Not as oppressive and trending wetter through the weekend  WALB

Trending on KALB.com 07-29-26  KALB | News Channel 5

AP Trending SummaryBrief at 10:45 p.m. EDT  oconeeenterprise.com

Trending this week: Biscuit Belly acquires Maple Street Biscuit Company  Nation’s Restaurant News

Why ‘Iran launches missiles’ is trending  CNN

1. 20th Anniversary iPhone Coming Next Year With These 10 Features  MacRumors
2. iPhone 20: Rumor has it Apple is prepping a radical redesign  Mashable
3. "Apple made me do it": the Galaxy S28 Ultra is reaching out for the 7-inch display, too  PhoneArena
4. New iPhone 20 video reveals the 8 biggest upgrades to expect from the 20th anniversary iPhone  Tom's Guide
5. iPhone 18 Pro is coming, but iPhone 20 may be Apple's biggest redesign yet: 5 things to know  indiatoday.in

1. What’s the catch with the Apple Upgrade program?  The Verge
2. Apple Upgrade launches in the United States  Apple
3. Apple will now let you lease your next iPhone or Mac instead of buying it  CNN
4. Apple plans to lease iPhones for $17.99 a month through partnership with Klarna  CNBC
5. Apple Launches Product Leasing Program Through Klarna  WSJ

1. OpenAI president says it’s ‘building a family of devices’ for its AI chatbots  The Verge
2. OpenAI's First Devices: Speaker, Smartphone, and More  MacRumors
3. Inside Sam Altman and Jony Ive's AI hardware dream team and the battle for OpenAI’s future  Fortune
4. OpenAI Is ‘Very Interested’ in Building Out ChatGPT Integrations for Wearables  CNET
5. A Phone? Glasses? A Pin? Prediction Markets Buzzing About Jony Ive and OpenAI's First Device  TradingView

1. Samsung’s next pair of Galaxy Buds show off open-ear design in another leak [Gallery]  9to5Google
2. Exclusive: New Galaxy Buds On/Able images reveal Samsung's clip-on earbud design  SamMobile
3. This is what the Samsung Galaxy Buds On look like - GSMArena.com news  GSMArena.com
4. Samsung Galaxy Buds On Leak Reveals Design Ahead of Expected Launch  Gadgets 360
5. Leaked Galaxy Buds On Icons Gives Us Our Best Look Yet  SammyGuru

1. Pokémon Pokopia's First DLC Comes To Switch 2 On August 5  Engadget
2. Pokémon Pokopia Sets Date for First Expansion Pass DLC  Crunchyroll
3. Dive into Pokémon Pokopia Expansion Pass—Part 1: Bubbly Basin  Pokemon.com
4. Here's how to prepare for the new Pokémon Pokopia content coming Aug. 5  nintendo.com
5. Pokémon Pokopia Bubbly Basin Expansion Gets Extended Gameplay Trailer And August 5 Release Date  Game Informer

NASA interns at Johnson Space Center are applying their talents to real-world projects while working alongside the engineers, scientists, communicators, and innovators advancing human spaceflight. Learn how these students are gaining hands-on experience, contributing to real missions, and preparing to join the nation’s highly skilled and competitive aerospace workforce.  

Meet the students behind the work and discover what inspired them to pursue careers at NASA. 

Macie Landon — Moon Base Program Strategic Communications 

Macie Landon is helping tell the story of humanity’s first outpost on the lunar surface. Using graphic design, 3D modeling, video production, and other multimedia tools, she creates visual content that supports public outreach and internal communications for the Moon Base Program. 

Landon’s path to NASA began with a lifelong interest in space, science fiction, art, and video games. While studying visualization at Texas A&M University, she planned to pursue a career in gaming or feature animation before discovering she could apply those same creative skills at NASA. 

Her first internship was with the Graphics and Visualization Lab at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, where she created 3D models for virtual reality simulations. 

“I had no idea I could pursue multimedia design at NASA,” Landon said. “I loved it and was so inspired by the creative force across all NASA centers.” 

After building connections at Glenn, Landon applied for a summer internship at Johnson, where she continues using design to help communicate NASA’s human space exploration goals. 

