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August 3, 2016

Donald Trump and his campaign staff seem to have two radically different ideas of how well things are going.

Per campaign insiders, staff morale has hit an all-time low:

But, per Trump, everything is going just swimmingly:

Perhaps what Trump had in mind when he mentioned unity is the old adage about how much misery loves company? Becca Stanek

5:04 p.m.

Elon Musk will head to the courtroom in October for repeatedly accusing a British cave diver of being a pedophile.

Vernon Unsworth sued the Tesla CEO for defamation following the accusations, and recent court filings show the case will go to trial on October 22nd, The Verge reported Friday.

Unsworth and Musk went to battle with each other last year after Unsworth criticized Musk's idea to save the Thai youth soccer team stranded in a cave by sending a submarine. Musk responded to Unsworth's suggestion that it was a "PR stunt" by calling him a "pedo guy" on Twitter and claiming Unsworth was a "child rapist." Having no evidence for these claims, Musk then stated "I f---ing hope he sues me."

Pre-trial proceedings will begin on October 7th. Marianne Dodson

4:51 p.m.

Meryl Streep made an intimidating first Big Little Lies appearance in a quick teaser that dropped last month. She's back in the season 2 full trailer that dropped Friday, and she knows more than we thought.

Streep's last appearance revealed her to be playing Mary Louise Wright, the mother-in-law of Celeste Wright (Nicole Kidman), who arrived in Monterey after the death of her son Perry. And while she was obviously suspicious in the last clip, this time around, she spookily reveals that she knows Celeste "learned of [Perry's] infidelity just 10 seconds before he died."

Of course, the rest of the newly dubbed "Monterey Five" make an appearance in the trailer as well. Reese Witherspoon's Madeline and Laura Dern's Renata share signature jabs with the school principal, Shailene Woodley's Jane has a new love interest, and Zoë Kravitz's Bonnie joins them in trying to reckon with it all. Watch the trailer below.

Big Little Lies returns to HBO on June 9. Kathryn Krawczyk

4:44 p.m.

The bottom of the ocean is dark. Like, really dark. So dark that some marine species have evolved ways of life that don't depend on light. There are microorganisms that live off of heat vents at the ocean floor, creatures that produce their own light in a phenomenon known as bioluminescence — and now, new research has found, fish that can see color even in the dark.

Until now, we've thought that all vision works more or less the same way: The cones in any animal's eye may allow for color vision in light, but vision in darkness is regulated by the rods in the eye, which means it's all monochrome. But a new study published in Science on Thursday found several species of deep-sea fish that have additional rods in their eyes, allowing for multicolored vision in darkness.

Even more interesting is the fact that not all of this type of vision seems to have come from the same place. Rather, there's evidence that it evolved "several times independently of each other," explained study co-author Walter Salzburger. This is a good sign that it's genuinely useful for deep-sea fish to "detect bioluminescent signals," he explained.

This newly discovered dark-vision may enable the fish that use it to see some colors at depths of up to 5,000 feet below sea level, Gizmodo reports. Light from the surface world can barely reach that deep, so it's impressive that anything can see at all down there, rather than relying on other senses to detect surroundings. Further research will be needed in order to determine exactly what deep-sea fish are using this extraordinary capability for, but it's clearly an advantage down in the depths. Learn more at Gizmodo. Shivani Ishwar

4:36 p.m.

Game of Thrones might not have aired any episodes in 2018, but that didn't stop its characters from continuing to inspire thousands of baby names.

New data from the Social Security Administration shows that last year, more than 2,500 U.S. children were named after Arya Stark by parents who were probably downright thrilled with the Battle of Winterfell a few weeks ago. Arya was the 119th most popular female name of the year, in fact, up from 135th in 2017.

Dozens of more parents named their children after other Game of Thrones characters, though, with some of the most popular names being Tyrion, Brienne, Jorah, and Sansa, as per a list compiled by NBC News' Joe Murphy.

Having a fairly small amount of screen time didn't prevent Ellaria from being unexpectedly high up the list, surpassing even major characters like Bran and Theon. Daenarys is somewhat far down, but not if you count "Khaleesi," which was used 560 times.

This list, of course, doesn't factor in names that are already pretty common outside of Game of Thrones, like Jon, which was used 311 times.

Give or take a Gregor, most of the popular names came from the show's heroes. But not everyone was against naming their children after famously hateful characters. The data also shows that alarming number of people in 2018 — 13, to be exact — named their children Thanos after the genocidal maniac from Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, observes Namerology.

There were also 251 babies named Kylo after the Star Wars villain, making for a lot of parents who must be crossing their fingers for his redemption in The Rise of Skywalker. As for all those children named Thanos, well, reality is often disappointing. Brendan Morrow

4:00 p.m.

Party City's future is a little up in the air amid a global helium shortage.

The party supply company announced Thursday that it will shutter 45 of its 870 stores, reports USA Today. This comes as the retail giant faces a growing demand for balloons despite a record low helium supply. Nearly 75 percent of the world's helium comes from only three locations — and with much of that supply going to the medical and aerospace industries, helium for party balloons has become less of a priority, writes USA Today.

"We're working to replenish the helium at the affected stores as more supply becomes available," wrote Party City in a statement. "Despite this helium hiccup, Party City is committed to helping you to throw an unforgettable party."

Party City has been steadily shrinking for years. In a statement, Party City's CEO James Harrison says the retailer closes 10 to 15 stores annually.

It's not only balloons that are taking the hit. Scientists told USA Today the global helium crisis will eventually impact crucial MRI scans, magnets and other life-saving medical devices. For now, the news just means Party City will have to encourage party planners to stick with confetti. Tatyana Bellamy-Walker

3:48 p.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin took a tumble on ice on Friday while waving to adoring fans after playing in an ice hockey game in Sochi.

Putin was participating in the annual exhibition hockey game with former NHL players, playing alongside Russian hockey stars Slava Fetisov and Pavel Bure as well as several Russian governors.

Although his coordination was questionable, his scoring skills were on point as he boasted 8 points for his team.

But despite his stellar aim, all people seem to be talking about is his fall from grace, when he attempted to skate onto some carpet placed on the ice after the match's conclusion.

An Olympic skater he is not. Marianne Dodson

3:25 p.m.

Kenan Thompson is having a pretty solid birthday.

The Saturday Night Live star, who turned 41 on Friday, just had his new sitcom The Kenan Show picked up to series by NBC, The Wrap reports. The show, which is produced by Chris Rock and Lorne Michaels, stars Thompson as the father of two girls whose father-in-law, played by Andy Garcia, tries to help him out in inappropriate ways.

This is yet another NBC project for Thompson, who is still expected to remain a regular cast member on Saturday Night Live. He has starred on SNL for 16 seasons now, the longest of any cast member, and he said on Ellen recently that he has no plans to leave anytime soon. "It's the best job in the world," he said. "I can't see myself just walking away from it like that."

In addition to SNL, Thompson has also been working with NBC on a series called Bring the Funny, a comedy competition show on which Thompson will be a judge. Deadline reports that "accommodations are expected to be made" so that he can work on both SNL and The Kenan Show at the same time, possibly including moving production of the sitcom to New York from Los Angeles. Thompson previously flew back and forth between the two cities to shoot the series' pilot.

And these are just Thompson's NBC projects. He's also a producer on a reboot of All That, which is headed to Nickelodeon and will feature Thompson's old Kenan & Kel co-star, Kel Mitchell, as a guest star. Get the orange soda ready for a Kenan-filled year, as the first of Thompson's new NBC shows, Bring the Funny, will premiere in July. Brendan Morrow

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