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‘The Muppet Show’ Is Getting a 50th Anniversary Disney+ Special

After a pair of pilots made in 1974 and 1975, The Muppet Show officially hit the airwaves in 1976—which means 2026 marks an important milestone for Kermit the Frog and his pals. To celebrate the big 50th anniversary, Disney+ will air a one-off special in the much-loved variety show format, with pop star Sabrina Carpenter as a featured guest. In addition, the Hollywood Reporter writes that there’s the potential for the special to turn into a “backdoor pilot” for a future Muppet Show revival. Th

Wait, What? NASA Found Signs of Ancient Alien Life on Mars

NASA released a significant update from the Perseverance Mars rover on Sept. 10, focusing on a particularly juicy tidbit for those watching from home: A small rock sample called Sapphire Canyon showed signs of potential biosignatures, or ancient alien life that may have once grown on Mars. That's possible because of the unique location where Perseverance located the sample in July 2024. It came from a rock named Cheyava Falls. This particular rock is in Jezero Crater, home to an ancient dry riv

RFK Jr.’s anti-vaccine delusions—not science—steer CDC now, ex-director testifies

Health secretary and anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. plans to roll back access to lifesaving vaccines for children, and has refused to even speak with staff scientists and subject-matter experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention about evidence-based recommendations. That's according to former CDC officials who testified before the Senate on Wednesday. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) called ex-CDC director Susan Monarez to review

The DOGE Subcommittee Hearing on Weather Modification Was a Nest of Conspiracy Theorizing

“What this whole debate comes down to is who controls the skies,” Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia told the audience at a House Oversight Committee hearing on Tuesday. “Do we believe in God and that he has dominion over his perfect creation of planet Earth? Do we believe that he has given us everything we need to survive as a civilization since the beginning of time? Or do you believe in man’s claim of authority over the weather, based on scientists that have only been

Fede Álvarez Wrote the ‘Alien: Romulus’ Sequel to Avoid an ‘Alien 3’ Situation

Alien: Earth just dropped a chest-burstingly good episode ahead of next week’s finale (read io9’s recap here), but fans are just as eager to learn what’s next for the sci-fi series on the big screen. One who would know is Fede Álvarez, who helmed last year’s Alien: Romulus and is closely involved in its sequel. He’s not directing it, but he’s helping choose who does—and he co-wrote the script with a bit of important Alien history in mind. While some fans (ahem) think Alien 3 is actually pretty

You can hold on to your butts thanks to DNA that evolved in fish

Evolution has adapted the digits of mammals for an enormous range of uses, from our opposable thumbs to the spindly digits that support bat wings to the robust bones that support the hoofs of horses. But how we got digits in the first place hasn't been entirely clear. The fish that limbed vertebrates evolved from don't have obvious digit equivalents, and the most common types of fish just have a large collection of rays supporting their fins. Despite this uncertainty, we have identified some ge

Microsoft’s new Xbox mode on Windows has leaked for any handheld

is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years. Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Microsoft is getting ready to launch its Xbox full-screen experience on the new Xbox Ally devices next month, but it looks like you won’t need new hardware to get it. Windows enthusiasts have discovered a way to enable this new Xbox mode early in Windows 11, thanks to the latest 25H2 update

Something Weird Is Going on With the Sun, Scientists Find

The Sun — usually so predictable — is exhibiting some surprising behavior and that has scientists very intrigued. Astronomers had predicted that our host star was entering a period of relative quiet back in 2008, but NASA scientists have published a new study in The Astrophysical Journal Letters that found that the Sun has instead defied expectations by becoming more active, with increased sunspots and solar flares. "All signs were pointing to the Sun going into a prolonged phase of low activi

RGG accidentally leaked that it's working on Yakuza Kiwami 3

Get ready for a return to the life of Kazuma Kiryu, because it seems that a remake of Yakuza 3 is on the way. The leak was discovered on developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios' website. Fans noticed that there was an entry for Yakuza Kiwami 3 alongside the listings for the remakes of the first two Yakuza games — Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza Kiwami 2 — on the RGG site. Although the listing has since been removed, screencaps shared on social media documented the accidental reveal. The timing of the leak als

