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3 Zodiac Signs Enter An Exceptionally Powerful New Era During The Waxing Crescent Moon On September 12
Three zodiac signs enter an exceptionally powerful era on September 12, 2026, during the Waxing Crescent Moon in Libra. They are: Cancer, Virgo, and Sagittarius.
NASA Boosts Open Science, Data Sharing with Artemis Accords
The science from every Moon rock sample, lunar dataset, and discovery produced through NASA’s Artemis program will be shared by the agency with the global
China AI labs routed requests to Claude 35 million times: Anthropic
Anthropic said Alibaba, Moonshot, Zhipu, DeepSeek, and Xiaomi all tried to use Claude to train their models in various ways.
IBM and NASA Release Open-Source AI Model to Support Lunar Exploration
YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y., Sept. 10, 2026 — IBM and NASA today announced the open-source release of the NASA‑IBM Lunar Foundation Model, one of the first publicly available foundation models for scientific exploration of the Moon, now available. Trained on an extensive lunar observation dataset curated by IBM and NASA researchers, the model can help scientists […]
Scientists May Have Cracked the Mystery of the Moon’s Unequal Hemispheres
Chang’e-6 samples suggest the Moon’s two very different sides may have formed when uneven heating drove magma from one hemisphere to the other. The Moon presents two dramatically different faces. Its Earth-facing hemisphere is rich in dark volcanic plains, while the farside is dominated by older highlands and a much thicker crust. New analyses of
IBM, NASA launch AI model to help map ice, craters on Moon
IBM and NASA on Thursday released an open-source AI model designed to help scientists analyze decades of lunar observation data and support plans for a sustained human presence on the Moon.
SETI Resurrects Decades-Old Concept: Searching Through The Lunar Soil For Signs Of Galactic Aliens
According to the paper, we may not be the only species to have left signs of technology on the Moon.
Moon's surface will be mapped in incredible detail using first-of-its-kind AI, NASA and IBM reveal
IBM and NASA have partnered to create the Lunar Foundation Model, a new AI capable of processing decades of lunar data so we can more accurately map the moon's surface.
NASA, IBM Launch AI Foundation Model for Lunar Science
NASA is bringing artificial intelligence to the study of the Moon, helping researchers transform how they analyze the Moon’s surface. In an ongoing
Public market in Newton provides space for entrepreneurs
Jerry Schwaller has an office across the way from the old Montgomery Ward building that sat vacant for years in downtown Newton. He saw the building and all its potential and started dreaming. Inspiration struck when he and his wife were walking through the Newton farmers market on a Tuesday afternoon. He recalls saying to his…
Tri-State Rodeo celebrates 78 years with musical talent and bull-riding entertainment
This year’s rodeo event has new additions to its event list like musical performances from artists like Niko Moon Wednesday night, following the Jim Baier Chute Out.
Tri-State Rodeo celebrates 78 years with musical talent and bull-riding entertainment
This year’s rodeo event has new additions to its event list like musical performances from artists like Niko Moon Wednesday night, following the Jim Baier Chute Out.
Tri-State Rodeo celebrates 78 years with musical talent and bull-riding entertainment
This year’s rodeo event has new additions to its event list like musical performances from artists like Niko Moon Wednesday night, following the Jim Baier Chute Out.
The moon may have formed in just 5 hours, new simulations suggest
Novel simulations, which reassessed the ancient collision between Earth and the protoplanet Theia, suggest that the moon could have emerged from the aftermath of this impact much more quickly than scientists previously thought.
Cardinal Mooney graduate earns college football honor
The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference made the announcement on Tuesday.
DMTC gets mysterious and spooky
Whether it’s new love, enduring love, misunderstood love, or even love for the moon, it seems that every kind of love has a place in “The Addams Family.”
Astronaut Health, Lunar and Earth Photography Fill Crew’s Research Schedule
Exploring astronaut health and photographing the Moon and Earth topped the research schedule for the Expedition 75 crew aboard the International Space Station on Tuesday. The orbital residents also kept up life support maintenance following the departure of cargo spacecraft the day before.
Scientists Are Still Trying To Understand How the Moon Formed
The Earth and the Moon have nearly identical isotopic compositions, and the Giant Impact Hypothesis strives to explain this. New research into the ancient impact shows how the temperature of both worlds, and how it affects the strength of the materials involved in the collision, shaped the outcome, including the isotopic compositions.
From California to the Moon: Daniel Rivers and Sally Ashton Explore the Intersections of Art and Science NewsCenter | SJSU
Two new books from San José State faculty take on that question through explorations of environmental justice, space, California history and the possibilities of more just futures.
