooperation with overseas suppliers.

“Rather than merely importing batteries, we should begin focusing on research and development, while also building our own internal capabilities in battery manufacturing and other technologies closely related to the country’s energy supply,” he told a press conference in conjunction with the inauguration of the BESS project here today.

Elaborating further, Fadillah said the increasingly uncertain global landscape highlighted the need for Malaysia to reduce its reliance on foreign countries and strengthen national self-sufficiency across the entire energy sector chain.

“That is why we must focus on this matter, given the uncertain global situation. We can no longer continue depending entirely on foreign countries, and instead need to develop our own national capabilities in all aspects.

“This includes energy supply and related technologies, including battery storage systems, so that one day we will be able to produce our own batteries,” he said.

He added that Malaysia’s energy transition efforts must address three key elements of the energy trilemma, beginning with energy security to ensure a stable and sufficient supply amid global uncertainties.

“The second element is sustainability, where we must ensure that the energy supplied is environmentally friendly and does not damage the environment. We also aim to reduce dependence on energy generated through carbon combustion,” he said.

Fadillah noted that Malaysia’s commitment to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 would require the energy sector to play a central role, with about 70 per cent of the country’s energy sources expected to come from renewable or clean energy.

He said the third element is affordability, which ensures that energy supply remains not only secure and sustainable, but also affordable for consumers and competitive for the industrial sector. — Bernama

IPOH, May 16 — The government will continue to review and consider increasing allocations to the Ministry of Education (MOE) from time to time, including efforts to strengthen digitalisation, artificial intelligence (AI), and Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said budget allocations will be increased in line with the current needs of the national education sector.

“In my meeting with the Ministry of Finance earlier this week, we also discussed education, as we are now placing emphasis on digitalisation, AI, computing, STEM and so on.

“We have decided to review all requirements so that, in this year’s budget, we can further increase expenditure and approvals for the MOE,” he said when launching the national-level Teachers’ Day celebration here today.

Also present were Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek, and Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad.

In addition, Anwar said the Madani Government has implemented various initiatives for teachers’ welfare, including maintenance and upgrading of teachers’ rooms in 3,500 schools.

“Teachers’ rooms have been upgraded and maintained to accommodate the growing number of teachers. We have carried out maintenance on 7,000 teachers’ rooms,” he said.

He said following the policy of admitting Year One pupils aged six starting from the 2027 school session, the government had approved the recruitment of an additional 3,150 teachers.

Anwar said more than 4,000 teacher quarters have been maintained, and a total of 8,700 quarters are expected to be maintained through additional government allocations.

Earlier, Fadhlina announced an additional RM100 million for the maintenance and upgrading of teachers’ rooms nationwide, as well as RM50 million for the maintenance of teacher quarters. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) will soon open applications for a pilot cadet financing programme, with priority to be given to tahfiz students from the STEM stream.

Mara chairman Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki said advertisements and eligibility requirements for the programme would be announced soon.

“New students who wish to apply for this pilot cadet programme must meet the basic requirements set by flight training academies such as Malaysia Aviation Group (MAG) and BATS Aviation.

“Mara-sponsored academies must also have agreements with airlines to guarantee employment opportunities for trainees who receive Mara financing,” he said in a Facebook post today.

Asyraf said the minimum requirement for the programme includes students from the science, technology, engineering and mathematics stream.

“Although the offer is open to all qualified students, priority will be given to tahfiz students from the STEM stream.

“They will go through a selection process, including interviews. The final interview stage will be with the Mara chairman himself for a Quran memorisation assessment through Quran recitation verification,” he said.

He added that the programme is aimed at producing more qualified Bumiputera pilots while expanding opportunities for tahfiz students in the aviation industry.

After five years of rolling across Mars, NASA’s Perseverance rover is still going strong. And it has the selfies to prove it. NASA highlighted its “six-wheeled scientist’s” latest Red Planet excursion in a mission update on May 12, explaining that the explorer is currently engaged in the Northern Rim Campaign. This is Perseverance’s fifth project since arriving on Earth’s planetary neighbor in February 2021.  Compiled from 61 separate photos taken in March, the latest scene depicts Perseverance near a region known as Lac de Charmes.

“We took this image when the rover was in the ‘Wild West’ beyond the Jezero Crater rim—the farthest west we have been since we landed at Jezero a little over five years ago,” Perseverance project scientist Katie Stack Morgan said in a statement.