Two ‘Flying Cars’ Collide During Air Show Rehearsal in China

Two “flying cars” collided on Tuesday during an air show rehearsal in China, injuring one of the pilots, according to a report from CNN. The incident happened at the Changchun Air Show in Jilin, China, where two XPeng AeroHT aircraft collided midair, forcing one of them to the ground. The other vehicle was able to land safely, according to Electrek, and the cause of the crash is under investigation. The company told CNN that the crash was the result of “insufficient spacing” and one of the fly

Backstabbing and Moral Decay Rule in This Fierce Drama That's Worth Rewatching

There are some TV shows that stick with you forever (and others you completely forgot you've ever watched). For me, Damages, which originally aired for five seasons on FX, is seared in my brain since its first release in 2007. And it's now available to stream for free on Tubi. I was addicted from the series' first episode, which opens with Rose Byrne's character running out of an apartment building into the bustling streets of New York wearing nothing but a blood-soaked trench coat and high hee

New Bill Aims to Block Both Online Adult Content and VPNs

If you live in Michigan, you might not be able to legally use a VPN soon if a new bill is passed into law. On Sept. 11, Michigan Republican representatives proposed far-reaching legislation banning adult internet content. The bill, called the Anticorruption of Public Morals Act and advanced by six Republican representatives, would ban a wide variety of adult content online, ranging from ASMR and adult manga to AI content and any depiction of transgender people. It also seeks to ban all use of V

Parents Of Kids Allegedly Killed and Harmed by AI Give Emotional Testimony on Capitol Hill, Urge Regulation

Parents who allege their children were abused, physically harmed, and even killed by AI chatbots gave emotional testimonies on Capitol Hill on Tuesday during a hearing about risks to young users posed by the tech — all while urging lawmakers to enforce regulation in a landscape that remains a digital Wild West. There were visible tears in the room as grieving parents recounted their painful stories. According to the lawmakers on the US Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, the b

Apple promises software update to fix ‘very rare’ iPhone Air camera glitch

My friend Henry Casey at CNN Underscored published his iPhone Air review this afternoon, and he noticed an odd imaging problem with the camera. Apple says a fix is coming in a future software update. From Henry’s review: “I also noticed an odd imaging problem at this concert, where one out of every 10 or so photos taken on the iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Max have small blacked-out portions, including boxes and parts of white squiggles from the big LED board behind the band.” An Apple spokesp

My Favorite iOS 26 Feature Can Block Spam Calls. Here's How It Works

Apple released iOS 26 on Monday, a few months after the company announced it at the June Worldwide Developers Conference. The update includes a Liquid Glass redesign, new ringtones and lots of hidden features for your iPhone. It also has a new call screening feature that lets you stop spam calls from bothering you. Call screening isn't an Apple Intelligence feature, so any iOS 26-compatible iPhone, like the iPhone 14 Pro, can use it. I enabled the feature early in the beta process, and my iPhon

Anthropic Report Finds Dire News About AI's Effects on Job Market

As businesses across the economy rush to adopt AI, a new report from OpenAI's competitor Anthropic reveals what the tech is really being used for: instead of helping augment human labor, companies are mainly using AI to automate their jobs. In numbers, an overwhelming 77 percent of businesses using Anthropic's Claude AI software showed signs of automation, like "full task delegation," according to the report released by the company this week. Only 12 percent of AI usage appeared to leverage the

A MacBook Pro touchscreen? About damn time

It's somewhat ironic that Apple, the company that popularized the use of capacitive touchscreens with the iPhone and iPad, has been staunchly opposed to bringing our fingers anywhere near MacBook screens. Meanwhile, Microsoft and PC makers jumped at the opportunity to build touchscreen laptops years ago. The tablet-focused Windows 8 was a failure, sure, but touchscreens led to excellent convertible notebooks and hybrid tablets like the Surface lineup. Now, according to a new rumor from longtime