Six decades of politics (but little government)
The first aired episode of “Star Trek,” entitled “The Man Trap,” premiered on September 8, 1966 — 60 years ago today. I’m actually editing a political science fiction issue of The Forum right now, and it’s prompted to me think a lot about the ways that Trek deals with politics and government and what it’s offered us as commentary. The @smotus report is a reader-supported publication. To support this work, please become a paid subscriber. Subscribe The original TV series ran from 1966 to 1969. It had a loyal but modest following, but the audience grew substantially with the series in syndication for years after that. The franchise developed its first motion picture in 1979, followed by five sequels, and then a whole other series of films built around the “Next Generation” series that first aired in 1987. In recent decades, several more TV series have built up around it, including the current “Strange New Worlds,” now in its fourth season. Throughout the past six decades, the franchise has offered us a good many insights into US politics and international relations, although often disguised as science fiction yarns. The original series was largely a Cold War fable, with the United Federation of Planets (a stand-in for the US) perpetually at odds with the Klingon Empire (a stand-in for the USSR). The “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” episode (1969) posited a planet divided into two races, largely indistinguishable to outsiders, but nonetheless constituting a brutal racial hierarchy. “Patterns of Force” (1968) showed a struggling planet where the leader had attempted to construct a benevolent dictatorship — literally Nazism without bigotry — and found that authoritarianism could not exist apart from hierarchy and oppression. (Relatedly, I’d put “Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country,” high on a list of dad films about the end of the Cold War, near “The Hunt for Red October.”) Get 20% off for 1 year Indeed, the original series itself was something of a political statement, with a multi-racial crew running the Enterprise, a diverse and largely peaceful Federation mostly free from want and oppression, and protected by Starfleet, an armed force whose scientific mission was at least as important as its military one. Famously, when Nichelle Nichols wanted to walk away from the role of Uhura on the original series, none other than Martin Luther King, Jr. met with her and urged her to remain on the show, discussing the importance of viewers seeing an intelligent Black woman as part of the command team three centuries hence. Later series in the Trek franchise offered a good deal of political commentary on their own, but probably none as explicitly and incisively as “Deep Space Nine,” which ran from 1993 to 1999. The episodes surrounding the Dominion War, especially the “In The Pale Moonlight” (1998), showed the compromises, sacrifices, and moral rot associated with winning even a just war — probably better than any series would until “Andor” (2022-25). In “Far Beyond The Stars” (1998), Captain Benjamin Sisko is somehow transplanted to the role of a science fiction writer in 1950s New York. The writer is frequently sidelined and his ideas stolen because publishers don’t want to credit a Black writer. Several series have depicted the secretive Section 31 — an unacknowledged black ops security force operating within Starfleet. These episodes often end up using Section 31 as a foil to show the dangers of a lawless group within a lawful society, even (especially) when that group posits itself as essential for everyone else’s freedom to continue. The current “Strange New Worlds” has played with a few political themes. I found the first two seasons of this show among the best that the Trek franchise has produced in decades, but this season and the last have really been struggling for ideas. Yet one interesting thread is the idea that the diplomatic and enlightened leadership style of Captain Christopher Pike will not work in all situations. “A Quality of Mercy” (2022), which I wrote about here, puts Pike in the middle of a battle with a Romulan vessel in an alternate timeline, and finds that Pike’s conciliatory style would actually make a lengthy and deadly war more likely, while a quick and more violent approach might have prevented the war. This season’s opener, “Valles Marineris,” shows a pre-lightspeed civilization locked in a war to the death with a neighboring planet. The idea of an alliance or a federation hasn’t even occurred to them — their ship’s commander is curious but doesn’t see it as an option. For a franchise as political as “Star Trek,” one thing we almost never see is the government. We get occasional glimpses of Starfleet’s council — mostly uniformed people at a rectangular table — but almost no sense of how the Federation is governed. Are there elections? Who is in the legislature? How much power does the president have? What kind of factional divisions do they wrestle with and how? The shows and films are pretty silent on this. We’ve seen a few military tribunals within Starfleet, but little about how civilians deal with crime and injustice. With recent years seeing some of the franchise’s more interesting plot lines and casts, it seems clear that Star Trek is still full of energy and ideas. Given the erosion of American democracy and the reshuffling of the international order, there’s no shortage of material for future shows to comment on. I’m not sure we should toast to 60 more years, but cheers to a show that continues to teach us about ourselves. Share
San Antonio scientists cast doubt on their own discovery of water erupting from distant moon
In 2014, San Antonio astronomers thought they detected giant water plumes erupting from a distant moon. Now they’re not so sure.
Murray thrilled with Barrow double signing
Barrow manager Adam Murray is thrilled with the captures of on-loan striker Mikey Lane and attacking midfielder Dan Mooney.
Country music star reveals she is pregnant at 42: ‘Honeymoon souvenir’
She shared the news on social media.
Mercury Isn’t What Scientists Thought: New Study Reveals a Surprisingly Different Surface
From tiny glass beads and a map of the Moon to Mercury, a new study uses an indirect method to determine the silicon dioxide content of Mercury’s surface. Mercury’s surface appears to contain substantially less silicon dioxide than researchers previously estimated. A new analysis puts the compound at about 37 percent by mass, up to
War on Earth could spill over to the moon, Chinese space scientists warn
Study models how geopolitical tension could extend into orbit with rival spacecraft dogfighting, evading each other or blocking strategic routes.
Is There Alien Debris on the Moon? Some Scientists Plan to Find Out.
Researchers want to explore the idea that microscopic particles shed by alien civilizations have accumulated on the lunar surface, making it an archive of extraterrestrial technology.
