Author: rb809rb

New Webb Telescope photos show off the Exposed Cranium Nebula

It’s always a fun day for the space nerds when a NASA team has new images to share from the James Webb Space Telescope. Today’s pair has brains on the brain, with a look at the fittingly named Exposed Cranium Nebula. More officially, this cloud of space dust and debris is known as Nebula PMR 1. The images shared today may capture a moment in the final stages of a star, as well as giving hints as to how the nebula got its brain-like shape.

“The nebula appears to have distinct regions that capture different phases of its evolution — an outer shell of gas that was blown off first and consists mostly of hydrogen, and an inner cloud with more structure that contains a mix of different gases,” NASA’s blog post reads. The dark line that runs vertically through the nebula, giving it the cranial appearance, could be the result of “an outburst or outflow from the central star, which typically occurs as twin jets burst out in opposite directions.” Both Webb’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) and its Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) were used to document the nebula.

February 26, 2026
Ethereum Undervalued, Bitcoin & XRP Remain Neutral Amid Recent Bullish Reversal
MVRV shows $ETH is mildly undervalued, while $BTC, $XRP, and Chainlink remain neutral.

The crypto market is now witnessing an upward trend reversal despite recent bearish trends.

Buyers show renewed interest in crypto following Nvidia earnings report.
Based on the 30-day Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) Ratio, Ethereum ($ETH) is mildly undervalued at -5.5%. Bitcoin ($BTC), $XRP ($XRP), and Chainlink ($LINK) remain neutral at -1.4%, -0.1%, and +3.3%, respectively. By contrast, Cardano (ADA) is mildly overvalued, with an MVRV ratio of +6.8%.

Source: Santiment

Bitcoin and the wider crypto market showcase a bullish trend reversal

The past day has seen an upward trend reversal in the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem, despite recent bearish momentum and sentiment.

Data shows that the average Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator has slightly surpassed its 9-day average, indicating a weak bullish momentum reversal.

$BTC was up 7.78% in the past day to trade at $69,050 as $ETH gained 13.31% to reclaim its $2,000 psychological level. Meanwhile, $XRP and $LINK gained +9.37% and 16.07%, respectively. Uniquely, Cardano has experienced a striking 20.07% upsurge to trade at $0.3115.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Events leading up to the recent crypto rally

Tech company Nvidia recently reported record-breaking earnings driven by demand in artificial intelligence (AI). Due to the strong correlation (98%) of crypto with the S&P 500, the news fueled renewed risk appetite in investors of both stocks and crypto.

Capital rotation from $BTC to altcoins has contributed to their recent rallies as investors seek higher returns from riskier assets. Bitcoin dominance is now at 58-60%, while the Altcoin Season Index reads 34/100, indicating a mixed market for Bitcoin and Altcoins.

This week, Bitcoin ETFs saw $257.7M in net inflows, effectively ending a five-week outflow streak.

Near-term market outlook

At press time, the overall crypto market cap totaled $2.38 trillion, having gained 7.50% in the last 24hours.

Should the current rally hold, the crypto market could test the $2.59T (50% Fibonacci) level. Falling below $2.35T (78.6% Fib) would indicate a loss in momentum, validating a weak bullish theory.
February 26, 2026
The Athletic: Dwyane Wade: These are the three best leaders I played with in the NBA

Dwyane Wade played 16 years in the NBA, including 15 with the Miami Heat.

Editor’s Note: Read more NBA coverage from The Athletic here. The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA or its teams.

This story is part of Peak, The Athletic’s desk covering the mental side of sports.

Dwyane Wade played 16 years in the NBA and was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023. He is now an NBA analyst for Amazon Prime.

Pat Riley

He set the standard for us. He taught us the importance of accountability. When you play on a team, you have to have accountability to each other. And that accountability to each other starts with accountability individually.

To be successful, to raise that trophy and one day call yourself a champion, you have to learn what accountability looks like. And it has to be every day.

To learn that as a rookie was very important to me.

Where Pat was great was his attention to detail. That’s something I try to pride myself on, even now.

In practice — pardon my French – he was a motherf—er. He made sure that each play was run to perfection. The details. You were not able to mess up a play and move on to the next, no matter if it was the first unit or the third unit. Everyone in the gym understood that we couldn’t be perfect, but we were going to get as close to perfect as possible.

