🔭 NASA streams Perseids meteor shower live

NASA is hosting a livestream for the popular Perseids meteor shower this year. The event will be broadcast from the Automated Lunar and Meteor Observatory at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The shower began on July 17 and runs until August 24, peaking on Wednesday evening into Thursday. Experts will discuss the shower’s history and fun facts during the stream. This offers a way for people to view the shower, which can produce 50 to 100 meteors per hour, even if they cannot go outside. 🔭

🤖 Accel pours $3.5B into global AI startups

Venture capital firm Accel has successfully raised $3.5 billion in a major funding round. This massive investment is aimed at backing emerging AI startups around the world. The capital injection was announced recently, signaling a huge push into artificial intelligence innovation. This move reflects the growing global focus on disruptive AI technologies across various sectors. Accel plans to use these funds to scale and support promising early-stage AI companies.

🔭 Meet the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

NASA has launched the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which is their latest astrophysics observatory. This telescope is designed to scan massive areas of space for scientific study. It will help researchers investigate topics like dark energy, dark matter, and exoplanets. The instrument is part of NASA's ongoing commitment to space exploration and discovery. Future studies will use its data to answer complex questions about the universe. 🔭

📣 Mayawati tells Gen Z to resist political hijacking ✊

BSP chief Mayawati accused the BJP and Congress of trying to co-opt youth protests in Delhi and Ranchi. She stated that these movements, initially focused on real issues, were being hijacked by political agendas. The protests in Jantar Mantar and Ranchi were specifically mentioned regarding this alleged takeover. Mayawati urged Gen Z to keep the focus on jobs and reservation instead of political maneuvering. She also criticized the weakening of reservation for disadvantaged communities.

🏈 Travis Kelce eyeing big brand move amidst fitness talks

Travis Kelce, the Chiefs' top tight end, is reportedly set for a multi-million dollar deal with Tommy Hilfiger this season. He had already signed the deal in March and was seen shooting in New York City for the Fall 2026 collection in May. The brand might see him wearing their gear during his gameday tunnel walk as the NFL season kicks off soon. However, there are ongoing concerns about his fitness level for the upcoming season. Kelce has not yet addressed the recent worries about his off-season weight gain. 🏈

🥗 Not all 'healthy' diets help during menopause

A new study found that two specific diets are best for managing weight during menopause. Led by Tong Xia, researchers analyzed 38,283 women from the Nurses’ Health Study II. The research, published in JAMA Network Open, looked at diets before and after menopause. The Planetary Health Diet and a low-insulinemic diet were most effective in lowering weight gain and obesity risk. Future steps include clinical trials testing dietary interventions for women entering menopause. 🧐

🚢 Middle East war pushes China toward Arctic shipping route 🚢

The Middle East conflict and Red Sea shipping threats are pushing China to increase Arctic trade route usage. Chinese firm Sea Legend is launching a regular weekly service via the Arctic to Europe this week. This 'Ice Silk Road' cuts the journey time between Ningbo and Felixstowe by about half during summer months. Western shippers remain wary due to Russian control and environmental concerns, unlike China which leverages ties with Russia. This shift offers Chinese shipping a major advantage while avoiding Middle East chokepoints.

🌌 Universe's biggest 2D map just dropped

Scientists have released the largest two-dimensional map of the universe ever created, showcasing nearly 4 billion celestial objects across most of the sky. This map, made by the DESI Legacy Imaging Surveys team, contains 5.6 trillion pixels from over 263,000 telescope exposures spanning more than a decade. The project culminated 13 years of observation, originally designed to aid DESI's 3D mapping effort. This massive dataset can now help search for rare phenomena and train AI systems for future observatories. The findings offer new insights into the expansion history and dark energy of the cosmos.

🛡️ Chrome's new defense against account takeovers

Chrome is rolling out DBSCs, a new protection against session cookie theft. This feature works on Chrome version 147 for Windows and 150 for macOS. Attackers can steal the cookie, but they cannot sign the challenge with the private key kept safe in the TPM or secure enclave. This method moves away from easily stolen shared secrets, much like Passkeys. Google is currently testing this feature before making it generally available.

❌ School body pulls support for Karnataka Bandh

A schools' association has officially withdrawn its support for the planned Bandh in Karnataka. This decision affects various educational institutions across the region. The call was originally scheduled for August 13th, aiming to draw attention to certain issues. The association cited internal deliberations and differing views among members for this change. Consequently, the planned shutdown activities for that date will not proceed as initially planned.

🔭 Tarantula Nebula's X-ray mystery solved?

Researchers are proposing three potential energy-loss mechanisms to explain why the Tarantula Nebula shows fewer X-rays than expected. The study focused on the nebula, which is located within the Large Magellanic Cloud galaxy. Data analyzed covered observations from 2019 to 2022, providing crucial insight into stellar processes. These models suggest how energy might be escaping or being lost within the nebula's environment. Future observations will help confirm which of these routes is the correct explanation. 🔭