“Big Brother” host Julie Chen Moonves weighs in on Rick Devens’ big gamble (exclusive)
The Chenbot also reacts to the latest eviction, gives her take on Dee’s game, and more.
‘Big Brother’ host Julie Chen Moonves weighs in on Rick Devens’ big gamble (exclusive)
‘Big Brother’ host Julie Chen Moonves weighs in on Devens’ big gamble, reacts to the latest eviction, gives her take on Dee’s game, and more.
Moon economy: The race to build a business beyond Earth
In our second race back to the moon, NASA isn't just trying to plant an American flag, and it's not going at it alone.
Moon economy: The race to build a business beyond Earth
In our second race back to the moon, NASA isn't just trying to plant an American flag, and it's not going at it alone.
Moon economy: The race to build a business beyond Earth
In our second race back to the moon, NASA isn't just trying to plant an American flag, and it's not going at it alone.
University of Arizona lunar scientists building upcoming moon missions
They are designing experiments to be carried aboard unmanned commercial landers and rovers.
Moon economy: The race to build a business beyond Earth
In our second race back to the moon, NASA isn't just trying to plant an American flag, and it's not going at it alone.
Venus May Once Have Suffered A "Moon-Forming" Impact, But The Resulting Satellite Wouldn't Have Stuck Around For Long
It seems a large companion is difficult for a planet that size and distance from the Sun to hold on to, which might be bad news for life on Venus-like exoplanets.
Jennifer Aniston’s boyfriend Jim Curtis reveals how the couple resolves fights in the ‘honeymoon phase’ stage
Jennifer Aniston’s boyfriend, hypnotherapist Jim Curtis, is revealing how the couple resolves conflicts while navigating the ‘honeymoon phase’ of their relationship.
Scientists Filmed an Alien-Looking Fish Moonwalking Across The Seafloor
Backward is just forward in reverse.
Scientists Filmed an Alien-Looking Fish Moonwalking Across The Seafloor
Backward is just forward in reverse.
Science 4 Everyone: What are the lunar phases and why do they happen?
How fast does the moon orbit around the Earth? Storm Team4 meteorologist and science teacher Ryan Miller explains the lunar phases.
MoonPie Over Mobile set to announce entertainment for New Year’s Eve
And the Facebook post says the announcement will be made live during the Mobile City Council meeting at Government Plaza.
Space News: NASA Johnson pilots chase Moon’s shadow for eclipse science
During the Aug. 12 total solar eclipse over Europe, scientists aimed to study a long-standing mystery: why the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona, is far hotter than its visible surface. Capturing the data they needed meant being in exactly the right place at the right time.
Artemis II astronauts receive nation's highest space honor for their successful moonshot
Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Jeremy Hansen received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor
APSU’s Science on Tap to open fall season with trip to Moon
Austin Peay State University’s College of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics will host its first Science on Tap of the fall semester.
Tom Hardy’s debut rap album has officially dropped — and yes, he does the Bane voice
The “MobLand” actor moonlights as a rapper under the name Frankie Pulitzer.
‘Big Brother’ host Julie Chen Moonves reveals the former houseguest she wanted back (exclusive)
Speaking exclusively to Entertainment Weekly, ‘Big Brother’ host Julie Chen Moonves reveals the former houseguest she wanted back via a power, and how the new twist will take the game to a ‘Whole. New. Level.’
Lunar Eclipse Thursday Night: The Science Behind the Blood Moon and How to See It
Tonight, a little after 11 PM, our moon will look a little different. A partial lunar eclipse is coming on Thursday night, August 27, 2026. The moon will begin
NASA Johnson pilots chase moon's shadow for eclipse science
During the Aug. 12 total solar eclipse over Europe, scientists aimed to study a long-standing mystery: why the sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, is far hotter than its visible surface. Capturing the ...
NASA Johnson Pilots Chase Moon’s Shadow for Eclipse Science
Pilots from NASA’s Johnson Space Center flew the WB-57F high altitude research aircraft from Ellington Field in
Sonoma County breaks ground on new behavioral health facility for teens, young adults
Sonoma County crews were beginning work this week on a new mental health and substance use disorder facility for local youth, advancing a project meant to reduce reliance on out-of-county facilities.
Longines Improves Its Classic, Complicated Chronograph. It's Still an Absurd Bargain
Longines continues its Master Collection overhaul with an update to the line's most iconic watch, the Moonphase Chronograph.
Rare red northern lights may be visible alongside red moon during tomorrow night's partial lunar eclipse
Moderate G1 and G2 geomagnetic storms are forecast during the Aug. 27-28 partial lunar eclipse, with the northern lights potentially visible across several northern U.S. states and parts of Canada alongside the reddened full moon.
Microbes might get freeze-dried on the moon’s south pole
Artemis IV will put people on the moon’s surface for the first time in 50 years. NASA research reveals the microbes that might hitch a ride.
Scientists Stunned: “Earth Life” Could Be Hiding in Unexpected Lunar Regions - Futura-Sciences
Earth Life on the Moon: Not Just a Sci-Fi Dream Once upon a time, up until the twentieth century, science-fiction authors loved to imagine the Moon as a cosmic neighbor bustling with extraterrestrial life. Fast forward a few decades, and our Moon lost its spot as top alien hangout to...