“Everyone at NASA is so smart, helpful, and willing to share their stories,” she said. “Almost every day I have at least one memorable and surprising moment.” 

Landon has also gained an appreciation for the collaboration behind NASA’s missions.  

“Through my two internships, I’ve learned how thousands of people from different backgrounds work together toward the same goal of benefiting humanity,” she said.  

Working in strategic communications has changed the way Landon views STEM careers. 

“Without someone sharing the stories of NASA’s work, much of it would go unseen,” she said. “The creatives at NASA are key to inspiring the next generation.” 

In addition to creating multimedia products, Landon regularly engages with the public at outreach events, answering questions from audiences of all ages and backgrounds. 

“I’ve learned a lot about how to have meaningful and impactful conversations with people,” she said.  

Looking ahead, Landon hopes to continue using design and storytelling to help people better understand NASA’s missions while inspiring future explorers. 

“I hope that through my work as a NASA intern, I continue to inspire the next generation of scientists, creatives, explorers, and more to be part of NASA’s mission in bettering humanity,” she said. 

For students considering careers in STEM, Landon encourages them to follow what genuinely interests them. 

“Explore what you truly love. You may discover there’s a place for your skills at NASA, too.”  

John Graham Reynolds — AI and Machine Learning

John Graham Reynolds develops generative artificial intelligence systems in NASA’s Advanced Operations Concepts Lab that help improve mission support and engineering operations for NASA’s Orion Program and other aspects of human spaceflight. 

Before joining NASA, Reynolds worked for four years as a professional engineer. Looking for an opportunity to make a greater impact, he returned to graduate school and sought work that aligned with his passion for meaningful innovation. 

“NASA is the greatest symbol of American ingenuity and a beacon for public progress,” Reynolds said. “Applying here was a no-brainer.” 

As a graduate intern, Reynolds has contributed to technologies that support NASA’s human spaceflight missions. 

One achievement he is especially proud of came during the Artemis II mission, when his team’s flagship AI system provided engineering support for the Orion spacecraft. 

The system provided operators of the Orion Flight Software console in the Orion Mission Evaluation Room with an AI-powered interface to quickly access and summarize internal engineering documentation, allowing engineers to analyze faults, troubleshoot issues, and contribute to Orion operations during Artemis II. 

“Helping support a mission that carried humans farther from Earth than ever before was an incredible experience,” he said. 

Working alongside NASA engineers has also changed the way Reynolds thinks about a career in STEM. 

“NASA is filled with smart people, but above all else, it is filled with people who are passionate about what they do,” he said. “That overwhelming sense of passion and purpose regularly reminds me of the value STEM careers provide.” 

Reynolds says one of the biggest lessons he has learned is that innovation depends on collaboration. 

“Always be open to the ideas of others, and they will be open to you,” he said. “No one can solve every problem. Teamwork, collaboration, and consideration are the greatest agents of improvement.” 

Mentorship and networking have also played an important role in his internship experience. 

“Connecting with full-time staff and other interns has opened many doors for me,” Reynolds said. “I know those connections will support me for the rest of my life, inside and outside of NASA.” 

Looking ahead, Reynolds hopes to continue developing technologies that strengthen NASA’s missions and advance the future of space exploration. 

For students considering a career at NASA, Reynolds encourages them to stay curious and follow what genuinely interests them. 

“Find what you love, even if it isn’t STEM,” he said. “Explore anything and everything that interests you. Never stop.” 

Morgan Gridley — Photography 

Morgan Gridley is helping document the next chapter of human spaceflight as a photography intern at Johnson. From astronaut portraits and crew training to major mission announcements, her photographs help tell the story of NASA’s missions. Now in her second summer internship, Gridley is building on the experience that first sparked her passion for documenting exploration. 

“Working alongside so many talented photographers, engineers, scientists, astronauts, and creatives has shown me how many different ways people contribute to NASA’s mission,” Gridley said. 

Gridley learned about the internship after NASA photographer Bill Stafford, an East Texas A&M University alumnus, shared the opportunity with faculty. Her professor passed it along to the class, and Gridley immediately applied. 

