This story first appeared in the Washington State Standard. Nguyen told Commerce employees on Tuesday that he is leaving but didn't disclose his new job. “Sometimes opportunity knocks, even when you haven't invited anyone to your door. Recently I was offered an opportunity outside of Commerce that I have accepted because it was the right thing to do for my family.” Rumors of Nguyen's selection had begun circulating online and among business lobbyists in recent days. Nguyen did not return multiple phone calls for comment. He is the first member of Ferguson's executive cabinet to quit, though others have retired. In his email to employees, Nguyen wrote he was “honored” that Ferguson “put his faith in me nearly a year ago and I thank him for that trust.” He said he did not know if Ferguson would install an interim leader or hire a new director right away. In a statement, Ferguson praised the outgoing director and didn't say how he plans to replace him. Joe always has an open invitation to join my administration in the future.” Republished from Washington State Standard under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Trump's mega bill blasted by Washington leaders: Clean energy cuts threaten AI boom, hike costs City and state leaders in talks to create Seattle-based AI-focused incubator for startups Washington state cuts back economic development program amid criticism of innovation approach

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. The AMD Ryzen 5 5800X — launched on November 5, 2020 — recently hit the top spot in Amazon UK's list of best-selling CPUs. The age of these chips means that they're often picked by PC builders sticking to a budget and are commonly eschewed by mainstream and high-end enthusiasts for more modern Zen 4 and Zen 5 options. However, the ongoing memory crisis has enthusiasts flocking to older DDR4 modules as prices have surged to record highs. It has gotten to the point that 64GB DDR5 memory kits now cost more than an entire PlayStation 5 console, even with discounts. Analysts and industry experts are saying that there is no relief in sight in 2026, with prices expected to climb through the first quarter of next year. That's why demand for decent gaming processors that use older DDR4 RAM has skyrocketed, with AMD's first X3D chip, the Ryzen 7 5800X3D, now costing more than new 9800X3D processors in the secondhand market. However, it had a high launch price of $450 while offering almost the same numbers as the more affordable Ryzen 5 5600X. On the other hand, the newer AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT is much more affordable in the U.S., as you can get it for just US $199 as per this Amazon US listing. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Jowi Morales is a tech enthusiast with years of experience working in the industry. He's been writing with several tech publications since 2021, where he's been interested in tech hardware and consumer electronics. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. © Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York,

Naware founder Mark Boysen first tried killing weeds with drones and a 200-watt laser. He'd been noodling on ideas for a startup with some friends, and thinking about how his family in North Dakota had lost three members to cancer, something they suspected may be related to chemicals in the groundwater. There's too much risk of starting a fire, he told TechCrunch in an interview. After a lot of trial-and-error prototyping with ideas like cryogenics. At the moment, Naware is flexible, and Boysen is visibly eager for his idea to spread fast — much like the weeds he's trying to kill. Boysen said his team first tested the use of steam by ordering a “rinky dink” garment steamer off of Amazon. “They're not real industrial,” Boysen said he quickly realized. “And so there's a lot of research helping to develop that, to get to the point of: ‘how do we make this effective and make it repeatable so it can scale? He said Naware is targeting companies that do lawn care for athletic fields and golf courses, and claims his company can save customers like that “anywhere from $100,000 to $250,000 on chemicals alone.” On top of that, he said customers will save money by not having to pay for people whose only job is to spray those chemicals. Naware has been doing paid pilots to test and dial in the product, but Boysen's pitch has already attracted prospective partners, he said. And we're a couple conversations into that — I can't say their name, but you'll figure it out,” he laughed. Success, Boysen said, will take three things: those partnerships, securing patents, and funding. Boysen has been bootstrapping Naware for now, but said he'll open its first fundraising round in the coming months. Most recently, he was a reporter at Bloomberg News where he helped break stories about some of the most notorious EV SPAC flops. He previously worked at The Verge, where he also covered consumer technology, hosted many short- and long-form videos, performed product and editorial photography, and once nearly passed out in a Red Bull Air Race plane. Nvidia to license AI chip challenger Groq's tech and hire its CEO Waymo explains why its robotaxis got stuck during the SF blackout Marissa Mayer's new startup Dazzle raises $8M led by Forerunner's Kirsten Green ChatGPT launches a year-end review like Spotify Wrapped Waymo resumes service in San Francisco after robotaxis stall during blackout Google and Apple reportedly warn employees on visas to avoid international travel

