Science
Bulletproofing America’s Classrooms
There have been more than 230 school shootings in the United States over the past decade and active shooter drills have become routine in students’ lives. Now, technologies developed to protect soldiers in war are being incorporated into everyday objects of childhood school days.
At a recent educational trade show, a booth displaying backpacks with removable ballistic shields — riddled with bullet marks from testing — was set between booths for the textbook company McGraw Hill and the learning toy Speak & Spell.
Some of these products come from major brands like 3M; others are designed by entrepreneurial parents. One thing they all have in common: they’re expensive ($185 for a pencil case, $450 for a bulletproof hoodie, $60,000 for a classroom shelter).
Despite advertisements that tout official protection ratings by the National Institute of Justice, a federal agency, the institute declared such claims “false” and said that it has never tested nor certified any bullet-resistant items except body armor for law enforcement.
“School security measures and so-called ‘target hardening’ are extraordinarily expensive and so far, there is not scientific evidence that they make schools safer,” said Dewey Cornell, an expert in classroom safety at the University of Virginia who has trained threat assessment teams in thousands of schools.
Steve Naremore, owner of the ballistic shield company TuffyPacks, acknowledged that it was a “morbid industry.” He said that he sold tens of thousands of products to parents within a week of the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.
“People say, ‘Oh, you’re just profiting off the carnage,’ ” he said. “And you know what I say? ‘Look, don’t blame me. I’m just the fire extinguisher manufacturer, OK?’”
One common marketing tactic is to emphasize kid-friendly aesthetics — whimsical colors, patterns and adorable characters.
Bulletproof Backpacks
This backpack — all unicorns and eyelashes — also comes in 13 other patterns, from yellow puppies to blue dinosaurs — an “exclusive collection of artwork to engage children,” touts the company, Atomic Defense. You can also choose a purported level of protection — from pistols up to AR-15-style and AK-47 rifles.
Kenneth Trump, a national school safety consultant, said he was skeptical that a backpack would have the surface area or fortuitous positioning to be effective.
“If you have the backpack, don’t you also need a front pack, a helmet, and a Captain America shield?” he said. “The backpack is not particularly helpful when it is hanging on a hook in the back of the room.”
An image from a demonstration on the website of Tuffy Packs, a company that manufactures ballistic shield inserts for backpacks.
Bulletproof Backpack Inserts
“Tank the Turtle” is a kindergarten-friendly ballistic shield mascot that encourages children to use their “shells.”
“Do you know how I stay safe?” Tank asks in an animation video for the company, A Safe Pack, as he poses on a kitchen counter and skips into school alongside a child. “I take my thick, hard shell on my back everywhere I go. Now, you can, too!”
Carrie Gaines, a mother of two with a military background, designed the turtle shields for her sons and has since sold thousands.
“If there’s ever a real active shooter,” her son Gunnar, 10, said in an interview, “I can just tuck my arms, head and legs behind the shield and it will protect me.”
Bulletproof Clipboards
The company Hardwire has made its bulletproof clipboard for teachers look pretty, with painterly palm fronds that supposedly protects against gunfire from handguns and shotguns.
“Don’t worry, be happy with this extra slice of paradise-themed protection in hand,” says the sales pitch. It also comes in Pink Sunrise and Starry Night.
Mr. Trump, the national school safety consultant, was not persuaded. “There really isn’t evidence to show a high level of effectiveness. Are you telling me the entire class is going to go stand in a perfectly straight line behind the teacher’s clipboard?”
Some products boast a James Bond-like quality, with videos showing everyday items suddenly transforming into supposed lifesaving instruments.
Bulletproof
Three-Ring Binders
This binder cover has a hidden strap so it can hang from a child’s neck and, in theory, act as a body shield against handguns. “100% COVERT,” the marketing materials proclaim.
A demonstration image from the manufacturer’s website of Premier Body Armor.
That was attractive to Aaron Taormino of Redding, Calif., who said he bought them for his grandchildren because he was “constantly hearing about school shootings.” He only wished they were lighter to carry, he said, and that they came in pink.
Bulletproof Classroom Desks
These desks, created in response to the Parkland shooting, have a lever that, when pulled, rotates the surface upright, transforming them into vertical bulletproof shields for students and staff.
