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Introducing: H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton Ceramic Alpine Limited Edition

The new H. Moser & Cie. x Alpine Motorsports watch comes in anthracite grey ceramic, with a fully openworked movement in Alpine blue.

Sep 2 • 12:01 PM EDT • Technology • monochrome-watches.com

A Ceramic Makeover For The H. Moser & Cie. Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton

Learn about the innovative H. Moser & Cie. Ceramic Streamliner Tourbillon Skeleton Alpine Limited Edition and its stunning details.

Sep 2 • 12:00 PM EDT • Technology • fratellowatches.com

Western Conference power rankings: Can Suns crack top-6?

The Lakers, Suns, Jazz and Mavericks all have star power. Where are they in Kellan Olson's Western Conference power rankings?

Sep 2 • 9:31 AM EDT • Sports • arizonasports.com

Millions Will Lose Medicaid Because They Aren't Able To Get Enough Work Hours, Study Predicts

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterWEDNESDAY, Sept. 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) — About 1 in every 5 eligible adults in Medicaid expansion states might lose their benefits due to new work requirements that take effect in 2027, a new study says. These folks likely will be unable to fulfill the minimum ...

Sep 2 • 6:30 AM EDT • Health • usnews.com

Should California Backfill Science Funding After Trump Cuts? Voters Could Decide in 2028

Last year the White House suspended or cancelled more than 1,000 California science grants. This bond measure would restore some of that funding.

Sep 1 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • kqed.org

Mental health conditions after trauma linked to higher cardiovascular risk

Research Highlights: A large study in Denmark suggests that people who were diagnosed with a variety of psychiatric disorders after traumatic events were more likely to have increased future cardiovascular risks, such as non-fatal heart attack and...

Sep 1 • 8:00 PM EDT • Health • newsroom.heart.org

Kelly Clarkson goes viral with ‘Golden’ from ‘KPop Demon Hunters’

The singer performed what she said is the most requested cover song in her show’s seven-year history — and the performance is blowing "up, up, up."

Sep 1 • 7:09 PM EDT • Entertainment • deseret.com

What Box Office Bomb Crushed Obsession on Streaming?

(Welcome to my weekly streaming ratings report, the single best guide to what’s popular in streaming TV and what isn’t. I’m the Entertainment Strategy Guy, a former streaming executive who now analyzes business strategy in the entertainment industry. If you were forwarded this email, please subscribe to get these insights each week.) Before we get into this week’s issue, let me ask you for some suggestions. At the risk of coining too many names for too many things (hence my dictionary of terms...), I need a name for straight-to-streaming films that are too expensive to justify a straight-to-streaming release, but not big enough to justify a theatrical release. Like some of the films I highlighted in last week’s tally of the biggest film flops of 2026 so far: Hulu’s Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, Pizza Movie or Never Change! They don’t feel like “made for TV movies” (think Hallmark and Lifetime movies, cheap Netflix romcoms, or Disney Channel Original movies, for example) but they don’t feel big enough for the big screen. They’re not “cinematic” enough, so to speak. As I wrote... “I still need a name for this middle zone of film that’s too expensive to go straight-to-streaming but too small to justify a theatrical release (with all the PR, distribution, marketing and whatnot costs that go along with it), the Goldilocks zone of streaming film death.” Friend of the newsletter Brandon Katz has suggested the “Bermuda Budget Triangle”, “The Platform Gap” and “The Distribution Deadzone”. I love that first one. I’d offer up the much wordier “The Streaming Budget Dead Zone” or “the Goldilocks Zone of streaming film death” but that last one isn’t accurate since, unlike Goldilocks’ porridge, these films are the opposite of “just right”. That’s the problem! Anyway, if you have any suggestions, let me know! On to today’s Streaming Ratings Report. As you can tell by today’s headline, things are going to be spicy! I’m looking at a box office bomb that did really, really well on streaming, somewhat challenging a few different narratives. And another Netflix series declined in its second season. All that, plus Wicked: For Good switching streamers, The Hawk continuing its strong run, _The Bear’_s finale season finally dropping off the charts, the WNBA posting a big viewership number, “shallow libraries”, a sitcom spinoff failing to launch, more big budget IP flopping on Paramount+, all the flops, bombs and misses, and a whole lot more. Let’s dive right in! (Reminder: The streaming ratings report focuses on the U.S. market and compiles data from Nielsen’s weekly top ten viewership ranks, Luminate’s Top Ten Data, JustWatch and Reelgood interest data, Samba TV household viewership, company datecdotes, Netflix hours viewed data, Google Trends, and IMDb to determine the most popular content. While most data points are current, Nielsen’s data covers the weeks of July 20th to July 26th, 2026. You can find a link to my terminology here.) Subscribe Film - The Latest Theatrical Success Story on Streaming In the latest edition of “Flops, Bombs and Misses of the First Half of 2026”, I made a crucial change: I started including theatrical films with the streaming misses. The streamers have collectively—including Netflix, but not to as big of an extent—stopped making a lot of straight-to-streaming films, and the ones they do make aren’t as expensive as in the heyday of the streaming bubble. After the following two films bombed in theaters, you’d guess that they’ll be included in my next collection of flops, bombs and misses six months from now: Masters of the Universe on Prime Video (only $64 million domestic box office) Mortal Kombat II on HBO Max ($79 million domestic) But you’d be wrong! Masters of the Universe, a reboot of the He-Man franchise, a toy from the 1980s, came to streaming on 22-July and did great! This long-gestating project—it’s been at every studio for years, and came close to getting a greenlight at Netflix—then finally came to theaters in June, and showed up on streaming less than two months later. (I don’t love this short theatrical window.) It surprisingly grabbed nearly 20 million hours on its debut: That means, wait for it, Masters of the Universe is currently the eighth biggest film on streaming through two weeks. My rough bar for “hit” is shows or films in the top 15%. Ergo…Masters of the Universe is a legit, streaming hit! (One quick caveat: if it falls out of the top ten next week, it will move to 13th overall, just on the edge of the top 15.) Of course, that’s the data for just 2026. Here’s how it stacks up to Prime Video’s theatrical films: That drop into its second week is typical for Amazon films, but also a worrying sign. I have a feeling interest in this film is front-loaded and we’ll see it drop off after this. As for Mortal Kombat II, in this case, the viewership numbers roughly match the theatrical outing, with only 4.1 million hours in its first week. Here’s how it stacks up to other HBO Max films: The best defense of this number is that, as a relatively violent rated-R film, Mortal Kombat II never had a good chance at breaking out. So now it’s time for a little big of “Entertainment Nuance Guy”: First, yeah, my headline is obviously facetious, since Masters of the Universe besting Obsession says more about horror as a genre than it does that film. Second, I read and listened to quite a few “nobody wanted this IP” takes about Masters of the Universe, and that’s not really true. At least enough people wanted it to power a 20 million+ hour debut! Third, both this film and Mortal Kombat II were considered “average” by viewers, but not great films, with a 6.4 and 6.3 respectively on IMDb. That’s just shy of the level needed to be a word-of-mouth hit. Fourth, in the olden days, strong word of mouth could transform a box office miss into a cable/DVD hit, like Austin Powers or The Shawshank Redemption. We haven’t seen a lot of examples of that on streaming, though. And there are far fewer ways to monetize the post-theatrical life of a film these days. Fifth, Prime Video has shown an ability to push their own titles well, likely because they control the Amazon Fire TV ecosystem. Add it all up, and here’s my nuanced take on Masters of the Universe: it was a box office bomb, but, shockingly, a streaming hit. Unfortunately, while being a theatrical hit saves your film financially, being a streaming hit does not. Both Masters of the Universe and Mortal Kombat II had big budgets and needed to make more money in theaters to justify them. So…Straight-to-Streaming or Theaters? We’ve hit a really fun point in the streaming calendar, since the films that came out in theaters in April, May, and June are now arriving on streaming. So the “Do theatrical releases help streaming performances?” question is gonna get a fresh round of updates nearly every week. No single week will answer the question, but we may get some insights. For example, so far in 2026, it looks like theatrical films are lasting longer on the weekly Nielsen film charts. Here’s a list of films that have made the charts in their fourth or fifth week of release, separated by “for kids” and “general entertainment”: It certainly seems like theatrical films are lasting just a pinch longer on the charts, with Project Hail Mary being the current five-week champion. One Battle After Another did well for HBO Max too, and even The Sheep Detectives made it four weeks. The only exception to this trend? Obsession, which only lasted two weeks on the charts. You might tempted to overreact to this news. Don’t. Obsession is a huge horror hit, but horror just doesn’t do as well on streaming. By the way, here’s the Google Trends for various theatrical and stremaing films: Plus, when it comes to Netflix in four months, Obsession may have another big boost. Quick Notes on Film Note that when I write, “the streamers have pulled back on straight-to-streaming films” that doesn’t mean “abandoned” because Netflix is gonna Netflix. On 24-July, they released 72 Hours, a Kevin Hart comedy. Along with Eddie Murphy, Mark Wahlberg, John Cena and Adam Sandler, Kevin Hart is a streaming film star now. Did this latest one work? Not really. It only garnered two weeks of 13.2 and 12.2 million hours on its debut, well below the 20-million-hour hit threshold. It also was poorly received critically—a 44 on Metacritic—and by customers—a 5.4 on IMDb on 21K IMDb reviews. We’re just getting started with this issue, but the rest is for paid subscribers of the Entertainment Strategy Guy, so if you’d like to find out… The latest Netflix true crime doc to pop on the charts… How The Bear finished its run… Netflix’s latest Western to return to streaming… What Paramount+ animated film flopped… And what sitcom also missed… All the flops, bombs and misses… And a whole lot more… ...please subscribe! We can only keep doing this great work with your support. Coming Soon! I’m behind by a week, so we’ve got two issues coming your way this week, including one in a couple of days or so, then we’ll be all caught up**.** Next issue, inspired by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie coming to Peacock, I’m going to take a look at the workhouse of streaming TV: kids films. Plus The Devil Wears Prada 2 continues theatrical films’ big run on streaming. All that, plus another surprise hit on Hulu, Lioness on CBS, and a whole lot more. Long term, LeBron James is filming his own “Last Dance”-style docu-series, surprising no one. But as I’ve been writing about a lot this summer, this genre is really overrated, so whoever ends up buying it (reportedly ESPN) really shouldn’t pay too much for it.

