The Apple iPad Air will get an M2 chip when it launches next year
Apple is reportedly making some changes next year that it hopes will make it easier for people to fit a specific iPad to their needs. For instance, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman wrote in his Power On newsletter today that the next iPad Air will get an M2 chip in addition to the larger second model…
Tiny star found harbouring a huge planet that shouldn’t exist
An artist’s rendering of the view from LHS 3154b towards its tiny host star Penn State An enormous planet orbiting a tiny star may break our ideas about planet formation. Astronomers have found a world more than 13 times as massive as Earth orbiting a star nine times less massive than the sun, and our…
Jennifer Doudna Believes Crispr Is for Everyone
It’s been a monumental year for Crispr, the molecular tool scientists use to edit genetic material. This November, the United Kingdom authorized the first medical treatment using Crispr gene editing, giving people with sickle cell disease new opportunities to receive a one-time therapy to prevent episodes of terrible pain. This week, the US Food and…
DNA repair has been captured in a step-by-step molecular movie
Researchers now know how a light-powered DNA repair system works Alexey Kotelnikov/Alamy Two teams of researchers have uncovered microscopic details of how a protein called photolyase uses light to repair DNA. The discovery could help develop sustainable technologies for chemical manufacture that rely on sunlight. Most organisms, except many mammals, have photolyase. These proteins repair…
Biophysicists Uncover Powerful Symmetries in Living Tissue
“It was pretty amazing how well the experimental data and numerical simulation matched,” Eckert said. In fact, it matched so closely that Carenza’s first response was that it must be wrong. The team jokingly worried that a peer reviewer might think they’d cheated. “It really was that beautiful,” Carenza said. The observations answer a “long-standing…
Chinstrap penguins take thousands of very short naps every day
Chinstrap penguins sleep for a few seconds at a time benkrut/iStockphoto/Getty Images Chinstrap penguins are avid nappers, taking more than 10,000 a day – but each one lasts just 4 seconds. Dozing off for several short bouts every day is a common habit for birds. Pigeons, for example, can have hundreds of microsleeps a day,…
Google Gemini, Lego Fortnite, and everything else to try this week
Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 17, your guide to the best and Verge-iest stuff in the world. If you’re new here, welcome, so psyched you found us, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage. I also have for you a new Mastodon app, a bunch of new AI…
Bottlenose dolphins can sense electric fields with their snouts
Donna, a bottlenose dolphin, during a test for electricity-sensing abilities Tim Hüttner, Nuremberg Zoo Bottlenose dolphins have an extra sense – the ability to feel electric fields – which they may use to navigate and search for food. The power to sense weak electric fields, known as electroreception, is common among water-dwelling animals, such as…
How to Use Google’s Gemini AI Right Now in Its Bard Chatbot
Google just launched its Gemini AI model. Want to try it out for free? A version of the model, called Gemini Pro, is available inside of the Bard chatbot right now. Also, anyone with a Pixel 8 Pro can use a version of Gemini in their AI-suggested text replies with WhatsApp now, and with Gboard…
COP28: Energy transition may cut oil-producing states’ revenue by 60%
An oil pumpjack in Venezuela Gaby Oraa/Bloomberg via Getty Images More than 20 countries dependent on oil and gas revenues could see these sources of funds cut in half by the transition to clean energy. Such an outcome could have disastrous consequences for workers and governments in these “petrostates” without international support to help manage…