The manufacturer, First Line Furniture, said they were tested against high-caliber handguns, AR-15s, submachine guns, hand grenades and .308 sniper rifles. One marketing video shows 18 children behind upright desktops, as well as a drill in which kindergarten students hear a doorbell chime and run for cover within four seconds.
A snippet from a series of demonstration video on First Line Furniture’s website.
“Many thanks to our mini-friends and Mrs. Seals at Lineville Elementary School,” the caption says, who demonstrated “how quickly and easily our tables transform into deployable ballistic shields.”
Some are advertised as light and easy to carry — but they have so little surface area that their potential effectiveness can be head-scratching.
Bulletproof
Pencil Pouches
This quotidian-looking three-ring pencil pouch from Premiere Body Armor is hardly larger than a piece of letter paper.
“You’re talking about kids, whose executive function in the brain is still being developed, and you’re asking them to make tactical decisions in that moment,” Mr. Trump, the safety expert, said. “A kid is not going to instinctively know, in this scenario, should I hold this in front of my head or my chest?”
But Daniel Leventry, a father and gun owner in Tampa, Fla., said he chose this for his 10-year-old son and plans to have his daughter, 5, carry one as soon as she is old enough to bring a binder to school.
“Having a discussion with a 5-year-old, or a 10-year-old, about, ‘Hey, I’m giving you body armor in case there’s an attack in your school.’ It’s not a conversation any parent wants to have at any level ever, you know what I mean?” he said.
Bulletproof Hoodies
Wonder Hoodie claims its children’s sweatshirts will protect “all the vital organs.”
The company promises: “If you get shot (God forbid) with our hoodies on, we’ll send you a replacement hoodie FREE of charge. Just include the police report or news clip.”
Many companies say the armored products will simply blend into the classrooms — and in some cases can be used for educational purposes — but some sales videos can be jarring.
Bulletproof Portable
Dry-Erase Boards
This white board is made of ballistic armor panels that were designed for army recruitment centers, but blends into a classroom so that “children don’t feel like they’re in an army bunker,” said J.C. Velazquez, the director of sales for the company, RTS Tactical.
“Let’s just say, parents are not going to notice this at the P.T.A. meeting.”
But a product review video of a competing white board shows it undergoing bullet tests in front of a teddy bear.
Bulletproof Collapsible Safe Rooms
A snippet from a demonstration video on the KT Security Solutions website.
This rapid access safe room can be installed either as a four-sided structure or a flat panel set flush against two existing classroom walls until needed for protection.
In the meantime, its manufacturer, KT Security Solutions, suggests other “classroom-enhancing” uses, including as a “reading space, sensory-friendly area for special needs children, free time room and more.”
A school district in Alabama purchased two of them for about $60,000 each.
Blast Mitigation Window Film
The clear window film, made by 3M, is a micro-layered laminate intended to prevent glass from shattering when struck by bullets from a semiautomatic rifle. The company claims it could delay an intruder attempting to shoot their way in.
After the shooting in 2023 at Covenant School in Nashville, Tenn., administrators at Salisbury Christian School in Maryland, added bullet-resistant laminate to the school’s external doors. They plan to do the first-floor windows next.
“It costs a chunk of change,” said Ross Kaelin, the school’s principal of operations. “But it’s worth every penny for the peace of mind.”
Bullet Resistant Hand-Held Shields
While most of the products are designed to be discreet, this emergency response shield is emblazoned with the label “ACTIVE SHOOTER PROTECTION” and it depicts the very weapons it claims to fend off.
Police officers in Uvalde, Texas, said they needed shields like these during the school shooting there in 2022, according to a federal report.
Dr. Steven Lamkin, the head of Salisbury Christian School in Salisbury, Md., said 10 of the rifle-grade shields are now hanging near various school entrances, and countless smaller handgun-grade shields that double as dry-erase boards are distributed to classrooms.
“I’ll be honest, I was hesitant at first, with these images of rifles and handguns on them, hanging around the school,” he said, “But I came to understand that, like with fire extinguishers, the visuals are important.”
A snippet from a demonstration video on the Hardwire website.
Still, with another back-to-school season in full force, some educational leaders are deeply troubled by the proliferation of armored products.
“Arm us with books, counselors and resources, not bulletproof vests,” said Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. “It is infuriating that rather than having the courage to solve the gun violence problem, we now have to confront the monetizing of fear.”
