Air travel is being squeezed from multiple directions this summer as extreme weather, capacity constraints and geopolitical conflict strain the global aviation system.
Why it matters: Overlapping pressures across the aviation network are leaving travelers more vulnerable to delays, cancellations and higher fares, with no immediate end in sight.
Data: NOAA solar calculations; U.S. Census Bureau; Note: Times are calculated for a single point within each U.S. county or equivalent. Actual sunset times across a given county might vary; Map: Brad Jennings/Axios
Most Americans have already seen their final 8pm sunset of the year.
The big picture: We lose a little more daylight every day as the Earth's Northern Hemisphere tilts away from the Sun through Dec. 21, which will be the shortest day of the year.
But the farther west within a time zone you live, the later your sunsets will typically be.
AI's impact is no longer confined to office work; it's also transforming agriculture. PepsiCo is using AI to help farmers make faster, more informed decisions in the field. Jim Andrew, PepsiCo's EVP and chief sustainability officer, discusses how prioritizing human-first AI tools is supporting farmers and agronomists with benefits like earlier disease detection, precise resource use and resilience amid unpredictable agricultural landscapes.
Atomic Canyon is rolling out an AI assistant developed with major industry groups to help nuclear plant workers make better and faster use of operating records and technical knowledge.
The startup, which provides AI tailored to the nuclear industry, is also getting a funding lift from chip giant Nvidia.
President Trump again floated taking over the Strait of Hormuz as a U.S. "territory" on Monday, as the critical waterway remains a main pain point of the protracted Iran war.
The big picture: Trump's comments come at a difficult time for the ongoing conflict, with stalled negotiations for a ceasefire and a memorandum of understanding between the U.S. and Iran expiring on Monday.
OpenAI announced a 20-year lease for a sprawling data center in central Ohio with financing partly guaranteed by Nvidia, saying it will create 35,000 construction jobs and 2,500 permanent operating positions.
Why it matters: The facility — which will be built and owned by SoftBank's SB Energy — illustrates the immensity of the computing and power needed to fuel the growth of the AI economy.