Sep 1 • 6:15 PM EDT • Entertainment • entertainment.substack.com

Foldable iPhone Ultra Likely Has MagSafe Charging

Apple's foldable "iPhone Ultra" will likely support MagSafe charging, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said in an interview with Tom's Guide. iPhone Ultra dummy models that surfaced in April didn't include a MagSafe ring, while dummies of the iPhone 18 Pro did. Leaked cases for the device did have a MagSafe ring, making it unclear whether it would support MagSafe charging. "All indications that I've heard is that MagSafe is in for this foldable phone.

Sep 1 • 2:44 PM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

Wisconsin reaches out to its past to recapture its identity as a winning program

How well the Badgers respond could determine whether Fickell’s tenure lasts beyond this season.

Sep 1 • 2:28 PM EDT • Sports • spectrumnews1.com

Sky Sports journo bid drops update on Alejandro Balde as he reveals likely Man Utd signing

Manchester United are planning to make a deadline-day signing, but he’s unlikely to be Alejandro Balde.The Red Devils were expected to go guns blazing for a new left-back before the market door slam...

Sep 1 • 1:45 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Meet Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's new dog. She's already a model.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s dog stepped into the spotlight with a starring role in Kelce’s new Tommy Hilfiger campaign.

Sep 1 • 1:11 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

Nearly 1 in 3 Rhode Islanders delay medical care over costs, survey finds

“The data show us that unaffordable healthcare costs serve as barriers to care,” said Julie Keller, lead researcher for the Rhode Island Survey Initiative.

Sep 1 • 11:23 AM EDT • Health • bostonglobe.com

iPhone 18 Pro Colors Apparently Include Black, But Skip Silver

iPhone 18 Pro colors could include Dark Cherry, Sky Blue, and Black, with a Silver option unlikely to make the final lineup, according to the leaker known as "Fixed Focus Digital". In a new post on Weibo, the leaker "Fixed Focus Digital" said the iPhone 18 Pro has entered full mass production and predicted a slightly different color lineup from what previous rumors have suggested, featuring Dark Cherry (also referred to as Burgundy), Sky Blue, and Black.

Sep 1 • 11:22 AM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

When a Nightmare Scenario Becomes the Most Likely Scenario

With 64 days before Election Day (although the first mail-in ballots will go out in a matter of days), Republicans should brace themselves: The three most plausible outcomes are that it will be bad, really bad, or truly horrible. Conversely, a Democrat should at least briefly consider that the good fortune they may have in November will come compliments of the president, not as a result of much that they have done.

Sep 1 • 11:07 AM EDT • Politics • cookpolitical.com

gamescom 2026’s Steam wishlist winners

gamescom wrapped up last weekend, and it was bloody fantastic. It really felt like the industry had a spring in its step again. The show itself was BUZZING, with 368K attendees (+3% over last year), maxed-out exhibit space, and Opening Night Live pulling over 78M online views (+7.5%). Let’s have a look at the games at the event that brought in the most new Steam wishlists between August 23 and 30. One quick thing before we start, and stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but wishlists are NOT a barometer for launch sales (they’re bookmarks, not baskets is what we always say over here at Alinea). With that aside, wishlists are a nice gauge of hype, so let’s dive in. Witche(r)s and Warlocks take the top two spots The biggest game of the event (by new wishlists, anyways) wasn’t a game at all. It was an expansion. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s upcoming expansion, Songs of the Past, nabbed 451K Steam wishlists by the end of the weekend. It’s a big example of something we bang on about constantly: proven IP with built-in fandom is the most powerful force in this market. But said IP can also ripple into other external success stories (more on that later!). Anyway, Songs of the Past debuted at Opening Night Live, and it’s the first Witcher 3 expansion in over a decade, landing next year after a full Witcher 3 remaster (free for existing owners!) arrives next month. The Witcher 3 has sold around 66M copies, and I’ll be one of those owners jumping back in to refresh myself on the core game (like there isn’t enough to play!), then play the expansion next year. This is all part of CDPR’s plan. The studio is clearly whetting everyone’s appetite for The Witcher 4 in 2028 via a classic bridge strategy. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Releasing a free 4K remaster next month – followed by a proper expansion in 2027 – keeps IP top-of-mind across a huge gap between content (games-wise, anyway). It kind of echoes Capcom’s evergreen catalogue strategy. And outsourcing co-development to Fool’s Theory (a studio led by trusted Witcher 3 veterans) keeps CDPR’s internal headcount focused on The Witcher 4. #2 by wishlists between Aug 23 and 30 went to another giant IP: Warlock: Dungeons & Dragons, published by Wizards of the Coast and developed by Invoke Studios (a team of ex-Far Cry, Watch Dogs, and Splinter Cell devs). It’s due to launch in 2027, and it looks brilliant so far. It’s a dark-fantasy open world with third-person spell-slinging. It’s a very Witcher-ish aesthetic. As you might expect, 48% of Warlock’s Steam wishlisters have played Baldur’s Gate 3, and 46% have played The Witcher 3. One to watch. For sure! Mash-ups: Anime GTA (!?) and a city-builder for kids (and adults) Ananta took #3 with 302K new wishlists. It’s an open-world game that looks like GTA and Persona had a baby. It was published by NetEase, developed by Naked Rain, and got a trailer at Opening Night Live. I got hands-on at the show, and it wears its influences openly; there’s literal web-slinging (very Spider-Man) and a LOAD of mini-games (Like a Dragon). It’s free-to-play and out in January. For Ananta, Naked Rain is taking the free-to-play, cosmetics-only route. That’s certainly a choice for a single-player open-world game. Without gacha mechanics driving high ARPU, Ananta is betting purely on top-of-funnel reach and long-term retention. This puts pressure on skin appeal when there’s no multiplayer lobby to flex in (although, co-op is reportedly coming later). Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Then there’s Lego Skylines (273K wishlists between Aug 23 and 30), which does exactly what it says on the tin. It’s a cosy Lego twist on the city-builder genre, as shallow or as deep as you fancy (five min quick sesh or ten-hour no-lifer session; latter for me). There’s some family-friendly stuff in there like couch co-op, which is only really viable on console. Iceflake Studios, which Paradox acquired back in 2020 is developing this one. So Paradox is probably looking for a family-friendly onramp to its rad Cities: Skylines games. The overlap there is plain, with 33% of Lego Skylines wishlisters having played Cities: Skylines and 16% Skylines II. There’s no doubt plenty of parents here (and uncles, ahem) planning to indoctrinate the next gen of city-builders. I’ll definitely be playing with my youngest nephew. This one could be big and educational. I’m very curious to see more. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Mature IP, new and old, rounds out the list As for the rest of the list of gamescom games by new wishlists between Aug 23 and 30: Heroes of Might & Magic III Remake got 189K new wishlists. It remakes the iconic 1999 turn-based-strategy classic in full 3D and 4K. It follows this year’s Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era (~1.8M copies sold, as per our estimates), and around a quarter of the III Remake wishlisters have played Olden Era, including 7% of them this month. Wardogs – a $40 PvP shooter – added another 146K to an already massive pile (nearly 1.6M total). It’s published by Team17 and made by Bulkhead. It plays somewhere between the tactical squad stuff of … Squad and the all-out-chaos battlefield of … Battlefield. It’s up to 100 players, and it’s out in about 10 days. It’s already pre-sold over 500K copies on Steam ($16.6M), boosted by a pre-order-only beta. It sold another 70K copies during gamescom, too. Afterworld managed 121K new wishlists. It’s a Paradox-made post-apocalyptic grand-strategy game, and it was announced at the show. It’s a departure from Paradox’s usual historical stuff, and the studio’s first new setting in over a decade. The Paradox purists are into it, with over half its wishlisters having played Hearts of Iron IV (19% this month) and 41% Crusader Kings III (17% this month). Metro 2039 got 110K during the show, tunnelling its total past 1.3M. Nearly 40% of wishlisters have played 2020’s Metro Exodus, the previous mainline title in the series. The Metro novels are Russian, dev 4A Games is Ukrainian, and it’s set in Moscow, so it’s unsurprising that – after the US (17.3% of wishlisters) – the next two countries are Russia (12.7%) and Ukraine (10.0%). The Blood of the Dawnwalker drew in (the blood of) 108K new wishlisters, now totalling an impressive 1.7M (at a $70 price point, though). It’s an open-world dark-fantasy action-RPG set in 14th-century Europe (with vampires!), made by some former Witcher devs at Rebel Wolves. Again, it shows. Over half of Blood of the Dawnwalker’s wishlisters have played The Witcher 3, and its #2 market is Poland, home of Rebel Wolves. That’s that hometown-hero effect we keep banging on about again! And Blood of the Dawnwalker plays very well, by the way. While it looks like a Witcher clone on the surface, it actually brings a lot to the table mechanics-wise. I love the whole time-as-a-currency spin on RPG gameplay. It gives the game a different, refreshing pace. Essentially, you start Blood of the Dawnwalker with a pool of 480 action points spread across 30 days and 30 nights. As for how the game performs, we’ll be posting some numbers next week, so hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready. Subscribe The Witcher’s legacy ripples Make no mistake: on a high level, this was The Witcher‘s gamescom. The #1 game by wishlisters was a Witcher 3 DLC. Warlock is clearly Witcher-inspired – as is Blood of the Dawnwalker, which was made by ex-Witcher devs. There was a lot of other cool stuff on the floor that we’ll no doubt be covering in subsequent newsletters, though! As always, wishlists went through the roof for sequels, remakes, DLC, and licensed IP. As always, though, these wishlists will likely convert to about 5% to 10% of launch-day buyers, with the probable exception of The Witcher DLC – the exception that proves the rule. Either way, we’ve got a nice, diverse list here – one that is very Witcher-y, Paradox-y, and – if you’re a fan of great games on Steam – a bloody good list. We even got a bunch of new IP to get excited for. Great gamescom! Even if we are still processing that unfathomable number of mini Kölsch beers! One more thing: GTA 6 broke the internet (again) Move aside, Spider-Man and The Odyssey (I love you both, really). But the decade’s defining entertainment zeitgeist is round the corner. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ll know that Rockstar dropped an extended look at GTA 6 last week. It was INSANE, the most impressed I’ve ever been by a showcase like this. You can see the budget seeping through every second of the extended look, and this level of game is unobtainable for any other publisher. Everyone’s going nuts, and rightly so. GTA 6 is out in holiday 2026, and it’ll be the biggest entertainment release ever, full stop. For those without a PS5 or Xbox Series console, a $500-$900 console is a big ask in this economy, but GTA will pull a lot of last-generation-console fence sitters over the current-gen fence either way: The autumn timing puts GTA 6 on (digital) shelves for the holidays, meaning a PS5 or Xbox (let’s be honest, mostly the former) will be on many a Christmas and Hanukkah list. Demand will outweigh the struggling supply, though, and PS5 Pros are already sold out and being sold at a markup via scalpers. Every console that isn’t on a shelf is a sale deferred or lost, and worse, it hands scalpers the margin. GTA has cultural clout that reaches everyone. It’s been a mainstream fixture since 2001’s GTA III and its clout has only grown exponentially since then. There’s a touchpoint for every generation alive. The FOMO-word-of-mouth double punch does the rest. Loading... It’ll reactivate the lockdown cohort, the millions who picked up gaming in 2020-21 and churned. GTA 6 will bring them back. Remember when College Football 25 brought a bunch of US gamers to current-gen consoles? GTA will do that globally. Once they’re back (or upgraded), and all GTA’d out, the fresh current-gen-console folks will check out the rest of the current-gen catalogue they missed. GTA Online, if not free to play, will also lead to a boost for PS+ and Xbox Game Pass, another boost for the ecosystem players. Want more free estimates and insights in your inbox twice a week? Subscribe below! Subscribe Even some of the smug PCMR 60FPS crew won’t be able to resist their FOMO and will bite the bullet on a console to play this one early (then double dip). The consoles cost the same as a decent stick of RAM these days anyway lmao… Don’t get me wrong, though. GTA 6 is no silver bullet for the mature console market, but it does prime the current gen for a couple of strong swan-song years. And it’ll also give the consoles more users from which to maximise ARPU. ‘’We are in the latter half of the lifetime cycle of [the PS5],’’ said Sony President and CEO Hiroki Totoki in a Wall Street Journal interview. ‘’That means we do not need to aggressively sell the console today; rather than that, we are focusing on the current revenue from the current user base.’’ The biggest, best premium games always arrive late in a console cycle, so getting more players aboard now, ahead of that content storm (the new current-gen-only Call of Duty included), is a clear win for the platforms. On the Netflix thing, though: let’s all chill out a bit, like. Half my LinkedIn feed was going bonkers treating the reveal debuting on Netflix like it’s the future of entertainment. It wasn’t. It was a six-hour head start, and Netflix left that detail out of the “first-of-its-kind partnership” press release. The extended look hit Netflix at 3pm ET on 27 August, then went up on YouTube and Rockstar’s site for everyone six hours later. And it was all over social immediately, anyways. This reveal was going to reach an untold number of people whether it debuted on Netflix, YouTube, a Times Square screen, or a group chat. The last trailer did nearly half a billion views in a day with no gatekeeper at all. Netflix just stood next to that audience for six hours, borrowing it. It’s was a tidy deal for Netflix, sure. But every outlet on earth was breaking the thing down frame by frame by the evening anyway. Anyway. I’m hype. And we’ll be covering some GTA numbers on the newsletter soon. So hit subscribe below to get that in your inbox when it’s ready! Subscribe The last word Reply to this email – or reach out here – if you have any feedback for the newsletter – or want to request a game for us to cover. [Alinea Analytics boasts the most accurate PC and console estimates in the business. Game makers use our platform to understand their audience, keep an eye on the competition, monitor sales trends, and spot new opportunities. We equip game studios and financial institutions with accurate data and the confidence to make smarter, data-driven decisions. Want to talk about all things games market data? We’d love to chat!]

