Mike Tomlin Makes NBC Debut in Trending Video Before Panthers-Cardinals HOF Game After Steelers Exit  Bleacher Report

Shop trending Ikea dorm essentials for back-to-school 2026  Good Morning America

Who's Trending Up, Trending Down at Bears' Training Camp  Sports Illustrated

Stock Up: Three players trending toward helping Georgia sooner than later  on3.com

3 Trending Stocks to Watch, According to Analysts – 8/6/2026  TipRanks

1. Cloudflare launches Kitesurf, a browser built for AI agents  TechCrunch
2. Introducing Kitesurf: The agent-first browser that runs in V8 isolates on Cloudflare Workers  Cloudflare Blog
3. Cloudflare Introduces Kitesurf: An Agent-First Web Browser That Runs Entirely in V8 Isolates on Cloudflare Workers  MarkTechPost
4. Cloudflare Launches Kitesurf, a Lightweight Browser Built for AI Agents  TechRepublic
5. Cloudflare Built a Browser for AI Agents. Kitesurf Says a Lot About Where the Web Is Headed.  Glitchwire

1. I compared Google's pricier Pixel 11 series to Samsung's Galaxy lineup - here's the better value now  ZDNET
2. The Pixel 11’s “glow” feature is actually called HiLight—here’s what it does  Ars Technica
3. Google Contacts reveals what colors Pixel 11 HiLight will support  9to5Google
4. Trevor Noah is hosting Google’s Pixel 11 launch event  The Verge
5. Google shows Pixel 11 in Dune colour, confirms Pixel Watch 5 and celebrity hosts  Tech Advisor

1. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 Review: Samsung's Best Smartwatch Yet  bgr.com
2. What’s New With Galaxy Watch9?  samsung.com
3. Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra2 review: Design, build, usability  GSMArena.com
4. Samsung Galaxy Watch 9 review: Health data overload, but built for the future  ZDNET
5. Samsung Galaxy Watch9 Stays at Its Lowest Price Even After Preorder Perks Are Gone  Gizmodo

1. QuakeCon goes wild as a surprise, free expansion for Quake is released for the legendary shooter's 30th birthday  Eurogamer.net
2. Quake – 30th Anniversary Update  Slayers Club
3. New official 30th anniversary Quake mission pack adds new maps and mechanics  Ars Technica
4. Quake: Dawn of the Machine – Available Today  XBOX Wire
5. Celebrate 30 years of Quake with a brand-new episode, available today  PlayStation.Blog

1. Sony could release a cheaper version of its WH-1000XM4 headphones, according to leaks  The Verge
2. Sony Might Be Rebooting Its 2020 Flagship Headphones  Engadget
3. Sony may re-release its 2020 over-ear headphones for around $250, leak reveals  9to5Google
4. Leak spills the beans on the Sony WH-1000XM4 revival  androidauthority.com
5. Sony might revive its fan-favorite WH-1000XM4 headphones  SoundGuys

IGARSS 2026

Join NASA in the Exhibit Hall (Booth #100) for Hyperwall Storytelling by NASA experts. Full Hyperwall Agenda below.

MONDAY, AUGUST 10

3:00 PM	Technology Enabling the Future of Earth Science	Mike Seablom
3:15 PM	Discovery Earth: New Missions & Technical Innovation Advancing Earth System Insights	Karen St. Germain

TUESDAY, AUGUST 11

10:00 AM	STELLA: Open-Source Multisenor Platforms For Real-Time Environmental Monitoring	Mike Taylor
10:15 AM	NOAA Geostationary Satellites: Valuable Data for both Research and Operational Use	Dan Lindsey
3:00 PM	Discovering Mineral Resources with NASA Imaging Spectroscopy	Robert O. Green
3:15 PM	The Importance of Satellite Ocean Observations at NOAA	Paul Chang

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 12

10:00 AM	Enabling Earth Science Data to Serve Society	Joel Scott
10:15 AM	Microwaving the Solar System	Shannon Brown
3:00 PM	NISAR Updates, One Year After Launch	Paul Rosen, Marco Lavalle
3:15 PM	Office of the Chief Science Data Officer: Data Driven Exploration	Lauren Leese

Scientists using NASA’s IXPE (Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer) conducted more than 140 hours of observations of the magnetar 1E 1547-5408, shown in this Aug. 5, 2026, artist’s concept, between March and April 2025. In doing so, they may have captured empty space behaving in a way physicists have predicted for 90 years, but never directly observed.

Magnetars are a special class of neutron stars with ultra-strong magnetic fields, the strongest of any object in the observable universe, around a trillion times stronger than the strongest permanent magnets ever built on Earth.

Image credit: NASA/Pablo Garcia

Before astronauts return to the Moon’s surface through NASA’s Artemis program, the hardware they depend on must first prove it can survive the unforgiving lunar environment. At NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, engineers at the Lunar Development and Test Facility are tackling one of exploration’s biggest challenges: Moon dust. 

Unlike sand on Earth, lunar dust is sharp, abrasive, and clings to nearly everything. Without mitigation, lunar dust could damage equipment and spacesuits while posing health risks to astronauts. Understanding and mitigating the effects of lunar dust is essential as astronauts prepare to live and work on the surface of the Moon.  

