A team of biologists and engineers placed tobacco hornworm caterpillars inside a completely soundproof anechoic chamber to study how the insects detect approaching predators despite lacking ears. Over a year of daily trials, researchers sent vibrations through a platform holding each caterpillar and used an accelerometer to measure precise movements, observing jumps, twitches and shudders in response to different vibration intensities. The findings point to tiny, highly sensitive hairs on the caterpillar's body as the likely mechanism behind its vibration-based sensing.
wired.com
· 2026-09-05
Bonhams' New York will auction a fully functional Apple-1 motherboard, autographed by Steve Wozniak, as part of its History of Science, Technology & Computing sale running October 4-14. The board, from the second production batch, is estimated to sell for $500,000 to $800,000 and comes with original manuals and a 1978 letter signed by Steve Jobs authorizing a trade-in for the original owner.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-04
Enabled Intelligence, a US data-processing firm, says it has made available more than half a million hours of Ukrainian drone footage for use in training AI models, marketing the dataset for both military and commercial applications. This marks a shift from earlier programs like Project Maven, where combat sensor data stayed locked within classified defense channels, toward a broader, more open data marketplace.
technologyreview.com
· 2026-09-04
Scientists linked ultra-precise optical atomic clocks located in four different nations and successfully compared their timekeeping with extremely high accuracy. The experiment demonstrated that these clocks, which are far more precise than the cesium clocks defining current international time standards, can be reliably synced across long distances.
nature.com
· 2026-09-04
New reports indicate Apple's upcoming iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max will keep the same screen sizes as current models but introduce two display upgrades: LTPO+ panel technology and a Dynamic Island notch shrunk by roughly 35%. The changes point to incremental hardware refinements rather than a full redesign for this generation.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-03
Ugreen has released the MagFlow Pro Magnetic Power Bank, a $149.99 10,000mAh device it calls the first liquid-cooled power bank with wireless charging. A small pump circulates coolant past a copper foil layer to pull heat away from its Qi2.2 wireless coil, visible through a window on the front, while a lanyard-integrated USB-C cable and separate USB-C port allow wired charging of extra devices.
theverge.com
· 2026-09-03
A policy expert describes public interest technology as the practical bridge between government policy and the people it is meant to serve, citing food assistance as an example where eligible people miss out due to lack of awareness or overly complex applications. The approach focuses on designing systems and tools that make existing programs actually reachable and usable by the people who qualify.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-09-03
Display research firm Omdia has published a multi-year roadmap detailing when Apple will bring OLED screens to various MacBook and iPad models. The forecast spans from late 2026 through 2029, covering the MacBook Pro/Ultra, MacBook Air, iPad mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro lines, with specific screen sizes and refresh rates for each.
9to5mac.com
· 2026-09-03
Philips Hue is expanding its smart lighting range with unconventional designs, including a flexible, colorful light that can be bent into shapes and a tall pole light meant to be propped against a wall rather than mounted. The additions signal a shift toward more sculptural, decor-focused lighting rather than purely functional fixtures.
gizmodo.com
· 2026-09-03
An MIT Technology Review Insights webcast produced with NiCE examines how companies are moving AI agents from small pilots to enterprise-wide use. Chandra argues that agents need consistent access to data, context and back-end systems, and warns that scaling without integration can create new silos across teams.
technologyreview.com
· 2026-09-03
Dell stock jumped more than 13% Wednesday morning after reporting strong quarterly results and raising its fiscal 2027 adjusted earnings guidance by about 42.5%, to $25.50 from $17.90. The gains faded quickly, with shares up only around 5% by late morning, echoing a similar pullback seen after Nvidia's own strong earnings last week.
cnbc.com
· 2026-09-02
An audit of Perplexity's Sonar and Sonar-Pro models tested 310 factual questions about 210 tech companies and checked every citation attached to a sentence containing a number. It found that 34.7% of 1,826 such citations linked to pages that either wouldn't load or didn't contain any of the figures stated in the sentence, though scoring by claim rather than by individual citation marker lowered the failure rate to 14.4% of 872 claims.
hausresearch.com
· 2026-09-02
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