Because when you’re in a game, you’ve got 20,000 in the stands, people are booing you, the lights are bright, the game needs to be seamless. It’s not something you need to think about. We ran things over and over and over until we got it. We could make sure at least that was right.

In practice, he was wild. He was a different coach during games.

A lot of times, as a player, your mind, your emotions, your anxiety are all over the place. You make a couple of mistakes, and you start overthinking. He was that calm factor. Every time I went over to him during a game, he laid his hands on me and just gave me a calm feeling and reset me.

I realized that when you come to the bench after the other team goes on a 10-0 run and the crowd on the road is going wild, you need that calming influence. That’s who he was.

Shaquille O’Neal

He was an incredible leader for me from the first moment he got traded to Miami in 2004. The first conversation we had was about what had happened in Los Angeles with Kobe Bryant and what could not happen here in Miami.

He just let me know right away: “This is your team. I’m your big brother. I’m here to back you up.”

He was in a totally different place in his career and what he wanted from his experience in Miami. I think he recognized in me what I had, but that it needed to be pulled out. I wasn’t there yet.

He showed me the ropes. He showed me how to be a superstar on the court and off the court. He even gave me the nickname “Flash.” He sat down and talked to me about authenticity and making sure that my DNA was in everything that I did. It changed the way I went into meetings, it changed the way I thought about my brand and myself.

The one thing I loved about Shaq: Everything we did, we did together, but he made sure he took care of everyone. He took care of the limousine outside. He took care of the restaurant bill. He took care of everything. And when we went out, he would be like: “We’re going out for an hour and a half. We’re not staying out all night.” I thought that was very important, especially as a young guy coming in.

He allowed us to enjoy ourselves, but he was on us about how we did it, and he also made sure we were all together doing it.

He really set the table for me as a young guy.

Udonis Haslem

It’s easier for guys who are the No. 1 option and the star on the team to be the voice. It’s automatic a lot of times.

UD was never one of the top guys when it came to stardom, but he still had the loudest voice in the locker room. When he talked, everyone listened because we knew it wasn’t coming from a selfish place at all. It was coming from a guy who would literally give everything in his body for you on whatever play. He would take fines for you. He was making the least amount of money as an undrafted guy, but he didn’t care.

He made sure that the rules Pat Riley set down were followed by everyone in the locker room. Even when LeBron James and Chris Bosh came, nothing changed.

UD and I got into it multiple times. It ain’t like I wanted to hear it every time. But he knew that he could get on me. He knew that I would respond in the right way.

He understood what I wanted from my career, and when he didn’t see me doing that or providing the things I said I wanted to do, then he held me accountable.

We talked about that. We talked about the ability to get on each other and not be sensitive about it. We knew we wanted the same things out of it, and we were trying to reach the same goal.

— As told to Jayson Jenks

***

By: Dwyane Wade

February 26, 2026
Live Updates: Jared McCain’s Thunder take on Cade Cunningham’s Pistons on a six-game night
Cade Cunningham’s Pistons take on the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder to open our ESPN doubleheader.

What we know about Wednesday’s games:
- Our ESPN doubleheader features Thunder-Pistons (7:30 ET) and Celtics-Nuggets (10 ET).
- Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Draymond Green and Chet Holmgren are out. James Harden is questionable. Jamal Murray is probable. Scottie Barnes is available.
FEBRUARY 25 // 6:30 ET

Watch out for the Celtics

The Celtics’ best plays from the last 10 games.

Joe Mazzulla’s Boston Celtics are 9-1 in their last 10, as they incorporate new arrival Nikola Vučević into a multifaceted group featuring a variety of breakout players.

Mazzulla’s Celtics are third in net rating (+8.0), second in offensive rating (120.0), third in second chance points (17.4), second in shooting percentage on drives (52.5%), first in pull-up points per game (31.1) and first in screen assists per game (9.9).

Neemias Queta, Hugo González, Jordan Walsh, Ron Harper Jr. and Luka Garza have all found new roles in the NBA this season, but the Celtics are still flowing, as they form a coherent supporting cast behind Kia MVP candidate Jaylen Brown (29.2 ppg), Payton Pritchard and Derrick White, posting the second-best net rating by a bench in the league (3.6).

They get the third-greatest percentage of their points from 3-pointers (40.1%) while shooting the second-best percentage in the league in the paint (71.7%) — classic modern offense.

The Celtics keep the ball hopping, maintain near-immaculate spacing, and know their roles intimately.

