SF Giants observations: Who’s trending up, down through 10 Cactus League games?  The Mercury News

Why is #SendBarron trending on X? Outrage grows as netizens demand Barron Trump be deployed amid US-Iran conflict | Hindustan Times  Hindustan Times

15 Players Trending Down (2026 Fantasy Baseball)  FantasyPros

Trending tickers: MongoDB, Thales, Fresnillo, Greggs and Inchcape  Yahoo Finance UK

Veteran Red Sox arms trending toward return after missing all of 2025  Boston Herald

1. New Apple products keep launching, here’s what’s coming next  9to5mac.com
2. Apple introduces iPhone 17e  Apple
3. Apple has announced 6 new products so far this week  9to5mac.com
4. Apple launches cheaper iPhone 17e in push to boost iPhone sales  CNN
5. Apple launches lower cost iPhone 17e and a new iPad Air powered by its M4 chip  CNBC

1. Apple introduces the new MacBook Air with M5  Apple
2. Apple introduces MacBook Pro with all-new M5 Pro and M5 Max  Apple
3. Apple announces M5 MacBook Air and updated MacBook Pro  The Verge
4. Apple raises MacBook prices across the board as M5 chips, new displays signal AI-first strategy  CNBC
5. Apple launches new generation of MacBook laptops starting at $1,099  Reuters

1. Apple’s new Studio Displays come with Thunderbolt 5  TechCrunch
2. Apple unveils new Studio Display and all-new Studio Display XDR  Apple
3. Apple’s first mini-LED ProMotion monitor has a nice price  Macworld
4. Mac Studio 2026: Apple’s Biggest Desktop Leap Yet Is Coming  TechRepublic
5. Apple’s new Studio Display XDR adds a Mini LED upgrade  The Verge

1. Coming to Xbox Game Pass: Cyberpunk 2077, Planet of Lana II, and More  Xbox Wire
2. Three Games Are Available Today With Xbox Game Pass (March 3)  Pure Xbox
3. Cyberpunk 2077 Headlines Xbox Game Pass March 2026 Lineup  IGN
4. Game Pass Adds Cyberpunk 2077 And More In March  GameSpot
5. Microsoft hints at adding Cyberpunk 2077 in Xbox Game Pass  GameGPU

1. Google accelerates Chrome’s release cycle from every four weeks to two  The Verge
2. Amid new competition, Chrome speeds up its release schedule  TechCrunch
3. Google Moves Chrome to a Two-Week Development Schedule  Thurrott.com
4. Google Chrome is switching to a two-week release cycle  9to5Google
5. Google Chrome Moving to Two-Week Release Cycle  iPhone in Canada

Written by Ashley Stroupe, Operations Systems Engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Earth planning date: Friday, Feb. 27, 2026

This week we had three planning sessions, exploring the eastern side of the boxwork unit. As a Rover Planner on Monday, I worked on the arm and drive activities, while on Friday I served as the Engineering Uplink Lead (planning all of our engineering activities like heating and managing our onboard data). We had two small drives this week to put different targets into our workspace for each plan. The months-long careful and systematic investigation of the boxwork unit will hopefully provide the science team insights on what was going on in this area of Mars that resulted in this interesting and unique terrain. As we wrap it up, we are already thinking ahead to our future investigations of the sulfate unit, where we will be heading after finishing here and continuing our climb up Mount Sharp. 

With three plans and short drives, we were able to do a total of 19 Mastcam stereo mosaics, getting a full 360-degree panorama as well as additional documentation of the nearby ridges/hollows and the nearby sulfate unit. Some of the rocks in the hollows show a return of the polygonal structures that we saw in abundance prior to entering the boxwork unit, but have only seen sparsely in other hollows. As we are entering deeper into the warmer months, the start of dust-storm season, we have also been doing a lot of atmospheric measurements. We did multiple observations of the crater rim (to watch it fading into the haze), Mastcam solar Tau measurements (looking at the Sun to measure dust in the atmosphere), dust-devil movies, and other sky observations. 

We investigated a total of four targets with MAHLI and APXS, two of which we were able to brush. The accompanying image shows the APXS down on one of the targets near the contact. Most of the targets were not very complicated for the Rover Planners because the rocks have been mostly smooth and flat. But our Wednesday target, “Los Monos,” was slightly under the front of the rover, and we had to do some additional intermediate arm motions to reach underneath safely. We won’t actually know if today’s targets are on the other side of the contact (in the sulfate unit) or not until we can study the data. 

Planning the short drives has been interesting, as with most of the boxwork unit drives, because we must navigate around the sand and steeper slopes in hopes of minimizing slip. In this weekend’s plan our drive will head south towards the southern end of the boxwork unit, where the terrain smooths out a bit and driving should be easier.