Ton Roosendaal to step down as Blender chairman and CEO

Ton Roosendaal is to stop down as chairman and Blender CEO on 1 January 2026. The news was announced during today’s keynote at the annual Blender Conference. Roosendaal – the original author of the open-source 3D software, and its public figurehead for the past three decades – will pass on his roles to current Blender COO Francesco Siddi. Roosendaal himself will move to the newly established Blender Foundation supervisory board. Other new Blender Foundation board positions will also include

Marvel Is Ready to Make Knull Happen Again

Since he first debuted as the big bad of Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman’s Venom run, Marvel’s been giving symbiote god Knull a bigger spotlight. Between his King in Black event, being a seasonal villain in Marvel Rivals, and his appearance in Venom: The Last Dance, it’s clear the publisher wants to put him in the same tier as Green Goblin or Thanos. Now, in its biggest move to build the baddie up yet, the publisher is giving the gooey baddie a solo story ahead of a larger event on the horizon. Sp

RFK Jr. Claimed CDC Was ‘Killing Children’ According to Former Director

Former CDC Director Susan Monarez testified at a combative Senate hearing in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday about the ways that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is dismantling scientific expertise at CDC, confirming the worst fears of every American who still cares about science and public health. Monarez, who was fired by President Donald Trump less than a month after being confirmed, told senators that Kennedy told her in August that he was going to change the childhood vaccine schedule in

‘Ask Gemini’ AI will tell you what you missed during a Google Meet call

is a senior reporter who’s been covering and reviewing the latest gadgets and tech since 2006, but has loved all things electronic since he was a kid. Google is starting the rollout of its Ask Gemini AI assistant in Google Meet, but it will initially only be available to “select Google Workspace customers.” The assistant can answer participant’s questions by referring to captions generated during the call, resources like Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides they have permission to view, and public w

Scientists Detect Strange Signal in Gravitational Waves

For the first time, astrophysicists have measured the recoil — or "kick," in the parlance — resulting from the birth of a new black hole that formed from the merger of two preexisting ones. The international team of researchers measured the ripples in the fabric of spacetime, known as gravitational waves, allowing them to get unprecedented insights into the turbulent dynamics of two black holes crashing into each other. The team analyzed data collected by the Advanced LIGO and Virgo gravitatio

Don't buy a Bluetti before you see the $400 extras you can get for free

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

Best early Target Circle Week deals to compete with Prime Day 2025

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

Best early Amazon Prime Day Samsung deals 2025: My 23 favorites sales ahead of October

'ZDNET Recommends': What exactly does it mean? ZDNET's recommendations are based on many hours of testing, research, and comparison shopping. We gather data from the best available sources, including vendor and retailer listings as well as other relevant and independent reviews sites. And we pore over customer reviews to find out what matters to real people who already own and use the products and services we’re assessing. When you click through from our site to a retailer and buy a product or

Anthropic irks White House with limits on models’ use

Anthropic is in the midst of a splashy media tour in Washington, but its refusal to allow its models to be used for some law enforcement purposes has deepened hostility to the company inside the Trump administration, two senior officials told Semafor. Anthropic recently declined requests by contractors working with federal law enforcement agencies because the company refuses to make an exception allowing its AI tools to be used for some tasks, including surveillance of US citizens, said the off

Scientists Identify Rare Blue Pigment in Iconic Jackson Pollock Painting—But It’s Now Off-Limits

Jackson Pollock was a famous American painter best known for his abstract expressionism, including the “drip and splash” and the “all-over” style of painting (which look exactly like they sound). Now we finally know the chemical origin of the blue color he splattered onto his iconic Number 1A, 1948. Researchers investigated the vibrant pigment via laser spectroscopy, a technique scientists use to investigate matter at the atomic level. With this approach, they revealed it to be manganese blue,