FlashFeed

Full text

NASA provided an Artemis update today (June 30), announcing new lunar landing contracts for its Moon Base initiative and a surprise new possible rover mission that could be headed to the moon's south pole.

During the second monthly update that NASA has provided for its moon base plans , the agency named Astrobotic, Firefly Aerospace and Intuitive Machines as the providers of four robotic landers that will deliver scientific payloads to the surface of the moon , as NASA tests and expands the technologies needed for a permanent human outpost.

"This is this drawing on the playbook that worked very well for NASA during the 1960s," NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said during the livestreamed update, explaining the experiential approach to a crewed lunar return. "We didn't just jump right to Apollo 11 ."

Isaacman also announced the potential repurposing of an engineering development model built to mirror the agency's Perseverance and Curiosity rovers on Mars. "There is another," Isaacman said, quoting Yoda's line from "Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back."

That test rover is called PROMISE, short for "Polar Rover for Observation, Mapping, and In-Situ Exploration" (though it was formerly known as Optimism). PROMISE was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Southern California, where it has been used as a test platform for fixes or commands that engineers want to try on the ground before permanently sending them to Perseverance and Curiosity. Now, NASA wants to send PROMISE on a mission of its own.

Though sending PROMISE to the moon would leave Perseverance and Curiosity — both of which remain active on Mars — without an Earth-based testbed, Isaacman thinks it would be worth it.

"We've had years now of experience operating the two rovers on the surface of Mars, and we've got this hardware that the taxpayers have invested a lot in," he said. "So the question was posed: 'What if we send it to the moon?'"

With a little refurbishment, PROMISE would help advance NASA's lunar plans, Isaacman added. Like Perseverance and Curiosity, the test rover is powered by a radioisotope thermoelectric generator ( RTG ), which converts heat from naturally decaying radioactive material into electricity. So it wouldn't require sunlight to operate — a real benefit on the moon, where most locations experience long stretches of darkness. (NASA plans to build its Artemis base near the moon's south pole, which is thought to harbor an abundance of water ice and also has a relatively complex lighting environment.)

The other robots currently in the works to launch on future missions to the moon, including the landers announced during today's update, are all solar powered. Through 2029, NASA hopes to launch up to 20 such missions as part of the CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative to support the first phase of the agency's moon base plans, and the landers announced today will be some of the first in that lineup.

Already expected this year was Blue Origin's Blue Moon Mark 1 cargo lander. It's slated to launch on the company's New Glenn rocket, which exploded last month during an engine test . That anomaly has complicated the Blue Moon timeline, though Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp has voiced confidence that New Glenn will launch again this year .

Two lunar deliveries were awarded to Astrobotic's Griffin 1 lander, one of which will fly Astrolab's FLIP rover the surface of the moon in the second half of 2026. Contracts to Firefly and Intuitive Machines call for the use of their Blue Ghost and Nova C landers, respectively, on CLPS missions in the next few years.

Three artist renderings depict commercial lunar landers from Astrobotic, Intuitive Machines, and Firefly on the moon. NASA announced June 30 that the landers will deliver more NASA science investigations and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface for NASA’s Moon Base Program. (Image credit: Astrobotic/Intuitive Machines/Firefly) Each CLPS lander mission will carry at least three NASA payloads. The Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS) array will study lander engine exhaust plume effects on lunar dust, to better predict landing requirements and prevent erosion and dangerous ejecta; a Laser Retroreflector Array (LRA) will test landers' ability to determine positioning and navigate using lasers and reflectors; and a Linear Energy Transfer Spectrometer (LETS) will measure radiation in the space around the moon and different areas on its surface.

"We know a lot about the moon, some of the south pole, but nothing like what we need to learn before we send humans there and we actually build a moon base," Carlos Garcia-Golan, NASA's Moon Base program manager, said during today's event. "So putting different assets on the surface, prospecting, understanding the environment and the places where we want to go [is] super critical."

Garcia-Golan is on board with the PROMISE moon plan as well. While it might sound crazy to send a spare Mars rover to the moon, it's the kind of crazy that NASA should be doing, he said. After all, JPL's motto is "Dare mighty things."

"We are in the business of the near impossible, so why not?" Garcia-Golan said.

Full text

On June 24, 2025, Cygames released Umamusume: Pretty Derby on Steam, tasking players with scouting, training, and managing the racing careers of the titular umamusume—horse girls born for the singular pursuit of speed.

Next month—just over a year later—developer Blue Bullet is releasing its own fantastical take on the storied tradition of umamusume racing with Full Stride , a jockey racing simulator that reimagines the expected horse girls as normal horses. You know, the kind that in our world spend their time doing things like eating roughage and unsettling passersby with their inscrutable auras. How quaint!

