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NASA has a leader again. On Wednesday, the US Senate confirmed Jared Isaacman as the agency's administrator, with a 67-30 vote. The billionaire entrepreneur (and Elon Musk ally) will have his hands full navigating political waters while managing a severely downsized workforce.You might recall that this wasn't Isaacman's first shot at the job. He was nominated to the post earlier this year. But days before he was scheduled for a confirmation vote, President Donald Trump withdrew his nomination.The reversal reportedly came after the president was told that Isaacman had donated to prominent Democrats. (Trumps description of his decision, as based on a "thorough review of prior associations," seemed to lend weight to that.) However, that was also around the time the Trump-Musk feud was about to boil over. Regardless, Isaacman was nominated again in November.The new NASA head reportedly has broad support from the space community. (That makes him something of an aberration among Trump appointees in scientific fields.) "I am optimistic that Mr. Isaacman will bring a steady hand and clear vision to NASA," Sen. Marie Cantwell (D-WA) told The New York Times.The new administrator has traveled to space twice on private missions. In a document published in May, Isaacman shared his three objectives for NASA. These included human missions to the Moon, Mars and deep space; helping the organization do more with a constrained budget; and cost-cutting through industry and academic partnerships.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/science/space/jared-isaacman-is-nasas-new-leader-220833691.html?src=rss
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YouTube announced that it will no longer share data with Billboard for the creation of the Billboard Hot 100 and other charts because the video platform doesn't believe they're calculated fairly. The issue lies, per YouTube, with how Billboard weighs on-demand streams in its rankings: The publication weighs streams from paid music streaming services over ad-supported streams, and YouTube just so happens to run an ad-supported streaming service.Much like getting a book on The New York Times Bestseller list, landing a spot on the Billboard charts doesn't carry quite the same importance that it once did. When the majority of the media people consume is digital and on-demand, sales numbers aren't a guaranteed indicator of success or popularity. That's part of the reason why Billboard started including digital streams in its calculations way back in 2007, and why it announced plans to adjust how it weighs on-demand streaming just yesterday.On Tuesday, Billboard announced that it would add more weight to streaming to "better reflect an increase in streaming revenue and changing consumer behaviors." Billboard currently counts an "album consumption unit" as an album sale, which either breaks down to "3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams." In the new ranking scheme that will go into effect in January 2026, "each album consumption unit will now equal 2,500 ad-supported or 1,000 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams." "The change means that it will take 33.3 percent fewer ad-supported on-demand streams of songs from an album, and 20 percent fewer paid/subscription on-demand streams of songs from an album, to equal an album unit," Billboard says. Put another way, things are moving in YouTubes favor, just apparently not as quickly as the company wants.YouTube characterizes pulling its data from Billboard as fighting for fairness and equality, but it's equally connected to the platforms demonstration of its own power. It already funnels billions of dollars to artists and labels from the money it makes on ads and subscriptions, but it clearly also wants the power to mint new chart-topping stars. We are committed to achieving equitable representation across the charts and hopefully can work with Billboard to return to theirs, YouTube says in its announcement. Until then, if you're curious about what music is making waves on YouTube, you can visit our charts here.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/billboards-charts-are-increasingly-weighted-towards-on-demand-streaming-but-not-enough-for-youtube-220238291.html?src=rss
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FIFA's first true soccer sim after the end of its EA partnership will be available exclusively on Netflix, the streaming service announced. This "reimagined FIFA football simulation game" will be developed and published by Delphi Interactive, and be available to Netflix subscribers next year, right in time for FIFA World Cup 2026.EA and FIFA maintained a nearly 30 year partnership creating soccer games before they parted ways in 2022. EA continued its soccer series afterward as EA FC, but despite being in talks with "leading game publishers, media companies and investors" about "a major new FIFA simulation football game title for 2024," a FIFA-backed competitor has yet to materialize. Instead, FIFA has mostly supported arcade soccer games in the last few years, like FIFA Rivals from Mythical Games and FIFA Heroes from ENVER.While the game Delphi Interactive is working on is pitched as a "simulation game," based on what little detail appears in Netflix's announcement, it doesn't sound like it's targeting hardcore soccer fans in the same way EA's games do. Instead, this new FIFA title is designed to be "a game that anyone, anywhere, can pick up and instantly feel the magic of football," according to Delphi Interactive CEO Caspar Daugaard. The game will also be designed to use a smartphone as a controller, possibly limiting how demanding or complicated gameplay can actually be.This new FIFA game will be Delphi Interactive's second project as a studio after working on IO Interactive's 007 First Light. Backing approachable games that can be controlled with a smartphone is part of a new approach Netflix has taken with its interactive titles in 2025. The company has either cancelled or handed off its more ambitious game projects and studios, and zeroed in on party games and adaptations as its main focus.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/the-first-post-ea-fifa-soccer-sim-will-be-a-netflix-games-exclusive-204321196.html?src=rss
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