Located within the Energy Systems Test Area and managed by NASA engineers, the Lunar Development and Test Facility supports the development and testing of hardware in simulated lunar conditions. Engineers evaluate systems and subsystems inside vacuum chambers using lunar regolith simulant to better understand how spacesuits, spacecraft components, and mechanisms with moving parts and joints will perform during future Artemis missions. 

NASA Johnson’s Propulsion and Power Division developed specialized systems that make the facility’s lunar simulations possible. The facility includes a dust containment and preparation laboratory for ambient testing, a 3-foot cube vacuum chamber, and a 15-foot thermal vacuum chamber. 

Inside the chamber, engineers test hardware under realistic lunar conditions using lunar regolith simulant. The chamber uses a closed-loop nitrogen system to recreate the harsh lunar environment.  

“The facility helps develop and test technologies needed for long-duration lunar exploration,” said Mike Salinas, Propulsion and Power Division branch deputy chief. “Engineers are advancing techniques to extract resources from lunar regolith, which can be turned into oxygen for astronauts and liquid oxygen for rocket propellant.” 

The spirit of exploration extends beyond the facility’s walls. Its exterior features a large-scale mural depicting astronauts exploring the lunar surface beneath a view of the cosmos. Completed in 2024 by artist Sebastian Boileau, the artwork celebrates the innovation, ingenuity, and discovery happening inside the building every day. 

Now, anyone can step inside the facility from anywhere. Explore NASA’s new 3D virtual tour of the Lunar Development and Test Facility to see where engineers are helping prepare the technologies that support this Golden Age of exploration and innovation.  

At the top and bottom of the planet, the seasons arrive on a schedule all their own. Satellite data from a mission measuring infrared energy reveal just how differently—and how dramatically—surface temperatures swing across two full years at the poles.

In this animation, surface temperatures across the Arctic and Antarctic pulse between cold (dark blue) and milder to warm (lighter blue to red). Data for the animation come from NASA’s PREFIRE (Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-InfraRed Experiment) satellites. The mission’s twin CubeSats began collecting science data in July 2024 and have now captured two complete seasonal cycles at each pole.

Because the two poles sit in opposite hemispheres, their seasons occur at opposite times—and the swing between seasons differs, too. In the Arctic, cold, dark winters give way to summers warm enough to thaw vast stretches of tundra and sea ice. In Antarctica, Earth’s coldest continent, summer temperatures rarely climb above freezing before the bitter cold of winter returns.

Surface temperatures, and how they fluctuate, offer a window into Earth’s energy budget, the net flow of energy into and out of the Earth system. Sunlight absorbed by the surface is re-radiated as infrared heat, which bounces between Earth’s surface and atmosphere before escaping to space. The poles play an important role in this process. Atmospheric and ocean circulation carries excess heat absorbed in the tropics toward the poles, where it radiates away to space, helping regulate the planet’s temperature.

“By measuring invisible heat radiating from Earth’s coldest places, PREFIRE is helping scientists understand why the poles are changing so rapidly, and what those changes might mean for the rest of the planet,” said Chad Greene, a glaciologist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Scientists have long known that far-infrared radiation accounts for nearly 60 percent of the energy Earth loses to space, but that portion of the spectrum—invisible to human eyes—had never been comprehensively measured on a global scale. By directly tracking this invisible energy in near-real-time, the PREFIRE mission is helping scientists refine models and gain a better understanding of the Earth system.

“Weather systems, river flows, shipping routes, and ice sheet stability are all influenced by energy movement in a part of the spectrum that only PREFIRE can see,” said Tristan L’Ecuyer, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and principal investigator of the PREFIRE mission. “Now that the invisible has been made visible, we can begin to improve weather and climate predictions that industries, our national defense, and Arctic communities rely on.”

Maps courtesy of Chad Greene, NASA/JPL, using data from NASA’s PREFIRE mission. Story by Kathryn Hansen.

References & Resources

• NASA Earthdata, PREFIRE. Accessed August 5, 2026.
• NASA Earth Observatory (2009) Climate and Earth’s Energy Budget. Accessed August 5, 2026.
• NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (2025, August 15) NASA’s PREFIRE CubeSat Mission Extended. Accessed August 5, 2026.
• L’Ecuyer, T.S., et al. (2021) The Polar Radiant Energy in the Far Infrared Experiment. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 102(7).

Cloudflare has introduced Kitesurf, a cloud-hosted browser designed for AI agents instead of people. The company says the browser uses less computing power than Chromium for common automation tasks, helping developers build browser-based AI agents more efficiently.

Framework told "all" of its customers that hackers accessed their names, email addresses, phone numbers, and physical addresses in a data breach.

Starting today, you can take an additional $100 off your founder, investor, or attendee TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 pass, which is a nice bonus on top of our current discounted pricing. 

The Trump administration has now convinced developers to abandon 12 offshore wind leases. The latest will cost taxpayers $1.2 billion.

You put together the concept — from a founder mixer, an after-hours panel, a themed party, a morning run, whatever fits your goal — and the TechCrunch team helps put it in front of the attendees already in town for Disrupt.