Microsoft CTO Kevin Scott has some advice for AI startups waiting for the next breakthrough model: the technology can already do far more than most people are getting out of it, so stop waiting and start building. Speaking at a recent South Park Commons event with the organization's general partner, former Dropbox CTO and Facebook engineer Aditya Agarwal, Scott said founders are sitting on a “gigantic capability overhang” — meaning that current AI systems can do far more than most apps built on top of them. “Some of the things that you need to do to squeeze the capability out of these systems is just ugly-looking plumbing stuff, or grungy product building,” he said. Scott also cautioned founders against mistaking online attention for real traction. The current environment, he said, is flooded with “false signal” — from media coverage to investor interest — that doesn't really correlate with whether you've built something useful. “You've got a bunch of people whose business model is getting clicks on articles online or getting people to subscribe to their Substack,” he said. The real signal, he said, comes from building something customers actually love. University of Washington scientists and students are using AI to create real medicines. Better treatments for cancer, autoimmune diseases, viruses and more are now on the horizon thanks to groundbreaking work with artificial intelligence from a team of scientists at the University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design. Led by Nobel Prize winner David Baker, this team of Huskies uses AI tools to create proteins — biology's building blocks — that lay the foundation for new medicines. A reality check on AI engineering: Lessons from the trenches of an early stage startup ‘Scientist-as-a-Service': Seattle startup Pauling.AI aims to shrink drug discovery timelines by months What AI can learn from the browser wars: Microsoft CTO calls for open standards to fuel ‘agentic web' AI, Google Docs, and the messiness of innovation, with Microsoft Deputy CTO Sam Schillace

Various regions of the country have reported a dramatic climb in cases lately, including New York City. Overall activity is on the rise nationwide, as are flu-related hospitalizations and deaths. This season is being fueled by an unexpected strain of “super flu.” A typical flu season is nothing to brush off. But this winter has brought along an especially nasty variant of the H3N2 flu known as subclade K. The variant is noticeably different on a genetic level from the flu strains scientists predicted would be circulating this season, meaning our vaccines aren't as effective against it as usual. K already caused the flu season to arrive weeks ahead of schedule in European and Asian countries. In the UK, it's helped cause a spike of hospitalizations and an “unprecedented wave of super flu.” And now it's clearly making its mark in the U.S. Several school districts have had to temporarily shut down due to flu outbreaks, while some hospitals are reporting an alarming rise of cases. Data collected from the NYC Health Department shows that nearly 10,000 emergency room visits of flu-like illness were reported last week—the largest weekly peak seen in at least a decade. According to the CDC's latest flu surveillance data (covering up to Dec. 13), the majority of new infections are being caused by H3N2. And we almost certainly haven't reached the peak yet. There are some silver linings to this bad flu season. UK data has found that the vaccine is still providing significant protection from serious complications, especially in children. So it's still worthwhile to get your flu shot even now, though you should keep in mind that it takes around two weeks for the vaccine's protection to kick in. You should also practice good hygiene like regularly washing your hands, trying to stay home if you're sick, and potentially wearing a mask in higher-risk situations for added protection. Well-fitting, high-quality masks such as a KN95 or N95 are the most effective. The grants involved research studying autism and sudden infant deaths. What happens when your country's public health system is run by anti-vaccine activists?

Google is finally introducing a way for users to change their Gmail addresses ending with @gmail.com, just in time for the new year. A page on the company's help center was recently updated with new rules for changing email addresses, outlining a way that would let users keep the familiar @gmail.com ending. “The ability to change your Google Account email address is being rolled out gradually to all users, so this option may not be available to you yet,” a translated version of the page reads. The English-language version, however, has not yet been updated. “If your account's email address ends in @gmail.com, you usually can't change it,” the English version still states. Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Gizmodo. In the support pages that have been updated, Google says, “If your Google Account email address ends in gmail.com, you may be able to change it to another address that ends in @gmail.com.” That would allow people who have outgrown their original Gmail address or just want a fresh start to switch to a new email without worrying about losing any data tied to their account. Google says that once users change their email address, the old one will be converted into an alternate email address. Users will receive emails sent to both the old and new addresses, and they can still use the previous address whenever they want. Google says that once you make the switch, you won't be able to create another new Gmail address for the same account for 12 months. What he describes is an ugly case of AI-generated mistaken identity. The deal should help Google develop more data centers that no one wants. Gemini for Home has its perks, but I don't know that free users will feel the "next-gen" of it all compared with the old Google Assistant. Disney has a licensing deal with OpenAI now, by the way. "Our investigation shows that threat actors are already exploiting this frontier at scale."