Ritual solstice structure 1,000 years older than Stonehenge unearthed in Czech Republic
Archaeologists have discovered a prehistoric ritual structure oriented to the sun and moon in the Czech Republic.
Omega Just Released a Mini Moonwatch
Say hello to a revamped collection of perfectly proportioned 38-mm Speedmasters.
Introducing: A New Generation Of The Omega Speedmaster 38 MM
Seven new models bid farewell to oval subdials on the path to more classic Moonwatch styling.
Perseverance Captures Another Phobos Transit
NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture the silhouette of Phobos, one of the two Martian moons, as it crossed in front of the Sun
Barany in the garden: Gardening by the moon: Ancient tradition meets modern science
Can the moon really influence what happens in your garden? Researchers have put the long-held belief to the test.
Apollo 15 astronauts collected tiny green glass beads from the Moon in 1971; more than 35 years later scientists found evidence of water inside, changing what we knew about the lunar interior
In 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin noticed something unusual on the Moon: tiny green flecks scattered across the otherwise grey surface. They collected samples and brought them back to Earth, unaware that the material would decades later challenge a long-held belief about the Moon.
NASA’s nuclear Dragonfly copter to search for signs of life on Titan: 'A lot's riding on it'
As the agency pivots to putting astronauts on the moon, this $3-billion space-copter is the agency’s last large-scale mission to explore the solar system.
11 stunning images celebrating Earth’s life—and the scientists who study it
From tree bark to cuttlefish to researching by moonlight, the world of science is very cool.
The Duskbloods gameplay leaks ahead of tomorrow's closed beta, showing tense PvPbattles with guns, wolves, and velociraptors
The final battle between players in a match of The Duskbloods has been leaked early.
I quit my £80,000 job to make ice cream
The co-founder of Little Moons shares her advice for anyone thinking about starting a business of their own.
Train to headline Harrisonburg concert in October
Platinum-selling and Grammy-winning rock group Train is coming to Harrisonburg, headlining a concert at the Atlantic Union Bank Center on Oct. 2 with opening act Moon Taxi. The concert at
NASA shares first images of SpaceX moon crash site
The Falcon 9 upper stage created a 60-foot-wide crater on the moon on August 5.
Human-Related Microbes May Survive Moon’s South Pole, NASA Finds
Some of Earth’s microbes likely to hitch a ride to space with human explorers could survive in the shaded nooks and crannies of the Moon’s South Pole region, NASA scientists say.
Yes, the Pixelsnap magnets on Pixel 11 are stronger this year
Pixelsnap is one of the best things added to Pixel phones in a number of years, but it wasn’t quite...
FAW chief calls for Infantino to step down
Football Association of Wales chief executive Noel Mooney says Fifa president Gianni Infantino should step down.
Menasha small businesses share plans after buildings damaged or destroyed by tornado
Scientists led by UCLA found that permanently shaded parts of pits on the Moon stay near a constant 17°C while the exposed surface swings between 127°C and −173°C — meaning humanity's first permanent lunar address may be underground.
LRO thermal data and UCLA-led modelling show why permanent shade in certain lunar pits can remain near 17°C, while cave habitability still depends on access, structure, air and power.
NASA funds spherical 'Aerobots' that could explore the caves of Saturn's moon Titan
The robots' designer says SPARK Aerobots have a good chance of doing well on Titan with their novel ion thrusters.
Radiation vest tested on NASA moonshot can quell effects of solar storms, study suggests
A new study suggests a protective vest tested on a manikin during NASA's first Artemis moonshot could slash the radiation exposure of lunar astronauts during severe solar storms.
Large-Scale Pokémon Eviction Looms With Pokémon Bank Server Shutdown
After the Nintendo 3DS handheld console saw most its online services including the online store (eShop) taken offline not too long ago, it was only a matter of time before the demise of even the re…
Politics Unusual: Mamdani's 'honeymoon' period with NYC, horse carriages in Central Park
In this episode of Politics Unusual, FOX 5 NY's political reporter Morgan McKay speaks to Chris Sommerfeldt, POLITICO's City Hall reporter, and Ben Max, the host of "Max Politics," about whether Mayor Mamdani's "honeymoon period" with New York City has come to an end. Also, a conversation with TWU International President John Samuelsen about potentially banning horse carriages in Central Park.
Netflix plans to close two gaming studios, including one in Hollywood
Netflix said has closed Hollywood-based Night School and plans to close Helsinki-based Moonloot.
‘Big Brother’ host Julie Chen Moonves reacts to Chuk refusing to hug LaLa (exclusive)
‘Big Brother’ host Julie Chen Moonves reacts to Chuk refusing to hug LaLa, Angela cursing out Haley, and if Barrett is too loyal to Dee.
Scientists hope to shed light on young universe by using dark side of the moon
UK team seeking to put suitcase-sized satellite in orbit around moon in search for 21cm line radio frequency signal
A Sunflower’s View of Totality
The Moon slid between the Sun and Earth to produce a stunning celestial show visible from Spain in August 2026.
