Meet the man circumnavigating the Arctic Ocean, alone
NPR World
Matt Rutherford is sailing 10,000 nautical miles, through ice floes and gales, to try and accomplish a world first. He spoke with NPR from the cabin of his boat.
What the rest of the world is reading today.
A digest of top world and technology headlines, pulled from a handful of publisher feeds once a day and stored here. Every link goes straight to the original story.
August 8, 2026
16 stories published this day.
Around the world
Tanker sailors still face danger in the Strait of Hormuz
NPR World
An agreement over the Strait of Hormuz is still far away. Tim Wilkins, who works for a tanker industry group, says the ships stuck around the waterway are in limbo, and transiting is still dangerous.
Ukraine mourns 'collector of souls' Oleksiy Yukov, killed recovering war dead
NPR World
Oleksiy Yukov spent two decades recovering the bodies of soldiers — including many Russians. He was killed during a recovery mission after stepping on a landmine.
In tech
Planned Amazon data center could become the biggest climate polluter in the U.S.
TechCrunch
As part of a planned Texas data center, Amazon is investing in an on-site power plant that could reportedly become the largest source of climate pollution in the United States.
X replaces its revenue-sharing program with ‘Original Content Rewards’
The Verge
X is ending its controversial revenue-sharing program for content creators, which has seen numerous revisions under Elon Musk's reign. In its place, it's launching a new Original Content Rewards program on September 8th. To be eligible, creators must have at least 500 verified followers and at least 500,000 Home Timeline impressions from verified users in […]
OpenAI acquires presentation startup NextSlide
TechCrunch
NextSlide says its team members are now working on ChatGPT.
An Amazon data center could have the worst polluting power plant in the country
The Verge
To power its new West Texas data center, Amazon is investing in the construction of a new power plant that could be one of the largest single producers of greenhouse gases in the US, according to the New York Times. The new gas-burning plant in Pecos County, Texas has received significant investment from Amazon and, […]
X replaces ‘misaligned’ revenue sharing program with Original Content Rewards
TechCrunch
X is winding down its existing Revenue Sharing program.
Buc-ee’s dodges John Oliver to sue another small business
The Verge
Buc-ee's became something of a viral sensation during the World Cup, but it has a troubling history of suing small gas stations and convenience stores. On a recent episode of Last Week Tonight, John Oliver literally begged the company to sue him for selling merch featuring his squirrel mascot, Mr. Nutterbutter, with branding that reads […]
Musician and entrepreneur Tom Vek is building a digital music player, but don’t call it retro
The Verge
Tom Vek burst onto the scene in 2005 with his album We Have Sound, which garnered a solid 7.6 from the tastemakers of the day over at Pitchfork. His undeniably catchy brand of dancy indietronica landed him an appearance on The OC and placement on the Grand Theft Auto IV soundtrack. His follow-up, Leisure Seizure, […]
Census Proposal Would Stop Counting Undocumented Immigrants—and Ignore Race and Sexual Orientation
Wired
A draft rule reviewed by WIRED would prevent the census from counting undocumented immigrants. To protect against “distortions,” it would also bar questions about race and sexual orientation.
The Sharpest Image Ever Taken of the Sun Reveals a Hidden Phenomenon
Wired
The photograph, taken in visible light, made it possible to observe for the first time the tiny plasma vortices that had been predicted for more than a century.
Is this $450 laptop from an unknown brand too good to be true?
The Verge
Finding a good laptop under $500 was hard enough before RAMageddon. They nearly always had cheap hardware and underpowered, often outdated chips. That's what made the MacBook Neo so disruptive: It offered great build quality and good-enough performance starting at $599. Windows laptops couldn't touch it. Even though it's gone up to $699, it's still […]
Here Are the First Images of the Crater Left on the Moon by SpaceX’s Rocket
Wired
The Korea Aerospace Research Institute shared images that show the gash on the surface. It’s pretty small.
The first self-driving vehicle on Mars has proven to be a smashing success
Ars Technica
About 90 percent of the distance driven by Perseverance has been autonomous.
DeepMind’s hurricane breakthrough has surprised weather scientists
Ars Technica
Open source WeatherNext model can make accurate predictions with lower-resolution weather data.