Slate Auto gets serious about privacy for its bare-bones EV pickup

​With no embedded modem, the Slate Truck is the antithesis of today’s connected cars.  Slate Auto may be one of the most interesting companies in the American automotive industry right now. Based in Warsaw, Indiana, the startup is taking a completely different approach to building an electric pickup truck.…

Why cats prefer silver vine to catnip and other May highlights

Prehistoric mining in the Pyrenees, a new species of tiny blue octopus, slapstick acoustics, and more. It’s a regrettable reality that there is never enough time to cover all the interesting scientific stories we come across. So every month, we highlight a handful of the best stories that nearly…

ROG Xbox Ally X20 adds OLED screen, control upgrades

But the hardware refresh is tethered to a bundle with pricey AR glasses.  When the Steam Deck OLED launched three years ago, we were glad to see that the new, more brilliant screen fixed the biggest flaw of Valve’s original handheld hardware. So we’re unsurprisingly excited about today’s announcement…

They call it stupid hot for a reason: Heat muddles animal brains

As temperatures rise, some creatures pick fights while others struggle to learn. On a blazing hot day in South Africa, female southern pied babblers can’t think straight. The medium-sized black-and-white birds are trying to get at tasty mealworms behind a see-through barrier. On cooler days, the birds can quickly…