Although smart glasses have been around for a while, the technology is getting more advanced each year, so much so that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claims the wearables will replace smartphones in the next decade (though many people disagree, of course). Smart glasses are no longer just a futuristic gadget — they've become practical tools that people use to communicate, navigate, track fitness, watch movies, enjoy immersive gaming, and more. We've also highlighted upcoming launches to watch as the smart glasses market heats up. The nice thing about the Ray-Ban Meta glasses is that they look like regular glasses, which is great for people who don't want to compromise on aesthetics. The smart glasses come in many styles, so you can pick a pair based on your personal style. The Ray-Ban Meta Gen 2 glasses have a 12-megapixel camera, open-ear speakers, and five microphones. They offer twice the battery life of their predecessor, lasting up to eight hours with typical use. They can charge to 50% in just 20 minutes, and you can purchase a case that provides an additional 48 hours of battery life. They also have a slew of AI features, including the ability to say “Hey Meta” to do things like get information and set reminders, along with real-time translation, hands-free photo and video capture, the option to ask about what you're seeing, and more. (Nits measure screen brightness — higher numbers mean you can see the display more clearly in bright environments.) You can plug the Luma Pro XR glasses into many phones, tablets, handhelds, and laptops with USB-C to mirror their display. This makes them a great option for people who want to game on a large, immersive screen, whether they're on the go or the TV is in use. They come with built-in support for mild myopia, allowing users with up to -4.0 diopters of nearsightedness to experience a clear virtual display without needing prescription lenses. In terms of aesthetics, they're a bit chunky, but not overly bulky. They're a good choice for people who are already familiar with smart glasses and want an upgrade. The glasses' flat-prism design allows for a sleek and comfortable fit. The Xreal One Pro smart glasses come with built-in Bose speakers and 700 nits of brightness, allowing for use in brighter environments. They are built on Xreal's custom X1 chip, which enables 3DoF (Three Degrees of Freedom). They feature a built-in button array that lets you quickly change your screen size, distance, color temperature and more. The Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses are the best option for outdoorsy people and athletes, as they were specifically designed with them in mind. The Oakley Meta Vanguard smart glasses feature a programmable button that can trigger a custom AI prompt, which you can set up using the Meta AI app. They also feature a five-microphone array optimized to reduce wind noise while on calls, messaging, or using Meta AI with your voice. The glasses have an IP67 dust and water-resistance rating for use during intense workouts (this rating means they can withstand being submerged in up to one meter of water for 30 minutes). The RayNeo Air 3s are a great budget-friendly choice for anyone just getting started with smart glasses. They offer impressive visuals and features for the price and are great for light gaming or watching content on long journeys. While the field of view is narrower than some premium models and they don't have head tracking, they're a good option for people who simply want an external display on the go without breaking the bank. The glasses use a micro‑OLED “HueView” display with eye protection features like 3840 Hz hybrid dimming and low blue‑light certification to reduce eye strain during extended use. Project Aura: Google and Xreal are collaborating on a pair of Android XR-powered glasses that are equipped with a 70-degree field of view and optical see-through technology. The glasses can function as an extended workspace or entertainment device, allowing the user to use Google's suite of products or stream video as they would on a more advanced headset. Snap Specs: Snap is set to release a lightweight consumer version of its AR glasses in 2026, bringing many of the same augmented reality and AI features found in the developer-focused Spectacles 5. Apple AI smart glasses: Apple is reportedly sidelining plans to overhaul its Vision Pro headset to focus on developing AI smart glasses that can compete with products from Meta, featuring many of the same features available on the social media giant's current smart glasses. Prior to joining the publication in 2021, she was a telecom reporter at MobileSyrup. Aisha holds an honours bachelor's degree from University of Toronto and a master's degree in journalism from Western University. Nvidia to license AI chip challenger Groq's tech and hire its CEO Waymo explains why its robotaxis got stuck during the SF blackout Marissa Mayer's new startup Dazzle raises $8M led by Forerunner's Kirsten Green Waymo resumes service in San Francisco after robotaxis stall during blackout Google and Apple reportedly warn employees on visas to avoid international travel

Alternatively go and find a nice railway bridge to stand under so you can shout loudly and hear your voice echo back at yourself. No code required, and it gets you out of the house. You might even meet an actual human on the way. Well, here's what this human has to say: Maybe you just aren't the target audience. Also, the typical misapplication of what introversion actually refers to.. I recently restricted comments on my blog or 15 years to existing subscribers only. It took me a while to accept that after removing the random spam, then the racist, misogynist, homophobic, and other lowlife commenters, I was left with 10-15% of discussions worth reading.Pretty sad state of affairs, and it's clear it's degrading faster every day. Then why not add the actual fictive audience through LLMs? Okay, but I don't understand the benefit of writing to an entirely fictitious AI construct instead of writing to the ideal of the kind of reader you'd eventually like to have.I mean, I get that it's frustrating to pour effort into writing something that effectively nobody reads (i.e. you never connect with a wider audience), but engaging with an entirely fictitious audience seems hollow to me. I mean, I get that it's frustrating to pour effort into writing something that effectively nobody reads (i.e. you never connect with a wider audience), but engaging with an entirely fictitious audience seems hollow to me. The purpose and utility of this seem obvious to me, but I can already see the stream of typical HN responses coming in.Godspeed. You don't have to think LLMs are smart or real people to think of them as useful. I love it when I can make an idea clear enough in text that an LLM can completely regurgitate it and build upon it. I also love it when an LLM trips over and misses the one real novelty that I've slipped into something; what better for an originality test than trying to choke an automatic regurgitator?Transistors have no understanding of what I'm doing, but somehow I still find them useful. It takes approximately zero effort to see how this could be both monetized and used for harm.

