NASA launched an emergency mission to stop the Swift Observatory from crashing to Earth

Engineers from Katalyst Space Technologies testing Link. | Image: NASA/Scott Wiessinger The Swift Observatory was launched in 2004, but recent solar storms have pushed its orbit lower, and it’s in danger of burning up in Earth’s atmosphere as soon as this year. To try and stave off its demise, NASA has enlisted Katalyst Space Technologies. … Read more

White House deletes thousands of web pages about energy conservation as heatwave slams US

The US Department of Energy reportedly deleted about 6,000 pages related to energy conservation as a historic heatwave tears across the country. The deletion was suspiciously timed, following Republican outrage over Mayor Zohran Mamdani asking New Yorkers to help reduce strain on the grid by setting their AC to 78 degrees. Republicans like Ted Cruz … Read more

Qi fan fan

The Kuxiu D5 keeps Qi-compatible phones cool while also charging a watch and earbuds. Despite my initial skepticism, I’m now sold on wireless Qi chargers that add integrated fans to keep your phone cool while charging. I figured they’d be too loud, or too weak, or too gimmicky, but I’m a convert after spending a … Read more

This slim camera has a transparent LCD screen for a viewfinder

Despite the fact that smartphones have become impressively capable shooters, standalone point-and-shoot cameras are enjoying a renaissance. The tiny Kodak Charmera is still wildly popular, while influencers are scrambling to find aging Canon cameras on eBay. Godox, a company best known for its photography lighting products, is the latest to join the simple camera craze, … Read more

I finally got my Trump phone

Unlike most phones, the T1 still ships with a charger. Trump Mobile seemingly isn’t too worried about e-waste. Where’s the Trump phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. One year on, our phones have finally arrived. 12 months, 16 days, 21 hours, and 54 minutes after I first heard about Trump Mobile’s … Read more

Hydration isn’t complicated: Just drink water

Powerade is appropriate for World Cup athletes, but unless you’re also sweating buckets, water is usually enough. | Photo: Megan Briggs / Getty Images This is Optimizer, a weekly newsletter sent from Verge senior reviewer Victoria Song that dissects and discusses the latest gizmos and potions that swear they’re going to change your life. Opt … Read more

Anthropic wants to develop its own drugs

At the event “The Briefing: AI for Science” earlier this week, Anthropic announced Claude Science, a new “AI workbench for scientists” that pulls fragmented tools and datasets into one environment, and generates figures and visuals. Anthropic, already dominating the industry with its popular coding tools and powerful AI models, framed the launch around what it … Read more

Jon Prosser responds to Apple lawsuit by blaming the other guy

YouTuber Jon Prosser has finally filed a formal response to Apple’s lawsuit made against him and another defendant over allegedly stealing iOS secrets. In his response, Prosser denied that he “planned or participated in any conspiracy or coordinated scheme” for the “purpose of injuring Apple.” However, Prosser admitted to recording a FaceTime call showing unreleased … Read more

Apple TV is hitting its stride

Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed. | Image: Apple Since its inception, Apple TV, née Apple TV Plus, has built a reputation on quality over quantity. It has far fewer shows and movies than the likes of Netflix or Disney Plus, but generally speaking, the projects it does put out are quite good. It’s a strategy that has … Read more

A behind-the-scenes look at Midjourney’s medical scanner leaves many questions unanswered

A scan of an imaging phantom, segmented to validate how cleanly structures separate under controlled conditions. | Image: Midjourney Medical Midjourney has shown more of its futuristic medical scanner. It still hasn’t shown much proof it works. The AI startup, best known for generating images, released a behind-the-scenes video of its dunk-tank ultrasound scanner, which … Read more

Tesla driver faces manslaughter charges over Texas crash that killed a woman inside her home

The man whose Tesla struck and killed a woman inside her Texas home last month is now facing manslaughter charges, as reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal and local news outlet KHOU 11. 44-year-old Michael Butler was arrested on Wednesday and claimed to have been driving his Model 3 using Tesla’s Full-Self Driving (FSD) … Read more

The video game disc is dead

For decades, to be a gamer was to accumulate a lot of stuff. Consoles, controllers, accessories, weird VR gloves that never worked properly, but mostly the games themselves. Over the years, games have come in every shape and size you can imagine. And now that era appears to be ending. On this episode of The … Read more

Influencer screenings aren’t going away

For a few days, it seemed like Universal decided that there would be no advanced screenings of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey for influencers. But on Monday, influencers sat alongside traditional critics and journalists at special showings of The Odyssey specifically for the associated press junket. Despite what it may have looked like, Universal was not … Read more

Tesla’s Q2 sales jump 25 percent

Tesla just released its second-quarter delivery and production report, showing that the automaker is starting to recover after a particularly brutal sales year in 2025. The company said that it produced a total of 451,758 vehicles between April and June of this year, including 442,936 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, as well as 8,822 … Read more