If you’ve been staying inside all summer due to heat domes and poor air quality from the wildfires, August is shaping up to be a good month to get out of the house and look up at the sky. Among the various cool events happening is a planet parade with six planets visible at once.

The show starts the evening of Aug. 12 and continues until around Aug. 17 or 18, depending on your location. This planet parade includes Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, Uranus, Saturn and Neptune, and like most prior parades, the planets line up on a nice curve, so it should be a little easier to see all of them. The parade is visible across the US and Canada. 

You need to wake up early for this one, as the best time to see the parade is just before sunrise. This is due to Jupiter and Mercury not popping up above the eastern horizon until about 15 to 20 minutes before the sun. The good news is that Mercury and Jupiter are right next to each other and typically quite visible. A pair of binoculars should help immensely, but make sure to be careful since the sun will follow Mercury and Jupiter over the horizon in pretty short order. 

The rest of the planets are much higher in the sky and present less of a visual risk. Mars is higher in the eastern sky and is visible without the need for visual aids. Uranus will be higher in the eastern sky, trending south. Following that curve, you can see Saturn in the southern sky as a yellowish dot. Neptune is nearby at the end of the line. Uranus and Neptune require a telescope or high-powered binoculars to view, and if you want a superior view of Saturn, that amplification will help too. 

You have about a week if you want to do this. Before Aug. 12, Jupiter trends too close to the sun to be safely visible, and after around Aug. 17-18, Mercury ends up too close to the sun to be viewed safely. Before and after that date, you can still see a five-planet parade for quite some time. 

Venus is also technically visible at night. It sets along the western horizon just after sunset, so it’s not visible at the same time as Mercury and Jupiter. However, if you don’t mind pulling an all-nighter, you can see all seven planets in the sky on the same night. 

Do I need any amplification devices for this?

The inclusion of Neptune and Uranus means that you will need some sort of amplification device to see all the planets. Binoculars work, as both Uranus and Neptune can be seen (albeit faintly) with a good pair, and they’ll also help you see Mercury before sunrise.

A telescope is a much better tool since you can more easily see the rings of Saturn along with the other planets. We don’t recommend using a telescope to find Mercury, since you may accidentally catch the sun, which is not a good idea. 

Part of a triple feature coming on Aug. 12

If you’re looking for one single day to go out and view the sky for the rest of the year, Aug. 12 makes a compelling case. The planet parade ramps up then, and continues for the next week. It is always fun to see a bunch of planets from the solar system in a single night, but in terms of thrill, it’s arguably the least interesting thing happening on Aug. 12. 

The Perseids meteor shower is set to peak on the evening of Aug. 12, which means those who go out to see all the planets can virtually guarantee some meteor sightings as well, since Perseids is one of the most active meteor showers of the year. In a fortuitous turn of events, the Perseus constellation, the point from which the Perseid meteors appear to originate, is right next to Mars and Uranus. That means you can scout out the parade and see meteors at the same time since they’re in the same part of the sky. The timing and placement don’t get much better than that. 

If that isn’t cool enough, nature has one more thing to toss into the equation: Aug. 12 is also the date of the next solar eclipse. North America is largely sitting this one out, but if you draw a line from Washington state to North Carolina, all the states north of that line will get at least a partial solar eclipse with about 20% coverage. Since the sun isn’t completely covered, proper safety measures for solar eclipse viewing are highly advisable to avoid eye injuries. 

Three prominent celestial events happening in one 24-hour span are pretty rare, so if you’re up for it, it’s a great day to look up.

Spring arrived at Eastnor Castle lake in Herefordshire with a surprise waiting for two of the most skilled bike riders on the planet. Danny MacAskill and Kriss Kyle knew only the broad outline of the day. They arrived ready to ride, yet the full scale of Red Bull’s construction floating on the water remained hidden until they stood on the shore.

Red Bull had created a gigantic floating obstacle course that stretched across the lake for nearly 200 meters. The entire structure sat directly on the water’s surface, posing a major engineering challenge. The platforms and beams that made up the course were placed on floats, causing them to heave up and down under the weight of a bike and rider each time someone passed through. The seesaws would also rock significantly merely by having someone on them, and you’d have to maneuver the narrow areas on the log skinnies without swerving off course even slightly.