“I’ve always loved space and exploration, so it seemed like an incredible experience,” she said. 

Gridley’s work included photographing one of NASA’s WB-57 aircraft during takeoff. Those images later supported news coverage highlighting the aircraft’s role in aerial imaging during the Texas floods. 

She also served as one of the photographers covering the Artemis III crew announcement, with some of her images appearing in news coverage of the historic milestone. 

Gridley credits her mentors with helping her grow throughout both internships. 

“I consider every member of my team to be one of my mentors,” she said. “Even after my first internship ended, I stayed in touch by sharing my work and receiving feedback on my photos.” 

Photographing astronauts in the studio has become one of Gridley’s favorite assignments. 

“When I first started photography, I mostly focused on landscapes and didn’t enjoy taking portraits,” she said. “Now, portrait photography is my favorite part of what I do.” 

Looking ahead, Gridley hopes to continue documenting NASA’s work as part of the photography team.  

“Being able to capture moments that are part of NASA’s history has been an amazing experience, and I’d love the opportunity to continue telling those stories through photography,” she said. 

For students considering careers in STEM and the creative arts, Gridley encourages them to stay curious and embrace new opportunities. 

“Don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone,” she said. “Staying open to new experiences can lead you to opportunities and interests you never expected.” 

Learn more about NASA internship programs.  

Stewart Island/Rakiura is the third-largest island in New Zealand, diminutive in comparison to the country’s North Island and South Island. Yet it hosts a population of one of the largest of the kiwi: the Stewart Island tokoeka. This flightless bird, a subspecies of the Southern brown kiwi (Apteryx australis), numbers in the thousands on the island, dwarfing its human population of approximately 500.

The avian national icon is just one slice of the natural riches on Stewart Island/Rakiura, a roughly triangular piece of land about 30 kilometers (19 miles) south of the South Island. Rakiura National Park covers about 85 percent of the bright green island. And as the Māori name—Rakiura, meaning “glowing skies”—suggests, it’s a prime location for viewing the aurora australis.

On the northern half of the island, podocarp and hardwood forests featuring coniferous trees with ancient lineages blanket the land. Other areas are covered in shrublands and wetlands, as well as coastal dunes such as those lining Mason Bay. A diversity of birdlife, including the kiwi, populates these relatively untouched ecosystems. The tall trees of the podocarp forests produce various fruits attractive to avian inhabitants, such as bellbirds, with their pure-toned calls, and the rare kākāpō, the world’s heaviest and only flightless parrot species.

One notable haven for birds lies on Ulva Island, located within the inlet near Halfmoon Bay (Oban). Rats, which once preyed on bird eggs and chicks there, were deemed eradicated in 1997, and the island has mostly remained free of non-native predators. Conservationists have since embarked on a project on the much larger Stewart Island/Rakiura to eliminate rats, possums, feral cats, and hedgehogs.

When darkness falls, Stewart Island/Rakiura’s human denizens can look skyward for the chance to observe stars, auroras, nearby dwarf galaxies, and other features of the Southern Hemisphere night sky. In 2019, the remote and sparsely inhabited island was designated an International Dark Sky Sanctuary.

Amateur astronomers there and in other places with good night-sky views might search for objects of interest through Hubble’s Night Sky Challenge. In May, when this image was acquired, targets imaged by NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope that were also visible from Earth’s southern latitudes included a star cluster called the Jewel Box and a peculiar elliptical galaxy known as Centaurus A, which may have resulted from two galaxies colliding.

NASA Earth Observatory image by Michala Garrison, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Photo and story by Lindsey Doermann.

References & Resources

• DarkSky International (2019, January 3) Stewart Island / Rakiura. Accessed July 29, 2026.
• The Guardian (2022, July 6) New Zealand to embark on world’s largest feral predator eradication. Accessed July 29, 2026.
• New Zealand Department of Conservation, Birds. Accessed July 29, 2026.
• New Zealand Department of Conservation, Podocarp-hardwood forests. Accessed July 29, 2026.
• New Zealand Department of Conservation, Stewart Island/Rakiura. Accessed July 29, 2026.

The NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program has created 18 new awards to support visionary ideas to improve aerospace technologies in areas ranging from the exploration of the solar system to understanding the universe.

The 18 NIAC Phase I awards total $3.2 million. Each award provides up to $175,000 for a nine-month initial investigation. The NIAC projects are about early-stage concept development and are not considered official NASA missions.

“NASA has outlined an ambitious vision for the future of space exploration, we’re returning the Moon to stay, advancing to Mars, and pushing to deepen our understanding of space,” said Greg Stover, director of the Advanced Research and Technology division within the Research and Technology Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Achieving that will require more than incremental technological advancement. It means we need great leaps. These awards are the kinds of innovation the world needs NASA to help foster.”

As an innovation incubator, NIAC funds early development of potential breakthrough technologies. Concepts for award consideration must have both transformative potential and possible feasibility for eventual implementation.

“Every innovation, every leap in technology, starts with a seed of an idea,” said Phillip Williams, NIAC’s acting program executive. “The NIAC program allows NASA to germinate those seeds and determine if there’s something that could be grown to benefit future space missions and our nation’s aerospace economy.”

As NASA and its partners push for sustained lunar presence, some of the 2026 awardees focused on ways to help explore the Moon and build infrastructure there. These include a system to support hovering robots to explore lava tubes under the Moon’s surface, a method to manage temperatures for small mobile exploration robots, and a way to incorporate radioisotopic heat sources into suits to help keep astronauts warm when operating in the Moon’s nearly two-week-long lunar nights.

Other concepts focus on exploring some of the solar system’s most remarkable features. Venus, with its hot atmosphere, presents an imposing challenge for research vehicles, so one NIAC awardee explores methods for hardening instruments for longer missions.

Two other concepts could help study planetary rings. One would use a swarm of 10,000 tiny satellites to map and analyze the rings of Saturn, while another would create a system for collecting samples from rings such as those circling Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

Some NIAC awardees will look far beyond the solar system, exploring ways to power interstellar spacecraft, map out continents on exoplanets, observe the photon rings around black holes, and detect subtle gravitational waves to explain how galaxies formed. Others will work to answer questions directly related to life on Earth, like the potential use of spaceborne dust to reduce solar radiation, and awareness about the debris orbiting Earth.

Researchers, known as NIAC Fellows, will investigate their concepts and identify potential challenges and opportunities for further development.

The 18 selections for 2026 NIAC Phase 1 grants are:

• Saptarshi Bandyopadhyay, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California: Dimming the Sun Using Controllable Dust Cloud to Reduce Solar Insolation (DimSun)  

• David Bugby, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory: Combinatory Architecture offering Neomobility, on-Venus Adaptability, and Survivability (CANVAS)

• A.C. Charania, Zeno Power Systems, Inc., Washington:
  Extended Astronaut Radioisotope-EVA in Nighttime and Deep-space Icy Landscapes (EARENDIL)

• Anish Damodaran, University of Central Florida, Orlando: PS21: Transforming Submillimeter Space Interferometry with Photonic Technologies

• Artur Davoyan, University of California, Los Angeles: Coilable Stacked Solar Sails for Very High delta-V Missions

• Daniel Drew, University of Hawaii, Honolulu: Solid-state Propulsion for Autonomous Reconnaissance of Karst (SPARK)

• Gilly Elor, Stone Aerospace, Inc., Del Valle, Texas: Power-over-Fiber to Enable a Lunar Underground eXplorer (LUX)

• Zhaoyan Liu, NASA Ames Research Center, California’s Silicon Valley: Quantum Wind Lidar Applications for Planetary and Earth Science Missions

• Jeff Nosanov, Orbital Velocity, LLC, Decatur, Georgia: OBLIVIAN: Observing Black hole LIght Via Intensity cOrrelatioN (OBLIVIAN)

• Keunhan Park, University of Utah, Salt Lake City: Plasmon-Enhanced Radioisotope Thermophotovoltaic (PRTPV) Power Generation for Interstellar Missions

