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STARMUS Launches the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior at The Kennedy Center

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Gitanjali Rao Honoured as the inaugural Recipient of the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior STARMUS cofounders, Garik Israelian and Brian May, introduce the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior Category to Inspire Young Innovators (LINK)STARMUS Celebrates Its US Debut at The Kennedy Center with Panel Discussions, Performances, the Junior Medal Announcement, the Presentation of STARMUS La Palma, and the US Première of the STARMUS VI Film (LINK)

WASHINGTON, April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — STARMUS Festival proudly announced the launch of the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior Category during the STARMUS x Earth To Space launch event last night at The Kennedy Center. Gitanjali Rao was named the first recipient of this prestigious award. This new category of this prestigious award created by the late Professor Stephen Hawking and STARMUS Festival, represents his last legacy to promote science communication among the younger generation.

Introducing the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior Category

The Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication, established in 2015, honoured individuals who excelled in bridging the gap between science and the public through various disciplines such as music, arts, and cinema. The Junior Category aimed to recognize and encourage young innovators who demonstrated exceptional talent and dedication to science communication. Like the Stephen Hawking Medal, the Junior Medal will recognize such dedication through the categories of music, cinema, or literature.

In its inaugural year, the STARMUS Advisory Board selected a profile that perfectly embodies the type of inspiring young individual deserving of this prestigious recognition. Commencing in 2026, the full nominations process will be open to educational centres worldwide, including universities and secondary schools. These institutions will be invited to nominate their most outstanding students, aged 14 to 20, as candidates.

Winners will be awarded the Stephen Hawking Medal and will have the unique opportunity to enrol in a 4 to 6-week internship at a selected science or arts institution, sponsored by STARMUS and the Stephen Hawking Medal partners. During this internship, they will work on their own scientific communications project, which will be published by STARMUS and the Stephen Hawking Medal collaborators and endorsed by a past winner of the Medal.

STARMUS will announce soon the world-class institutions and centres that will collaborate with the Junior Medal Category.

Gitanjali Rao: The First Recipient

Gitanjali Rao, an American inventor, author, and STEM advocate, was selected as the inaugural recipient of the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior. Rao, known for her groundbreaking inventions and contributions to science at a young age, embodied the spirit of innovation and curiosity that Professor Hawking championed. She was named TIME’s first “Kid of the Year” in 2020 for her work in science and technology. Gitanjali is also the inventor of “Epione”—a device for early diagnosis of prescription opioid addiction using genetic engineering, and “Kindly”—an anti-cyberbullying service using AI and Natural Language processing, which is now a UNICEF “Digital Public Good” service available worldwide.

“Being the first recipient of the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior is an absolute honour, but it also comes with a massive responsibility,” said Rao. “I recognize that I am a trailblazer for thousands of young people beyond me who also have the passion to make a difference in our communities, especially girls of colour.”

Garik Israelian, STARMUS co-founder and Director, celebrated this huge step for the Stephen Hawking Medal in approaching younger generations with the Junior Category. “Stephen always shared that he became interested in science being inspired by his professor Dikran Tahta, who opened his eyes to mathematics and changed his life. Since the esteemed STARMUS Advisory Board and Professor Hawking created this Medal in 2015, we all shared the same dream: to inspire the younger generations, serving as a motivational bridge with science through recognizing exceptional contributions in science communications. We’ve awarded such iconic figures of our time such as Jane Goodall, Hans Zimmer, Christopher Nolan, Buzz Aldrin, David Attenborough, Brian May, The Big Bang Theory, Brian Eno among many other internationally renowned figures of science, space, music, and the film industry. It was a natural step for the medal to create a dedicated category for emerging talents who will actually be responsible for the future.”

“The STARMUS Advisory Board chose Gitanjali Rao as the first recipient because of her exceptional talent, dedication to science communication, and her inspiring role as a young innovator” added Professor Israelian. “The Medal reflects not only Stephen Hawking’s amazing dedication to science communication but also the STARMUS spirit. As our dearest Jane Goodall -founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and STARMUS Board member- said, ‘STARMUS brings together people who can link head with heart’.'”