Every year, TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield pitch contest draws thousands of applicants. Why it's noteworthy: The product allows the creation of AI agents that can secure code and works with, it says, any popular language and their libraries. What it does: Cyntegra offers a hardware-plus-software solution that prevents ransomware attacks. Why it's noteworthy: By locking away a secure backup of the system, ransomware doesn't win. What it does: HACKERverse's product deploys autonomous AI agents to implement known hacker attacks against a company's defenses in “isolated battlefield.” Why it's noteworthy: The tool tests and verifies that vendor security tools actually work as advertised. What it does: Mill Pond detects and secures unmanaged AI. Why it's noteworthy: As employees adopt AI to assist them in their jobs, this tool can detect AI tools that are accessing sensitive data or otherwise creating potential security issues in the organization. What it does: Polygraf AI offers small language models tuned for cybersecurity purposes. Why it's noteworthy: Enterprises use the Polygraf models to enforce compliance, protect data, detect unauthorized AI usage, and spot deepfakes, among other examples. What it does: TruSources can detect AI deepfakes, be they audio, video, images. Nvidia to license AI chip challenger Groq's tech and hire its CEO Waymo explains why its robotaxis got stuck during the SF blackout Marissa Mayer's new startup Dazzle raises $8M led by Forerunner's Kirsten Green Waymo resumes service in San Francisco after robotaxis stall during blackout Google and Apple reportedly warn employees on visas to avoid international travel

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who's consistently divulging Apple's plans, is one. TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who is always sharing information based on his supply chain checks, is high up on the list, too. And for good reason: the man who Apple sued in July for leaking iOS 26 and Liquid Glass keeps spoiling Apple's unreleased products with high-quality 3D renders in his videos—like the foldable iPhone that's not expected to be announced until next year. On Christmas Eve, Prosser gave the world an early gift: a video revealing what he claims is Apple's foldable iPhone in all of its book-style glory. In his video, Prosser confidently states the foldable iPhone, which is rumored to launch next fall alongside the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, will have a 5.5-inch external display with a hole-punch camera. Prosser says the foldable iPhone will be 9mm thick when closed, which means each half will likely be 4.5mm. That'd over a whole millimeter thinner than the 5.6mm iPhone Air, which is already barely thicker than a USB-C port and feels impossibly thin in the hand. However, it conflicts with a recent leak that claimed the foldable iPhone would have an external screen that's about 5.25 inches, which would be smaller than the 5.4-inch iPhone 13 mini. Prosser's 3D renders do appear to depict a foldable iPhone that's wider than it is tall when folded and open. Other reports have suggested the foldable iPhone would have an “invisible” under-panel camera (UDC) in the folding display. Several previous reports said that Apple had figured it out, but the latest leak suggests that might not be the case after all. Ultimately, a foldable iPhone will undoubtedly get lots of buzz if Apple does launch it next year. But the real indicator of its success will be whether consumers buy it. It's been such a sales flop that there may not be an iPhone Air 2 next year. More consumers have purchased the iPhone 17 and 17 Pros than the super-skinny iPhone Air that has fewer cameras and less battery life. Will consumers see the value of a foldable iPhone, especially if it comes with an exorbitant price tag that could start at over $2,000? Subscribe and interact with our community, get up to date with our customised Newsletters and much more. A leaked iPhone prototype is giving some insight into future feature AirPods features. A new leak claims Apple's book-style foldable iPhone slated for 2026 could be smaller than an iPhone 17 Pro when closed. With a price that will make you cry iPhone-sized tears, the AirPods Max still feel like one of the best status symbols you can buy.