• Austin Phoenix, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia: Efficient variable Conductivity Lunar Insulator for Passive Surveyor Environmental Control (ECLIPSE)

• Marco Quadrelli, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory: PRAXIS: Planetary Rings Autonomous EXploration with In-situ Sampling (PRAXIS)

• Michael Rubenstein, Northwestern University, Chicago: Actively Steerable Femtosat Constellations for In-situ Exploration of Saturn’s Rings, Atmosphere, and Magnetosphere

• Benjamin Schafer, Rarefied Technologies Inc., Albuquerque, New Mexico: : Photophoretic Tracers for Near-Space Remote Sensing at 30-100 km Altitudes

• David Smith, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina: Robotically Assembled Electromagnetic Metamaterials for Long-Range Space Situational Awareness

• Pablo Sobron, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, Mountain View, California: Interworld Slingshot Resource Surveys

• Paul Stankus, Brookhaven Science Associates, Upton, New York: Mapping Alien Continents: Achieving Optical VLBI for Exoplanet Imaging

• Paul Stankus, Brookhaven Science Associates, Upton, New York: Precision Astrometry Using Optically Independent Spacecraft for Gravitational Wave Detection

To learn more about NASA’s NIAC program, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/about-niac

-end-

Rob Margetta
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0918
robert.j.margetta@nasa.gov 

On Wednesday, Aug. 12, a total solar eclipse will be visible in parts of Greenland, Iceland, northern Russia, the Atlantic Ocean, Spain, and a small corner of Portugal. NASA will stream the eclipse live with views across the path and interviews with subject matter experts through a variety of platforms.

Learn where to watch online:

https://www.nasa.gov/live

Viewers in other places in the Northern Hemisphere also will have the chance to experience a partial solar eclipse, including parts of the U.S. (from Alaska to North Carolina), most of Canada, much of Europe, and northwestern Africa.

During the eclipse, NASA will conduct experiments in the path of totality. To investigate the dynamics of the Sun’s corona, a NASA-funded science team will chase the Moon’s shadow with a WB-57 high-altitude research aircraft. The NASA-supported Nationwide Eclipse Ballooning Project is sending students from several U.S. universities to Iceland and Spain to launch scientific balloons before, during, and after the eclipse to research how the temporary darkening of our skies during the eclipse affects Earth’s atmosphere.

NASA’s eclipse coverage is as follows (all times Eastern):

Wednesday, Aug. 12

• 1:15 p.m.: Eclipse broadcast begins
• 1:45 p.m.: Totality begins in Iceland
• 2:28 p.m.: Totality begins in Spain

NASA photography coverage
Photos of the eclipse, dependent on visibility, will be available shortly after the eclipse. View images on the agency’s Flickr account.

Watch, engage on social media
During the broadcast, NASA experts will answer questions submitted on social media. Send in your questions and let people know you’re watching the eclipse on X, Facebook, and Instagram by following and tagging these accounts:
 
X: @NASA, @NASASolarSystem, @NASAScience_

Facebook: NASA, NASASolarSystem, @NASAScience

Instagram: @NASA, @NASASolarSystem, @NASAScience_

Learn more about the eclipse at:

https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses

-end-

Abbey Interrante / Karen Fox
Headquarters, Washington
301-201-0124 / 202-358-1600
abbey.a.interrante@nasa.gov / karen.c.fox@nasa.gov

Microsoft pitched its own homegrown AI models, harnesses, and even a Mythos competitor on Wednesday, telling Wall Street it plans for continued growth.

As Meta pours billions into AI infrastructure and agents, Zuckerberg is working to convince investors that the payoff will be worth the price.

When Microsoft reported killer fourth-quarter earnings for its fiscal 2026 year (which ended June 30), it tucked in an interesting little tidbit about how its investments in the two biggest, and competing, AI labs are doing.

On the company’s second-quarter earnings call Wednesday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta sees a “large enterprise opportunity” spanning AI agents, APIs, compute, and internal software.

At TechCrunch Disrupt 2026, the AI Stage is back to dig into the single hottest topic in the community for the past few years, presented by Google for Startups.