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Then there were the wall rides, which would provide a moment of solid grip, just long enough to make you think you’re good to go, before the surface shifted beneath you again, and you’d be scrambling to maintain your balance. It would be a difficult decision to choose between bouncing across the ladder bridge on the poles and threading a sliver of a board along the edge. Then there are the zigzag parts, which are basically tight 90-degree twists on boards that are narrower than your tire, and the final length is just a tightrope-style pole run, where any slip sends you out into the liquid below.

Earlier that day, a few pro UK riders attempted the entire length, but none of them made it to the other side without getting drenched, as each effort ended with a large splash. That set the tone when the two Red Bull squad riders arrived. MacAskill switched from his typical trials bike to a trail bike since he’s known for being quite exact on a bike, but he was up against a new type of bike for the day. Kyle, on the other hand, has a history in BMX and chose a mountain bike. He ditched the bike he was regularly riding; having a shared platform for his BMX history and MacAskill’s trials upbringing required them to change riding techniques and learn to balance on bikes they were unfamiliar with.

Kyle stepped right in and launched a full-fledged all-out attack, throwing the aggressive style he’s known for at the floating sections while repeating the difficult elements until he was too exhausted to continue. Water got to him several times, but he kept going and made it all the way to the end. He’d clear a lot of portions and make it to the final poles on multiple runs, but the last bit always got the best of him. Eventually, his arms gave up and he lost control of the bike. He got within a hair’s breadth of the finish line several times, but ultimately ended up swimming.

MacAskill worked in a very different way. For a time, he just sat there, observing and studying to see how the entire floating section behaved, and then gradually built together larger and longer successful bits by connecting the smaller ones he’d already mastered. He solved each new challenge systematically, as is typical of his approach. Most of the day, he merely stayed dry by keeping his calm and working steadily through the course. First, the early sections were under control. The ladder bridge eventually gave way to the zigzags that had been wreaking havoc on the pro UK riders all day. By late afternoon, after hours of tinkering around, the light was beginning to fade. Everyone was exhausted, and their legs and arms were spent, but they still had at least one clean effort left.

Facepalm: Most people choosing a username would never imagine that someone with an almost identical handle – differing by just one character – was engaged in illegal activity, let alone soliciting a minor. This exact situation is what landed a Nova Scotia resident in prison for over a year for a crime committed by someone thousands of miles away in another country.

A Halifax man was recently cleared of all charges after spending a year and a half behind bars because an investigative error led to his conviction for possessing child sexual abuse material. The mix-up occurred because the police missed a single underscore while investigating a suspect’s username.

According to court documents, in 2018, investigators discovered that a 12-year-old girl in Wisconsin had been exchanging explicit messages and photos and participating in video chats with a man identified under the username “fus__roh_da” (after the shout from The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) on the messaging platform Kik. However, when Wisconsin police requested the man’s email address from Kik, they received an email address associated with the username “fus_roh_da” with one underscore between “fus” and “roh” instead of two.

Fattack

Whether the police or Kik misspelled the username remains unclear, but a single missing underscore is likely an easily missed detail, especially if the information was entered manually. Unfortunately for Brandon Klayme, the error would have life-changing consequences.

The misspelled username led investigators to Klayme’s Google account, after which Google provided them with his IP address. In 2021, Halifax authorities searched Klayme’s home and seized several of his electronic devices.

Despite finding no evidence linking him to the inappropriate chats, a Nova Scotia court convicted Klayme of child luring, making sexually explicit material available to a child, and possession of CSAM in 2023. In 2024, he was sentenced to 18 months in prison and 18 months of probation. Although police had obtained an image of the suspect from the chats and a physical description from the victim, CBC News reports that they could not extensively interview the girl, who was receiving treatment for depression.

Klayme’s lawyers did not discover the mix-up until spring of 2026, after he had already spent over a year in jail. The legal team claims that tracing the correct username would have likely led police to a California-based user.

The case highlights not only the dangers of clerical errors, but also the amount of identifying information that Google and social media companies can provide to authorities.

