August 2026
All columns and Brief analyses.
10 results
Google brings Marvell into TPU ecosystem, expands student features
Google reached an agreement worth about 12.2 billion dollars with Marvell for custom chips around its TPUs. In the same period, the company added new student features and study tools inside Search and Gemini.
Google opens a dedicated AI study space and adds practice tools to Search
Google rolled out educational features for the back-to-school season, launching a dedicated student hub in Gemini and adding interactive simulations and practice quizzes to Search.
Israel rejects UK pressure over E1 settlement tender as displacement grows
Israel refused London's call to halt a 1,200-home tender in the strategic E1 corridor, while a new report said settler violence has emptied over a hundred Palestinian communities since 2023.
Israel strikes Syrian airbase to block Turkish troop deployment
Israel bombed Idlib's Abu Duhur airbase to prevent a Turkish troop deployment. Damascus and Ankara condemned the sovereignty violation. The raid reportedly followed a rare phone call between Israel's Mossad chief and Syria's foreign minister.
Japan's exports jump 23.2 per cent as China's industrial reach challenges Europe
Japan saw export growth accelerate in July alongside widening trade imbalances, while European authorities warned that China now operates directly in 40 per cent of its strongest sectors.
JAXA sets MMX launch for October 2026, Rocket Lab lifts an iQPS satellite and Firefly tests a lunar heater
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency expects to launch its Martian Moons eXploration probe in October 2026. Elsewhere, Rocket Lab delivered a Japanese radar satellite to orbit, and Firefly Aerospace added a radioisotope heater to its upcoming lunar lander.
Laser shocks close the gap in diamond's melting point, a star laps the galaxy's black hole and a Falcon 9 leaves a crater on the Moon
Researchers have closed a discrepancy in diamond's melting point using laser shocks, while astronomers tracked a star orbiting Sagittarius A* every 8.7 years and NASA's orbiter spotted an 18-metre crater left by a Falcon 9 upper stage.
Meta brings AI to Mac, Waymo expands Ojai vans, Cognition denies SpaceX acquisition talks
Meta released a dedicated Mac app for its AI assistant with screen sharing support. Waymo opened its driverless Ojai vans to all riders in three cities, and Cognition's chief executive denied reports that SpaceX tried to acquire the startup.
NASA abandons the Swift rescue, a solar eruption found with 17 spacecraft and microbes at the lunar pole
Katalyst Space's LINK spacecraft abandoned its attempt to boost Swift following attitude problems. Separately, 17 spacecraft exposed a solar eruption Earth models missed, and a simulation showed human-related microbes could survive shadowed ground at the lunar south pole.
Neuquén auctions Vaca Muerta blocks as US fuel stocks face historic low
Neuquén opened bids for 15 exploration blocks in Vaca Muerta to expand output. Meanwhile, the Energy Information Administration forecast US fuel stocks to end 2026 at a low, and Hormuz transits fell to 73.