Best Buy Marketplace, Uranus Moon, & Perfect Chocolate

News without the noise

Adam Rogers
August 20, 2025

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Best Buy launched a third-party marketplace on Tuesday, adding products from outside sellers to its website for the first time. Shoppers will see new items like gaming accessories, seasonal decorations, and sports collectibles that Best Buy doesn't stock in stores.
Best Buy is following Amazon's playbook by letting other companies sell through its website. Major retailers, including Lowe's, Nordstrom, and Ulta, have launched similar marketplaces in the past year. Best Buy takes a cut of each sale while the outside sellers handle shipping and returns.
The strategy helps Best Buy compete without investing in new inventory or warehouse space. The company hopes the marketplace will fill gaps in its product selection and boost revenue, which has fallen for three straight years.

The U.K. dropped demands for backdoor access to Apple's encrypted iCloud data after US government intervention, National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard announced Monday. The dispute centered on Britain's secret demand for access to Apple's Advanced Data Protection feature, which provides end-to-end encryption for cloud storage.
The standoff began when The Washington Post revealed the secret British demand in February under the U.K.'s 2016 Investigatory Powers Act. Apple responded by stopping new British users from accessing Advanced Data Protection and telling existing users they would eventually need to disable it. The company also challenged the mandate in court while cybersecurity experts warned that any backdoor would eventually be exploited by hackers.
The outcome could influence similar disputes with other countries that have demanded encryption access from tech companies. It's unclear whether Apple will now restore the Advanced Data Protection service to British users.

NASA's James Webb Space Telescope discovered a new moon orbiting Uranus, bringing the distant planet's total known moons to 29. The moon S/2025 U1 is only 6 miles across, making it too small for previous telescopes to detect during decades of observations. The discovery suggests many more tiny moons may be hiding around the outer planets.
The moon orbits much closer to Uranus than Earth's moon does to our planet, about 35,000 miles compared to 238,855 miles. Scientists say its circular orbit means it likely formed alongside Uranus rather than being captured by its gravitational pull. Uranus has more small inner moons than any other planet, creating a complex system scientists are still mapping.
S/2025 U1 will get an official name from the International Astronomical Union, likely following the tradition of Shakespeare character names used for 27 of Uranus' other moons.

Minnesota sued TikTok for allegedly using addictive algorithms to prey on young users, joining about 24 states targeting the social media platform over youth mental health concerns. (More)

Texas House Democrat Nicole Collier is sleeping on the chamber floor and refusing to leave until Labor Day, protesting GOP security escort requirements for lawmakers. (More)

A California man was sentenced to eight years in prison for shipping weapons to North Korea for a planned surprise attack on South Korea. (More)

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said he would deploy 4.5 million militia members after the US raised its bounty for his arrest to $50 million and positioned warships near Venezuela. (More)

Somalia faces a spiraling diphtheria outbreak with 1,616 cases and 87 deaths this year due to low vaccination rates among children. (More)

A 113-year-old church in Kiruna, Sweden, is being relocated 3 miles on massive trailers moving 1,600 feet per hour, after mining left the old city center unstable. (More)

US stock markets closed mixed on Tuesday (S&P -0.59%, Nasdaq -1.46%, Dow +0.02%). Tech stocks weighed down the market. (More)

Nexstar Media agreed to buy TV rival Tegna for $3.54 billion, creating a local-TV powerhouse covering 80% of US households. (More)

Air Canada flight attendants reached a tentative deal ending their four-day strike over unpaid work that stranded 500,000 passengers and defied government back-to-work orders. (More)

Boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. was deported to Mexico, where he's wanted for alleged cartel ties and drug trafficking after overstaying his US visa. (More)

Indiana Fever lost another guard to a season-ending injury as Sophie Cunningham tore her MCL, joining Caitlin Clark and two others on the sidelines during a playoff push. (More)

John Wall announced his retirement after 11 NBA seasons, finishing his career as a five-time All-Star who averaged 18.7 points and 8.9 assists per game. (More)

American Heart Association guidelines recommend earlier treatment for the 47% of US adults who have high blood pressure (130/80 or higher), emphasizing lifestyle changes and personalized medication. (More)

The FDA warned against eating Great Value frozen shrimp from Walmart after detecting radioactive cesium-137 in shipping containers, though no contaminated products entered stores. (More)

Oregon's underwater Axial Seamount volcano is swelling "like a bloated belly" and is expected to erupt this year. (More)

Charting how US tariffs will impact key products.

How to make the perfect chocolate, according to science.

The story of the first known person to be struck by a meteorite.

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