Sep 1 • 10:27 AM EDT • Technology • alineaanalytics.substack.com

LZ Sees Surprising Result in Search for Dark Matter

Key Takeaways Dark matter is the mysterious substance that accounts for the vast majority of matter in our universe. LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) is a world-leading dark matter detector and specializes in searching for WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. A new LZ study found one particle interaction that is difficult to explain with known background processes and could potentially have been caused by a WIMP. LZ continues to run to see if additional data strengthens or weakens the hint of a dark matter interaction. For the better part of a century, people have been trying to understand dark matter. This invisible substance makes up roughly 85% of the mass in the universe but has never been directly detected. Determining exactly what it is remains one of the biggest questions about our world. Now, a new analysis from the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment has recorded a single particle interaction that researchers have great difficulty explaining with known background signals from normal matter. The result does not yet meet the statistical threshold required to claim a discovery, but is the most compelling hint of dark matter reported by the experiment to date. LZ is an international collaboration of 250 scientists and engineers from 39 institutions. The detector is managed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and operates nearly one mile below ground at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in South Dakota. The experiment uses 10 tonnes of ultrapure liquid xenon to search for dark matter and is optimized to look for WIMPs, or weakly interacting massive particles. The results were presented in a scientific talk at the 2026 TeV Particle Astrophysics conference in Japan. The paper will be released on the online repository arXiv and submitted to the journal Physical Review Letters. “We’re very intrigued to see this event in the data, in the region where we expect dark matter to show up and the competing backgrounds are very low,” said Rick Gaitskell, a professor at Brown University and the spokesperson for LZ. “With only one event, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. We are not claiming to have seen dark matter. But we have seen something interesting that we want to share with the scientific community for their input.” The LZ collaboration studies experimental data in batches. In the new result, researchers analyzed 220 live days of data collected between March 2023 and April 2024. The collaboration had previously searched this dataset for faint signals from the simplest kinds of WIMP interactions. The new analysis searched for a broader range of possible WIMP interactions that could deposit more energy in the detector. LZ is particularly sensitive to such signals while also minimizing false positives. “This was a detailed study in a region we hadn’t explored within this dataset, and we spent months of additional effort to understand all the possible causes of background events,” said Sam Eriksen, a senior research associate at the University of Bristol in the U.K. and lead author of the study. “We understand our detector and the backgrounds so well that even a single outstanding event, like the one we found, is important. We expect dark matter events to be extremely rare, so only a handful could mark the first detection of WIMP dark matter.” If the anomalous event was caused by dark matter, the WIMP that generated it would likely have a mass of at least 200 GeV/c2 (gigaelectronvolts), or more than 200 times the mass of a proton. It would also suggest a specific type of interaction between WIMPs and ordinary matter beyond the simplest model. The LZ results have not reached “5-sigma” significance, the statistical threshold considered a discovery in physics. The new analysis is 2.6 sigma, meaning there is approximately a 0.5% chance that the event could be explained by known backgrounds. With additional data, researchers can test whether the finding continues to grow in significance or fades away. LZ has already accumulated the world’s largest dark matter dataset and will continue to accrue WIMP search data at SURF, substantially improving their search statistics. LZ searches for dark matter by looking for signature flashes of light from energy deposited in the detector. The collaboration leverages multiple methods to prevent or account for particle interactions caused by normal matter. This includes the mile of rock that shields the detector from cosmic rays from space, a water tank and outer detectors that protect the central detector from background neutrons, and a suite of computational tools that disentangle particle interactions and reject dark matter mimics. “Outlier events in the data are not unexpected, but they usually stand out as a background of some kind when you look at them deeper,” said Aaron Manalaysay, a physicist at Berkeley Lab and the chair of LZ’s Institutional Board. “This is the first example in any experiment I’ve worked on of an outlier that appears valid in every way. Of course, we’re still twisting our brains trying to think if there’s a rare background mechanism we could’ve missed, but it’s thrilling to wonder if this could be the first hint of a dark-matter observation.” LZ is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of High Energy and Nuclear Physics, and the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center, a DOE Office of Science user facility. LZ is also supported by the Science & Technology Facilities Council of the United Kingdom; the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology; the Swiss National Science Foundation; the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Dark Matter Particle Physics; and the Institute for Basic Science, Korea. Thirty-nine institutions of higher education and advanced research provided support to LZ. The LZ collaboration acknowledges the assistance of the Sanford Underground Research Facility. ### Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) is committed to groundbreaking research focused on discovery science and solutions for abundant and reliable energy supplies. The lab’s expertise spans materials, chemistry, physics, biology, earth and environmental science, mathematics, and computing. Researchers from around the world rely on the lab’s world-class scientific facilities for their own pioneering research. Founded in 1931 on the belief that the biggest problems are best addressed by teams, Berkeley Lab and its scientists have been recognized with 17 Nobel Prizes. Berkeley Lab is a multiprogram national laboratory managed by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science. DOE’s Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States, and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit energy.gov/science.