Product sources: atomicdefense.com, tuffypacks.com, premierbodyarmor.com, wonderhoodie.com, covenantsecurityequipment.com, rtstactical.com, firstlinefurniture.com, premierbodyarmor.com, ktsecuritysolutions.com, 3m.co.uk, asafepack.com, hardwirellc.com.
Produced by Antonio de Luca and Shannon Lin
Our universe might be chock-full of cosmic wonder, but you can observe only a fraction of astronomical phenomena with the naked eye. Meteor showers, natural fireworks that streak brightly across the night sky, are one of them.
The latest observable meteor shower will be the Lyrids, which has been active since April 14 and is forecast to continue through April 30. The shower reaches its peak April 21 to 22, or Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
According to NASA, the Lyrids are one of the oldest known meteor showers, and have been enjoyed by stargazers for nearly 3,000 years. Their bright, speedy streaks are caused by the dusty debris from a comet named Thatcher. They appear to spring from the constellation Lyra, which right now can be seen in the eastern sky at night in the Northern Hemisphere.
The moon will be about 27 percent full tonight, appearing as a thick crescent in the sky, according to the American Meteor Society.
To get a hint at when to best watch for the Lyrids, you can use this tool, which relies on data from the Global Meteor Network. It shows fireball activity levels in real time.
And while you gaze at the heavens, keep an eye out for other stray meteors streaking across the night sky. Skywatchers are reporting that the amount of fireballs is double what is usually seen by this point in the year.
Where meteor showers come from
There is a chance you might see a meteor on any given night, but you are most likely to catch one during a shower. Meteor showers are caused by Earth passing through the rubble trailing a comet or asteroid as it swings around the sun. This debris, which can be as small as a grain of sand, leaves behind a glowing stream of light as it burns up in Earth’s atmosphere.
Meteor showers occur around the same time every year and can last for days or weeks. But there is only a small window when each shower is at its peak, which happens when Earth reaches the densest part of the cosmic debris. The peak is the best time to look for a shower. From our point of view on Earth, the meteors will appear to come from the same point in the sky.
The Perseid meteor shower, for example, peaks in mid-August from the constellation Perseus. The Geminids, which occur every December, radiate from the constellation Gemini.
How to watch a meteor shower
Michelle Nichols, the director of public observing at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, recommends forgoing the use of telescopes or binoculars while watching a meteor shower.
“You just need your eyes and, ideally, a dark sky,” she said.
That’s because meteors can shoot across large swaths of the sky, so observing equipment can limit your field of view.
Some showers are strong enough to produce up to 100 streaks an hour, according to the American Meteor Society, though you probably won’t see that many.
“Almost everybody is under a light-polluted sky,” Ms. Nichols said. “You may think you’re under a dark sky, but in reality, even in a small town, you can have bright lights nearby.”
Planetariums, local astronomy clubs or even maps like this one can help you figure out where to go to escape excessive light. The best conditions for catching a meteor shower are a clear sky with no moon or cloud cover, sometime between midnight and sunrise. (Moonlight affects visibility in the same way as light pollution, washing out fainter sources of light in the sky.) Make sure to give your eyes at least 30 minutes to adjust to seeing in the dark.
Ms. Nichols also recommends wearing layers, even during the summer. “You’re going to be sitting there for quite a while, watching,” she said. “It’s going to get chilly, even in August.”
Bring a cup of cocoa or tea for even more warmth. Then lie back, scan the sky and enjoy the show.
Where weather is least likely to affect your view
Storm systems sweep across the country in early spring, and some will be obscuring skies tonight. But there will still be plenty of areas with clear skies, particularly in parts of the central United States.
“The best spot is going to be in the Upper Midwest,” said Rich Bann, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa will offer especially good sky-viewing weather and a beach on the Great Lakes could be a nice spot to look up at the stars.
But don’t expect to view the show from Chicago, as Illinois could see some thunderstorms. The weather will be better in the Northern and Central Plains, particularly the eastern Dakotas.
High, wispy clouds are expected over the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys and into parts of the Mid-Atlantic. But, Mr. Bann said, “you may be able to see some shooting stars through thin clouds.”
Clouds will be draped across much of the Southeast and the Northeast, though there could be some clearing in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. Remember, the meteors could be visible all night long. If you look outside and see clouds, try again later.