NASA’s Glenn Research Center is seeking proposals to lease select land parcels at its Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. Proposals are due by 5 p.m. EST on July 2, 2026.

The parcels are part of an area of land that currently serves as a buffer for ongoing NASA operations. The solicitation includes the land parcels, any existing facilities on the property, and access to supporting infrastructure needed for a tenant to operate onsite.

The available land includes five parcels ranging in size from approximately 184 to 516 acres, for a total of about 1,736 acres. Two of the parcels currently sit within Armstrong Test Facility’s controlled-access area. Proposers may submit proposals for individual parcels, portions of parcels, or combinations of parcels and acreage.

If selected, the proposer(s) would enter a lease with NASA using a Model Enhanced Use Lease Agreement, which provides the rights needed to occupy, operate, modify, and maintain the land for one 20-year base period and two consecutive 10-year option periods. Proposals may identify other term options, which will be evaluated and considered by NASA.   

During the proposal and review period, NASA plans to request feedback from the community on factors most important to them for NASA to consider when evaluating proposals.

NASA Glenn first announced plans to lease property and facilities in May 2024 under the government’s Enhanced Use Lease authority. These lease agreements allow space, aeronautics, and other related industries to use agency land and facilities, reducing NASA’s maintenance costs while fostering strategic partnerships that spur innovation.

“As we modernize our Cleveland and Sandusky campuses to support NASA’s future missions, Enhanced Use Leases help ensure full use of government land and facilities while creating regional economic opportunities,” said Dr. Jimmy Kenyon, Glenn’s center director.

Armstrong Test Facility, formerly known as Plum Brook Station, spans more than 6,400 acres of controlled land. Located near Lake Erie and several popular tourist destinations, it is home to unique, world-class test facilities that support complex ground testing for the international aerospace community.

Interested parties should contact NASA HQ Real Estate at hq-realestate@mail.nasa.gov to submit a request to view the property.

For more information about Armstrong Test Facility, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/neil-armstrong-test-facility

-end-

Jan Wittry
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland 
216-433-5466
jan.m.wittry-1@nasa.gov

This new NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features one of the most visually intricate remnants of a dying star: the Cat’s Eye Nebula, also known as NGC 6543. This extraordinary planetary nebula lies in the constellation Draco and has captivated astronomers for decades with its elaborate and multilayered structure. Observations with ESA’s Gaia mission place the nebula at 4,400 light-years away.

Planetary nebulae, so-called because of their round shape, which made them appear to look like planets when viewed through early telescopes, are in fact expanding gas thrown off by stars in their final stages of evolution. It was the Cat’s Eye Nebula itself where this fact was first discovered in 1864 — examining the spectrum of its light reveals the emission from individual molecules that’s characteristic of a gas, distinguishing planetary nebulae from stars and galaxies. 

Hubble also revolutionized our understanding of planetary nebulae; its detailed images showed that the simple, circular appearance of a planetary nebula seen from the ground belies a very complex morphology. This was particularly true of the Cat’s Eye Nebula, where Hubble images in 1995 revealed never-before-seen structures that broadened our understanding of how planetary nebulae come to be.

This time, Hubble is joined by ESA’s Euclid space telescope to create a new image of NGC 6543. The combined eyes of Hubble and Euclid reveal the remarkable complexity of stellar death in this object. Though primarily designed to map the distant universe, Euclid captures the Cat’s Eye Nebula as part of its deep imaging surveys. In Euclid’s wide, near-infrared, and visible light view, the arcs and filaments of the nebula’s bright central region are situated within a halo of colorful fragments of gas zooming away from the star. This ring was ejected from the star at an earlier stage, before the main nebula at the center formed. The whole nebula stands out against a backdrop teeming with distant galaxies, demonstrating how local astrophysical beauty and the farthest reaches of the cosmos can be seen together with Euclid.

Within this broad view of the nebula and its surroundings, Hubble captures the very core of the billowing gas with a new high-resolution visible-light image, adding extra detail in the center of this image. The data reveal a tapestry of concentric shells, jets of high-speed gas and dense knots sculpted by shock interactions, features that appear almost surreal in their intricacy. These structures are believed to record episodic mass loss from the dying star at the nebula’s center, creating a kind of cosmic “fossil record” of its final evolutionary stages.

Combining the focused view of Hubble with Euclid’s deep field observations not only highlights the nebula’s exquisite structure but also places it within the broader context of the universe that both space telescopes explore. Together, these missions provide a rich and complementary view of NGC 6543 — revealing the delicate interplay between stellar end-of-life processes and the vast cosmic tapestry beyond.

Media Contact:

Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov

On February 22, 2026, a wildland fire was discovered in Big Cypress National Preserve, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Naples, Florida. The blaze, dubbed the National fire, moved through dry vegetation and sent a plume of smoke billowing over parts of the preserve and nearby communities. 