Neptune’s tiny moons may be the wreckage of shattered ancient worlds
JWST has uncovered surprising clues that Neptune’s strange inner moons may be the wreckage of an ancient cosmic catastrophe. Researchers detected clay-like minerals on Larissa, Galatea, and Neptune’s rings that form in the presence of liquid water—yet the moons themselves show no obvious water ice. The material likely came from deep inside much larger icy moons that were shattered when Triton was captured by Neptune, destroying much of the planet’s original satellite system.
Netflix Closes 'Unhinged' Video Game Studio Night School, Moonloot
Netflix is shutting down two studios, including the developer behind horror game, "Unhinged," which released less than two months ago.
Netflix is shutting down Oxenfree studio Night School, six weeks after its last game was released
It also plans to shut down Finnish studio Moonloot…
BREAKING: Netflix to shut down two more game studios
Netflix is sticking with video games but once again reducing the number of studios it owns making games. The streaming giant is closing Los Angeles-based Night School studio, which it acquired in 2021 and plans to close Helsinki-based Moonloot, which was founded in 2022. Just six weeks ago, Night School had released Unhinged, a novel 30-minute first-person horror game, streamable on TVs to Netflix users. The game was hailed by Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters in a call with investors. Six weeks later, Night School is closing. Prior to its Netflix tenure, Night School had developed the award-winning supernatural thriller Oxenfree. A second Oxenfree game followed after the purchase, as well as a mobile game designed to tie in to an episode of the Netflix show Black Mirror. Netflix attributed the studio closures to a prioritization around kids gaming, party games, story-driven fare and games with mainstream hooks, such as a recently released FIFA game. “We see an opportunity to be more focused in our execution, so we are making organizational changes to the business to match those priorities,” a Netflix spokesperson told Game File. Netflix is also cutting jobs from its internal games team. A rep declined to say how many jobs were being lost by these cutbacks. “We are incredibly grateful to the talented colleagues we’re saying goodbye to today. We thank them for all their contributions to Netflix, and wish them the best,” the rep said. Netflix started releasing video games, initially on mobile as a free bonus to subscribers, in 2021. By 2023, Mike Verdu, then the head of Netflix’s game operations, was telling me that the company was committed to growing carefully, as it offered more games and built up internal game studios. At the time, it hadn’t made any gaming job cuts. Since then, Netflix has altered its approach. In 2024, it shut down Team Blue, a start-up studio led by ex-Call of Duty and Halo developers that was exploring making a high-end first-person game for the service. Last October, Netflix shut down another studio, Boss Fight, shortly after Peters praised the team’s Squid Game game to investors. (One of Boss Fight’s main developers now works on the Netflix FIFA game for outside studio Delphi.) And in December, Netflix sold cozy game studio Spry Fox back to its founders. Amid all of this, Netflix has shifted from emphasizing mobile games to offering games through TVs and PCs, via streamed connections, with phones used as controllers. That’s how Night School’s Unhinged worked, along with games such as Boggle and Party Crashers that have collectively helped the Netflix game controller app chart well on mobile app stores. The studio cuts leave Netflix with a central gaming team that works with external developers, and a dedicated first party studio in, Helsinki-based Next Games, which produced many of the company’s couch-centric party games. The move away from having a roster of internal game studios aligns with Netflix’s own approach to shows and movies, which are largely produced externally. The company owns few TV/film production studios of its own. The gaming industry overall is seeing large holders of multiple studios cut back, with Sony, Ubisoft, Embracer, Microsoft and other giants closing or selling off studios. Cuts in California-based studios, where costs often run relatively high, have been particularly acute. Netflix has faced skepticism about its gaming plans for years. The moves today are likely to fuel them, and the company has few upcoming projects to counter the narrative. Among the few hinted, acclaimed independent studio Don’t Nod said last year it was working on a game tied to a major Netflix franchise.
Rockwood Summit science teacher Sarah Moonier earns Regional Teacher of the Year honor
Rockwood Summit High School science teacher Sarah Moonier has been named as one of 10 educators in the St. Louis region selected for Missouri Regional Teacher of the Year.
Business Law Section’s AI Task Force helps lawyers navigate a rapidly changing landscape
Business lawyers know artificial intelligence is changing how businesses operate, how lawyers serve clients, how law firms structure their practices, and how courts approach emerging legal questions, and they want to be able to lead their clients and practices in this changing environment, says James Moon, chair of the Business Law Section’s AI Task Force....
NASA Completes Astronaut-Deployed Science Instrument for Lunar Surface
NASA has declared “wrenches down” on the first completed payload designed for Artemis astronauts to deploy on the Moon's surface. Engineers working on NASA’s
The Perseids Meteor Shower Is Peaking. Here’s How to Watch.
The Perseids will be most active on Wednesday into Thursday morning, on the moonless night after a total solar eclipse.
