Night sky showing the Milky Way as a dense river of stars, colored blue, purple, and pink.

How Stars Are Born, Live, and Die

A star spends its life in a contest between two forces. Gravity pulls its gas inward. Pressure pushes back—first from heat, then from nuclear fusion in the core. For most of the star’s life those forces stay in balance. Astronomers call that balance hydrostatic equilibrium. When the fuel runs out, the balance breaks. What happens…

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Overhead view of a Clippers basketball game at Staples Center, with the jumbotron reading “CLIPPERS WIN.”

NBA Fines Clippers $30 Million and Strips Five First-Round Picks After Salary-Cap Inquiry

The National Basketball Association announced on September 2 that the Los Angeles Clippers violated salary-cap circumvention rules in the league’s collective bargaining agreement and imposed penalties on the franchise, owner Steve Ballmer, two team executives, and forward Kawhi Leonard. According to the NBA, a summary report prepared by the law firm Wachtell Lipton found that…

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Mayor Zohran Mamdani signs an order. Credit: NYC Mayor’s Office, CC BY 4.0.

New York City Bans Generative AI for Public School Students Through Eighth Grade

New York City will bar student use of generative artificial intelligence from 2-K through eighth grade for the 2026–27 school year, Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Schools Chancellor Kamar Samuels announced on September 2. City officials said the one-year moratorium affects nearly 600,000 public school students, about two-thirds of enrollment. Reuters and CNN described it as…

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White Uber taxi parked on a sunny street beside grass and trees, with another vehicle in the background.

Uber to Cut About 3,300 Jobs, or 10 Percent of Workforce, in Restructuring

Uber Technologies announced on September 2, 2026, that it will eliminate approximately 3,300 positions, representing about 10 percent of its global workforce. Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi outlined the changes in a memo to employees. The company said the cuts aim to remove organizational layers, simplify team structures, and reduce complexity that accumulated during earlier growth….

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Iranian missiles on display outdoors, including one upright launcher and two missiles on camouflage rails marked with Iranian flags and serial numbers.

U.S. and Iran Exchange Strikes After Monthlong Lull; Iran Says Wedding Was Hit

U.S. Central Command said U.S. forces began striking Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targets in Iran at noon Eastern Time on September 1 and later said the wave of strikes had been completed. CENTCOM said the targets included air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, mine-laying capabilities, and communications sites. CENTCOM said the strikes…

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