Sep 1 • 10:00 AM EDT • Science • newscenter.lbl.gov

Bit Reactor furloughed "many of its workers" in the weeks before Star Wars Zero Company's launch

Sources claim 80% of the developer's staff were furloughed, and that a skeleton crew is left to address post-launch bugs

Sep 1 • 4:07 AM EDT • Technology • gamesindustry.biz

John Roberts often defers to Trump but not for the White House ballroom project

“That construction is likely unlawful,” Roberts wrote in dissent with the court’s liberals as Trump’s ballroom moves ahead

Sep 1 • 4:00 AM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

‘Most’ of Star Wars Zero Company studio Bit Reactor was furloughed ahead of launch

Last week was meant to be a moment of triumph for Bit Reactor, the Maryland-based game studio founded in 2021 with ambitions to create a great new tactical combat game. On Thursday, August 27, Bit Reactor’s debut title, Star Wars Zero Company, released to stellar reviews. And, from the Gamescom show in Cologne, Germany, studio co-founder Greg Foertsch was giving interviews discussing what the studio’s next game may be. But for many developers on the game, launch has been bittersweet. Fans love it. Critics prefer it to most recent Star Wars games. Zero Company, which is out for PS5, Xbox Series consoles and PC, is the top-selling game on Steam. Much of the team that made it, however, is currently going without pay. They were furloughed, just weeks ahead of the game’s launch. A rep for Bit Reactor confirmed to Game File today that the studio had furloughed many of its workers prior to the game’s release. They said it was a difficult decision and one that had been made before it was clear how launch would go. The rep emphasized that the call to do this was Bit Reactor’s alone (meaning not from publisher EA nor Star Wars license holder Disney). While the rep declined to comment on the scale of the furloughs, a previously unreported lawsuit brought by studio co-founder Alison Kelly in 2024 noted in a filing from August 12 of this year that Bit Reactor “has furloughed most of its employees and terminated contractors…” One source told Game File the furloughs impacted 80% of the team; another referred to there only being a skeleton crew left on Bit Reactor’s active payroll, ready to address any of Zero Company’s post-launch bugs. The issue is that Bit Reactor, a studio formed in 2021, had run out of most of its money just ahead of the launch of its first game. Over the weekend, Zachariah Scott, a senior technical artist who worked at Bit Reactor from early 2023 until an acrimonious exit this past May, said on LinkedIn that the studio was “concealing the fact that the team was Furloughed weeks ago.” Reached by phone today, Scott told Game File that he spoke to nearly a dozen Bit Reactor workers over the weekend. “Everybody has essentially the same story, which is, ‘Yeah, I got furloughed three weeks ago.” The Bit Reactor rep told Game File that the studio hoped to bring furloughed workers back, suggesting that a successful launch of the game could be impactful. Scott told Game File that workers he spoke to were less confident that even if there were returns, that all who were furloughed would get their old jobs again. A heated dispute Bit Reactor’s mid-2026 was almost even more tumultuous. The lawsuit by co-founder Alison Kelly that first revealed the furloughs was initially slated to go to trial in June. The suit is a she-said/he-said about whether Kelly, until 2024 the chief operating officer of Bit Reactor, was a co-owner of the studio or whether it was solely owned by Greg Foertsch. In July 2024, Kelly sued, saying she was pushed out by Foertsch. She first sued in federal court and later refiled in Maryland’s Baltimore County, alleging breach of contract and that Foertsch had unjustly enriched himself. Kelly cited damages of over $20 million, on the basis of Bit Reactor allegedly being worth more than double that. Foertsch’s side has said Kelly was never a co-owner and has countered with claims about her job performance (which she has denied). The June trial was postponed until early 2027, as both sides have been deposing witnesses and filing more claims and denials along the way. Amid all of that, filings in the lawsuit reviewed by Game File paint a picture about Bit Reactor’s origins, early aspirations around tactics games, the team’s breakthrough in drawing the attention of Electronic Arts with the help of a pitch tied to one of EA’s non-Star Wars franchises, and early fractures among its co-founders. The real story about the company behind Zero Company

Aug 31 • 10:23 PM EDT • Technology • gamefile.news

Night owls experience more mental health issues than early birds and take longer to recover from work

Balancing work and personal life is more challenging for evening types, or "night owls," than for morning types, or "early birds." Evening types have a harder time recovering from work and are more likely ...

Aug 31 • 10:20 PM EDT • Health • medicalxpress.com

Can this unlikely pair reshape Israeli politics?

In Israel’s divided politics, an Islamist leader is teaming up with a former Israeli police officer. CNN’s Tal Shalev explains that the unlikely pairing hopes to break new ground as they reshape what’s possible and address the everyday issues that affect the country’s Arab population.

Aug 31 • 8:00 PM EDT • Politics • cnn.com

Trump says U.S. might ‘smack’ Iran but that fighting is likely to remain limited

The president downplays the possibility of escalating military action against Tehran, despite recent tit-for-tat attacks.

Aug 31 • 6:02 PM EDT • Politics • washingtonpost.com

Kelly Clarkson Sings 'Since U Been Gone'

Aug 31 • 5:00 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

Scott Wolf's ex-wife Kelley Wolf apologizes after divorce battle, arrest

Scott Wolf's ex-wife Kelley Wolf, who was arrested amid the couple's divorce, opened up about her mental health struggles in a new social media post.

Aug 31 • 4:46 PM EDT • Health • usatoday.com

Defense Dept., SBA aim to revamp US defense industrial pipeline

SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler discusses how small businesses are working with the US government to replenish defense supplies amid the Iran conflict on 'The Claman Countdown.'

Aug 31 • 4:33 PM EDT • Business • foxbusiness.com

Alcaraz wins US Open first-round match after injury layoff

Carlos Alcaraz opened his US Open title defense in solid fashion Monday, defeating Russia's Roman Safiullin in straight sets in his highly anticipated first singles match in more than four months.A powerful baseliner with a prior win over Alcaraz, Safiullin kept close in all three sets, but never looked likely to threaten the Spaniard.

Aug 31 • 4:24 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Kelly Clarkson says goodbye to her talk show after a successful 7-year run

The singer closed out her morning show chapter with fan song requests, including a performance of “Golden” from “KPop Demon Hunters.”

Aug 31 • 4:08 PM EDT • Entertainment • yahoo.com

Kelly Clarkson says goodbye to her talk show after a successful 7-year run

Kelly Clarkson sang ‘Golden’ and other fan song requests in series finale of ‘The Kelly Clarkson Show,’ after seven years on the air.

Aug 31 • 4:08 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com

Who Sees Themselves as Working Class?

Most Americans think of themselves as working class, and Republicans are more likely to do so than Democrats.

Aug 31 • 2:55 PM EDT • Politics • pewresearch.org

Noah Kahan’s heartwarming Seattle concert turns tears to elation

The small-town troubadour is an unlikely stadium filler, but his distinctly American songs sounded right at home in a sold-out T-Mobile Park.

Aug 31 • 2:50 PM EDT • Entertainment • yakimaherald.com

LGBTQ+ adults more likely to miss or forgo healthcare, survey finds

LGBTQ+ adults are more likely than other adults to miss healthcare appointments due to cost or other reasons — with a third reporting their health worsened as a result, according to a new survey by health policy research group, KFF. Among the 2,640 LGBTQ+ adults surveyed, those who are transgender, younger than 30, those with lower incomes or without insurance were most likely to miss or forgo care due to cost.

Aug 31 • 1:59 PM EDT • Health • stateline.org

Visual effects artist Phil Tippett shutters Berkeley studio

Phil Tippett, the designer behind many of Hollywood's iconic aliens and dinosaurs, is shuttering his visual effects studio in Berkeley.

Aug 31 • 1:42 PM EDT • Entertainment • latimes.com

AU hosts House Blue-Ribbon Study Committee focusing on healthcare

“There’s a basic principle you have to remember: Where you train is where you’re likely to practice,” says MCG Dean David Hess, MD.

Aug 31 • 1:00 PM EDT • Health • jagwire.augusta.edu

Kalshi permanently bans ex-Congressman George Santos for life after concluding he likely was insider trading

The company announced the ban after saying its compliance department had established reasonable cause to believe Santos engaged in insider trading over his attendance at the State of the Union, when he turned a $17,839 profit on his trading activity.

Aug 31 • 12:22 PM EDT • Politics • pbs.org

Kalshi bans ex-Rep. Santos after concluding he likely was insider trading

On the eve of Trump’s speech, Kalshi put the odds of Santos attending at close to 75%.

Aug 31 • 11:20 AM EDT • Politics • ny1.com

Kalshi bans ex-Congressman George Santos for life after concluding he likely was insider trading

The online prediction market platform Kalshi has permanently banned former U.S. Rep. George Santos after concluding the former Republican congressman likely engaged in insider trading when he bet against his attendance at the State of the Union address.

Aug 31 • 11:18 AM EDT • Politics • news4jax.com

‘Ebenezer’ director Ti West explains how Johnny Depp makes Scrooge ‘an unlikable guy’ with ‘humor and charm’

Get your first look at Tramell Tillman as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Ian McKellen as Jacob Marley in Ti West’s ‘Ebenezer,’ also starring Johnny Depp.