Brian May, Queen lead guitarist and STARMUS cofounder, celebrated the launch of the Stephen Hawking Medal Junior with these words: “We believe this is going to make a difference in the future by encouraging young minds, young artists, young scientists, and young communicators. We hope that the next generation will be inspired to bring art and science even closer together and make this world a better place.”

Celebrating STARMUS’ US Debut at The Kennedy Center

This announcement was made at the STARMUS x Earth To Space event, a two-day program held as part of the Earth To Space Festival at the prestigious Kennedy Center. The event, being held on April 1-2, 2025, featured an impressive lineup of Nobel Prize-winning scientists, astronauts, and explorers, including former NASA astronauts Nicole Stott and Frank Lee Culbertson Jr., Nobel Laureate Kip Thorne and artist Lia Halloran, world-renowned best-selling author Mario Livio, President of the US National Academy of Sciences Marcia McNutt, renowned astrophysicist Eva Villaver, quantum mind reader David Zambuka and SETI pioneer Jill Tarter.

Attendees also enjoyed the spectacular ‘Explosive Universe’ concert by renowned musicians from the STARMUS All Stars, such as Derek Sherinian, Ron ‘Bumblefoot’ Thal, Tony Franklin, and Vinny Appice. This concert was a highlight of the event, showcasing the fusion of science and music that STARMUS is known for. The celebration of the beauty and mystery of the universe promised to be an unforgettable experience for all attendees.

STARMUS has announced its next edition, ‘STARMUS La Palma, The Island of Stars,’ featuring a short preview of the STARMUS La Palma documentary. This event will be held on the island of La Palma from April 25 to 28, 2025, with a focus on protecting the night skies in collaboration with the Starlight Foundation. The program will include STARMUS Talks with over 40 renowned speakers, such as Jane Goodall, Nobel Laureates, astronauts, and other scientific luminaries. The ‘Sonic Universe’ concert will showcase the STARMUS All Stars with special guest Glenn Hughes, Oscar and 15 Latin Grammy winner Jorge Drexler, and the Spanish pop-rock band Efecto Pasillo, among others. Additionally, there will be two STARMUS Camps and the educational project ‘Interscholar,’ aimed at engaging thousands of young students with science, music, and space.”

The event also included the US première of the STARMUS VI film, which showcases the most exciting moments of the 2022 STARMUS Festival in Armenia. This film perfectly captures the essence of STARMUS and the unique STARMUS experience, merging the gathering of the most brilliant minds and talented artists of our time with the local culture.

Linked Videos:

•  This is STARMUS _ LINK

•  The Stephen Hawking Medal _LINK

About STARMUS 

Created by Garik Israelian PhD, astrophysicist at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands (IAC) and Sir Brian May PhD, astrophysicist and the lead guitarist of the iconic rock band Queen, Starmus is a festival of science, art and music that features presentations from astronauts, cosmonauts, Nobel Prize winners and prominent figures from various scientific disciplines and musical backgrounds. Starmus brings together Nobel laureates, eminent researchers, astronauts, thinkers and artists to share their knowledge and experiences, as we search for answers to the great questions of our time. 

The STARMUS Advisory Board members are: Jane Goodall, Brian May (co-founder), Garik Israelian (Director and co-founder), Peter Gabriel, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Richard Dawkins, Chris Hadfield, Jill Tarter, Steven Chu, and David Eicher.

Home of the Stephen Hawking Medal 

Stephen Hawking and Alexei Leonov, together with Brian May and Garik Israelian, worked to create the Stephen Hawking Medal for Science Communication in 2015, which is awarded to individuals and teams who have made significant contributions to science communication. Previous Stephen Hawking Medal winners include Dr. Jane Goodall DBE, David Attenborough, Christopher Nolan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Jean-Michel Jarre, Brian May, Laurie Anderson, and the Apollo 11 documentary. 

