Staff writer
Breaking desk
Michael Jackson is a staff writer at The Gold Standard. Jackson writes first-edition features across the paper, from breaking news to the desks that need a longer look.
NASA awarded Blue Origin a firm-fixed-price contract on 1 September, maximum potential about US$700 million, for the Mars Telecommunications Network. Orbiter due 31 December 2028. Operations at Mars by 2030.
Michael Jackson · 2 Sept 2026
Nepal’s disaster agency had 788 dead and about 2,500 missing on Sunday. China reported 16 dead and 546 missing in Tibet. The glacier came down on Wednesday.
Michael Jackson · 31 Aug 2026
Elon Musk said on 24 August 2026 that Blindsight human implants are six to 12 months out. FDA Breakthrough designation is 17 September 2024. There are still zero human Blindsight implants on the public record.
Michael Jackson · 30 Aug 2026
Neuralink’s VOICE study (NCT07224256) is recruiting at UT Southwestern. Enrollment is listed as six. Start 3 October 2025, primary completion October 2028. The speech stack is a different product from Telepathy’s cursor.
Michael Jackson · 30 Aug 2026
Neuralink says 21 people are now in human trials worldwide. The company’s own Telepathy post puts numbers on bits per second, hours a day, and a safety line of zero serious device-related events.
Michael Jackson · 30 Aug 2026
Falcon Heavy at 39A, Sunday 30 August. Backup Monday 7:22 a.m. ET. Saturday’s prelaunch briefing confirmed go. Weather was 50 percent. This is the attempt, not a landing.
Michael Jackson · 30 Aug 2026
18-core CPU, 40-core GPU, 128 GB of unified memory at 614 GB/s. The 35.6 cm Max starts at US$3,599. Pre-order 4 March, in shops 11 March.
Michael Jackson · 30 Aug 2026