(Image credit: Blue Bullet) "Feel the tension as the gates open, fight for position within the pack, decide when to make your move, and experience the thrill of a head-to-head battle down the final stretch," Blue Bullet says in the Steam description, seemingly promising that players and their hoses will experience the thrill that before has been the exclusive privilege of elaborately costumed anime girls.

Evidently, it won't be enough to just drive your horse as fast as possible. Blue Bullet says victory won't be achievable if you neglect to consider a horse's racing style, stamina, sprint aptitude, pace, and preferred distance—just as an umamusume trainer would be foolish to enter Haru Urara in a late-career turf races without a diligent training regimen to break her reliance on dirt tracks.

There will also be a photo mode, allowing the player to really savor the almost dreamlike absurdity of a crowd gathering to see if their favorite horse goes fast. It's a high-concept idea, but if executed capably, there could be some real promise to it.

As long as nobody bets on anything. I can't imagine that would end well for anyone .

Full Stride launches on July 16, 2026. You can wishlist it on Steam now.

2026 games : All the upcoming games

Best PC games : Our all-time favorites

Free PC games : Freebie fest

Best FPS games : Finest gunplay

Best RPGs : Grand adventures

Best co-op games : Better together

Full text

Obsession has officially surpassed Sinners to be the highest-grossing original film of the decade so far, and it's a good time to be a horror fan.

Obsession, written and directed by Curry Barker, follows a dude who sucks named Bear (Michael Johnston) who buys a novelty wishing branch and wishes for his crush, Nikki (Indie Navarette), to love him more than anything in the world. The wish works, but something takes over Nikki... and she spends the rest of the movie fighting whatever it is in the most violent way.

The movie was made for roughly $750,00, and has earned around $371 million (via Forbes) at the global box office. The cast includes Cooper Tomlinson, Andy Richter, Megan Lawless, Haley Fitzgerald, and Darin Toonder.

Sinners, directed by Ryan Coogler, earned $370.3 million worldwide against a budget of $90 million. The film also took home four out of a whopping 16 Oscar nominations, which also made it the most Oscar-nominated movie in history.

"I don’t want to go straight into Obsession 2," Barker said to The Hollywood Reporter , when asked if the movie will turn into a franchise. "I have such a cool idea for it that I won’t say. I’m not saying it has to be five, six years from now. But I think people would be just as excited for it if it came a little down the road. It’s a whirlwind, and I’m trying to figure it out."

Obsession is still in theaters. Sinners is streaming now on HBO Max. For more, check out our guide to the best horror movies , and keep up with other exciting upcoming horror movies on the way.

Full text

Sometime in the next few weeks, the decommissioned Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser ex- USS Mobile Bay , the 7th example of her class built, will be sent to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean by friendly forces, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune . The Tarawa class ex-USS Peleliu (LHA-5) amphibious assault ship will also be pummeled to its doom by friendly fire. These are two very high-profile and vastly different targets, which will make for a uniquely interesting pair of SINKEX drills. The event will take place during the 30th Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) biennial international maritime exercise.

RIMPAC 2026 began June 24 and runs through July 31; however, the date and manner of the sinking are not yet known. The sinking exercise (SINKEX) is the capstone event at each RIMPAC , though the type of surplus ship used varies.

The guided-missile cruiser USS Mobile Bay (CG 53) cutting through the Pacific Ocean, Feb. 5, 2019. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jake Greenberg) Petty Officer 2nd Class Jacob L. Greenberg

Mobile Bay was decommissioned in 2023 and determined ineligible to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places a year later, sealing its fate.

Commissioned on Feb. 27, 1987, Mobile Bay took part in a number of major events during its 36 years in service.

“The ship’s operational history includes the 1989 evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon; launching 22 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAMs) in support of Operation Desert Storm and the evacuation of thousands of people displaced by the volcanic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo in the vicinity of Subic Bay, Republic of the Philippines during Operation Fiery Vigil in 1991,” according to the Navy . It also participated in the “U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detachment (CGLED) seizure of 10.5 metric tons of cocaine approximately 800 miles southwest of Acapulco, Mexico, and launching TLAMS in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.”

In addition to the date of its sinking being so far unknown, we also do not know how Mobile Bay will be struck. These events are used to test out a variety of weapons systems and crews to see how they perform. This often includes the ship being hit by many different kinds of weapons.

In the most recent SINKEX, for instance, we wrote that a U.S. Air Force B-2A Spirit bomber fired an AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) at the ex-USS Juneau during Valiant Shield 2026 in the Western Pacific. You can read more about that in our story about that here . Often times everything from torpedoes to short-range missiles to rocket artillery to airborne gunfire is used to maximize the sacrifice of the retired hull.

