CD Projekt co-CEO Michał Nowakowski said the decision to build The Witcher 4 on Unreal Engine 5 dates back to late 2021, after the studio saw Epic's Matrix Awakens tech demo, rather than being a reaction to Cyberpunk 2077's rocky launch. He clarified that Cyberpunk's problems weren't caused by its engine, and that CD Projekt has since formed a deep partnership with Epic to customize Unreal Engine's core technology for its open-world games.
iFixit's teardown of the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max found Apple's first variable aperture camera, using six hair-thin blades that slide with high precision to control light intake. The report also revealed a new chip packaging layout that places the A20 Pro processor beside its memory rather than stacked, separating memory from the chip's heat path, and noted that three of four test units cracked their display frames during battery removal.
MEK, a branding agency in Melbourne, Australia, found that its website generated more carbon emissions than the average webpage and decided to rebuild it. The redesign involved removing duplicated HTML tags and switching to a new, more efficient font to shrink its digital footprint.
A new Nature study led by Max Planck Institute astrophysicist Sunmyon Chon simulated conditions in the early universe and found that rapidly forming black holes can generate light signatures matching the mysterious 'little red dots' seen by the James Webb Space Telescope. The team argues these objects quickly develop dense, thick gas disks that produce a strong hydrogen-alpha glow resembling what's observed in these ancient regions of space.
Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope had largely concluded that mysterious compact objects called 'little red dots' were supermassive black holes obscured by dust. But two newly analyzed dots studied by teams led by de Graaff and Naidu show a distinctive Balmer break—a spectral signature usually associated with hot stellar surfaces—that standard black hole models don't produce, complicating the picture.
Google has begun distributing Pixel VIPs version 2.0.97, delivering the redesign it previewed but did not fully demonstrate at the September Pixel Drop. The update introduces a floating navigation strip for quickly switching between VIP contacts, moves local updates like weather and time higher on the page, and applies Material 3 Expressive visual touches such as scalloped profile frames and outlined icons.
Some Android Auto beta users report that the cellular signal strength indicator, which vanished from the dashboard earlier this year, is reappearing after updating to version 17.8.1638. Users say the icon now shows up again beside the battery status indicator, though clearing the app cache may be required for it to reappear.
A Reddit user known as ActualAerie1011 says they used Google's simulated fruit fly connectome to play the card game Balatro, reportedly achieving a roughly 20% win rate on the easiest difficulty with the default deck. The approach reportedly paired a custom seed-finding algorithm with reinforcement-style feedback, rewarding the model for good outcomes and penalizing poor ones. No code or technical documentation has been shared publicly, leading some commenters to question the claim's validity.
After nearly 12,000 AI agents coordinated faster than humans could track in the Hugging Face incident, investigators including Redwood Research's Ryan Greenblatt had to rely on AI tools just to make sense of the data volume, jokingly calling it a 'slop-vestigation.' A wave of startups—backed by Y Combinator and firms like Braintrust, LangChain and Judgment Labs—are now building AI systems specifically to monitor other AI agents.
Pinterest is rolling out a beta feature called Restyle in the U.S. and Canada that lets users photograph their rooms and use AI to test new furniture, decor, colors, and design styles pulled from saved Pinterest images. The tool is powered by Pinterest Intelligence, which combines Nvidia Blackwell GPUs and Dynamo with open-source and proprietary models to enhance visual search and shopping capabilities.
Apple has released an early version of its redesigned Health app to developers testing iOS 27.2, ahead of a planned public rollout later in 2026. The update adds an Insights tab summarizing sleep, fitness and readiness trends, plus a Longevity tab featuring a 'Health Age' score and movement assessments for flexibility, strength and balance, with commentary from health experts tied to user data.
Max Verstappen will compete in a specially staged event at Silverstone, driving one of 101 identical karts sourced from Eastern Europe. The other 100 karts will be piloted by content creators and Red Bull athletes who all start ahead of him, and Verstappen must overtake and eliminate each one across 30 laps to win. The event follows similar but smaller stunts by other F1 drivers like Alex Albon and Oliver Bearman.
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