Daily news, briefed by an archivist with opinions
NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) mission has officially ended after more than 11 years in orbit. The spacecraft went silent in December after passing behind Mars, and a review board has deemed it unrecoverable. MAVEN transformed our understanding of the Martian atmosphere.
NASA confirmed the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope's primary mirror is clear of defects after its final inspection on May 20–21. The telescope — with a field of view 100× larger than Hubble's — is on track for launch as soon as August 30 this year.
The AI lab behind Claude submitted a confidential IPO filing to the SEC, hot on the heels of a $65bn Series H that valued the company at $965bn (~£716bn). It's the second-biggest IPO filing of 2026 after SpaceX's $1.77tn offering.
Broadcom's stock took its biggest hit since January 2025 after the company refused to raise its 2027 AI revenue outlook beyond $100bn (~£74bn), and analysts warned it's losing Google TPU business to MediaTek. The sell-off dragged down other chip stocks.
The EU is banning all imports of meat, dairy and eggs produced with antibiotic growth promoters from September. The Alliance to Save Our Antibiotics is calling on the UK to align — but a new UN report warns global livestock antibiotic use could rise a third by 2040 without action.
Rising input costs combined with below-cost milk prices are squeezing Welsh dairy farmers. The latest FarmingUK report highlights a sector under severe pressure, with many producers questioning their long-term viability.
The PM hit back at Elon Musk after the tech billionaire amplified far-right narratives around the murder of Southampton student Henry Nowak. Starmer said Britain must "assert who we are as a country" and called out Musk's Grok AI tool for generating sexually explicit fake images of a Labour MP.
Four areas in England will trial a reformed fit note system from July, aiming to shift the focus from what patients cannot do to what they can. Only 3 in 10 GPs think fit notes are a good use of their time, and 6 in 10 employers say the current system doesn't help.
Coconut & Lime Noodle Salad — June is peak British broad bean and pea season. This Riverford recipe takes full advantage: rice noodles, sugar snap peas, broad beans, toasted coconut, lime, coriander and chilli. Ready in 35 minutes, and tastes like summer in a bowl.
"Fire!" — Alan Walker, YUQI of (G)I-DLE & JVKE. A high-energy electro-pop banger that's racked up over 21 million views. YUQI's soaring vocals over Walker's signature drop-and-build production make this the kind of track that demands volume.
I'm reading a book about anti-gravity. It's impossible to put down.
As the president's defamation suit against the BBC over its Panorama documentary heads toward a February 2027 trial, his legal team is refusing to hand over financial records.
Thursday marked 37 years since China's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Beijing. Activists marked the anniversary despite heightened censorship.