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Intel was the first company to build an explicitly disaggregated chiplet design, comprising 47 chiplets, with its Ponte Vecchio compute GPU for AI and HPC applications. Of course, we can only wonder about the power consumption and cooling requirements for such beastly processors. Intel's conceptual 2.5D/3D multi-chiplet package demonstrates 16 large compute elements (AI engines or CPUs) produced on Intel's 14A or even more sophisticated 14A-E process technology (1.4nm-class, enhanced features, second-gen RibbonFET 2 gate-all-around transistors, improved PowerVia Direct backside power delivery). These sit on top of eight (presumably reticle-sized) compute base dies made on 18A-PT (1.8nm-class, performance enhanced with through-silicon vias (TSVs), and backside power delivery) that can either do some additional compute work, or pack plenty of SRAM cache for the 'main' compute dies, as Intel shows in its example. From cutting-edge interconnects to system-level assembly and test, Intel Foundry delivers the scale and integration needed to power next-generation multichip platforms. The base dies leverage EMIB-T (an enhanced version of Embedded Multi-Die Interconnect Bridge with TSVs), with UCIe-A on top, for lateral (2.5D) interconnections among themselves and with I/O dies made on 18A-P (1.8nm-class, performance-enhanced), and custom base dies, for up to 24 HBM5 memory stacks. It is noteworthy that Intel proposes to use EMIB-T with the UCIe-A on top to connect customized HBM5 modules rather than use JEDEC-standard HBM5 stacks with an industry-standard interface, possibly to get more performance and capacity. The whole package can also carry PCIe 7.0, optical engines, noncoherent fabrics, 224G SerDes, proprietary accelerators for things like security, and even LPDDR5X memory for added DRAM capacity. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Note that the video Intel Foundry posted on X shows two conceptual designs: a 'mid-scale' one featuring four compute tiles and 12 HBM, and an 'extreme' one with 16 tiles and 24 HBM5 stacks, which our story focuses on. Being able to produce such extreme packages towards the end of the decade will put Intel on par with TSMC, which plans something similar and even expects at least some customers to use its wafer-size integration offerings in circa 2027 – 2028. Making the extreme design a reality in just a few years is a significant challenge for Intel, as it must ensure the components do not warp when attached to motherboards and do not deform even with minimal tolerances due to overheating after prolonged use. Beyond that, Intel (and the whole industry) will need to learn how to feed and cool monstrous processor designs the size of a smartphone (up to 10,296 mm^2) that will have an even larger package, but that's a different story. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Anton Shilov is a contributing writer at Tom's Hardware. Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher.

In the original Pirates of the Caribbean, Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner escape Port Royal by strolling out to an anchored ship. They do this by walking on the seafloor, using an upside-down rowboat to hold air so they can breathe. Of course, the great thing about movies is that they don't need to be realistic (and the Pirates franchise makes the most of that exemption). I'm only asking about this because it's a fun way to do some physics and understand how the world works. So grab your goggles and let's plunge in! It may not seem like it, but objects in the water still have gravity acting on them, same as on land. Then why do you feel weightless underwater? Well, let's back up for a moment. Imagine you have a block of steel and a block of styrofoam, both measuring 1 cubic foot in volume. But you already know about this, because Fg is what normies call an object's “weight,” and for a given volume, weight depends only on the density. Now, if you dropped these blocks in a lake, obviously the styrofoam would float and the steel would sink. So clearly it has something to do with density. What if you had a block of water with the same volume? If you could somehow hold this cube of water, it would feel pretty heavy, about 62.4 pounds. Now, if you place it carefully in a lake, will it sink or bob on the surface like styrofoam? Since it doesn't move up or down, the total force on the block of water must be zero. That means there has to be a force counteracting gravity by pushing up with equal strength. And right in the middle an object will neither sink nor rise to the surface—we call that neutral buoyancy. Aircraft carriers are made of steel and weigh 100,000 tons, so why do they float? But what if you start filling it with cargo? The ship gets heavier, which means it must displace more water to reach that equilibrium point. This was all figured out by Archimedes more than 2,000 years ago, as legend has it, when he stepped into a bathtub and saw the water level rise. So, what would you need to walk an upside-down boat on the bottom of the ocean? Let's start off with a force diagram: Finally, Will and Jack have to push up on the boat so the boat pushes down on them. I mean, it's pretty hard to walk on the bottom when you're effectively weightless. The density (ρ) of water is 1,000 kg/m3, and let's say the air-filled boat has a volume of 3 m3. Multiplying this by the gravitational field g, which is 9.8 newtons per kilogram, we get a buoyancy force of 29,400 newtons. In imperial units, which is probably what