Brown and Pritchard win one-on-one matchups and create advantages; White fills the gaps; Queta and Vučević finish around the rim; González, Walsh and Harper Jr. provide defensive hustle and 3-point shooting.

FEBRUARY 25 // 5:45 ET

Welcome to a six-game night in the NBA!

Jamal Murray and the Nuggets take on the Celtics in the second half of tonight’s ESPN doubleheader.

Our slate tonight is headlined by an ESPN doubleheader featuring four of the best teams in the Association! We’ve got Thunder-Pistons (7:30 ET) and Celtics-Nuggets (10 ET).

Here’s tonight’s complete schedule:
February 26, 2026
Bitcoin, Ethereum and Solana rally as analysts flag pause in ‘10 a.m. dump’ after Jane Street lawsuit

February 25, 2026
Ethereum Undervalued, Bitcoin & XRP Remain Neutral Amid Recent Bullish Reversal
MVRV shows $ETH is mildly undervalued, while $BTC, $XRP, and Chainlink remain neutral.

The crypto market is now witnessing an upward trend reversal despite recent bearish trends.

Buyers show renewed interest in crypto following Nvidia earnings report.
Based on the 30-day Market Value to Realized Value (MVRV) Ratio, Ethereum ($ETH) is mildly undervalued at -5.5%. Bitcoin ($BTC), $XRP ($XRP), and Chainlink ($LINK) remain neutral at -1.4%, -0.1%, and +3.3%, respectively. By contrast, Cardano (ADA) is mildly overvalued, with an MVRV ratio of +6.8%.

Source: Santiment

Bitcoin and the wider crypto market showcase a bullish trend reversal

The past day has seen an upward trend reversal in the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem, despite recent bearish momentum and sentiment.

Data shows that the average Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator has slightly surpassed its 9-day average, indicating a weak bullish momentum reversal.

$BTC was up 7.78% in the past day to trade at $69,050 as $ETH gained 13.31% to reclaim its $2,000 psychological level. Meanwhile, $XRP and $LINK gained +9.37% and 16.07%, respectively. Uniquely, Cardano has experienced a striking 20.07% upsurge to trade at $0.3115.

Source: CoinMarketCap

Events leading up to the recent crypto rally

Tech company Nvidia recently reported record-breaking earnings driven by demand in artificial intelligence (AI). Due to the strong correlation (98%) of crypto with the S&P 500, the news fueled renewed risk appetite in investors of both stocks and crypto.

Capital rotation from $BTC to altcoins has contributed to their recent rallies as investors seek higher returns from riskier assets. Bitcoin dominance is now at 58-60%, while the Altcoin Season Index reads 34/100, indicating a mixed market for Bitcoin and Altcoins.

This week, Bitcoin ETFs saw $257.7M in net inflows, effectively ending a five-week outflow streak.

Near-term market outlook

At press time, the overall crypto market cap totaled $2.38 trillion, having gained 7.50% in the last 24hours.

Should the current rally hold, the crypto market could test the $2.59T (50% Fibonacci) level. Falling below $2.35T (78.6% Fib) would indicate a loss in momentum, validating a weak bullish theory.
February 25, 2026
This writer just traced his enslaved ancestors all the way to Africa. Here’s how.

The connection

I was born in Baltimore in 1953, the fourth of five children, to William Francis Brooks and Mattie Bell (Crosson). My parents left Baltimore for New Jersey when I was five. We lived in Newark and then Linden, where I went to junior high and high school.

I left Linden to go to college in Ithaca, New York. I worked at the Ithaca Journal for nearly four years before I moved to Asheville, North Carolina and then to Philadelphia. I ended up in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring, where I’ve lived for more than two decades.

Little did I know when I moved to Maryland that my family’s history was just hours away. Both Matthew and Bessie (my paternal grandparents) were born in Leonardtown close to the plantation where their relatives had been enslaved. St. Mary’s County, founded in 1637, was home to the first Maryland colony and was named for Mary, mother of Jesus.

I had always wanted to do an ancestorial search but had never got around to it. A cousin had researched my mother’s side of the family, but I knew nothing about the Brooks side. Until that phone call from Helen Bowe, vice president for public affairs at Wells Fargo. She said the financial services company was looking for a candidate to do an ancestry search with records from the Freedman’s Bureau.

I ultimately learned things about my post-Civil War relatives that I’m sure even my father and grandfather didn’t know. And I received news clippings of stories from the Baltimore Afro-American on my grandfather and father, which I had never seen before.