For more information visit Starmus.com   

STARMUS Communications   
Brezo Rodríguez  —  brezo@starmus.com   / press@starmus.com  / +34 678 255 196 

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdbUOyYW3Oc
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWDC3G139Y4
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SiriusXM Declares Quarterly Cash Dividend

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NEW YORK, July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — SiriusXM (NASDAQ: SIRI) today announced that its Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.27 per share of common stock. This regular quarterly dividend is payable in cash on August 26, 2026, to stockholders of record at the close of business on August 10, 2026.

About Sirius XM Holdings Inc.
SiriusXM is the leading audio entertainment company in North America with a portfolio of audio businesses including its flagship subscription entertainment service SiriusXM; the ad-supported and premium music streaming services of Pandora; an expansive podcast network; and a suite of business and advertising solutions. Together, SiriusXM reaches a combined monthly audience of approximately 255 million listeners. SiriusXM offers a broad range of content for listeners everywhere they tune in with a diverse mix of live, on-demand, and curated programming across music, talk, news, and sports. For more about SiriusXM, please go to: www.siriusxm.com.

Source: SiriusXM

Investor contacts:
Jennifer DiGrazia
investor.relations@siriusxm.com 

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SOURCE Sirius XM Holdings Inc.

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Shutterstock Announces Capital Allocation Update

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NEW YORK, July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Shutterstock, Inc. (NYSE: SSTK) (the “Company”), a family of brands delivering scalable creative and GenAI solutions to help customers fuel great work, today announced that at a meeting held on July 20, 2026 its Board of Directors (the “Board”) resolved to suspend the Company’s future quarterly cash dividend.

The Board’s determination reflects its ongoing review of the Company’s capital-allocation priorities and its focus on deploying capital to support long-term value creation for shareholders, including reducing debt, minimizing related interest expense and strengthening financial flexibility.

The Board will continue to evaluate the Company’s capital allocation priorities as part of its regular governance process. Any future declaration and payment of dividends, and the amount thereof, will remain subject to the discretion of the Board and will depend upon the Company’s results of operations, financial condition, capital requirements, contractual restrictions, applicable law, and such other factors as the Board deems relevant.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements may discuss intentions and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, results of operations or financial condition, or otherwise. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made and should not be relied upon as predictions of future events, as there can be no assurance that the events or circumstances reflected in these statements will occur. Forward-looking statements can often, but not always, be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology including “believes,” “could,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “might,” “ongoing,” “plans,” “seeks,” “should,” “will,”  or the negative of these words and phrases, other variations of these words and phrases or comparable terminology, but not all forward-looking statements include such identifying words. Forward-looking statements are based upon current plans, estimates and expectations that are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ materially from those indicated or anticipated by such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release relate to, among other things, the Company’s capital allocation strategy, the suspension of the Company’s quarterly cash dividend, the Company’s plans with respect to debt reduction, interest expense management and financial flexibility, and any future declaration and payment of dividends. For a discussion of factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by forward-looking statements, see the sections captioned “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025, the Company’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and the Company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. While those factors are considered representative, no list of risk factors should be considered a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. Unlisted factors may present significant additional obstacles to the realization of forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, and the Company disclaims any such obligation, except as may be required by law.

About Shutterstock
Shutterstock is in the business of turning ideas into impact. Powered by a global network of millions of creators and our cutting-edge technology, we provide businesses, creatives, and brand leaders with the essential, universal ingredients to make their work more effective. Shutterstock offers access to one of the world’s largest and most diverse collections of high-quality licensable assets, specialized training datasets, evaluation tools, and end-to-end strategic partnerships for the full model training lifecycle, as well as advertising and distribution solutions, exclusive editorial content, and full-service studio production—delivering unparalleled resources to fuel great work.

