Featuring the latest in daily science news, Verge Science is all you need to keep track of what’s going on in health, the environment, and your whole world. Through our articles, we keep a close eye on the overlap between science and technology news — so you’re more informed.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed an executive order addressing data centers and AI risks.
Satellite data combined with machine learning gives meteorologists new tools to predict deadly floods sooner.
It’s been a poorly kept secret that the company was working towards building its own wet lab. It was hiring biologists and even bought startup Coefficient Bio in April. Now it’s confirmed to TechCrunch that a lab is up and operating in the Bay Area.
As New Scientist reports, researchers have named a new species of cat — the “tilcayo” — which lurks on the slopes of the Andes mountains in South America. It’s apparently the first new named species of cat in over a century. Regarding this news, Verge staff have been observed noting disappointment that it’s a wild species, because why can’t we all have one at home? Here, kitty kitty.
Mathematicians have speculated that the company was targeting the Hodge Conjecture next, but after the PR disaster that was Navier-Stokes and its recent failure to keep its models under control, OpenAI may hold off on any announcements. According to The Information:
It could take the company longer to announce the solution, though, because it’s trying to figure out how to collaborate with the math community to make the announcement without triggering another PR nightmare….
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A surprisingly consequential update for the world’s most popular smartwatch.
The shot marks 14 years since Curiosity landed on the Martian surface in 2012. NASA created it by merging two black-and-white panoramas from Curiosity’s navigation cameras then added color “for an artistic interpretation of the scene, with blue representing the morning panorama and yellow representing the afternoon one.”
AI data center projects are continuing to pop up across the US, with frequent opposition from locals concerned about their impact. Here are a few recent articles about the projects:
The mission will include two firsts if regulators approve the launch window and the weather holds: send Starship into orbit, and insert a few dozen of SpaceX’s larger and more capable V3 satellites into the Starlink constellation for the first time. The 26 satellites on Flight 14 will each add 1 Tbps of capacity to the constellation, boosting total network capacity by about 3 percent on just this one flight.
It’s the first official confirmation, delivered by Air Force Secretary Troy E. Meink:
“We are increasing readiness against existing threats, and the United States has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the Joint Force against hostile adversary action.”
It’s like the race to build self-improving superintelligence before the other guy does, only with space guns. Meink apparently never saw Gravity.
xAI’s original lawsuit against Apple and OpenAI alleged “anticompetitive conduct” over Apple and OpenAI’s deal to integrate ChatGPT into iOS. Monday’s dismissal filing, reported on by Reuters, specifies that X and SpaceXAI “do not seek to dismiss its claims against” OpenAI.
Water from the Colorado River is getting scarce — and more expensive for everyone.
Chasing unrealistic standards encourages men to turn themselves into DIY science experiments.
The iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are made with 50 percent renewables. Apple Watch, which Apple has had to stop describing as carbon neutral, reaches 100 percent renewable electricity. The company has a 2030 target for its suppliers to use “100 percent clean energy” for Apple production.
AI data center projects are continuing to pop up across the US, with frequent opposition from locals concerned about their impact. Here are a few recent articles about the projects:
It’s to finance the restart of an Iowa plant that’s been closed since 2020. Last year, Google announced a partnership with NextEra Energy to reopen the site to help power the company’s AI data centers. But you won’t see that tidbit in the Energy Department’s press release today.
The president posted an image that purports to show the next generation of United States Space Force dress uniforms and, well… they sure look a lot like Imperial officer garb. (Which itself is inspired in part by German SS uniforms.)
The US is finally reclassifying plug-in solar as a household appliance to offset high energy costs.
The Explorer 2000 Plus v2 packs a 2kWh LFP battery and features a Storm Warning Function to automatically pre-charge ahead of severe weather, and an emergency reserve mode to ensure there’s always power available in case of disaster. It supports 800W of maximum solar input, 3600W of AC output, and up to 12kWh of battery expansion capacity. It launches on September 29th for $1,199, alongside a few other Jackery x Red Cross models. More specs in the pics that follow.
In line with its pivot into wellness tech, Nanoleaf has launched a wraparound LED light therapy mask for your neck, which the company claims “is designed to reach deeper layers of the skin and support faster skin cell renewal.” It offers seven lighting modes and near-infrared wavelengths up to 1072nm.
The Nanoleaf LED Light Therapy Neck & Décolletage Mask costs $149.99.
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The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has worked to send tailpipe pollution policies to Congress to repeal. US District Judge Beryl Howell accused the EPA of “Orwellian doublethink.”
It says in a new report that global temperatures are probably going to climb 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial averages soon. We’ll have to cope with catastrophes the UN had previously hoped to avoid, like the “submersion of Small Island Developing States and low-lying coastal cities,” while continuing to cut down and capture CO2 emissions to prevent even worse damage.
The NBA has announced penalties from its investigation into cap circumvention allegations around the Clippers, Kawhi Leonard, and a string of companies that inked shady “endorsement” deals with the star: Aspiration, Daktronics, Boingo Wireless, and Lockton Insurance, as detailed in a report from the law firm of Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz.
There are also fines ($30 million for the Clippers, $700,000 for Leonard), suspensions for two team execs and Leonard’s uncle, and the investigation is apparently ongoing.
Abbott’s new 2-in-1 CGM will help diabetics monitor ketone levels. But can it avoid the wearable hype cycle?
I recently started running again. And, as I started building back to my first half marathon in almost a decade, I realized — my running playlist is hopelessly out of date. Nothing on there is newer than 2018, so tell me what keeps you motivated to power through the pain.
Data center developers typically have to apply for permits to install generators that create local air pollution. The DataOne facility in New Jersey is the latest project accused of violating federal law by running on gas-fired generators without approval.
The $619 HomePower 1000 Plus V2 solar generator is now available in white or gray. It’s built around a 1kWh LFP battery that can be expanded to an impressive 11kWh of capacity. Its diminutive size, 1800W of sustained AC output, and up to 400W of solar (or car’s alternator) input makes it suitable for vanlifers, creator job sites, and even home backup to keep devices like the fridge and CPAP machine running during the next outage.
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