Prior to snapping its selfie, the rover had just finished abrading the rocky Arethusa outcrop. This task involves using the drill on its robotic arm to grind a section of the geological formation, which then offers scientists back on Earth the materials necessary to analyze its composition. After remotely examining the rock’s chemistry, researchers learned Arethusa is largely igneous minerals dating even further back than the Jezero Crater itself. The outcrop likely formed underground millions of years ago from molten material.

The latest portrait is the sixth selfie taken by Perseverance since arriving on Mars. To pull it off, the rover relied on its Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering (WATSON) camera installed at the end of its robotic arm. It took about one hour to accomplish and required 62 extremely fine-tuned movements to ensure the clearest shot possible.

Lest anyone think Perseverance is too narcissistic, the rover also employed its Mastcam-Z to also photograph Lac de Charmes’ Arbot area a few days later. The vista scene is the result of 46 combined images, and will help NASA plot out a route to further investigate the ridge. Thanks to the new vantage points, scientists already think they have spotted a few megabreccia—massive chunks of rock as big as skyscrapers that were launched during a meteorite impact about 3.9 billion years ago.

“The rover’s study of these really ancient rocks is a whole new ballgame,” Stack Morgan explained. “These rocks—especially if they’re from deep in the crust—could give us insights applicable to the entire planet, like whether there was a magma ocean on Mars and what initial conditions eventually made it a habitable planet.”

The post Mars rover snaps a selfie near skyscraper-sized boulders appeared first on Popular Science.

“Mars, can you please clean up your Legos?”
“Jupiter, finish your peas.”
“Don’t pull the cat’s tail, Mercury!”

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has released its baby name data for 2025 and it’s clear that plenty of parents found inspiration in the cosmos for their little ones. The most popular proper planet in our solar system to name a baby after in 2025 was Mars, followed by Jupiter. Thankfully, no one named their child Uranus, but 80 parents did name their child Cosmo.

Here’s the planet-baby name breakdown:

• Mercury: 10 males
• Venus: 96 females
• Earth: Eight females
• Mars: 27 females, 105 males (132 total)
• Jupiter: 84 females, 37 males (121 total)
• Saturn: 18 females, 8 males (26 total)
• Uranus: Zero
• Neptune: Eight males

A couple of our solar system’s dwarf planets also made appearances on the list:

• Pluto: 11 males
• Eris: 128 females, 26 males (154 total)

Of course it’s important to note that most of our solar system’s planets got their names from Roman and Greek gods and goddesses, so a love of space likely wasn’t the only motivation for new parents.

Last year, 332 parents used the name Artemis for their babies. According to baby name site Nameberry, Artemis is of Greek origin and means “safe” or “butcher.” It’s also the name of NASA’s high-profile mission to return humans to the moon.

And as a bonus fun-with-data note: the name Tesla has completely disappeared from SSA’s data. The name peaked in 2016 with 180 children given the moniker. It last appeared on the charts in 2023 when only 13 babies got the name.

For privacy purposes, the SSA only releases data on names given to at least five children. So maybe somewhere, one little Uranus is ruling the playground.

The post ‘Mars’ is 2025’s most popular planet baby name appeared first on Popular Science.

Curiosity got itself stuck between a rock and hard place last month, but NASA says there’s no reason to fret about the intrepid Mars rover. On April 25, mission engineers were remotely piloting its robotic arm’s rotary-percussive drill into a Martian rock nicknamed Atacama. It’s a relatively routine task for Curiosity, which takes the samples and then pulverizes them into a powder for future onboard chemical analysis.

But Atacama is no small stone. The hefty, 1.5-foot-wide geologic formation is about six inches thick and weighs about 28.6 pounds. So NASA engineers were understandably a bit worried when Curiosity attempted to retract its arm—and subsequently lifted the entire rock off the ground.

“Drilling has fractured or separated the upper layers of rocks in the past, but a rock has never remained attached to the drill sleeve,” the agency explained in a recent rundown.

While amusing to envision, the situation was no laughing matter for NASA’s engineers. The rover’s drill would be of little more use with a giant rock indefinitely attached to it. But even if controllers could detach Atacama from the rover, the force might damage the tool or the arm itself. Without those capabilities, Curiosity’s ongoing mission would be in serious jeopardy.