The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this image on the afternoon of February 25. By then, the fire had burned around 24,000 acres (9,700 hectares), according to the National Park Service.

After carrying smoke southward in previous days, winds shifted to start pushing it north by the time Aqua captured this image. According to news reports, the smoke reduced visibility and led to the brief closure of I-75—the interstate nicknamed “Alligator Alley” that runs east-west through the northern part of the preserve. It also contributed to smog over Lake Okeechobee. 

The fire continued to spread over the next several days, reaching just over 35,000 acres (14,000 hectares) by February 28, according to InciWeb. As of March 2, it remained roughly the same size and was 38 percent contained. 

The fire’s cause remains under investigation. Officials noted, however, that its spread was driven by ample fuel, including vegetation that was dry from persistent, extreme drought and damaged by recent frost. The National Interagency Fire Center’s wildland fire outlook calls for above-normal fire potential across Florida through May.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using MODIS data from NASA EOSDIS LANCE and GIBS/Worldview. Story by Kathryn Hansen.

References & Resources

• Big Cypress National Preserve (2026, February 27) News Releases. Accessed March 2, 2026.
• Gulf Coast News (2026, February 26) Alligator Alley reopens following smoke-related closure from Big Cypress National Preserve fire. Accessed March 2, 2026.
• Gulf Coast News (2026, February 26) Smoke from Big Cypress National Preserve fire shuts down Alligator Alley. Accessed March 2, 2026.
• Lake Okeechobee News (2026, February 27) Smoke from Big Cypress Preserve wildfire results in smog over Lake Okeechobee. Accessed March 2, 2026.
• National Integrated Drought Information System (2026, February 24) Florida. Accessed March 2, 2026.
• National Interagency Coordination Center (2026, March 2) Outlooks. Accessed March 2, 2026.

A total lunar eclipse glows red, Venus and Saturn get close, and we ring in the vernal equinox

A total lunar eclipse blood moon takes centre stage, Venus and Saturn cozy up for a conjunction, and we celebrate the vernal equinox. 

Skywatching Highlights

• March 3: Total Lunar Eclipse (Blood Moon)
• March 8: Venus + Saturn Conjunction
• March 20: Vernal Equinox

Transcript

A total lunar eclipse blood moon takes center stage, Venus and Saturn cozy up for a conjunction and we celebrate the vernal equinox.

That’s What’s Up this March.

Is it Mars or is it the Moon? On March 3rd, a total lunar eclipse will turn the Moon bright red.

During a lunar eclipse, which can only happen during a full Moon, Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon, casting a shadow on the lunar surface.

During a partial lunar eclipse, the Moon moves only partially into the dark shadow, or umbra, cast by Earth. 

But, during a full lunar eclipse, the Sun, Earth, and Moon are exactly aligned, leaving the Moon completely enveloped in Earth’s shadow.

When this happens, the Moon actually turns blood red. 

While you might imagine a full lunar eclipse would leave the Moon completely dark, Earth’s atmosphere scatters the light, illuminating the Moon in this orange-reddish hue. 

So look up and bask in the red glow of our lunar companion.

This full lunar eclipse will be visible from eastern Asia and Australia in the evening, from the Pacific at night, and from most of North and Central America as well as western South America in the early morning. 

On March 8th, Venus and Saturn will cozy up for a conjunction in the evening sky.

The pair will be about one degree apart, which is roughly the width of a single finger if you hold it at arm’s length.

A conjunction happens when two objects in the night sky appear close together, even if they’re far apart in space. In reality, Venus and Saturn are nearly a billion miles apart! 

But to see the pair get close in the sky from our perspective, look close to the horizon in the western sky just after sunset.

On March 20th, we ring in the vernal equinox, marking a transition into the next season.

While this is colloquially known as the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere and the first day of autumn in the southern hemisphere, astronomically this equinox occurs when the Sun crosses above Earth’s equator while traveling from south to north.

On this day, northern and southern hemispheres experience roughly equal amounts of sunlight and day and night are also about equal, each lasting almost exactly 12 hours. 

So enjoy the start of a new season with a day of perfectly balanced sunlight.

Here are the phases of the Moon for March.

You can stay up to date on all of NASA’s missions exploring the solar system and beyond at science.nasa.gov.

I’m Chelsea Gohd from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and that’s What’s Up for this month.

Anthropic is stepping up its game in the AI coding space with the rollout of Voice Mode in Claude Code.

More than 10 global airlines now accept Find Hub locations as part of their baggage recovery process.

Creators who break the rules will get a three-month suspension, and if they continue to violate the policy, they'll be permanently banned.

With the demands for more computers and data centers to power AI, the market is experiencing a shortage of RAM, causing memory prices to surge.

After U.S. and Israeli forces started bombing Iran, reports say cyber operations have disrupted communications, supported surveillance activities, and have been used in psychological operations.