Aug 31 • 10:00 AM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com

Berkeley’s trailblazing adaptive sports nonprofit BORP turns 50

Long the “only game in town” for physically disabled athletes, it launched the country’s first power soccer program in the ’80s.

Aug 31 • 10:00 AM EDT • Sports • berkeleyside.org

Sanford surgeon earns prestigious traveling fellowship

Orthopedic surgeon Nathan Skelley, an AANA Traveling Fellow, is working to advance orthopedic programs at Sanford Health for years to come.

Aug 31 • 9:00 AM EDT • Health • news.sanfordhealth.org

Green Bay Packers Kaleb Johnson trade gets strong review From ESPN

The Green Bay Packers have bolstered their backfield by bringing in Kaleb Johnson from the Steelers, sending Pittsburgh a future 2028 draft pick in return. ESPN viewed the transaction favorably, pointing to Green Bay’s decision as a savvy way to strengthen the position before the 2026 season gets underway. “The most likely outcome is still [...]

Aug 31 • 8:30 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

SLB to acquire Kelvion for $3.4 billion

Oilfield ​services provider ‌SLB said ​on ​Monday it ⁠will ​acquire ​thermal management provider ​Kelvion ​from Apollo Global ‌for $3.4 ⁠billion in ​cash, ​not ⁠including debt.

Aug 31 • 6:57 AM EDT • Business • reuters.com

GXO CEO: Better robot hands, not Olympic-level humanoids, are what businesses really need

Also: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.

Aug 31 • 5:35 AM EDT • Business • fortune.com

Study: Rural, dual-eligible patients less likely to receive timely home health rehab

Medicare patients who were rural and dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid were less likely to receive home health rehabilitation services within 48 hours of discharge from the hospital, according to an August study published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association.

Aug 31 • 12:37 AM EDT • Health • mcknightshomecare.com

Patriots Cut Unlikely Training Camp Interception Leader After Roster Shakeup

John Saunders Jr. led the Patriots with five training camp interceptions, but a late trade helped push the promising safety off New England’s initial roster.

Aug 30 • 9:27 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Kelley Wolf publicly apologizes to estranged husband Scott Wolf for ‘all of the chaos’

Kelley Wolf is apologizing to estranged husband Scott Wolf for ‘all of the chaos’ she caused during a mental health crisis last year.

Aug 30 • 6:55 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com

Experts weigh in on Lindsay Clancy's mental health defense and possible verdicts

Legal expert Kelly Hyman and licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Sabrina Romanoff analyze Lindsay Clancy's mental health defense and the charges facing the jury on 'Fox News Live.'

Aug 30 • 5:58 PM EDT • Health • foxnews.com

Jax State Coach Gets Brutally Honest After Loss to NDSU

Jacksonville State Gamecocks head coach Charles Kelly didn't hold back after his team's blowout loss to North Dakota State on Saturday. The post Jax State Coach Gets Brutally Honest After Loss to NDSU appeared first on HEAVY.

Aug 30 • 3:28 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Fiorentina progressing in move for Everton’s Beto, player interested

Serie A side Fiorentina remain in the hunt to sign a new striker, having likely missed out on Manchester United’s Joshua Zirkzee. A deal for Everton’s Beto is now slowly gathering momentum.Get Ita...

Aug 30 • 3:20 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

North Carolina: Rabid baby goats at a mobile petting zoo prompts health warning

On Friday, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported confirmed multiple rabies cases in baby goats at a mobile petting zoo located in Iredell County. They were first notified of a potential rabies exposure among four baby goats at Farm Adventures in Harmony, North Carolina on August 27. The goats were most likely exposed to rabies by a skunk that had entered the pen where they were kept in late July. The NC State Laboratory of Public Health confirmed rabies viruses in three of the baby goats on August 28; a fourth goat was not tested but is also assumed to have been infected. Based on information gathered on August 28, it was determined that no other animals on the farm pose a risk of rabies exposure to people. Learn about rabies Anyone who had contact with baby goats from the Farm Adventures mobile petting zoo either at their location in Harmony, North Carolina, or at an off-site event, between July 28 and Aug. 27, 2026, may have been exposed while the animals were infectious. Impacted individuals should contact their local health department to determine whether medications are needed to prevent infection. Individuals are encouraged to call before visiting an emergency department or urgent care clinic to determine if treatment is needed and where it can be accessed. Known potential exposure dates and locations include: July 28: Jurney’s Assisted Living, 1942 Van Haven Drive, Statesville in Iredell County July 30: Private event in Mecklenburg County Aug. 1: Community Connections Back-to-School Bash, Breeden Amphitheater, 333 S. Main St., Lexington in Davidson County Aug. 6: Brookdale Peachtree, 2806 Peachtree Road, Statesville in Iredell County Aug. 8: Private event in Watauga County Aug. 9: Private event in Burke County Aug. 15: Masonic Picnic Grounds, 201 Poplar St., Mocksville in Davie County Aug. 16: Private event in Durham County Aug. 22: Private event in Iredell County Aug. 23: Private event in Durham County Rabies is a deadly disease that can spread from wild animals to pets and people, primarily through a bite, scratch or when infected saliva touches broken skin or mucous membranes. Human rabies infections are extremely rare in the United States. No human cases have been reported in North Carolina since 2011. Rabies is almost always fatal in mammals, including people, unless medications to prevent infections are given before symptoms develop. Symptoms can begin weeks to months after someone is exposed. Early symptoms are flu-like illness including weakness, fever or headache as well as a prickling or itching sensation where someone was bitten or exposed. In 2025, over 4,000 animals were submitted to the NC State Laboratory of Public Health for rabies testing, and of these, approximately 6% tested positive. In North Carolina the disease most often occurs in wild animals especially skunks, raccoons, bats and foxes. Outbreak News Today is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

Aug 30 • 2:52 PM EDT • Health • outbreaknewstoday.substack.com

Over 4,400 human brains found intact in skeletons: scientists finally know why - Futura-Sciences

For decades, archaeologists have puzzled over a strange phenomenon: skeletons stripped bare by time, with only one soft and unlikely survivor remaining, the brain. Now, a team of researchers says it has finally uncovered the chemistry behind this mystery. It appears that the answer does not come from a rare...

Aug 30 • 2:00 PM EDT • Science • futura-sciences.com

Apple Pencil for iPhone Ultra Was Tested

Apple has internally prototyped, tested, and considered launching an Apple Pencil for the upcoming foldable iPhone, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. However, he said it is unlikely that the accessory will be released. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said the Apple Pencil tested for the foldable iPhone is stubbier than the versions for iPads. He said the Apple Pencil for the foldable iPhone was designed to magnetically attach and charge on the side of the device.

Aug 30 • 10:27 AM EDT • Technology • macrumors.com

Yankees Sign Former Top Five Prospect

The New York Yankees have signed Jarred Kelenic to a minor league deal

Aug 30 • 10:10 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

In 1990, the northern spotted owl became a symbol of America’s logging wars; 36 years later, scientists say it is already functionally extinct across large swaths of its range

In 1990, a small bird became an unlikely symbol of one of America’s fiercest environmental battles. The northern spotted owl was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, putting the future of vast stretches of old-growth forest in the Pacific Northwest at the centre of a bitter fight between environmentalists and the logging industry.

Aug 30 • 6:30 AM EDT • Science • timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Soungoutou Magassa on verge of West Ham exit

Soungoutou Magassa (22) is set to leave West Ham United before the closure of the transfer window. Spain and Italy are the most likely destinations for the France youth international, Foot Mercato und...

Aug 30 • 4:30 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Shohei Ohtani Is Suddenly in Serious Danger of Losing MVP

Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani's MVP defense is looking more and more unlikely as Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong continues to amaze.

Aug 30 • 2:26 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Data center backlash scrambles US midterm politics

The data centers powering America's artificial intelligence boom have become an unlikely target in November's midterm elections, as anger over rising electricity bills and noise turns Democrats -- and…

Aug 29 • 9:25 PM EDT • Politics • france24.com

Seven new frog species were hiding beneath Madagascar’s forest floor

Scientists have discovered seven new species of Madagascar’s elusive diamond frogs, using DNA from modern and century-old museum specimens to solve a long-running biological puzzle. The findings reveal surprising hidden diversity and could help protect these little-known amphibians as their forest habitats disappear.

Aug 29 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

Game 1 Gamethread: Giants vs. Diamondbacks

Matt Wilkinson vs. Merrill Kelly.

Aug 29 • 3:45 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Prediction Marketing Offer Based On Mahomes Start Pulled

The Denver Broncos will face the Kansas City Chiefs on Sept. 14, and they're likely expecting to face Patrick Mahomes.

Aug 29 • 1:49 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Former UCF Standout EDGE Posts Stellar NFL Preseason Outing

Nyjalik Kelly fueled his roster bid with a dominant defensive showcase for Green Bay, recording a momentum-shifting interception and crucial sack to solidify his professional future.

Aug 29 • 12:07 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Politics panel says Indiana likely will suffer amid US-Canada trade spat

Political strategists warned that the recent trade dispute between the U.S. and Canada involving new tariffs will likely harm Indiana's consumers and producers.

Aug 28 • 5:46 PM EDT • Politics • wrtv.com

U.S. appeals court rules against prediction markets, sets up likely fight at Supreme Court

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that sports-related event contracts are not swaps, contradicting a Third Circuit ruling from April.