Photo credit: Sarang Sheth
Insta360 keeps filing patents that point straight at the same light, easy-to-carry drones DJI has been selling to casual pilots and creators. The latest one, utility model CN223865117U, describes a compact aircraft with arms that fold completely into the body and a ring-shaped guard around the propellers. Images from the filing, first noticed in mid-July, show a small black chassis stamped with the company logo and a simple locking system that holds the arms open or closed. The entire package is designed to stay under 250 grams, the legal limit that lets many countries skip the more complicated registration rules.

These designs are more concerned with folding up and taking off than with camera features. Two structural arms rotate on a shaft and tuck together when folded to snuggle against one other. You have clearance areas between them to keep the propellers and motors from colliding when the contraption is folded up. There is a separate lock to keep everything safe until the pilot decides to take the thing flying. The end result is a form that resembles a thick smartphone rather than a traditional drone with fixed arms poking out. Early prototype photographs released accompanied the patent show the same black body and ring protectors during outdoor tests, and the drone is occasionally placed next to a shoe for size to get a sense of how little it is.

Insta360 already sells a high-end drone under their Antigravity sub-brand, the A1. That model weighs less than 249 grams and has a dual-lens camera capable of recording 8K 360-degree video. However, the new patent appears to be geared at a second, more basic machine that will not overlap with the A1. According to some sources, the new drone may still have a 360-degree camera for later refinding, while others point out that the patent drawings do not even show the fisheye lens. That could imply that the new drone will only feature a simpler fixed camera, resulting in a significantly lower price. In any case, the folding mechanism and protecting rings provide the design a distinct practical edge for anyone looking for something that can withstand being crammed in a backpack or jacket pocket.

DJI’s Neo 2 is in the same weight class as a standard rigid one-piece frame and has a flying time of around 19 minutes. It launches from the palm of your hand and has several extremely rapid cinematic modes that are simple to operate and take little expertise. Insta360’s method takes some of that simplicity and allows you to fold the drone flat to better protect the spinning parts while traveling. The company has spent years improving its FlowState stabilization and automated tracking in its cameras, so such features are likely to be here if the drone ever hits shelves. You can definitely expect on palm takeoff and simple one-button shots, as it follows a similar path to the Neo series.

Testing of the second prototype began as early as August 2025. Leaked photographs show it flying alongside the Antigravity A1, implying that Insta360 views the two vehicles as companions rather than competitors. One focuses on immersive 360-degree aerial footage, and the other strives for everyday portability at a lower price range, possibly around $200 if the camera remains basic. The release date is likely to be late 2026 or early 2027, after the company has completed refining the fold and the software that controls it.
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Workers who use Microsoft software seem to be having as many conversations with Copilot AI as with real humans in Outlook and Teams, Microsoft said Wednesday during its fiscal year 2026 fourth-quarter earnings call. 

“The number of conversations per [Copilot] user nearly doubled year over year,” Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said on the call. “Average weekly engagement is on par with Outlook and Teams.” 

There are over 30 million paid Microsoft 365 Copilot seats. And the way these workers are using AI is changing, too. Two months after Microsoft introduced Agent 365, a way for its business customers to build and use agentic AI, it has registered nearly 40 million agents across more than 10,000 companies, Nadella said. 

“The agentic era is being built on GitHub,” Nadella said, referring to the developer platform Microsoft owns. “Every major coding agent runs on the platform, and one in three pull requests on GitHub now involves an agent.” 

Microsoft beat investor expectations, reporting 18% revenue growth year-over-year for the quarter, which the company attributed to its AI and cloud services. Azure surpassed $100 billion in revenue for the first time ever. The company also attributed a $3.2 billion gain to its stake in Claude maker Anthropic. (Xbox severance and “impairment” charges were noted as hurting Microsoft’s financial health, as the parent company laid off 3,200 Xbox employees earlier this month, but that didn’t stop Microsoft from reporting just over $35 billion in net income.)

Like every other tech company, Microsoft has invested significant money and manpower behind its AI system, Copilot. And it seems its expensive bet on AI is possibly returning some cash on its investment; Nadella said Copilot revenue increased 60% quarter-over-quarter. But the spending isn’t slowing down; Microsoft added 31 new data centers across five continents.

