Startup MyMonthlyCar, founded by Ukrainian entrepreneurs Igor Dobrianskyi, Kostiantyn Gitko and Vadym Zotov, has built an online platform letting dealerships rent out used cars on a month-to-month basis, with an option for renters to eventually buy. The company charges no listing fees but takes a 10% cut from both dealers and customers on each transaction, and has been selected for TechCrunch Disrupt's 2026 Startup Battlefield 200 cohort.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-10-01
A peer-reviewed study by Northeastern University researchers, conducted with Consumer Reports, tested 21 vehicles from 17 automakers and 30 companion apps. It found 19 of the 21 vehicles sent data to at least one third party, and seven apps shared sensitive information such as VINs, emails, phone numbers and precise location with companies tied to advertising and tracking, including Adobe, Google, Microsoft, Meta, Snap and Yahoo.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-29
Amazon's second-generation Echo Auto, a dongle bringing Alexa to cars without built-in smart infotainment, is now listed as 'Currently unavailable' on its product page with no restock date given. Reddit users first noticed the device had also disappeared from direct search results on Amazon.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-29
The New Yorker published a long-form account centered on a fatal 2015 crash on Colorado's Million Dollar Highway, in which a car reversing near the roadside went over a cliff into a gorge, killing the driver and his mother-in-law while his young daughter survived. The piece traces the rescue effort and the girl's memories of the crash, using the incident to explore why the notoriously dangerous highway has seen little infrastructure improvement over the years.
newyorker.com
· 2026-09-29
Researchers from Northeastern University and Consumer Reports analyzed 21 late-model vehicles from 19 automakers and 30 companion apps to examine how connected cars collect and transmit driver data. The study, led by David Choffnes, examined where data goes, whether it crosses international borders, and what personally identifiable information gets exposed. It follows the FTC's 2024 penalty against General Motors for selling location and driving data without consent, and smaller fines against Ford and Honda over opt-out difficulties.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-29
Pioneer has entered the MagSafe accessory market with the SDA-SC600, an air vent phone mount featuring Qi2 wireless charging and a built-in cooling fan. The kit includes a metal ring adapter for non-MagSafe iPhones and Android devices, an air vent adapter, and a USB-C cable, plus subtle RGB lighting as a design touch.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-28
Times Car, Japan's major vehicle rental service, confirmed that a cyberattack in early September compromised roughly 6.6 million current and former member accounts, including corporate Times Business Service users. The company disclosed the intrusion on September 25 and blocked unauthorized access the next day, then confirmed today that attackers accessed personal data including names, addresses, birth dates, driver's license details, verification document images, and account passwords.
bleepingcomputer.com
· 2026-09-28
A new bioRxiv preprint analysed DNA methylation patterns in transplanted human hearts and found that, months after surgery, the tissue's biological age markers shifted to resemble the recipient's age rather than the donor's. Researchers observed this effect in both directions: young hearts placed in older bodies appeared to age faster, while older hearts in younger bodies appeared to grow biologically younger.
nature.com
· 2026-09-28
A Boston Consulting Group analysis found that of 140 in vivo CAR-T-cell drugs currently being tested in animals or humans worldwide, 82% originate from Chinese developers, even though most early preclinical research came from the US and Germany. Researchers note China has moved unusually fast in pushing these therapies into clinical trials, with early results from at least one human trial for an autoimmune condition described as promising.
nature.com
· 2026-09-28
Renier Brentjens, one of the early researchers behind CAR T cell therapy, is now developing a new generation of engineered 'living drug' treatments. His current work aims to extend the success these therapies have had against blood cancers to solid tumors, which have proven far harder to treat with cell-based approaches.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-26
Android Authority found a hidden change in the Android Auto beta that removes the navigation rail from GameSnacks, both in its main menu and while playing games. Currently GameSnacks keeps the rail visible on screen, unlike other Android Auto games such as Beach Buggy Racing, which already run full screen with swipe-down back and exit controls. The discovery follows Google's move this week to take Android Auto games out of beta and make them generally available.
androidauthority.com
· 2026-09-24
Researchers at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital used CRISPR-Cas9 screening in mouse T cell models to identify ZMYND8 as a regulator of T cell exhaustion. Removing ZMYND8 boosted IL-2 signalling in antigen-specific CD8+ T cells, including those engineered with CAR constructs, helping the cells retain function against tumours in mouse models.
nature.com
· 2026-09-23
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