Catching the spectacle will be challenging across much of the West, particularly from Washington into Northern California, where a storm system is bringing rain and snow. That system will move east overnight.
There are likely to be some pockets of clear skies at times across southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southwest Utah, Mr. Bann said.
Amy Graff contributed reporting.
WASHINGTON — Amid growing national security concerns, the FBI said Tuesday that it has launched a broad investigation in the deaths or disappearances of at least 10 scientists and staff connected to highly sensitive research, including four from the Los Angeles area.
“The FBI is spearheading the effort to look for connections into the missing and deceased scientists. We are working with the Department of Energy, Department of War, and with our state and state and local law enforcement partners to find answers,” the agency said in a statement.
The FBI’s announcement comes after the House Oversight Committee announced that it would investigate reports of the disappearance and deaths of the scientists, sending letters seeking information from the agencies involved in the federal inquiry as well as NASA, which owns the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, where three of the missing or dead scientists worked.
“If the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to U.S. national security and to U.S. personnel with access to scientific secrets,” Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the committee, and Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) wrote in the letters.
President Trump told reporters last week that he had been briefed on the missing and dead scientists, which he described as “pretty serious stuff.” He said at the time that he expected answers on whether the deaths were connected “in the next week and a half.”
Michael David Hicks, who studied comets and asteroids at JPL, was the first of the scientists who disappeared or died. He died on July 30, 2023, at the age of 59. No cause of death was disclosed.
A year later, JPL physicist Frank Maiwald died at 61, with no cause of death disclosed.
Two other Los Angeles scientists are part of the string of deaths and disappearances.
On June 22, 2025, Monica Jacinto Reza, a materials scientist at JPL, disappeared while on a hike near Mt. Waterman in the San Gabriel Mountains.
On Feb. 16, Caltech astrophysicist Carl Grillmair was fatally shot on the porch of his Llano home. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department arrested Freddy Snyder, 29, in connection with the shooting. Snyder had been arrested in December on suspicion of trespassing on Grillmair’s property.
Snyder has been charged with murder.
There is no evidence at this point that the deaths and disappearances, which occurred over a span of four years, are connected.
A spokesperson for NASA, which owns JPL, said in a statement on X that the agency is “coordinating and cooperating with the relevant agencies in relation to the missing scientists.
“At this time, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat,” agency spokesperson Bethany Stevens wrote. “The agency is committed to transparency and will provide more information as able.”
Representatives from Caltech, which manages JPL, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sun had barely risen over the Pacific Ocean when a small motorboat carrying a team of Indigenous artisans and Mexican biologists dropped anchor in a rocky cove near Bahías de Huatulco.
Mauro Habacuc Avendaño Luis, one of the craftsmen, was the first to wade to shore. With an agility belying his age, he struck out over the boulders exposed by low tide. Crouching on a slippery ledge pounded by surf, he reached inside a crevice between two rocks. There, lodged among the urchins, was a snail with a knobby gray shell the size of a walnut. The sight might not dazzle tourists who travel here to see humpback whales, but for Mr. Avendaño, 85, these drab little mollusks represent a way of life.
Marine snails in the genus Plicopurpura are sacred to the Mixtec people of Pinotepa de Don Luis, a small town in southwestern Oaxaca. Men like Mr. Avendaño have been sustainably “milking” them for radiant purple dye for at least 1,500 years. The color suffuses Mixtec textiles and spiritual beliefs. Called tixinda, it symbolizes fertility and death, as well as mythic ties between lunar cycles, women and the sea.
The future of these traditions — and the fate of the snails — are uncertain. The mollusks are subject to intense poaching pressure despite federal protections intended to protect them. Fishermen break them (and the other mollusks they eat) open and sell the meat to local restaurants. Tourists who comb the beaches pluck snails off the rocks and toss them aside.
A severe earthquake in 2020 thrust formerly submerged parts of their habitat above sea level, fatally tossing other mollusks in the snail’s food web to the air, and making once inaccessible places more available to poachers.
Decades ago, dense clusters of snails the size of doorknobs were easy to find, according to Mr. Avendaño. “Full of snails,” he said, sweeping a calloused, violet-stained hand across the coves. Now, most of the snails he finds are small, just over an inch, and yield only a few milliliters of dye.
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