The Redmond-based company has steadily and insistently integrated its AI into its software, which was already the backbone of corporate America. US adults say help with work is one of the main reasons they use AI, second only to searching for information, according to a recent Pew Research Center report.

Now, the company is betting not only that its customers will adopt AI, but that it will be so thoroughly integrated that it “transforms” how work is done – and how success is measured. 

Moving past ‘time saved with AI’

In the early days of AI adoption, executives and tech enthusiasts were invested in the idea that AI tech could help employees do their work faster. Stories of AI automating repetitive processes and saving people hours of work were common. 

Now, in the age of agentic AI, with agents that can autonomously complete tasks, the way people are using AI is changing. 

Ideally, this should lead to “deeper cognitive work across the ecosystem,” Matt Firestone, general manager of product marketing for Copilot, tells me. 

AI-native workers can distinguish between when they only need a quick answer from AI and when they need to use more advanced models or tools to handle more complex tasks, where there is also more human direction, engagement and approval.

“It’s not just about automating everything that we need to do to be more efficient. It’s about developing that judgment,” says Firestone. 

And Microsoft has been busy building these more advanced, autonomous AI tools to help with those more complex assignments. Its Copilot Cowork uses a team of agents to write reports, send messages and do personalized analysis, all of which is grounded in your documents and messages. It’s very similar to Claude Cowork, which sparked fear across Wall Street when investors saw how productive it is at software tasks when it was released at the beginning of 2025. When testing Copilot Cowork and Claude Cowork with a Microsoft 365 connector, Microsoft found that using its own Cowork tool was on average 30% to 40% cheaper to run.

Microsoft has leaned all the way in on agentic AI. Scout, which Microsoft calls an “always-on personal agent,” was introduced shortly after at Microsoft Build; it’s specific to your Teams and Outlook messages, flagging important notes and helping you with meetings and assignments.

Having agents assist with deeper cognitive work, not just answering questions, helps companies prove the usefulness of AI – a way to expand the metrics by which we judge its success or failure. Instead of just looking at time saved, companies are now looking at how agents enhance workflows, do analysis that couldn’t be done by hand and handle specialized tasks outside of just software development.

Take Kantar, for example. The marketing data and analytics company has been steadily and thoroughly integrating Copilot AI and agents into its operations over the past two years, with its HR team, not software, leading the way. It used a system of 10 agents, grounded in the company’s existing policies and procedures, to handle some employee inquiries to HR, like requesting and generating employment verification letters. AI took over 40% of those kinds of requests since the tech was implemented, with a goal of reaching 95% by the end of the year.

The human HR experts’ time was saved, but the AI agents also increased output, allowing human workers to focus on other projects. John Dicken, senior director of AI people solutions, says that applying an organizational lens to the company’s AI integration helped the company.

“A lot of people I talk to think of AI tooling as tech. I think of it as capability,” Dicken says. “It’s a technical solution to bring in capability to the organization in a different way, to bring new skills, new understanding, new knowledge, new approaches, new thought design.”

For some folks, that ability to take on more work means getting to tackle projects they’ve been waiting to have the time to do. But for others, it means having to do more work for the same pay. That can lead to a kind of AI-powered burnout, a University of California, Berkeley study found, where even with AI, we end up with longer workdays and worse work-life balance.

The ROI on AI is not just a matter of corporate talking points. Big and small businesses are paying big bucks to tech companies for the ability to run, license and personalize AI tools. And those tech companies, in turn, are asking investors for eye-watering sums to keep developing the models that power chatbots and agents. 

It’s created a monster of a trillion-dollar industry, and measuring its success in multiple ways, beyond time saved, may be vital to proving its usefulness and avoiding popping the AI bubble.

Katelyn Chedraoui

Reporter 2

Katelyn is a reporter with CNET covering artificial intelligence, including chatbots, image and video generators. Her work explores how new AI technology is infiltrating our lives, shaping the content we consume on social media and affecting the people behind the screens. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in media and journalism. You can reach her at kchedraoui@cnet.com.

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