Jack and Will use, that's 6,600 pounds. I see only two solutions: They could let the air out to reduce the volume—obviously not a first choice—or they could add more than 3 tons of ballast. Pirates like gold, and it's extremely dense. Yes, that would indeed happen since the water pressure increases with depth. To figure this out, we can use the ideal gas law. This gives us a relationship between the pressure (P) of a gas and its volume (V): In this model, n is the amount of gas (in moles), and T is the temperature. As the boat moves down into deeper water, the amount of air trapped inside doesn't change, and for simplicity let's assume the temperature is constant too. Which means, in turn, that pressure and volume are inversely proportional: If P rises, V shrinks—and vice versa. As a rule of thumb, this total pressure increases by about 1 atm for every 10 meters you descend. Now, with our assumptions, Boyle's law says P1V1 = P2V2. So we can easily solve for the volume of air at a depth of, say, 5 meters: P1V1/P2 = 1/1.5, so V2 is 0.67 m3. In other words, the volume declines by one-third. But that still gives us a buoyancy force of 4,400 pounds. If Jack and will pulled the boat down to a depth of 30 meters (about 100 feet), the volume and buoyancy would decrease by 75 percent. But that's still a buoyancy force of 1,650 pounds, and it's way too deep. Even if you could get down there, breathing compressed air at 4 atm's would require a very slow, controlled ascent to avoid the bends. Bottom line: This trick for walking underwater is pure fantasy—as phony as fool's gold—but, hey, it's 24-karat entertainment. In your inbox: WIRED's most ambitious, future-defining stories Mark Zuckerberg's illegal school, and the neighbors who revolted Big Interview: Bryan Johnson is going to die Our guide to protecting yourself from phone searches at the border Expired/Tired/WIRED: The Greatest Successes and Worst Flameouts of 2025 WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.

The past year had a remarkable number of big new camera releases. Leica even released a camera with an electronic viewfinder. But then you probably already know that, because you probably preordered one back when they were announced. Let's take a minute to run through the next 1,000 words on why you're smart and that was a great purchase. The two of you who didn't can leave comments below telling the rest of us why we're idiots. Truly great photographs aren't always beautiful, but they have something extra about them that makes them stick in your mind. I like the GR III so much I did a second review of it, way past the date that a review made any sense. All of which is to say, I've been looking forward to the GR IV, so much so in fact that probably nothing could really live up to the expectations. It is everything the GR III was, but better. Let's start with what Ricoh didn't change: the body. Technically it's a couple millimeters narrower and a few grams heavier, but in practice I could tell no difference from the GR III. Most importantly, it still fits in your pocket. And I don't mean you need to do some pocket yoga and then it fits (looking at you, Fujifilm X100). The GR IV actually, legitimately slides right into your pocket. The control layout has changed slightly, and in a good way. There are two unlabeled adjustment wheels, one in front, one in back, and yes, the one on the back is a proper wheel this time, not the side-to-side rocker switch. By default, the front wheel is set to aperture and the rear to shutter speed, making this one of the easiest cameras on the market to shoot in full manual mode using one hand. Again, it's easy to change everything you'd ever want to change regularly using one hand. (All these switches and dials are customizable.) Also unchanged is the rear LCD screen, which does not rotate or fold out in any way. The GR series has always been an opinionated camera, and this is one of those places that I think shows that dogmatic stance about what it is trying to be. Ricoh has also moderately improved the battery life with a new battery that manages 250 shots on a charge (up from 200 in the GR III). You're going to want some extra batteries. Given the paltry video specs on the GR IV, microSD is fine, and there are plenty of cards fast enough to handle what the GR IV is capable of. There is 54 GB of built-in internal memory. This sounds like nothing on paper, but in practice the image quality is subtly, but importantly, better. The GR IV retains the same 18.3mm f/2.8 (28mm equivalent in full frame terms), but it has a completely new optical design. The lens is definitely sharper in the corners than the GR III, but more impressive to me is that images have more clarity and depth than what I got from the GR III. I didn't feel the need to do much, if any, post-processing on most of my shots. The GR IV will shoot video, though it tops out at 1080p, which tells you everything you need to know about what this