Aug 28 • 2:29 PM EDT • Sports • cnbc.com

Colorado leaders cheer court decision to block Trump’s mail ballot order in a ruling that’s likely to be swiftly appealed

A federal judge on Thursday halted — at least for now — attempts to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order that seeks to restrict the mailing of ballots to American citizens on an eligible voters list. The move stalled the directive for a second time only about a week before the first mail ballots are […]

Aug 28 • 2:28 PM EDT • Politics • coloradopolitics.com

Top 10 Roman Space Telescope science breakthroughs

NASA’s Roman Space Telescope will open a whole new window on the cosmos. Here are ten things it’s likely to show us

Aug 28 • 1:00 PM EDT • Science • scientificamerican.com

Judge again blocks Trump mail ballot executive order in ruling that’s likely to be swiftly appealed

A federal judge on Thursday halted — at least for now — attempts to implement President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail voting.

Aug 28 • 12:37 PM EDT • Politics • pbs.org

Debates set for Maine U.S. Senate race

Regardless of the format, the debates are likely to be must-see TV for voters who will make a big decision this fall about who represents them in the U.S. Senate.

Aug 28 • 10:51 AM EDT • Politics • spectrumlocalnews.com

U.S. added 79,000 fewer jobs in 12 months through March, BLS says

The U.S. economy likely created 79,000 fewer jobs in the ​12 months through March ‌than previously estimated, the government said on Friday.

Aug 28 • 10:14 AM EDT • Business • reuters.com

Swift appeal likely as judge blocks Trump mail voting order

Judge Indira Talwani placed a 14-day hold on government implementing Trump’s order to limit mail voting

Aug 28 • 6:26 AM EDT • Politics • theguardian.com

Maxx Crosby Receives Strong Words After Raiders Lose to 49ers

The Las Vegas Raiders‘ preseason is now over after falling 18-12 to the San Francisco 49ers on Aug. 27 at Allegiant Stadium. Moreover, it was the final reps that Fernando Mendoza received, as the No. 1 pick is likely to be QB2 behind Kirk Cousins to start the 2026 NFL season. Against the Niners’ defense, […] The post Maxx Crosby Receives Strong Words After Raiders Lose to 49ers appeared first on HEAVY.

Aug 28 • 3:19 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Department experiments with adding ‘like’ button into radiology reporting workflows

Diagnostic radiologists rarely receive routine feedback from referring clinicians on the quality and value of their work, likely contributing to burnout and poor job satisfaction, experts write.

Aug 28 • 2:13 AM EDT • Business • radiologybusiness.com

The new Miss USA is Miss Virginia Justus Kelley

Miss Virginia Justus Kelley was crowned the new Miss USA in Miami on Thursday. She will represent the US at the Miss Universe pageant in November.

Aug 27 • 11:19 PM EDT • Business • businessinsider.com

The Literacy Crisis Reaches Dog-Bear Science

“New analysis of more than 300 bear encounters suggests our canine companions often increase odds of conflict and rarely serve as early warning systems many recreationists assume,” reads a subhead in Mountain Journal. The thing is, that study reaches no such conclusion. But you have to read beyond the abstract to understand that. Mountain Journal is not alone. Let’s look at a brief list of takeaways published elsewhere just to establish that none of them seem to know how to read science. Wes Siler’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe Here’s CBC: “A new peer-reviewed study, The Canine Conundrum: Is a Dog a Help or Hindrance in Bear Country?, dug into conflicts similar to what the video depicts, by analyzing 326 reported human-bear conflicts from 1901 to 2023 involving dogs.” “The study found 54 per cent of conflicts were started by dogs. In the encounters researchers included in the study, five people and 56 dogs were killed, and 170 people were injured.” “Lana Ciarniello, an independent researcher who co-authored the study, said researchers found when a person goes hiking with at least one other person, the odds of a negative bear encounter decrease by 50 per cent.” “However, when a dog is involved, the chances of a negative bear encounter increase because ‘a dog really adds a chaotic factor into the mix of recreation,’ said Ciarniello.” Again, the study finds no data supporting that conclusion. “Hiking with your pet dog may make you feel safer in bear country—but a hiker’s recent encounter and a new study prove that the numbers don’t add up,” writes Backpacker, which is now part of Outside. The numbers don’t add up to support this take. There’s plenty more examples, but all are equally dumb, so I’ll stop there. How did so many people get this so wrong? Three reasons: 1) the study is published behind a paywall, with only the abstract freely available. 2) the methodology sets out to create work relevant to a hyper-specific audience, not the public. And 3) the dataset studied is almost absurdly limited and doesn’t bear (get it?!) comparison to wider information. Let’s work through all three. The Problem is Money I understand the irony, since I’m writing about this on a subscription-model newsletter, but information wants to be free. The study is published by The Wildlife Society and costs $16 to access. Reprinting it is specifically prohibited by the terms of use, so I can only share snippets and my conclusions with you here. Having worked as a journalist for 24 years, I can report with some authority that journalists are both lazy and cheap. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that much of the material you’re seeing written about this study is drawn from the freely-available abstract (above) only, and not a deep dive into its methodology or data. And that’s a problem, because abstracts are where researchers are able to break from their numbers and editorialize their opinions about conclusions. So what’s getting reported isn’t based on numbers, it’s based on an opinion designed for a specific audience, not the general public. Hell yeah ladies, kick that bear’s ass. The Methodology is Designed to Support a Predetermined Conclusion One of the biggest issues with the science that everyone likes to cite about bear spray’s efficacy is that no one understands that study was designed for a specific audience, looking for a specific answer. And since that audience is not the public, and our safety was not the question being asked, its conclusion is rendered irrelevant to our needs. Yes, I’m talking about Efficacy of Bear Deterrent Spray in Alaska, which was created by Tom Smith and Stephen Herrero, two of the same scientists who put together this dog-bear conflict analysis. In the spray study, the purpose was to present relevant agencies with the information they needed to issue their field workers with bear spray. As such, incidents where people were unable to access the spray or similarly failed to get it deployed in time were excluded from the results, and only incidents they deemed successful were included. Could a ranger roll down their vehicle’s window and scare a bear away from a dumpster by spraying it? Turns out the answer was yes, and that was good enough for the purposes of that study. The sample size of actual bear attacks—the thing you and I would want bear spray to provide a solution to, was too small to draw conclusions from, and didn’t indicate success in that role. Is a Dog a Help or Hindrance in Bear Country? has similar limitations. “Insights provided here are intended to help wildlife managers create effective guidelines regarding the presence of domestic dogs in bear habitat,” is explained clearly by the study’s text. To conduct the study, Smith and Herrero went looking for publicly available reports of dog-bear conflicts: “All incidents included in our analysis involved at least one bear, one dog, and one person who was at immediate risk of injury (e.g., not in a protective structure such as a cabin or vehicle), injured, or killed,” explains the report’s methodology. Why is that a problem? “We recognize that data used in this study are biased in that people generally only report adverse interactions with bears, not benign ones. Consequently, we assume that for the most part, people and their dogs pass through bear country without incident.” As was the problem with the bear spray study, people are drawing conclusions here from a study that was never intended to be relevant to the general public. The Smith-Herrero database famously excludes Alaska’s Defense of Life and Property records, which are elsewhere considered the largest and most authoritative source on human-bear conflict. The Dataset is Absurdly Limited A 2009 study conducted by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife estimates that each year there are at least 43,000 documented complaints of human-bear conflict across North America. Is a Dog a Help or Hindrance in Bear Country? Examined those reports for years ranging from 1901 to 2023, and only managed to find 326 such incidents that met the criteria explained above. Let’s do some quick math, poorly. 43,000 incidents x 122 years = 5,246,000 total incidents of documented human-bear conflict. Smith and Herrero were only able to find 326 incidents that met their criteria for dog+human+bear+risk or occurrence of injury. That means there’s a 0.006 percent chance that the study’s conclusion—that dogs make bear encounters more dangerous—even gets a chance of occurring. And remember, that’s only in documented conflicts. There’s no way to know how many people across North America run into a bear in any given year without any conflict, but it’s probably safe to assume that the total number is well in excess of 43,000. And, dig deeper into the study and you can find further restrictions that skew its conclusions even more. “While the people involved in these incidents did not report the level of training their dogs had received, it is our assumption that most were untrained companion dogs as opposed to well-trained bear dogs, such as Karelians and livestock guardian breeds that have proven to be significant aids in bear country,” the study’s methodology explains. And that’s a problem, because an ongoing study here in Montana is finding that the simple presence of a Kangal like our youngest dog Teddy can reduce visits to private property from grizzly bears by 87.8 percent. In addition to being a badass, Teddy is also a companion animal. And in my admittedly limited sample size of the three dogs currently present in our living room, she’s no more effective than her mutt brothers. Plenty of people own a dog capable of deterring bears, even if they didn’t set out to own a bear dog. The real purpose of this study appears to be a recommendation that leashes are mandated and recreationists pursue training in their deterrent of choice. But that doesn’t make for sensational headlines. Are There Any Real Takeaways Here? Let’s throw some numbers around, just to try and get our hands around what the larger picture might look like for bears and dogs here. The American Veterinary Medical Association estimates that 42.6 percent of American households own a dog. The Canadian Animal Health Institute says roughly 35 percent of households in Canuckistan own a dog. In an attempt to create the worst possible result for dogs, let’s run with that 35 percent number. And given that outdoorsy and rural people are more likely to both own a dog, and have bear encounters, let’s just make a giant assumption and apply that number to those 43,000 conflicts documented annually. If 35 percent of 43,000 human-bear encounters involve a dog, then we can assume that at least 15,050 dog-bear conflicts are occurring annually in North America. 15,050 x 122 = 1,836,100. Smith and Herrero were only able to find 326 incidents that met their human, dog, chance or occurrence of injury criteria across 122 years. And only 170 documented human injuries. So, with all the obvious caveats about these numbers in no way describing reality beyond narrow study parameters, what they actually found is that your risk of injury if your dog tangles with a bear is only 0.009 percent. I’ll take those odds next time I’m hiking my dogs in bear country. Top photo: “Superintendent Horace Albright, eating pancakes with bears, at Lake Lodge, Yellowstone National Park.” NPS. A journalist with more than two decades of experience working around the world, Wes Siler is here to cut through the outrage and disinformation to bring you the factual, insightful, actionable reporting you need to understand what’s going on. Upgrading to a paid subscription supports this reporting, and buys personal access to Wes, who will help you save money on gear, plan outdoor adventures, and prepare for real life, and who promises he’s less salty in real life than he sometimes comes across as on the Internet. Wes Siler’s Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Subscribe

Aug 27 • 6:47 PM EDT • Science • wessiler.substack.com

Nepal floods highlight increased risks of melting glaciers as Himalayas warm

The deadly flash flood in Nepal on Wednesday was likely caused by a huge chunk of a glacier that broke off and temporarily dammed a river, according to preliminary investigations by scientists.