Discover our impact at www.shutterstock.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Instagram, X, Facebook and YouTube.

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SOURCE Shutterstock, Inc.

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ICI Welcomes Bipartisan Sponsors of Bill to Stop States from Seizing Long-Term Investors’ Savings

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WASHINGTON, July 22, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Investment Company Institute released the following Viewpoints blog. To learn more about why this issue matters and how the SAFER Act would help protect American investors, watch our video on LinkedIn.

Millions of American investors have adopted the advice given by financial advisors to invest for the long term and then leave those savings alone. In some states, however, following this guidance can get your account seized. That was the warning sounded at an event featuring the sponsors of the bipartisan SAFER Act, Representatives Sam Liccardo (D-CA) and Mike Lawler (R-NY), who joined ICI leaders to make the case for a federal solution to the problem of state unclaimed property laws that can treat buy-and-hold investors as though they have disappeared. 

ICI President and CEO Eric Pan opened the event by outlining the nature of this growing threat. More than 128 million Americans invest in regulated funds, many with the intention of holding them for years, following the advice of many financial educators to “stay in the market, invest for the long term.” They put their money away and go about their lives, confident that the savings will be there when they need it. But under some states’ laws, an account that shows no activity can be declared abandoned and taken into state custody through a process called escheatment.

Pan walked through what seizure means in practice. When a state escheats an investment account, it typically liquidates the holdings — so even an investor who eventually recovers the money gets back only what the account was worth at seizure, with no credit for years of market gains. For retirement accounts, the forced liquidation can also trigger unforeseen tax consequences. And recovering the money at all can take years of paperwork and persistence. Meanwhile, some states are moving in the wrong direction, loosening their rules to make it easier to capture assets. 

“This is where the leadership of Congressmen Lawler and Liccardo is so important,” Pan said. “They’ve introduced the SAFER Act, a federal solution to a problem that exists across the United States. This patchwork of different legal standards, and the fact that the legal standards change constantly, creates a lot of confusion and creates this risk and harm that we’re so worried about.” 

In a panel discussion, the two lawmakers described the issue as an obvious place for Democrats and Republicans to find common ground, given Americans’ widespread use of investment accounts for saving.

“We are, for the most part, a group of Americans who sit on our investments, which is more or less the right strategy,” Liccardo said, noting that this is exactly the approach that inactivity standards put at risk. 

Liccardo pointed to the widely reported case of Walter Schramm, an investor who bought Amazon shares in the late 1990s and then did what many long-term investors do: leave the account be. Delaware deemed the account abandoned and liquidated the shares in 2008, when they worth about $8,000. By the time Schramm discovered what happened years later, the position would have been worth roughly $100,000.

The financial incentives driving state behavior are a concern, Liccardo noted. Unclaimed property has become one of Delaware’s largest sources of revenue, bringing in more than half a billion dollars a year — a powerful reason for states to loosen their standards rather than tighten them. 

Lawler contrasted legitimate unclaimed property programs and what some states are doing now. “It’s one thing to get an asset because it’s truly abandoned,” he said. “It’s another to basically target a group of investors who have a long-term strategy of just not touching the asset and being passive.”

The right standard, Lawler argued, is the obvious one: before seizing investment assets, a state should have to prove the owner is actually deceased. He posited that most Americans would be shocked to learn how little protection they have. “You think you have ownership of this asset, but the state, under current law, can just take it.”

The SAFER Act would establish federal guardrails ensuring that inactivity alone cannot be the basis for escheatment and that states confirm the death of an owner and that no estate or beneficiary has claimed the assets before escheating investment accounts. It would also require states to leave unclaimed investments in place, rather than liquidating them, until they can prove abandonment.

Both lawmakers said the path to fixing the problem is through public awareness of the threat some state laws pose to Americans financial security. “Ultimately the American people will rise up,” Liccardo said. “It may take a little while. We just have to get the information to them.”

Contact: media@ici.org 

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SOURCE Investment Company Institute

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