camera thinks about video. There still isn't any, though there is now some protection around the lens when it retracts, which should stop dust from getting on the sensor—a problem for some GR III cameras. Autofocus in the GR III was, well. So long as you understood its limitations, it did alright—some, maybe even most, of the time. The GR IV is an entirely different beast. Autofocus is plenty snappy for a camera of this size. Not only is the autofocus system much faster overall, the subject tracking and face detection are also quite good. Not like Sony or Nikon, detect-a-bird's-eye-in-corner-of-the-frame good, but very usable and plenty good enough for street photography and environmental portraits. The In Body Image Stabilization (IBIS) is also vastly improved, using a new five-axis system that allows you to gain up to six stops of hand-holding ability. This is a big deal given that its f/2.8 lens on a APS-C sensor does not make the GR IV a great low-light performer to being with. Any extra stabilization is welcome, and the new system really does work much better. When I reviewed the GR III, I wrote about how much I liked snap focus mode, which allows you to set a predetermined focus distance regardless of the aperture. I set up my GR III to use autofocus when I half-pressed the shutter and snap when I quickly pressed, so that snap focus fired off the shot at my predetermined focus distance (usually 1.5 meters). All that remains, but there is also now a dedicated letter, Sn, on the mode dial that sets the camera in Snap Focus mode, which allows you to dial in not only the distance you want focus at, but also the aperture you want to lock in. You can control the depth of field as well. I rather enjoyed this new mode and found myself shooting with it quite a bit. The GR IV debuted at $1,497, which is significantly more than the GR III's $999 price at launch. If you have a GR III and are frustrated by the autofocus, I think you will like the upgrade. If you have any desire to use your pocket camera for video, this is not the one for you. If you want an APS-C sensor that legitimately fits in your pocket, offers amazing one-handed control, and produces excellent images, the the Ricoh GR IV is for you. At the time of writing, Ricoh would not comment on whether there will be a GR IVx. WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.

Scientists tested these motorized elastomer powered exoskeletons across three robotic applications. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Swiss scientists have used dead lobster parts as robotic appendages. The strong yet flexible and lightweight exoskeletons of these marine animals have been successfully demonstrated as robotic manipulators, grippers, and swimmers or flappers flexing at up to 8 Hz. The use of dead animal parts makes this an advance in ‘necrobotics.' This example of bio-hydrid robotics, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), is particularly sustainable necro-tech, as it uses crustacean shells that are waste from food production. Often, researchers are inspired by nature to create better man-made things. However, necrobotics unashamedly commandeers bits of (dead) nature to do its bidding. “Exoskeletons combine mineralized shells with joint membranes, providing a balance of rigidity and flexibility that allows their segments to move independently. These features enable crustaceans' rapid, high-torque movements in water, but they can also be very useful for robotics,” explains EPFL's CREATE Lab head Josie Hughes. Specifically, Langoustine tails are used as the robotic appendages throughout these tests. Langoustines are a smaller member of the lobster family, also known as Norway lobsters, Dublin Bay prawns, or scampi. The associated research paper says that “a 3g exoskeleton [is] capable of supporting a 680g payload.” Though drastically outsized and outweighed by some of the objects, these necrobotic grippers are capable in lifting and manipulation, and don't appear to easily damage things like tomatoes. Later parts of the video show langoustine tails make for extremely capable robotic swimming appendages – no surprise. In air, the scientists found they could flap pretty fast, up to approx 8 Hz. Chitin, a natural biopolymer, is the key structural component in crustaceans (and insects), which makes their exoskeletons so useful here. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. To improve on the exoskeleton's already attractive qualities as an articulated appendage, the Swiss scientists added a silicon coating to reinforce strength and extend useful lifespan. Last month we highlighted Necroprinting technology, where dead mosquito proboscis were used for the finest, and most sustainably sourced, 3D printer nozzles. In 2022, we also saw dead spiders being used as ‘necrobots,' specifically for robotic grabbers (see the video clip below). Tom's Hardware is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher.