Aug 27 • 5:43 PM EDT • Science • pbs.org

Rutgers Football 2026 Offensive Preview

Previewing the likely starters for the 2026 season.

Aug 27 • 5:07 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

CNN apologizes to Dolly Parton’s family after accidentally using photo of Las Vegas impersonator in death reporting

CNN has issued an apology to Dolly Parton’s family after the network made an ‘error’ in broadcasting a photo of a Las Vegas impersonator in a segment about the ‘Jolene’ singer’s death.

Aug 27 • 4:58 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com

Florida Governor Moves From Solid to Likely Republican

Florida has been a mirage for Democrats during the era of President Donald Trump. Some in the party hoped the Senate race could come online thanks to Alex Vindman’s massive fundraising hauls, but his loss to democratic socialist Angie Nixon effectively took that race off the table.

Aug 27 • 3:51 PM EDT • Politics • cookpolitical.com

Lake Lure business given eviction date as legal dispute with town continues

The owners of a Lake Lure business said they have received an eviction date amid an ongoing dispute with the town.

Aug 27 • 2:27 PM EDT • Business • wlos.com

Fed's Hammack tells Fox Business inflation likely to ease slowly

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack ​said Thursday the U.S. ‌central bank is unlikely to get price pressures back ​to target even by ​next year, in an interview ⁠that also saw her ​reiterate her belief a rate ​hike is needed to quell high inflation.

Aug 27 • 1:26 PM EDT • Business • reuters.com

Ex-Fox 2 reporter Kellie Rowe shares mental health update via TikTok

The reporter left the Southfield station earlier this month.

Aug 27 • 1:22 PM EDT • Health • detroitnews.com

Business Briefs: Aug. 28, 2026

UMassFive welcomes new community engagement pro HADLEY — UMassFive College Credit Union has hired Kelley Jewell as its community engagement coordinator. This newly created position reflects UMassFive’s continued investment in community engagement and expands the credit union’s ability to deliver financial wellness programs, strengthen community partnerships and support volunteer efforts throughout the Valley. In this […]

Aug 27 • 11:52 AM EDT • Business • recorder.com

‘Lanterns’ star likens Gotham connection to ‘finding out you’re a Disney princess’

‘Lanterns’ has a Gotham connection, which star Kelly Macdonald likens to ‘finding out you’re a Disney princess.’

Aug 27 • 9:30 AM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com

Is Germany benefitting yet from the crisis in US research?

Science|Business - Table.Media partnershipScience|Business has partnered with Table.Media, a leading source of news about higher education and research in Germany. Each week, we are publishing one of each other’s stories to give readers an even broader range of insight into R&D policy across Europe.Drawing over 500 participants, the German Academic International Network conference in San Francisco brings together researchers, universities, scientific organisations and policymakers in the US as part of an attempt to recruit international talent for Germany. It also serves as an annual barometer for the uncertainty triggered by the Trump administration’s science policies. As was the case last year, Germany’s political presence was unusually strong: federal lawmakers, nine state ministers of science and research, and federal research state secretary Marcus Pleyer all attended. Joybrato Mukherjee, president of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), has observed a marked shift at US universities a year after the Trump administration began sweeping interventions: the initial state of "shock and paralysis" has given way to a strategic approach to the situation. Universities are seeking new funding sources, mounting legal challenges against interventions and opening themselves up more to international collaborations, including with Germany, he said. Early-career international researchers with expiring visas are considered particularly vulnerable. Germany is benefiting from increased demand among this pool of young talent; the country’s 1,000 Minds Plus programme, designed in part to lure German academics back home, has already filled up around one-third of its capacity. Meanwhile, Markus Blume, Bavaria’s science minister and current chair of the federal Conference of Science Ministers, sees an "enormous outflow of talent from the US." An increasing number of international researchers want to leave. Applications to Canada have risen by 42% January, and those to Europe by 32%. Meanwhile, the number of people drawn to the US is plummeting. "In this context, Germany must position itself as a prime destination offering reliable conditions, institutional stability and academic freedom, including through smart collaborations," Blume told Table.Briefings.“Darkest hour”At the get-together in San Francisco, the former president of the US National Academy of Sciences, Marcia McNutt, highlighted the gravity of the situation on the ground in a keynote address. She described the present moment as the "darkest hour for the US scientific system." At the same time, she said that cooperation should be maintained, especially during a crisis. Established researchers in the US are less likely to leave. Ulrike Malmendier, a former member of the German Council of Economic Experts and an economist at Berkeley, explained why established researchers are not packing their bags and leaving the US in droves: working conditions and the concentration of talent at places like Berkeley and Stanford remain unparalleled. According to Peter-André Alt, managing director of the Wübben Foundation, which helps Germany attract international academics, political restrictions are not the only grievance voiced by US-based researchers. "There are evidently still many areas where, fortunately, unfettered research is possible," Alt told Table.Briefings. Instead, the primary complaint concerns the cost of living, which has "skyrocketed” to absurd levels. "Runaway inflation, like that currently seen in the US, is certainly no draw for young scientific talent,” he said. Return homeA growing number of early-career researchers from Germany appear to be considering a return home. Jörn Benzinger, who is responsible for recruiting early-career researchers from abroad at Ruhr University Bochum, reports numerous conversations with researchers who are taking a closer look at the German academic landscape."Germany has definitely moved more into the spotlight,” he said. States, university alliances and research organisations joined forces to recruit talent. Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and North Rhine-Westphalia were prominently represented, as were alliances such as the Berlin University Alliance and the University Alliance Ruhr. Benzinger sums up Germany’s approach with a new formula: "collaboration is the new competition." He notes that it is becoming increasingly difficult for individual universities to gain international visibility, while regional research ecosystems and collaborations are growing in importance. Afraid to leaveThe crisis in the US academic sector is also straining transatlantic research relations. Benzinger reports that some US-based researchers had to decline brief invitations to Germany because they could not be certain of being allowed to re-enter the US afterward.He considers the simple poaching of researchers to be the wrong approach; what is needed, he says, are "reliable offers and long-term partnerships."However, Green Party politician Ayşe Asar, who also attended the conference, sees a significant need for improvement, particularly regarding career paths in Germany.While lifetime professorships and academic freedom certainly make Germany attractive, young researchers also require predictable career paths, tenure-track positions and flatter hierarchies.

Aug 27 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencebusiness.net

Your dislike of eating bugs may be 9,000 years old

Ancient teeth and human DNA are revealing a surprising history of insect eating. Modern humans in northern Eurasia appear to have eaten insects only occasionally, while Neanderthals may have consumed them much more regularly. Populations near the tropics also retained genes that make insect exoskeletons easier to digest.

