World's oceans hit highest temperature on record as El Niño grows
The record "is another clear signal of an ocean under growing stress", according to Dr Samantha Burgess from the European Copernicus climate change service.
Science & space
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One of the World's ‘Most Wanted’ Lost Fish Is Rediscovered
On a vast network of rivers flowing through the jungles of Papua New Guinea, researchers have rediscovered the spinach pipefish, a relative of the seahorse,...
After nearly two weeks, the power is still out for more than 20,000 people in Gary, IN.
We’ve talked about outages globally and power grid issues in the US, but the place feeling the worst of it has been northwest Indiana, ever since a derecho knocked out power for more than 300,000 people starting on August 11th. As of today, NIPSCO says 21,816 people remain without power, and current estimates show restoration for Gary and Portage will take until the 25th. [Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LdFTa5Mp_0]
China adia missão lunar que busca água no polo sul da Lua | G1
Missão Chang’e-7 faz parte dos esforços de Pequim para levar astronautas à Lua até 2030; lançamento foi adiado após uma avaliação das condições da operação.
China is about to launch an ambitious moon mission to hunt for ice
China is poised to launch Chang’e-7, its most technologically complex lunar mission to date, in search of frozen water near the moon’s south pole.
Why does it seem like food recalls are out of control this year?
This year’s food recalls are causing larger-than-usual outbreaks, with frequent alerts leaving consumers nervous and tired.
Exclusive: Apollo Atomics wants to make nuclear power cheaper by shrinking an overlooked part | TechCrunch
Y Combinator alumnus Apollo Atomics is shrinking a key nuclear reactor part, which promises to slash the cost of electricity below natural gas.
NASA mission to save its sinking space telescope fails
NASA had hoped to prevent its Swift observatory from breaking apart in Earth’s atmosphere. But the spacecraft tasked with the rescue hit problems.
Operation Blue Skies is Google’s mission to help pilots avoid contrails.
The company calls it the world’s first state-backed trial aimed at mitigating warming contrails across an entire flight corridor — specifically the eastern half of the North Atlantic corridor, which accounts for around 5 percent of global contrail warming. Contrails (not to be confused with conspiracy theories about “chemtrails”) are a big problem for the planet because they trap heat, accounting for about 35 percent of aviation’s global warming impact. Google has been working with American Airlines to help pilots find more sustainable flight paths. [Link: Operation Blue Skies: Reducing aviation climate impact with AI | https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/google-research/blue-skies/ | Google]
Nonprofit sues over U.S. push to auction areas of water around American Samoa for potential mining
The lawsuit contends the U.S. plans to sell leases with the intention of allowing mining across 33 million acres of seabed that is rich in minerals, including nickel, cobalt and manganese.
NASA spots crater on the moon created by SpaceX rocket crash
A defunct part of a Falcon 9 rocket crashed into the moon uncontrolled this month at an estimated 5,400 mph. Now NASA has photos.
Trump administration moves to rescind rule protecting national forest land
The change would lift a 25-year-old ban on logging, roads and mining in undeveloped forests.
Whoop drops the subscription requirement for its Advanced Labs blood testing.
The wearable company now says the Advanced Labs blood testing service that it launched last year is now available, with prices starting at about $150, even if you don’t have one of its wearable devices or the membership subscription tied to them. It’s also adding the “multi-cancer early detection test” Galleri to the package, which might help it stand out from the increasingly crowded wearable field and alleged lookalikes. [Link: WHOOP Makes Advanced Labs Available Without a Wearable Membership | https://www.whoop.com/us/en/press-center/whoop-makes-advanced-labs-available-without-a-wearable-membership/ | Whoop]
Woman claims her stepfather used Grok to transform childhood photo into explicit imagery | TechCrunch
The woman claimed that AI tools are "taking everyday life and turning it into child sexual abuse."
Exclusive: Hyperscalers might regret embracing natural gas if new forecast proves correct | TechCrunch
Natural gas prices could triple in some parts of the U.S., which could saddle hyperscalers with massive bills to power their AI data centers.
Cursor is officially part of SpaceX.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX completed its $60 billion acquisition of the AI coding tool Cursor on Friday. Cursor says it’s going to work on the company’s Grok AI chatbot, which added a new AI agent feature this week. [Link: Cursor is now part of @SpaceX | https://x.com/cursor_ai/status/2088249881718919393?s=20 | X (formerly Twitter)]
Here’s your chance to name a spaceship something prescreened and dull.
Virgin Galactic is running a poll to choose the name for an upcoming member of its fleet. Unfortunately, you’re limited to voting for a preselected group of four finalists: Horizon, Explorer, Ascend, and Apeiron. All appropriately boring names — no Rocket McRocketface here. [Link: Name a Virgin Galactic Spaceship. Shape a Piece of Spaceflight History. | https://www.virgingalactic.com/news/name-a-virgin-galactic-spaceship-shape-a-piece-of-spaceflight-history | Virgin Galactic]
Wearables are getting a taste of much-needed minimalism
In this Optimizer, we explore why screenless wearable trackers are having a moment. Hint: data fatigue, signifying status, and freedom from notifications.