Move over He-Man, Mattel’s Major Matt Mason space toys could still be blasting off for Hollywood

NeRD

As evidenced by Paramount’s live-action “Transformers” movies and the recent “Masters of the Universe” film released by Amazon MGM Studios, nostalgic toy lines can serve as fertile grounds for a variety of engaging Hollywood projects leaning into vintage intellectual properties. With Mattel ramping up their own film production efforts and toy-to-screen endeavors after enormous success with “The Barbie Movie” and hi-octane plans for Hot Wheels movies rolling into theaters, the toys-to-silver screen craze shows no sign of slowing down. What could be next? We think there’s a perfect choice hiding…

Read More

This Week In Space podcast: Episode 221 — Starship Can Float?

NeRD

Starship Can Float? – Roman Space Telescope Ready to Launch! – YouTube Watch On On Episode 221 of This Week In Space, Tariq Malik and guest host Rick Jenet of the National Space Society talk about SpaceX’s Starship Flight 13, which deployed new Starlink V3 satellites and stunned viewers when the ship survived reentry intact enough to float in the ocean for days afterward. They also discuss NASA’s Roman Space Telescope, now just a month from launch, and an in-progress emergency effort to save the ailing Swift Space Observatory using…

Read More

Dinosaur-killing asteroid may have caused firestorms 17 times hotter than the thermal limit lethal to humans

NeRD

Scientists once suspected that a brutal, years-long winter starved the dinosaurs following an asteroid impact 66 million years ago. New evidence suggests a more violent end: widespread firestorms that may have burned even thick-skinned dinosaurs to a crisp within hours. The roughly six-mile-wide (10-kilometer-wide) asteroid struck Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, excavating the Chicxulub crater and vaporizing enormous quantities of rock. Some of that material condensed into tiny droplets called spherules, which spread around the planet before falling back through Earth’s atmosphere at several miles per second. As the spherules slowed, their…

Read More

August Podcast: Three Big Events!

NeRD

This month we’ve got three big celestial events to cover: eclipses of the Sun and Moon, and especially good prospects for the Perseid meteor shower. Plus we’ll track down a few planets, and gaze at the center of our galaxy. So load up on the bug juice, and come along on this month’s Sky Tour. The post August Podcast: Three Big Events! appeared first on Sky & Telescope.

Read More

APOD: 2026 August 1 – Buck Moon and Belt of Venus

NeRD

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 August 1 – Buck… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss   APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. Buck Moon and Belt of Venus Explanation: The Buck Moon is a traditional name for the full moon of July. In this colorful Adriatic sea and skyscape captured on July 28 from Krk Island along the coast…

Read More

SpaceX’s Starship seen in space by next-gen Starlink satellite (video)

NeRD

We just got an amazing new view of SpaceX’s Starship vehicle, thanks to one of the company’s next-gen Starlink satellites. Starship, the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built, launched on its 13th test flight from South Texas last Friday (July 24). The suborbital jaunt was similar in many respects to past Starship test missions, with one big exception: This time, the vehicle deployed a batch of functional, next-gen Starlink internet satellites into space. Six of those “Starlink V3” spacecraft carried cameras, so that SpaceX could get good views of…

Read More

What’s Up: August 2026 Skywatching Tips from NASA

NeRD

Skywatching Skywatching Home What’s Up Meteor Showers Eclipses Daily Moon Guide More Tips & Guides Skywatching FAQ Night Sky Network A solar eclipse, the Perseids, bright Venus after sunset, and a deep partial lunar eclipse highlight August’s skywatching. Skywatching Highlights Aug. 5: Last Quarter Moon Aug. 12: Total solar eclipse across northern Russia, Greenland, Iceland, northern Spain, and part of Portugal; partial eclipse in parts of the U.S.; New Moon Aug. 12-13: Perseid meteor shower peak under dark skies Aug. 14-16: Venus reaches greatest eastern elongation and shines low in…

Read More

How do supermassive black holes grow? AI finds 7 spacetime-warping ‘quasars’ that could help solve the mystery

NeRD

Some of the brightest objects in the universe may also hold the key to understanding how galaxies evolve — especially when gravity transforms them into giant cosmic magnifying glasses. Using artificial intelligence to search through data from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), astronomers have identified seven promising candidates for quasars acting as gravitational lenses — natural cosmic magnifying glasses created when a massive object’s gravity bends and magnifies light from a more distant object. These unusual systems could help researchers better understand how actively growing supermassive black holes evolve,…

Read More

NASA to Host Florida Event Celebrating American Air, Space Leadership

NeRD

An American flag is seen in front of NASA’s SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 17, 2026, ahead of the historic Artemis II test flight. NASA will host a news conference at NASA Kennedy on Friday, Aug. 14, to highlight American leadership in space and aviation. Credit: NASA/Joel Kowsky NASA will hold a news conference at 2:30 p.m. EDT, Friday, Aug. 14, live from the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, and media and digital creators are invited to…

Read More

‘The End of Oak Street: Could JJ Abrams’ new ‘Twilight Zone meets Jurassic Park’ movie be the sleeper hit of the summer?

NeRD

The End of Oak Street | Official Trailer – YouTube Watch On The summer is slowly waning as we soon turn the calendar page to August and back to school supplies are already cluttering store shelves, but Hollywood still has a pocketful of of possible surprises hitting the silver screen. My prediction for “Masters of the Universe” as a summertime sleeper hit did not come to pass, though it was a totally enjoyable nostalgic romp, if not about 20 minutes or so too long. Recent teasers and trailers starring Ewan…

Read More