Aug 27 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencedaily.com

Greenland research institutions halt new US collaborations citing mistrust

Although US President Donald Trump still harbours ambitions to take over Greenland, for US researchers his actions seem to have had the opposite effect. Over the summer, Greenland’s two largest research institutions, the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources and the University of Greenland, both announced policies of not starting new research projects with US researchers.Both institutions cite a mistrust of the US as a motivation for the decision. At the University of Greenland, the change of policy has already led to the rejection of specific proposals for new collaborations, rector Mari Kleist told Science|Business. “The reason is the changed political situation between the US and Kalaallit Nunaat [Greenland], and the uncertainty that the American interest in Kalaallit Nunaat has created,” she said.For the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, a partially state-funded environmental research institution, the decision was also prompted by a lack of trust in US intentions. In a July interview with local broadcaster KNR, director Josephine Nymand cited concerns about data ownership, US “influence operatives” and social media monitoring of researchers entering the US.The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources has long collaborated with the US National Science Foundation (NSF). The policy change will not affect these existing partnerships but will apply to collaborations with new, “unknown” partners, Nymand said. At the University of Greenland, the policy is the same.The changes come amid proposals of severe cuts to the NSF, which would likely also see the US research presence in Greenland reduced. In spite of this, when asked about the Greenlandic policy change, the NSF remained optimistic of its continued presence in Greenland.“We are grateful to our partners in Greenland for their collaboration in advancing scientific knowledge and training the next generation of researchers. NSF remains committed to the long-term collaborations with Greenland that enable scientific research near communities and on Greenland’s ice sheet,” an NSF spokesperson told Science|Business.Fewer US researchers in GreenlandMost research published on Greenland is on natural science topics such as the cryosphere, ice dynamics, permafrost and climate change. In recent years, US researchers have been the most prolific publishers on Greenland.The US research presence in Greenland goes far beyond the capital of Nuuk, where the two research institutions are located. It includes the Pituffik Space Base in northwest Greenland, various projects in settlements and research stations along the coast, as well as research stations on the Greenland ice sheet itself.The largest of these sites, Summit Station, is located at the highest point of the Greenland ice sheet, about 3,200 metres above sea level, and since the 1980s it has been used for drilling cores out of the ice sheet. These ice cores provide valuable information on the global climate going back at least 100,000 years. About 30 kilometres from Summit Station, the Danish-led Greenland Ice-core Project (Grip), funded by the European Research Council, is also drilling ice cores. Although they initially competed, the relationship between the two research teams has “long been amiable,” Jørgen Peder Steffensen, a Danish researcher who has been part of Grip for more than 40 years, told Science|Business.However, since Trump took office in early 2025, Steffensen has noticed a reduction in US research in the country. “Several of our American partners did not make it into the field this year. Their field seasons were cancelled because they lacked the budget,” he said.He ascribed part of the reduction in US researchers to a renovation of Summit Station. “A very large share of NSF funding has gone into renewing the station. Money has been taken from research and allocated to rebuilding it,” he said.A report published in August by Arctic Hub confirms Steffensen's observations of fewer US researchers. It shows that US research publications on Greenland took a dip towards the end of the period spanning 2015 to 2024. In 2024, before Trump took office, the number of publications had fallen from an average of about 250 articles a year, to just 164, second behind Canada at 169.Data from the NSF logistics provider Battelle also shows a reduction in US research presence in Greenland in recent years. In 2023, Battelle counted 48 projects across 78 locations, but in 2025 that number had fallen to 40 projects across 38 locations. And while relations with US personnel in Greenland have remained strong, some tensions have arisen since Trump took office. “On a personal level, there is nothing. But it’s hanging in the air. It hangs unspoken,” Steffensen said.Cutting ties with US researchers entirely would come at a higher cost for the ice core researchers than the Nuuk-based institutions. To get cargo to and from their bases, both Grip and Summit Station rely on unique, ski-equipped Hercules LC-130 aircraft operated by the New York Air National Guard. Without these, maintaining a research base on the Greenland ice sheet would not be viable on current budgets, Steffensen said. “[If the Hercules planes were not available], we would have to think outside of the box. We would have to use smaller planes, and we would have to build a base closer to the coast. But staying in our current location would be too expensive and it would create a huge carbon footprint,” he said.Suspicious people in NuukIn her explanation of the severed US ties, Greenland Institute of Natural Resources director Josephine Nymand compared the decision to past situations when the institute had to cut ties with China and Russia, the latter due to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. And although the current situation is less severe, the comparison reflects the seriousness with which Nuuk sees the US threats. “From Greenland’s perspective, the US may not look so different from Russia right now: a much larger neighbouring power threatening to invade,” Lin Alexandra Mortensgaard, a researcher of international politics in the Arctic at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told Science|Business. “From a European perspective, it is not a comparable situation, because we are entangled with the US on all possible fronts and do not want to destroy more than is absolutely necessary. But from Greenland’s side, there may well be a need to send a clear signal to the US,” she went on. Suspicions have been fuelled by instances of Trump-affiliated people in Greenland trying to persuade Greenlandic citizens to support a US takeover. The most prolific among them is Tom Dans, a former venture capitalist and pecan farmer who was appointed by Trump as the chair of the United States Arctic Research Commission. Observers fear that he is now using research to achieve a US takeover.“Greenland is a small society with a small population, so when Americans with unclear affiliations wander around, trying to be good friends with people, and you don't know what they want, that creates mistrust. This probably played into the research institutions taking these drastic steps,” Mortensgaard said.Related articles:The US ‘golden age’ science strategy: what Europeans need to knowEU polar research melts into the backgroundAnchor Greenlanders in Arctic climate research, experts tell EU ahead of policy updateAnd although Greenland’s population is small at just 57,000, for Mortensgaard, it serves as a microcosm for the geopolitical situation as a whole: global powers fighting for their interests to the detriment of the common interest. Arctic research already suffered when collaborations with Russia broke down in 2022, she said, so a split with the US would be a serious hit to climate science.“The Arctic climate system does not respect borders or geopolitical divides. When collaboration across those lines suddenly becomes impossible, it is a huge problem for knowledge production,” she said. European alternatives?The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources is funded partly by research grants from external sources like the NSF. To replace the US funding, the institute will have to look for alternative revenue sources, and Nymand said that she is looking to Europe for those. Aside from Denmark, of which Greenland is formally a part, she also noted increased interest in research collaborations from the UK, France and Switzerland. Kleist of the University of Greenland told Science|Business that it was too early to say if the severed US ties would lead to more collaborations with Europe. Meanwhile, Mortensgaard believed that the tensions in Arctic research could well leave room for closer European partnerships, or stronger links with Canada. “I spoke to Canadian researchers who had long-standing relationships with American colleagues and who collaborated with the US Navy, but who had gotten worried that their data on sea ice could be used if Trump suddenly decided to follow through on his threats of invading,” she said. “Like Canada, I think Greenland is considering creating closer ties to Europe and I think European capitals will be open to this,” she said.

Aug 27 • 8:00 AM EDT • Science • sciencebusiness.net

Science Confirms 'Leisure Guilt' Is Real—and You're Likely Wasting Hours on It

A new study published in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin reveals that Americans spend a full 14 percent of their downtime worrying about productivity instead of resting.

Aug 27 • 5:00 AM EDT • Science • inc.com

Reason Revealed For Jonathan Kuminga Turning Down Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers received bad news of free agent Jonathan Kuminga picking the Minnesota Timberwolves over them. Kuminga was considered the top free agent left on the market with both teams trying to add him. The Lakers were considered 50% likely favorites to land Kuminga just a few days ago, but he decided the […] The post Reason Revealed For Jonathan Kuminga Turning Down Lakers appeared first on HEAVY.

Aug 26 • 11:06 PM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

Seoul National University of Science and Technology researchers explore how probabilistic analysis can help improve nuclear safety

Traditional approaches for designing primary coolant pipes in nuclear power plants consider highly unlikely, extreme scenarios. Estimating pipe rupture frequency is a more practical approach. In a new study, researchers investigated the pipe rupture frequency of coolant pipes using a probabilistic framework that accounts for material properties, degradation pathway, and even inspection performance, offering a risk-informed approach to design and evaluation.

Aug 26 • 8:00 PM EDT • Science • eurekalert.org

Brooklyn party chair defends, champions leadership changes to organization

The party will meet again in September for an organizational meeting.

Aug 26 • 7:21 PM EDT • Politics • ny1.com

Raquel Lee Bolleau reportedly reached settlement in 2015 with Mark Curry, who played her dad in Disney Channel movie

Raquel Lee Bolleau reportedly settled with former movie dad Mark Curry years before suing Disney on negligence in relation to alleged on-set sexual abuse.

Aug 26 • 6:24 PM EDT • Entertainment • ew.com

NFL, players agree to focus discipline on 5 health, safety fouls

Starting with the 2026 season, the NFL will focus discipline on on-field rules violations that are most likely to result in injuries to players.

Aug 26 • 4:36 PM EDT • Health • espn.com

New TAVR risk score could help predict poor functional outcomes among older patients

Predicting complications is one thing—the team behind this study hoped to anticipate when patients are more likely to see a minimal benefit from TAVR.

Aug 26 • 4:09 PM EDT • Business • cardiovascularbusiness.com

Niche CBA rule unlikely to impact Packers roster at cutdowns

Few players near the bubble would quality for termination benefit

Aug 26 • 11:30 AM EDT • Sports • sports.yahoo.com

How the Advanced Light Source Is Accelerating Our Quantum Future

For over 30 years, scientists at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source have played a vital role in the advancement of new materials for quantum computing, next-generation electronics, and other quantum technologies of the future.

Aug 26 • 11:00 AM EDT • Science • newscenter.lbl.gov

Boston Scientific hit by cyberattack causing ‘disruptions’ to parts of its business

This year has seen a growing number of medtechs hit by cyberattacks, and now Boston Scientific has become the latest victim. In an SEC filing posted Aug. 26, the medtech giant said it had detected a “cybersecurity incident” the day before. The incident has affected certain parts of its information technology systems, something that “has resulted in a global disruption to the company’s operations.” The incident has hit not just its information systems but also its business applications, which “support aspects of the Company’s operations,” it said in the filing. This includes its ability to process and ship customer orders. Boston Scientific said it is working to restore the systems, but the timeline remains unknown. Related Baylor Genetics hit by cybersecurity attack targeting patient, staff information As the company investigates the incident, it remains unclear how significantly its business will be affected. “Accordingly, the Company has not yet determined whether the incident is reasonably likely to have a material impact.” The company’s shares were down 3.5% in premarket trading as the news broke. This adds another layer of pressure for the medtech, which last month revealed a new global restructuring program that starts this year and is slated to be completed by 2029. The company said at the time that it “does expect some headcount reductions to result from these restructuring activities,” but did not provide any numbers or specify areas where the cuts may be made. It added, however, that new jobs are also set to be “created in areas of growth.” It was also forced to cut its sales guidance in Q2, saying in late July that it now expects full-year 2026 organic revenue growth of 5% to 6%, down from its previous guidance of 6.5% to 8%. Boston Scientific is one of a growing number of life sciences companies, notably medtechs, that have been hit by cyberattacks this year. These include Abbott, iRhythm, Medtronic and Stryker, as well as Big Pharmas Amgen and Novo Nordisk.

Aug 26 • 7:26 AM EDT • Business • fiercebiotech.com

Brazil vote offers opposing politics, similar fiscal outcomes

Brazil’s October election offers voters yet another stark left-versus-right choice, but investors see less difference on the fiscal front with debt likely to ‌keep rising under either candidate.

Aug 26 • 5:03 AM EDT • Politics • reuters.com