Mission specialists first tried the drilling version of “turning it off and on again,” by vibrating the tool. However, Atacama remained stubbornly stuck on Curiosity…for another four days. NASA then tried a new approach by reorienting the robotic arm and instructing the drill to vibrate one more time. Atacama managed to shake off a bit of sand that time, but little else.

Two more stressful days passed before NASA gave it a third try. Engineers tilted the drill slightly further, then rotated and vibrated the tool while also spinning its drill bit. The Curiosity team anticipated it may take multiple attempts to pull off the feat.But in this case, Atacama finally gave way almost immediately. The nearly weeklong ordeal culminated with the giant rock fracturing as it landed on the Martian ground.

So far, NASA hasn’t reported any lingering damage to the vehicle, meaning the rover is likely ready to continue exploring the Red Planet. As for Atacama, it seems the Martian rock learned a valuable lesson: Don’t mess with Curiosity.

The post For 6 days, NASA’s Mars rover battled a rock appeared first on Popular Science.

PUTRAJAYA, May 15 — Applications for students from outside the national education system to pursue studies at public institutions of higher learning (IPTA) will open on June 30.

Higher Education director-general Datuk Prof Dr Azlinda Azman said that for this year, applications will be submitted directly to the respective universities before the process is integrated into the UPUOnline system in 2027.

She said the full list of universities accepting applications under this pathway, including Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI), will be announced soon.

“InsyaAllah, we will open applications directly through the universities offering these programmes beginning June 30 to enable applications to be submitted this year,” she said at a special press conference on admission pathways for students from outside the national education system to public universities here today.

Azlinda said applicants must possess qualifications from their respective institutions as well as the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).

They must obtain at least a credit in Bahasa Melayu and a pass in History, in line with existing requirements.

“All applications for admission to public universities will be processed based on the principles of meritocracy and academic qualifications, and are subject to evaluation and approval by the university senate,” she said.

Azlinda said every applicant would be required to undergo interviews conducted by the respective universities, similar to candidates from the mainstream education system applying for designated programmes.

“These are competitive programmes because many candidates apply. This is where we assess suitability and determine how best to provide opportunities for students applying for the programmes offered,” she said.

Asked whether these students would also benefit from government subsidies, she said they would generally be entitled to the same support.

“If they are admitted through this pathway, they are considered part of the mainstream system, which means their programmes are also subsidised by the government,” she said.

Yesterday, the government agreed to several decisions related to admission pathways for students from tahfiz schools and institutions, private schools and Chinese Private Secondary Schools to public institutions of higher learning.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said today that Bahasa Melayu and History in the SPM remain compulsory subjects for admission to public universities, including for students from outside the national education system. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR, May 15 — Tan Sri Krishnan Tan today confirmed that the Malaysian Anti‑Corruption Commission (MACC) has formally cleared him of wrongdoing, following the conclusion of investigations into the sale of IJM Corporation Berhad shares to Sunway Berhad.

In a letter dated April 30, 2026, MACC informed him that the investigation had been completed and referred to the Deputy Public Prosecutor, who decided no charges would be brought. The case was categorised as No Further Action (NFA).

In a statement today, the IJM Corporation Berhad chairman said he welcomed the decision, adding that he had “steadfastly maintained” his innocence.

He said the investigation and related publicity had caused severe reputational damage and had placed immense strain on his family, friends and the organisations he serves.

Krishnan also expressed gratitude to those who stood by him, especially his wife, family and close friends.

“I now want to put this difficult period behind me and move on,” he said.

Previously, IJM Corporation Berhad had clarified that it is not being investigated as a corporate entity, and that MACC’s probe was confined to several individuals linked to the group.

IJM said appropriate measures were taken to ensure that the group’s business is conducted with integrity and free of corruption, adding that it has established adequate procedures and maintains robust governance frameworks, including the implementation of an Anti-Bribery Management System certified to ISO 37001:2025.

It also said the board and management team remain focused on business continuity, maintaining confidence among customers and partners, and upholding strong corporate governance and compliance standards.

The investigation first came to light in January 2026, when MACC officers reportedly visited IJM’s offices to obtain information relating to an alleged RM2.5 billion money laundering probe, which had earlier sparked speculation affecting the group’s shares and a high-profile takeover bid.