🇺🇸 60 YEARS ON MARS - TECH CHANGED HOW WE SEE THE RED PLANET From grainy strips in 1965 to HD drone footage, Mars went from mystery to mapped. Mariner gave us the first look. Viking let us stand (visually) on the surface. Sojourner rolled in and launched a rover era. Then came HiRISE - spotting dunes, gear, even footprints from orbit. And when Ingenuity flew? We saw Mars from the air - and even spotted Perseverance down below. 21 images turned into millions. We’ve watched Martian sunrises, dust devils, and valleys deeper than Earth’s Grand Canyon - all from 140 million miles away. Mars isn’t just a dot in the sky anymore. It’s a place with a past. And if you ask Elon, also a great future. Source: NASA JPL

HUMAN VS OPTIMUS: WHO'S GOT THE BETTER MOVES? One's got swag, the other's got servos. If you ask me, this round goes to Optimus.

🇺🇸 UNDERWATER VOLCANO NEAR OREGON IS SHAKING LIKE IT’S ABOUT TO BLOW An underwater volcano called Axial Seamount is going off with 100 to 300 tiny quakes a day, which scientists say is a big red flag. It’s about 300 miles off Oregon’s coast and nearly a mile deep, but don’t relax just yet - this thing erupted in 2015 and dropped 8 feet of ocean floor. Experts say magma is moving, pressure is building, and if it pops, we could see up to 10,000 quakes in a single day. It’s far from land, but nearby volcanoes like Mount Rainier? Yeah, those could be next. Source: Daily Mail

🇹🇷 MOUNT CILO WATERFALL LOOKS STRAIGHT OUT OF A FANTASY MOVIE This rare beauty flows down from the icy peaks of Mount Cilo in Turkey’s far southeast, close to the Iraq border.

🚨🇺🇸 UPDATE: EAST HOLLYWOOD CRASH DRIVER HAD GUNSHOT WOUND, 7 STILL CRITICAL Officials now say the driver who plowed into a crowd outside The Vermont Hollywood nightclub was found with a gunshot wound and is being treated. Seven people remain in critical condition after the Nissan Versa slammed into bystanders around 2 a.m. during a packed reggaeton and hip-hop event. LAFD says the driver may have lost consciousness before hitting a taco cart and crashing into the crowd. The investigation is ongoing. Source: KTLA, LAFD, The Independent

🇺🇸 AMERICA’S WORST TIPPERS: RICH STATES, CHEAP GRATITUDE A new study shows New York, New Jersey, and California are some of the stingiest states when it comes to tipping, even though they’ve got some of the biggest paychecks and restaurant bills around. California ranks dead last in the U.S. with an average tip of just 17.8%. New York and New Jersey barely do better at 19.1% and 19.5%. Meanwhile, diners in places like West Virginia and Kentucky are leaving 21% tips on smaller checks, making them the most generous tippers in the country. The catch? The study factors in income, so tipping a lot doesn’t mean much if you’re rich. Source: New York Post

🇺🇸 TRUMP: RELEASE EPSTEIN GRAND JURY TESTIMONY - LEFT WILL STILL DEMAND “MORE” “I have asked the Justice Department to release all Grand Jury testimony with respect to Jeffrey Epstein, subject only to Court Approval. With that being said, and even if the Court gave its full and unwavering approval, nothing will be good enough for the troublemakers and radical left lunatics making the request. It will always be more, more, more. MAGA!” Source: Truth Social

🇺🇸 CEO BENCHED AFTER KISS CAM CHAOS After a viral kiss cam moment at a Coldplay concert, tech company Astronomer put CEO Andy Byron on leave and launched a formal investigation. Astronomer says no employees, including HR head Alyssa Stoddard, were in the video - despite online speculation. The board says more details are coming, and for now the co-founder is stepping in as interim CEO. When your concert hug turns into a corporate crisis, maybe skip the kiss cam next time. Source: @astronomerio, NBC News

🇳🇿 MEET THE KĀKĀPO: A FLIGHTLESS, HEAD-BANGING, MOSSY BIRD THAT REFUSES TO GO EXTINCT It’s the size of a housecat, looks like it rolled in a patch of moss, and instead of flying, it hikes and climbs like it’s training for bird Everest. The kākāpo is the world’s heaviest parrot, can’t fly, breeds once every few years, and once tried to mate with a guy’s head on camera. It was almost wiped out but now it's making a slow comeback thanks to hardcore conservation work and predator-free island life in New Zealand. There are fewer than 250 left, but they could live to 90. Basically, it’s nature’s weirdest underdog with serious main character energy. Source: BBC Wildlife

🇺🇸 ROBOTS THAT CAN GROW, HEAL, AND STEAL PARTS? YEAH, THAT’S REAL NOW Scientists just made robots that can fix themselves, grow new limbs, and grab parts from other robots like it's a futuristic junkyard buffet. They're calling it "Robot Metabolism" and it means machines could survive without humans babysitting them. These bots can link up like magnetic LEGO and even use new limbs to move faster like they're leveling up mid-mission. Great news for space missions and disaster zones, slightly terrifying news for anyone who’s seen Terminator. Source: Columbia Engineering, Tech Xplore