Photocopy of an advertisement of Schmidt ‘s Bakery published on January 27, 1914 in the Evening Sun newspaper in Baltimore. The bakery is where Brooks’ grandfather worked for decades.

Image Via Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, HABS

Breaking through the ‘1870s wall’

The research yielded a trove of information from the 1870 Census—the first conducted after the Civil War and the passage of the 13^th Amendment that listed African Americans by name. But is considered a genealogical brick wall for many Black Americans searching for their heritage because so little information was available for those who were enslaved.

Prior to 1870, records rarely noted names of enslaved and formerly-enslaved people in what is referred to as the “1870’s wall.” They were included in the count of household property of slaveowners, their gender and approximate age being the only labels they were granted. But another database, Enslaved.org, has helped researchers and descendants of Africans unlock the depths of the slavery since its launch nearly three years ago.

Using the Freedman’s bureau, my research team yielded a legal contract signed in November 1870 between David Washington Brooks (my great-great grandfather) and his older brother James Brooks with former slaveholders A.W. and Martha Turner for 35 acres of land. David and James paid $100 in cash and pledged to pay the remainder in an installment plan: $124 in the first year, $118 in the second, $112 in the third, and $106 in the fourth. They paid off that contract and bought another 40 acres in the spring of 1878 for $400.

There were three generations in the Brooks family home near Charlotte Hall in Northern St. Mary’s County, according to that 1870 U.S. Census: David, 31, his wife, Mahalay, 25, their two children, and his widowed mother, Nellie, who lived with the family for two decades and was 73 at the time.

James Brooks, 34, and his wife, Margaret, 33, lived next door with their four children aged 1, 8, 11, and 13.

February 25, 2026
TV Ratings: State of the Union Trends Down in Early Numbers

The State of the Union address drew a smaller audience than last year’s presidential address to Congress, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings.

President Donald Trump’s 107-minute speech (the longest on record) drew about 27.8 million viewers across the seven most watched broadcast and cable outlets: ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, the Fox broadcast network, MS Now and NBC. That’s down by about 12 percent from 31.45 million viewers for those same networks for Trump’s address to Congress last year (which was not technically a State of the Union as it came at the start of a new administration).

Fox News led the way with 9.1 million viewers, well in front of ABC’s 5.1 million. The latter was the top broadcast net for the speech for the sixth straight year, outdrawing NBC (3.6 million), CBS (3.3 million) and the Fox broadcast network (2.1 million). MS Now (2.4 million) beat out CNN (2.2 million).

Fox News also topped the core news demographic of adults 25-54 with 1.47 million such viewers, followed by ABC (1.22 million), NBC (1.02 million) and CBS (815,000). CNN (655,000) moved in front of the Fox broadcast (560,000) and MS Now (323,000) in the demo.

Last year’s address drew a total of 36.63 million viewers across 15 broadcast and cable networks. Final ratings for Tuesday’s address, which will include both additional outlets and Nielsen’s big data measurement, will be out Thursday afternoon. The numbers above may undergo some adjustments in the finals.

A decline for the State of the Union a year after a president takes office is fairly common in recent history. Following their initial addresses to Congress shortly after taking office, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Trump in his first term all drew smaller audiences for the next year’s State of the Union. The exceptions are George W. Bush in 2002, a few months after the 9/11 attacks, and Joe Biden in 2022, whose first address to Congress came much later than usual (late April 2021) due to health restrictions during the height of the COVID pandemic.

February 25, 2026
Harvey Weinstein Replaces Legal Team as New York Retrial Looms

Harvey Weinstein has swapped in a new attorney as an upcoming retrial in his New York rape cases looms. The imprisoned former Hollywood mogul has jettisoned his powerhouse team for the next moment in court as his longtime attorneys carry out an appeal on his other verdict.

Jacob Kaplan of Agnifilo Intrater has been tapped by the disgraced convicted rapist, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed. A scheduled court appearance to iron out details of the upcoming trial was pushed on Wednesday to next week. Prosecutors and defense counsel are working toward resolving the remaining third-degree rape charge that ended in mistrial, but it may go to trial.

Weinstein has been in prison for four years, initially serving a now-vacated 23-year New York sentence after his 2020 trial in New York ended with him found guilty. The 73-year-old former Hollywood kingmaker was originally convicted in New York of criminal sexual act in the first degree and rape in the third degree. But the verdicts were overturned in April 2024 when, in a 4-3 decision, New York’s Court of Appeals ruled that the 2020 trial judge allowed testimony from women whose allegations were not part of the formal charges.

