Plus: Who is Byron Donalds?  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Chad de Guzman  | August 19, 2026     Hello there! Dream research is constantly evolving, and The Brief today takes a look at scientists’ latest inroads into understanding—and even possibly influencing—where we go when we sleep. We also zoom in on Florida’s Republican nominee for governor after last night’s primary, and we explore OpenAI’s decision to slow down training new models. Plus: Jason Kelce wants your what? And don’t miss today’s Linked! IN TODAY’S BRIEF Lucid learning Donald’s Donalds OpenAI pumps the brakes Iceland’s big question New narcolepsy treatment Millions lost Data center coolant         READ THIS FIRST The new science of dreaming Will Matsuda for TIME When scientists imagine what evolutionary purpose dreams might have, definitive answers have been hard to come by. Whatever insight we might get from thinking about our own dreams is unlikely to be the whole story. In recent decades, scientists have approached this problem from a number of angles.  Karen Konkoly, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cambridge in the U.K., is a rising star in the world of dream research, the co-inventor of a way to help people dream lucidly. Lucid dreaming, first named in a scientific paper in 1913, occurs when dreamers realize they are dreaming. In some cases, they can deliberately influence the events of the dream. Lucid dreams might be some of the best tools scientists have to really get to the bottom of what everyday dreams do. —Veronique Greenwood         SPONSORED Free email without sacrificing your privacy Gmail tracks you. Proton doesn’t. Get private email that puts your data — and your privacy — first. Ditch the Gmail data grab         IN PROFILE Who is Byron Donalds, the Trump-backed favorite for Florida governor? Eva Marie Uzcategui—Bloomberg Rep. Byron Donalds has won Tuesday’s Republican primary for Florida Governor, and he is largely favored to replace outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis in the general election this November.  Donalds, who has represented Florida’s 19th District in the state’s southwest since 2021 and earned endorsements from President Donald Trump and Sen. Rick Scott, is a staunch Trump ally who has embraced conservative positions. He was one of almost 150 Republicans who voted in 2021 to object to the election results from key swing states in 2020, when Trump lost to former President Joe Biden. His website claims that one of his top issues is to “Enact the Trump Agenda” by fighting illegal immigration. Before diving into politics, the Brooklyn native worked in the banking, finance, and insurance industries. Now, Donalds is on a promising path toward becoming Florida's first Black governor. —Rebecca Schneid         HAPPENING NOW OpenAI is slowing down its AI training Anna Moneymaker—Getty Images OpenAI announced Tuesday that it’s implementing new safeguards that will slow its future AI development. The company recently paused training on its next set of models, codenamed Astra, for a little more than two weeks, according to executives, and its largest planned frontier training run remains on hold while the new guardrails are put in place.  “I think it is a good time to slow down,” CEO Sam Altman told TIME last week, describing the company’s decision to halt the development of its most powerful, unreleased models. It is the first time OpenAI has made such a move. The extraordinary decision comes as OpenAI gears up for an anticipated IPO amid a highly competitive race with arch-rival Anthropic, and as researchers grapple with rapid advancements in AI capabilities that have left industry leaders worried about their ability to control them. —Alex Heath         THE CONTEXT Iceland’s E.U. referendum, explained Simon Wohlfahrt––Getty Images Iceland is holding a long-awaited referendum on Aug. 29 to decide whether the country should resume accession negotiations with the European Union. The country initially applied for E.U. membership in 2009, but accession negotiations were halted upon a change in government in 2013. Then, in 2015, Iceland announced it “should not be regarded as a candidate country for E.U. membership.” However, the membership application was never formally withdrawn. Iceland’s Prime Minister Kristrún Frostadóttir said she believes now “is a great time for Iceland to join [the E.U.] because of the geopolitical situation we're in.” She praised the conduct of the E.U. in recent years and said it had made her want to expedite the referendum process. The exact question being put to voters for a yes or no answer is: “Should Iceland reopen accession negotiations with the European Union?” Accession negotiations are the formal process by which a country and the E.U. set out the conditions for admission to the bloc. —Tiago Ventura         SPONSORED Build content that ranks, converts, and drives real revenue. From ideation to measurement, HubSpot Academy's free Content Marketing Certification teaches you to build a scalable content strategy that converts. Join 200,000+ professionals who have advanced their career with HubSpot Academy. Enroll free and walk away with a strategy built to last. Get Started Free         HEALTH CHECK FDA approves first drug to treat a cause of narcolepsy F.J. Jimenez—Getty Images About 200,000 people in the U.S. and 3 million worldwide have narcolepsy, a medical condition with symptoms ranging from feeling tired during the day to suddenly and unexpectedly falling asleep and losing muscle control.  There’s no cure for narcolepsy, and doctors generally treat it with stimulant drugs or amphetamines, as well as behavior changes. But now there’s a drug that addresses one of the biological mechanisms involved: On Aug. 5, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Orzeyful, or oveporexton, which targets the orexin pathway that orchestrates the brain’s sleeping and wake cycles. Without orexin, the brain loses the ability to control when the body sleeps and when it’s awake.  Based on two studies submitted by Takeda, which developed the drug for 15 years, people taking the drug, which comes in pill form, twice a day, were better able to stay awake during the day than those taking a placebo. The drug is now being reviewed by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) for any addictive potential, and Takeda CEO and president Julie Kim tells TIME she expects it to receive a Schedule IV designation, which indicates a low chance of dependence or abuse. —Alice Park         ONE NUMBER 36 Alex Vindman spent $2.2 million on advertising, according to political ad tracker AdImpact—more than 36 times as much as his opponent, Angie Nixon, did—in the U.S. Senate Democratic primary race in Florida. But Vindman still lost to Nixon on Tuesday, in a stunning victory for the U.S.’s growing democratic socialist movement. SOURCE: ADIMPACT         A VIRAL MOMENT ‘We want your pee’ What’s one thing everyone can agree on? Apparently, dislike of AI data centers. At least that’s what drinks companies Liquid Death and Garage Beer are betting on with their new collaborative ad campaign that stars Garage Beer co-owner Jason Kelce and asks viewers to collect their urine and send it to data centers to use instead of water, which they notoriously use for cooling. “Let’s pee on computers together and save humanity,” Kelce sings in the ad, which notes in fine print: “The suits want us to tell you to please don't actually send your pee.”         SPONSORED       Linked In this addictive word-association game, find the steps that will unite two seemingly unrelated words in just four moves. PLAY NOW       ALSO WORTH YOUR TIME IDEAS Is the World Getting Uglier? WELLNESS Forget Nonna-Maxxing. Ask Your Grandmother One Question Instead     EMAIL US: thebrief@time.com More Newsletters from Click to sign up. D.C. 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