Saber's newest game trailer takes a shot at Gearbox's CEO, if you look closely
The first hint that something might be up with the recent debut trailer for Saber Interactive’s Rideshare Stimulator is an unusual choice of words—aside from that second one in the game’s title. “Don’t take your passengers too seriously,” the trailer’s narrator says, as he describes this upcoming game. It a car game about the gig work of driving eccentric people to their destinations, a riff on Crazy Taxi. And then, he says: “When I think I’ve met the randiest of passengers, someone even stranger gets in.” “Randiest”? That suggests “randy,” which usually means having strong sexual desire. Yet none of the oddball backseat occupants featured in the trailer seem particularly lustful. One is an old man who considers his grandson a failure, another shares the theory that birds might control traffic lights, another says he’s banned from an aquarium. A little later, there’s a license plate, shown 63 seconds into the trailer, on the front of an SUV: USB DRV It’s a Texas plate. The symbol between those letters is a cog wheel. If you know, you know. That’s a reference to Texas-based Borderlands game development studio Gearbox Software (their logo features a cog wheel). More specifically, it’s a reference to Gearbox’s CEO Randy Pitchford, who in 2018 found himself explaining the nature of video he’d saved on a USB drive that was found at a Medieval Times restaurant before being returned to the studio: “It was ‘barely legal’ porn. This girl’s handle was ‘Only 18.’” The “girl” in the video had committed a solo sex act that Pitchford, an avid practitioner of magic, found remarkable. “I realized, this is not a sex worker…This is a fucking magician.” Back then, the USB drive was central to competing lawsuits against Gearbox by the studio’s former lawyer and by Gearbox against him. A settlement in late 2019 “exonerated” Pitchford, per the Hollywood Reporter. The USB story has resurfaced at times, now in a trailer from a company that not long ago was corporate brethren with Gearbox. Saber vs. Gearbox The head of Saber told Game File that the reference is payback. “The dig is because Randy took shots at Embracer in Borderlands 4,” Saber CEO Matt Karch told me when I asked him about the license plate. “Without Embracer, Randy is performing magic tricks at birthday parties for a living.” Having interviewed Karch during a cross-country flight in late 2024, I can confirm that Karch was unimpressed with Pitchford during their time both working in the Embracer group. I’d approached him not out of surprise that there was animosity but that it was manifesting publicly now. Gearbox was founded in 1999, worked on a port of Halo early on, and developed hit series such as the loot-based sci-fi shooter Borderlands before it was purchased by The Embracer Group in early 2021 for $363 million (with a possible earn-out of over $1 billion, if certain targets were hit by 2027). Saber was founded in 2001, worked on a remaster of Halo early on, had a big hit with zombie shooter World War Z and was purchased by Embracer in early 2020 for $150 million, with a potential earn-out of up to $375 million. For a few years, the Embracer group was a voracious acquirer of game studios. Then, as investment dried up, it choked. In March 2024, Embracer sold Saber to an investment company controlled by Saber CEO Matt Karch, and it sold Gearbox in an all-stock deal to long-time Borderlands publisher Take Two Interactive. Other studios were shut down. Hundreds of developers were laid off. Gearbox didn’t say much about their Embracer experience, nothing too direct, at least. In the summer 2024, Pitchford told reporter and occasional Game File contributor Nicole Carpenter that Borderlands 4’s story was in some way thematically connected to Gearbox’s experience at Embracer: “There’s this cultural and emotional shift in me, personally, and at the studio. What does it mean to trade some autonomy for organization?” When Borderlands 4 came out, there was something stranger: the matter of “Embracer’s Bluff,” a location in the game featuring an AI-powered toilet and a large trash dump, according to a detailed Kotaku account of the place. Gearbox never commented on it; Take Two never got back to me about it when I asked them last year. By contrast, since Saber exited Embracer, Karch has been one of Embracer’s biggest defenders, casting their management as well-meaning and supportive despite the layoffs and studio closures that resulted from their excessive expansion. Like others, Saber’s Karch saw Embracer’s as a shot. With Rideshare Stimulator’s trailer, he’s returned fire. “It’s amazing to me how fast people forget those who went above and beyond for them,” Karch told Game File. A rep for Gearbox did not comment by press time. Game File is a reader-supported publication. Your backing makes my reporting—including any coverage of trailer-based beefs—possible. Good news! I’m currently running Game File’s first big sale of 2026. You can get a one-year subscription for 23% off. Click here to take advantage of the limited-time offer. And thank you for your support! Item 2: In brief… 🚫 Wal-Mart has laid off the staff of Restart, a games media outlet launched in 2024, Aftermath reports. 🟥 A GTA VI preview is on the way, at last, via an “extended look” that will premiere, unusually, on Netflix at 3pm ET on August 27, then officially go live elsewhere six hours later. Last week, Game File noted that Take Two label Rockstar Games is overdue for showing off GTA VI, based on the timing of the initial hands-off previews of GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2. During a call with investors, Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said pre-orders for GTA VI were “unprecedented and astonishing,” but added the company can’t predict how many of those pre-orders represent bonus sales vs. sales that otherwise would have been made at launch. During the same call, Zelnick was noticeably bullish on the future of playing games over streaming cloud connections (predicting wider adoption in three or so years). He sounded unbothered by Sony’s plans to stop making discs for new games (he said the business is 90% digital already and predicted that there could still be limited edition physical editions of games “in the same way there’s still vinyl in the recorded music business.”) 👀 Take Two wrote off $43 million in their spring quarter after deciding “not to proceed with further development of an unannounced title in its pipeline from a third-party developer.” 🤔 Some rare age-demographics from a big publisher: Capcom recently told investors that “users in their 20s account for approximately half of the users of both Pragamata and Resident Evil Requiem.” Item 3: The week ahead Tuesday, August 11 Game releases: The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered (Switch 2; already out for PC, PS5, Xbox) continues the Bethesda strategy of putting Elder Scrolls games on everything; Royalty Free-For-All is a Smash Bros.-style fighting game featuring public domain characters such as Mother Goose brawling with Oliver Twist in a stage based on the original Little Shop of Horrors movie. Wednesday, August 12 Game release: Pro Jank Footy (PC, console) is an arcade-style Australian Rules Football game with increasingly ridiculous rules, the more you play (I enjoyed the Steam demo) Thursday, August 13 Game release: Super Mario Sunshine (Switch 2, originally released in 2002 on the GameCube) is released for Switch 2’s Nintendo Switch Online service. This game is the black sheep of 3D Mario games. It’s the successor to the breakthrough Super Mario 64 and the rare Mario game built around a single (vacation resort) theme. Mario’s got a water-spraying backpack, a Yoshi pal and a lot of blue coins to collect.