Weinstein’s retrial in March would come after the initial 2025 retrial, where a partial jury verdict was unable to decide whether he raped actress Jessica Mann. In the retrial, he was convicted of forcing oral sex on Miriam Haley, a former Project Runway assistant, in 2006. He was acquitted of forcing oral sex on former model Kaja Sokola during the retrial. The trial for the third-degree rape charge comes after the ex-mogul failed to respond to a plea deal offer that could have allowed him to serve time on the sexual assault and rape charges concurrently and could include time served.

Weinstein’s bid for a new trial based on claims of juror coercion in the 2025 retrial was recently rejected by the court.

Kaplan, who represents accused killer Luigi Mangione in his state murder case, will be joined by his colleagues Marc Agnifilo, also representing Mangione, and Teny Geragos, who recently defended Sean “Diddy” Combs in his sex trafficking and racketeering trial.

Weinstein’s previous team of attorneys with the firm Aidala Bertuna & Kamins, who handled the first two times this case went to trial, will stay on to work on an appeal of his latest verdict. Attorney Arthur Aidala said “serious errors” in the recent conviction will be looked at; he’s confident that it will be overturned.

“As trial counsel for Harvey Weinstein in two separate proceedings, we have fought vigorously to protect his rights and ensure that he received a fair trial,” Aidala said in a statement to THR. “Our work does not end here. We will continue to advocate forcefully on his behalf in appellate courts, where we are confident that serious legal errors will be addressed and his most significant conviction will ultimately be overturned, as we have achieved in the past.

“In addition, we continue to represent Mr. Weinstein in all pending civil matters and are fully supporting his new counsel in every way necessary to ensure a coordinated and comprehensive legal strategy,” he added.

In addition to the New York convictions, Weinstein was found guilty in a separate West Coast trial in 2022 of rape and sexual assault against one of four women he was accused of assaulting in Los Angeles. While his New York convictions were vacated, he remains in prison at Rikers Island in New York based on his L.A. conviction.

February 25, 2026
Cowboys K Brandon Aubrey denies he’s seeking nearly $10 million per year in free agency: ‘Fake’

Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey would like you to not believe everything you read about his NFL free agency.

The three-time Pro Bowler denied recent claims he is asking for an unprecedented sum as a restricted free agent on Tuesday. The previous day, there had been a wave of reports that his camp had turned down an offer from the Cowboys valued at a kicker record $7.5 million per year and was instead seeking close to $10 million.

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The denial came via comment on an Instagram post of the Cowboys-affiliated 105.3 The Fan, in which the hosts were discussing the report from Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News and largely doubting Aubrey was worth such a market-resetting deal.

The single-word comment from Aubrey’s account: “Fake.”

Aubrey’s wife Jenn also responded to a different IG post with a similar response: “False.”

Those denials are the latest twists in the Cowboys’ efforts to retain the top kicker in the NFL. It’s already clear Aubrey will exceed the record for kicker money currently held by Harrison Butker of the Kansas City Chiefs at $6.4 million. The question is by how much.

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Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said earlier this week that negotiations have been “a journey” since their beginning before the 2025 season:

“We’ve been in talks with Aubrey since before the season started. That’s been a journey. We haven’t been able to get to a point where we can all agree so it hasn’t gotten done, but we’d love to get him done.”

Brandon Aubrey’s negotiations with the Cowboys are ongoing. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)

(Sam Hodde via Getty Images)

As a restricted free agent, Aubrey’s fate is ultimately still controlled by the Cowboys. ESPN reports the franchise is likely to place a second-round tender on Aubrey, which would give them right of first refusal on any contract he signs with another team and a valuable second-round pick if they decide to let him leave.

This is one of a few moving parts of the Cowboys’ offseason, with the other big one being the franchise tag they’ll likely place on wide receiver George Pickens.

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The 30-year-old Aubrey is the NFL’s all-time leader in field goals of at least 60 yards and has made 88.2% of his attempts in his three-year career, one of the highest rates in league history despite leading the NFL in 50-yard kick attempts in each of the past two seasons. His story of going from anonymity as a professional soccer player to star kicker is a great one, but we’ll have to see if it continues in Dallas.

February 25, 2026