When Donald Trump won a second term as US president a year ago, members of violent militias and far-right extremist groups who had spent years boosting the lie that the 2020 election was rigged were ready to assist the president with delivering on one of his main campaign promises: mass deportations. “I'm willing to help,” Richard Mack, a former sheriff who founded the far-right Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, told WIRED at the time, claiming he was in touch with Tom Homan, the man Trump installed as his “border czar.” Tim Foley, head of the Arizona Border Recon, which describes itself as a “non-government organization,” also told WIRED he was in contact with administration officials. William Teer, then head of the far-right Texas Three Percenters militia, wrote a letter to Trump offering his help. This newly enlarged force is emboldened not only by a massive influx of cash but also by tacit approval from the White House to do whatever it feels is necessary to meet Trump's wild deportation goals. “This has meant diverting law enforcement resources from several agencies that have never before been involved with low-level immigration arrests, so that they are now focused only on profiling and arresting immigrants.” She was aided by Homan and her “shadow secretary” Corey Lewandowski. But behind the scenes, immigration policy is being dictated by White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller, who has a long history of promoting white nationalist ideas. In recent months, this administration has green-lit raids at previously protected locations like schools, courthouses, and hospitals; disappeared people to countries they had no connection to without due process; and arrested elected officials. Then in July, as part of his “One Big Beautiful Bill,” Trump approved $170 billion to fund immigration and border enforcement over the next four years, $75 billion of which goes directly to ICE. Seeking to capitalize on the terror it was bringing to immigrant communities, official accounts from the White House and DHS documented their actions by posting videos, memes, and AI slop—some incomprehensible outside of extremist spaces—to official social media accounts. Richard Mack, who claims to have been in touch with Homan as recently as this past fall, hasn't played any official role in the deportation effort. But local sheriffs and other law enforcement agencies were co-opted into doing ICE's work for them, including interrogating anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally, demanding citizenship papers, arresting illegal immigrants, and detaining them in local jails until ICE agents arrive to take them away. “They're not only cannibalizing the federal government, they are building out their tentacles in cities and states across the country through a radical version of the 287g program, which taps state and local law enforcement to support immigration [enforcement],” Shah says. A year ago, just 125 agencies had signed up to 287g programs. As of November 25 that number had skyrocketed to more than 1,200. ”They're trying to treat it as miniature ICEs all across our communities,” Shah adds. And yet, despite everything that the Trump administration has done, it was not enough for a cohort of his base. A report from the right-wing Heritage Foundation think tank published in November came to the same conclusion, pointing out that the Trump administration was “substantially off pace” to meet its stated goal of exceeding President Dwight Eisenhower's 1954 deportation program. To remedy this, the report suggests adopting a broader approach targeting all immigrants by dramatically increasing worksite enforcements—or, to copy the Eisenhower administration's methods, using a “system of blocking off an area and mopping it up.” DHS has said deportations in Trump's first year back in office would shatter records, but it's difficult to confirm this, as the agency stopped publishing monthly deportation figures. Internal numbers obtained by NBC News show ICE deportations to be well below Trump's predicted figures. “Border Patrol is an agency with a culture of abuse and impunity,” says Shah. Leading the charge is Border Patrol agent Greg Bovino, who gained notoriety for his role in some of the most infamous anti-immigrant actions since Trump took office, including leading a group of agents on horseback, supported by military personnel, into MacArthur Park in Los Angeles where children were playing. In a ruling issued in November to extend an injunction against, in part, the excessive use of force by ICE and Border Patrol agents in Chicago, US District Court judge Sara Ellis wrote that she found Bovino's evidence “not credible,” adding that he “appeared evasive over the three days of his deposition, either providing ‘cute' responses to Plaintiffs' counsel's questions or outright lying.” Initially, experts worried that having far-right Constitutional Sheriffs working directly with ICE would lead to potential violations of human rights, but those incidents would have been isolated to particular counties where those sheriffs operated. “Bovino has a terrible track record of obvious anti-immigrant rhetoric and action, and Border Patrol has a long-standing history of abuses and impunity and no experience in enforcing immigration law in the interior of the United States,” says Gupta, pointing out that it's “unprecedented to have Border Patrol officers in cities like Charlotte or Chicago or New York making at-large arrests in communities that have long-standing ties to this country.” As WIRED exclusively revealed earlier this year, operatives from Elon Musk's so-called Department of Government Efficiency are building a master database at the DHS that could be used to surveil undocumented immigrants. Experts WIRED spoke to point to mass protests like No Kings marches and state lawmakers, like Illinois governor JB Pritzker, standing up to ICE as signs of hope that Trump's mass deportations could be scaled back or ended. The White House and Miller did not respond to requests for comment. A year ago, experts warned about the potential for isolated incidents of overreach by extremist sheriffs in relation to immigration enforcement. Today, those concerns are moot, given how radically the Trump administration, orchestrated by Miller, has reshaped the federal government to execute their deportation demands. ‘We Ain't Seen Nothing Yet'—Trump's Mass Deportations Are Only Beginning Chinese Crypto Scammers on Telegram Are Fueling the Biggest Darknet Markets Ever Read more: Check out everything that made the Expired/Tired/WIRED list here WIRED may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. 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