Enormous eruptions altered Earth’s climate and societies all over the globe. The first telegram arrived in Singapore on a Monday, sent from the city of Batavia in the Dutch East Indies (now Jakarta, Indonesia). “Terrific detonations from Krakatau (volcanic island),” it reported. Soon afterward: “Stones falling. Village near Anjer…
Hibernation cuts down on synapses, but mice seem to retain memories anyway. Our leading hypothesis for how our memories are stored is that when you learn something, the connections among neurons involved get stronger and physically larger, and that constitutes the memory. The trouble is that these connections significantly…
Lands free of roads are under threat from the Trump administration’s proposed rollback. Pause for a moment and listen. What do you hear? Chances are, somewhere in the background, is the ever-present hum of a road. More than 4.2 million miles of public roads crisscross the lower 48 states—enough…
Thunderstorms make seismic waves that can be used to find sub-surface features. Most of what we know about the Earth’s interior comes from observing seismic waves. These travel at somewhat different speeds depending on the details of the rock they’re moving through—whether it’s solid or semi-molten, how much water…
The private Android-based OS will expand beyond Pixels next year. Several months ago, Motorola and the makers of GrapheneOS announced a team-up that would expand support for the privacy-centric OS to beyond Google’s Pixel phones. The announcement, however, was bereft of details. Now, the creators of the OS have…
Logitech increased prices by up to 25 percent last year. Logitech is facing a proposed class action lawsuit for not giving customers tariff refunds. In April 2025, Logitech raised the prices on 51 percent of its portfolio, with some prices increasing by as much as 25 percent. The complaint…
Chinese safety regulators have cracked down on doors that don’t open in a crash. Tesla is facing a massive recall in China today. Chinese regulators are taking a stricter approach to safety, and the automaker now has to add warning labels to 2.98 million Model 3 and Model Y…
Romania blew up drone boat to protect lives of several hundred rig workers. This week, Romania accused Russia of sending a drone boat loaded with explosives to a vital European natural gas platform in the Black Sea. A Romanian F-16 fighter jet used its cannons to disable the surface…
Alphabet-owned company is seeking to persuade US regulators to clear a path for fully autonomous taxi services. Waymo has sharply increased its lobbying spending as it seeks to persuade US regulators to clear a path for fully autonomous taxi services, intensifying its battle with rival Uber over the future…
FCC ban on foreign-made robots accelerated RoboStore’s US manufacturing plans. A leading US distributor of China’s most popular humanoid robots and robot dogs now plans to produce its own robots at a facility on Long Island, New York. The business pivot comes amid the US government’s growing crackdown on…