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Science|Business summer reads of 2026
As most people in the European research and innovation policy bubble are going on a well-deserved summer break, we have come up with a list of our favourite books, podcasts and essays from the past year that ask deeper questions about science, technology and politics.BooksPasteur’s Quadrant: Basic Science and Technological Innovation, by Donald StokesIf you haven’t read Pasteur’s Quadrant yet, now is the time. In the EU and elsewhere, we’re living through a period of dwindling faith that curiosity-driven research automatically leads to economic growth and technological progress. Pasteur’s Quadrant, published in 1997 by the Princeton academic Donald Stokes, is the most influential critique of the standard “linear model” of R&D: the idea that new discoveries made in ivory-tower labs get neatly passed on for commercialisation by start-ups. In reality, Stokes argues, practical applications often inspire more theorical lines of inquiry. Of course, we have long known that things are more complex than the linear model, but even today, it’s still often assumed in Brussels discourse. The book is a useful corrective, and is being used now to argue for new types of scientific institutions. David MatthewsThe Weaponization of Expertise: How Elites Fuel Populism, by Jacob Hale Russel and Dennis PattersonAre society’s problems solvable by technical expertise alone? “If only the benighted would listen,” say Jacob Hale Russel and Dennis Patterson, two professors at Rutgers Law School who got frustrated with how scientists and politicians handled public health communication during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the book, they argue that clichéd mantras about scientific evidence and expertise perpetrated by academics, journalists and politicians have harmed public trust in the very institutions they were trying to defend. Paradoxically, slogans such as “we believe in science,” “follow the science” and “defer to the experts” can fuel mistrust in science, experts and democratic institutions. The authors criticise “condescension” and “technocratic paternalism” in the public discourse and make the case for a more nuanced approach to scientific and expert policy advice that rests on humility, doubt, scepticism and open dialogue. “Most complex social questions in fact revolve around values, not the recitation of unambiguous facts,” they say. Florin ZubascuBreakneck: China's Quest to Engineer the Future, by Dan WangIn this book, Dan Wang compares the structural differences between the US and Chinese industrial policies, but raises a very timely question for innovation policy wonks: how can advanced manufacturing know-how contribute to technology-intensive economic growth? Wang says technology has three components: the tools, the blueprints and patents, and the process knowledge. The third component represents the “proficiency gained from practical experience, which isn’t easily communicated and requires years of implementation.” According to Wang, rather than seeing tools and blueprints as the ultimate ends of technological progress, policymakers should see them as milestones in the training of better scientists and manufacturers. Over the past decades, China has amassed “process knowledge” because capital flowed to complex fabrication facilities, while investors in the West have parked their money in capital-light businesses such as digital platforms or chip companies that focus on design. As it turns out, thanks to its oversized focus on manufacturing, China has gained remarkable advantages in the global technology race. Florin ZubascuBaltic: The Future of Europe, by Oliver MoodyWhat can Europe learn from the nine countries surrounding the Baltic Sea? Alongside the familiar stories about Estonia's digital transformation, the book examines how the region has used technology, resilience, education, governance and long-term thinking to respond to geopolitical, economic and security challenges. Innovation policy wonks might find fresh perspectives on how innovation can strengthen defence, societal resilience and Europe's capacity to adapt in an uncertain world. Whether or not you agree with all of Oliver Moody's conclusions, the book is a useful guide to a region that is increasingly shaping European debates on security, competitiveness and technology. Goda NaujokaityteThe Invention of Nature, by Andrea Wulf This book chronicles the wild and adventurous life of natural science pioneer Alexander von Humboldt who at some point in the 19th century seems to have been just about the most famous person in the world. Through scientific expeditions to the Andes Mountains and to the depths of Siberia, von Humboldt contributed a host of discoveries and concepts. During his life he met and formed relationships with historical figures as different as Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Simon Bolivar, Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon Bonaparte and Charles Darwin. He is also claimed to be the person in the world with most things named after him, a list that includes an ocean current, a penguin and a region of the Moon. Still venerated in Germany, with numerous scientific institutions named after him, von Humboldt has slipped out of public consciousness in most of the rest of the world. For anyone not familiar with him, this book does a good job of describing his fascinating life. Ole EllekrogCareless People, by Sarah Wynn-WilliamsYou may have heard this referred to as the book Meta doesn’t want you to read. The 2025 memoir