A U.S. Air Force B-2A Spirit bomber launched an AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) at the ex-USS Juneau during a SINKEX at Valiant Shield 2026. (USAF) USAF

Mobile Bay , which took part in RIMPAC 2022, is one of four Ticonderoga class cruisers set to be disposed of by a SINKEX. In addition, the ex-USS Vella Gulf , the ex-USS Antietam and the ex-USS Port Royal are all facing the same fate, according to Navy records.

The ex-USS Valley Forge was the first of the decommissioned Ticonderogas to be sunk, during target practice in Hawaii in November 2006 .

Crewmembers prepare to say farewell to their ship during the decommissioning ceremony of Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser USS Antietam (CG 54). (U.S. Navy photo by Ens. Paula Hackbart/Released) Ensign Paula Hackbart

The Ticonderogas carry Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM) and serve as air and missile defense batteries and command and control platforms. They are also equipped with Harpoon anti-ship missiles and MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopters, and execute anti-submarine warfare operations.

Built in the 1980s and early 1990s, these cruisers primarily provide the backbone of a carrier strike group’s air warfare capabilities.

There are nine ships in this class still serving in the Navy. Of those, a half dozen are slated to be decommissioned in the coming years, while the remainder — USS Gettysburg , USS Chosin and USS Cape St. George — have been modernized or are close to finishing modernization and will serve out toward the end of the decade .

USS Gettysburg . (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Kaitlin Young)

The effort to keep these ships afloat has been costly and controversial, which you can read more about in our story about the process here .

The Navy is billing RIMPAC 2026 as the largest in the history of these exercises.

PHILIPPINE SEA (Oct. 22, 2014) – The amphibious assault ship USS Peleliu (LHA 5) sails into open water as part of the Peleliu Amphibious Ready Group (PELARG). (U.S. Navy Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Joshua Hammond/Released) MC1 Joshua Hammond

“Thirty nations, over 30 surface ships, five submarines, 15 national land forces, more than 206 aircraft and 30,000 personnel will train and operate in and around the Hawaiian Islands during the exercise,” the Navy said in a release . “RIMPAC provides a unique training opportunity while fostering and sustaining cooperative relationships among participants that are critical to ensuring the security of sea lanes and stability across the region.”

It will be interesting to see how the ex- Mobile Bay is ultimately disposed of. We will provide an update when more information is available.

Contact the author: howard@twz.com

The post Ticonderoga Class Cruiser Set To Be Sunk During RIMPAC Wargames appeared first on TWZ .

Full text

I'm the type of traveler who will plan an entire trip around great meals.

I love experiencing destinations and cultures through their food, so whether I'm at home or on the road, dining out is one of my biggest expenses.

Dining out has only gotten more expensive in recent years. Fortunately, several of the travel rewards cards I carry offer dining statement credits that not only save me money on meals throughout the year but also help offset their annual fees.

Here are some of the cards I keep in my wallet specifically for their dining statement credits (among other reasons) and how I make sure to maximize them.

For upscale date nights: Chase Sapphire Reserve

The Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see rates and fees ) gets a lot of attention for its numerous travel perks , but it also has an extremely valuable dining benefit .

Cardholders can earn up to $300 in statement credits each calendar year split into two biannual credits of up to $150 each from January-June and July-December when using their card to pay for meals at Sapphire Reserve Exclusive Tables restaurants on OpenTable (no prepayment, payment or reservation through OpenTable is required).

CHASE The program just started last year, but there are already eligible restaurants in dozens of U.S. cities .

My husband and I used one of these credits last fall at the fancy French-Californian bistro, Jeune et Jolie, in the coastal hamlet of Carlsbad, just north of San Diego. We used our first credit of 2026 at the one-Michelin-star Thai restaurant, Anajak, near our home in L.A.

Both were fabulous, and the $150 statement credit made the experience even sweeter.

I also make a point of using this benefit for restaurants I'd already planned to visit, rather than choosing one simply because it's eligible. That's how I make sure the credit saves me real money instead of encouraging extra spending.

Related: Chase Sapphire Reserve review: A premium card for power travelers

Delicious savings for foodies: The Amex Gold

The American Express® Gold Card charges a considerable annual fee of $325 (see rates and fees ), but I make up for that value just from the card's dining perks .

Specifically, the card offers:

Up to $100 in annual statement credits on dining at eligible U.S. Resy restaurants when you use your card to pay; up to $50 from January-June and up to $50 from July-December.

Up to $120 in annual statement credits (up to $10 per month) at Grubhub (including Seamless), Buffalo Wild Wings, Five Guys, The Cheesecake Factory and Wonder.

Up to $120 in Uber Cash ($10 per month) for U.S. Uber and Uber Eats orders†

Up to $84 per calendar year (up to $7 per month) in statement credits for U.S. Dunkin' purchases.

Also, in celebration of the Amex Gold's 60th anniversary, Amex is including a one-time statement credit of up to $96 for an annual Uber One membership (enroll by Oct. 30).

