Modern cameras can capture the world in striking, vibrant color, but sometimes good 'ol black-and-white film helps us see things from a new perspective. That's the goal of the Black and White Photo Awards, which recently announced its slate of 2025 winners. The winning images show wildlife and natural landscapes in stunning detail — you don't even miss the color.
Must Reads
Doctor-approved tips to help clear up brain fog — including a handy acronym to keep in mind
NASA's Quiet Supersonic Aircraft, Which Could Cross the Pond in Under 4 Hours, Preps for Takeoff
Lockheed Martin/NASA / SWNS
If flying the seven hours from New York to London has you reciting "Nothing beats a Jet2 holiday" (TikTok's recent viral soundtrack to videos of disappointing vacation moments), we have some good news: That travel time may soon get cut in half. X-59, NASA's quiet supersonic research aircraft, is gearing up for its first takeoff, the agency announced Friday. Nicknamed "Son of Concorde" — after the world's only successful supersonic passenger plane that first flew in the '60s — it could fly from London to New York in around three hours and 44 minutes. The aircraft is currently undergoing final safety tests at the U.S. Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California. "Its team is mapping every step, from taxi and takeoff to cruising and landing — and their decision-making is guided by safety," NASA said in a news release. Son of Concorde is projected to fly at Mach 1.5, or approximately 990 mph, and could reach a maximum cruising speed of Mach 2.04, or 1,354 mph, which is more than twice the speed of sound. It's designed to generate a quiet thump rather than a loud sonic boom as it flies, a noise problem that has made such planes unsuitable for soaring over populated areas. See more pics.
Together With Pacaso
A Former Zillow Exec Targets a $1.3 Trillion Market
Austin Allison sold his first company for $120 million. He later served as an executive for Zillow. But both companies reached massive valuations before regular people could invest. "I always wished everyday investors could have shared in their early success," Allison later said. So he built Pacaso differently. Pacaso brings co-ownership to the $1.3 trillion vacation home market, earning more than $110 million in gross profit to date. No wonder the same VCs that backed Uber, Venmo, and eBay already invested in Pacaso. Now, after adding 10 new international destinations, Pacaso is hitting their stride. They even reserved the Nasdaq ticker PCSO. And unlike Allison's previous stops, you can invest in Pacaso as a private company. But you'll have to hurry. Pacaso's investment opportunity ends Sept. 18.
This is a paid advertisement for Pacaso's Regulation A offering. Please read the offering circular at invest.pacaso.com. Reserving the ticker symbol is not a guarantee that the company will go public. Listing on the Nasdaq is subject to approvals.
Science
This or That? Making Decisions Involves More of the Brain Than Previously Thought
International Brain Laboratory
Every day, we make tens of thousands of choices — what to wear, when to glance at our phones, whether to smile at a stranger. Now, for the first time, scientists have created a comprehensive brain map to illustrate how those decisions are actually made. To build the map, researchers studied 139 mice, recording the activity of more than 600,000 neurons across 279 brain regions (about 95% of a mouse brain), as they performed a decision-making task. They found that making decisions engages nearly all regions of the brain rather than only a select number of targeted areas, as previously believed. The map also showed something else: The brain incorporates prior knowledge early in the decision-making process, thus confirming a hypothesis that what we already know plays a role in how we see the world. "The brain plus the world around it forms a deterministic system," study co-author Alexandre Pouget told New Scientist, adding: "It means that I can predict, to some extent, what you're going to do before you actually decide." Going forward, the researchers plan to use their large-scale brain mapping approach to gain more understanding of conditions like autism and schizophrenia.
Sports
Team USA's Tara Davis-Woodhall and Valarie Allman Claim World Championships Titles in Tokyo
Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
Team USA Olympians Tara Davis-Woodhall and Valarie Allman stacked their already impressive resumes with world championships titles in Tokyo over the weekend, proving that sometimes the second (or third) time's the charm. To jog your memory, Davis-Woodhall clinched her first Olympic gold medal for the women's long jump at the Paris Games. On Sunday, sheleapt to victory yet again with a 7.13-meter jump (that you can watch here), becoming the fourth American woman to claim both Olympic and outdoor world titles in the event — a stark contrast to her last experience in Tokyo. "The last time I was here, I left crying, not knowing what I wanted to do with my career," she told NBC Sports of her sixth-place finish at her Olympic debut in 2021. Allman, a two-time Olympic gold medal winner, celebrated a well-earned victory in discus, with her 69.48-meter throw winning by nearly 6.5 feet — the event's widest margin in 18 years. The win completed her climb from bronze in 2022 to silver in 2023, also making her the first American woman to nab Olympic and outdoor world titles in any throwing event. "To come so close, and now have it go my way, it means more than it ever could have if it would have been in the past," she said. We can't wait to see what's in store for track and field at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles — only 1,032 days to go, but who's counting?
In Other News
The best-preserved Viking ship in the world completed its final journey to a new Norwegian museum (read more)
Vaccination against Ebola has begun in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to help combat a recent outbreak (read more)
A "weird and gorgeous" hoodwinker sunfish made an appearance on a California beach (read more)
Barnes & Noble's renaissance continues: The chain plans to open 31 more shops by December (read more)
In a "long overdue" milestone, the 2025 Toronto Film Festival featured a record number of Indigenous films (read more)
Inspiring Story
Music to our ears
Let's hear it for Herb Alpert: The legendary jazz trumpeter recently donated $1 million to support a free student instrument repair shop that keeps music programs alive across Los Angeles public schools. "Music should not be a privilege," he said. "It should be a part of the public education system." (And in case you missed it, we highly recommend watching the Oscar-winning documentary about the shop.)
Photo of the Day
Brandon Bell/Getty Images
Happy Mexican Independence Day! On Sunday, dancers and mariachi bands performed during the 26th Street Mexican Independence Day Parade in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago, as pictured. Thousands of festivalgoers showed up to the party with pride for where they're from. "We are proud to be Mexican," Maribel Izaguirre, a Mexican immigrant who has lived in the United States for 25 years, told NBC News. And it was just one of many independence day celebrations across the country — Los Angeles, San Diego, Staten Island, and more areas also held festivals for today's holiday.
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