from Sarah Wynn-Williams, former director of global public policy at Meta, then just called Facebook, includes explosive claims about everything from a toxic workplace culture to how the company worked with advertisers to target vulnerable teens, and the lengths it was prepared to go to in order to break into China. It’s a fascinating insight into how and why the tech company gradually shifted its approach to policy, whether in the US, Europe or Asia. Meta has denied the allegations in the book, and last year won an emergency ruling to prevent Wynn-Williams from promoting it. In response, the author is now suing her former employer. If that doesn’t make you want to read it. Martin GreenacrePodcastsThe Europeans: Europe’s anti-ElonThis podcast is a great choice for a light-hearted dose of European policy and culture news. Most of it has little to do with research, innovation and technology, but this particular podcast features an interview with Mastadon’s founder Eugen Rochko. He talks about his experience running an open-source, federated, European-made social media platform, and leaving it all behind. The conversation, which starts 14 minutes in, gently encourages us to reflect on what kind of technology we, as Europeans, want to make. Goda NaujokaityteSolarpunk and how we escape dystopiaNew technologies are very often taken from science fiction. Alberto Santos-Dumont, inventor the airship, was inspired as a child by the adventure stories of Jules Verne. OpenAI’s attempt to build a personal assistant with the voice of Scarlett Johansson was lifted from the 2013 film Her, completely ignoring the movie’s cautionary message. So if we want better tech, we need to imagine it first. Unfortunately, the state of current sci-fi is relentlessly dystopian, giving inventors precious few ideas or hope. However, a new genre, Solarpunk, which envisages a technologically advanced but ecologically harmonious future, is now taking off. The actual tech the genre imagines, such as permaculture, renewable energy or community repair workshops, while nice, isn’t all that inspiring or ambitious. But it’s a first step towards rescuing sci-fi from its pessimistic Blade Runner rut. David MatthewsEveryday AbundanceLaunched in June, Everyday Abundance is a podcast that tells the stories of the inventions we now take so for granted that we barely given them a second thought. For example, the washing machine, which liberated women from a lifetime “bent over washtubs and washboards.” Or modern dentistry, which ended the reality that “tooth pain was simply part of human life.” Historians of technology, Virginia Postrel and Charles C Mann are very much on the optimistic end of the spectrum when it comes to the capacity of invention to improve human life. Here, they set out their case: if it wasn’t for progress, you might be hunched over a washtub with toothache rather than reading these words. David Matthews‘We will not know what we lost’: Conservation fallout a year after USAID shutdownSince his return to the White House, Donald Trump has been on a mission to undermine science. He slashed jobs at federal agencies, terminated grants in some research areas, took unprecedented control over university affairs and, within hours of his inauguration, suspended the US Agency for International Development. While its initial focus was to administer health and food aid around the world, it had since expanded to conservation projects. The result? Some of these projects were stopped abruptly. In this Mongabay podcast, environmental reporter Michelle Nijhuis tells the story of the EcoGuard conservation programme in Liberia, whose local patrols had helped protect rainforests, monitor endangered wildlife and track illegal threats. From one day to the next, these were left without salaries. Luckily, she notes, the initiative was able to get emergency funding from international NGOs, but its future remains “incredibly uncertain.” Juliette PortalaEssaysThe Mars Delusion, by Henry WismayerWhy is humankind so fixated on establishing a colony on Mars? asks London-based writer Henry Wismayer. From space evangelists promoting Martian settlement as an insurance policy, to billionaire Jeff Bezos, who said humans should settle on Mars “because it’s cool,” the mission is not running short of advocates. However, in this essay, Wismayer reminds us that some critics expect any future Mars pioneer to end up “irradiated, sick, mad and dead.” Scientists have already looked into the possible effects of prolonged exposure to Martian gravity, and it’s not pretty: muscle shrinking, bones weakening, changes to the central nervous system and other biological modifications to make us all reconsider the journey. “Some researchers have forecast that the future settler, after generations of evolutionary conditioning, will look less like an Übermensch and more like ET,” Wismayer writes. Juliette Portala
Scientists are certain a wayward SpaceX rocket slammed into the moon as predicted
A SpaceX rocket that launched a pair of lunar landers slammed into the moon as predicted on Wednesday after drifting off course for the past year, scientists reported.
It looks like a SpaceX rocket did slam into the moon (as predicted)
A SpaceX rocket that launched a pair of lunar landers slammed into the moon as predicted on Wednesday, scientists reported, after drifting off course for the past year.
SpaceX: What can scientists learn from a Falcon 9 rocket hitting the Moon?
While the collision was an accident, it is a unique scientific gift for planetary geologists that could provide important data for future space missions.