Those four benefits alone amount to $424 in annual value I can use, $520 if you include the one-time Uber One membership.

Enrollment is required for all benefits.

†Uber Cash will only be deposited into one Uber account when you add the Amex Gold as a payment method and redeem with any Amex card.

EUGENE GOLOGURSKY/RESY I live in Los Angeles and regularly book restaurants through Resy , so that credit comes and goes before I even realize it most of the time. Most recently, I used it at an Italian restaurant, Funke in Beverly Hills, for my husband's birthday. Because I knew we were getting $50 off the final tally, we splurged on a few desserts.

My husband and I also regularly order from our favorite local Thai and Mediterranean restaurants on Grubhub and get up to $10 in statement credits every month.

I'll admit, I don't always get to a Dunkin' to use that credit, but I do love popping in for a coffee when I see one.

Finally, although I sometimes use the card's Uber credit for rides, more often than not, I'll actually just put it toward an order from a great sandwich shop near me called Ggiata, which serves heaping subs. The bonus is that my order is usually delivered by a cute robot!

Related: American Express Gold Card review: The best card for foodies

Modest savings month after month: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex

I recently applied for the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant® American Express® Card during a recent limited-time elevated welcome offer (no longer available). I was wowed by the bonus points I could earn as well as the card's robust set of benefits, which just happen to include up to $300 in dining statement credits each year.

ERIC ROSEN/THE POINTS GUY This is one of the easiest credits for me to maximize because I simply leave the card in my wallet and use it for one inexpensive restaurant purchase every month. I don't have to change my spending habits; I just have to remember which card to use.

Cardholders can earn up to $25 in statement credits toward eligible restaurant purchases worldwide each calendar month . That's up to $300 in annual statement credits over 12 months, which is nearly half the card's $695 annual fee (see rates and fees ).

Best part is I plan to get even more value than that thanks to the perks I'll receive with the automatic Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status .

Related: Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex review: Marriott's most premium card

Takeout and dining in: Citi/AAdvantage Executive

I love the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite Mastercard® (see rates and fees ) specifically because it provides complimentary Admirals Club membership and opportunities to boost your elite status .

PHOTO COURTESY OF GRUBHUB But even I sometimes forget that this card also offers a statement credit of up to $10 per monthly billing statement on eligible Grubhub purchases, totaling up to $120 per year.

Fortunately, because we already order through Grubhub regularly, remembering to use the credit usually doesn't require changing our routine. Combined with my Amex Gold's up to $10 monthly dining statement credit (which can be used with Grubhub), we receive up to $240 each year toward food delivery we'd be ordering anyway.

Related: Citi/AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard review: Complimentary Admirals Club membership

One card I'm considering for even bigger dining savings

While I don't currently carry the American Express Platinum Card® , I'm thinking about getting it because of its benefits bonanza , one of which is up to $400 in statement credits per year when dining at eligible U.S. Resy restaurants.

AMERICAN EXPRESS Cardholders get up to $100 in statement credits each quarter when using their card to pay at eligible U.S. restaurants affiliated with Resy (enrollment required). Simply pay with your Amex Platinum at an eligible U.S. Resy restaurant; no reservation is required.

So if you dine out at Resy restaurants, this can be a huge savings.

I'm personally considering whether I'll maximize this card's other benefits before applying, but the Resy credit alone has me thinking about it.

Related: Amex Platinum Card review: Steep annual fee but loads of new perks to match

Bottom line

There's no doubt that dining out has gotten more expensive lately. Fortunately, I save more than $1,000 each year on restaurants and food delivery without changing my habits.

While some credits are easy to use, others require monthly tracking. Still, given the value these perks offer for my specific needs, as well as the other benefits these cards offer, I plan to keep them in my wallet for the time being.

If you're considering a card with dining credits, I'd recommend focusing less on the dollar amount and more on whether you'll actually use the benefit. The best statement credit is the one you don't have to go out of your way to redeem.

Related: Monthly checklist: Credit card perks and benefits you should be using

For rates and fees of the Amex Gold card, click here .

For rates and fees of the Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant Amex, click here .

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

Full text

Before Celine Song made her dating-app diatribe with last year’s Materialists , there was Yorgos Lanthimos ’ The Lobster . Released in 2015 and serving as Lanthimos’s first English-language film, fifth feature film, and third with co-writer Efthimis Filippou , respectively, The Lobster announced a new voice in the space between independent and mainstream cinema , carving out an idiosyncratically Kubrickian niche within the contemporary cinematic landscape. Leapfrogging from an A24 darling to a three-peat Oscar contender with juggernauts such as Bugonia , The Favourite , and Poor Things , The Lobster (which earned Lanthimos and Filippou their first Oscar nominations) marked a transition point for the Greek auteur, catapulting him into the conversation of the great 21st-century filmmakers.