The recent discovery of a sprawling SIM farm operation in the New York City area has revealed how these facilities, typically used by cybercriminals to flood phones with spam calls and texts, have grown large enough that the US government is warning it could have been used not just for crime, but large-scale disruption of critical infrastructure.
AI is an enormous energy drain, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions at a time when the planet desperately needs progress in the opposite direction. Although most of that comes from running GPUs, cooling them is another significant overhead. So, it’s worth noting when a company of Microsoft’s stature claims to have achieved a breakthrough in chip cooling.
Microsoft’s new system is based on microfluidics, a method long pursued but hard to implement. The company claims its approach could lead to three times better cooling than current methods.
Many data centers rely on cold plates to prevent GPUs from overheating. Although effective to a degree, the plates are separated from the heat source by several layers of material, which limits their performance. "If you’re still relying heavily on traditional cold plate technology [in five years], you’re stuck," Microsoft program manager Sashi Majety is quoted as saying in the company’s announcement.
In microfluidics, the coolant flows closer to the source. The liquid in Microsoft’s prototype moves through thread-like channels etched onto the back of the chip. The company also used AI to more efficiently direct the coolant through those channels.
Microsoft
Another aspect separating this prototype from previous attempts is that it drew inspiration from Mother Nature. As you can see in the image above, the etchings resemble the veins in a leaf or a butterfly wing.
Microsoft says the technique can reduce the maximum silicon temperature rise inside a GPU by 65 percent. (However, that number depends on the workload and chip type.) This would enable overclocking "without worrying about melting the chip down," Microsoft’s Jim Kleewein said. It could allow the company to place servers closer together physically, reducing latency. It would also lead to "higher-quality" waste heat use.
Although this sounds good for the environment in a general sense, Microsoft’s announcement doesn’t lean into that. The blog post primarily discusses the technique’s potential for performance and efficiency gains. Green benefits are only alluded to briefly as "sustainability" and reduced grid stress. Let’s hope that’s only a case of a cynical observer overanalyzing framing. Our planet needs all the help it can get.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/7OqPEVU
Meta put the smartglasses industry on alert when it announced the Meta Ray-Ban Displays last week. And while those might feature one of the most advanced optical engines on a device its size, after testing out one of its competitors — the Rokid Glasses — I’m convinced there’s still plenty of room for competition.
At $549, the Rokid Glasses are more affordable than the Meta Ray-Ban Displays, which are set to launch at $800. However, it should be noted that this difference won’t last forever, as following Rokid’s Kickstarter campaign, its suggested retail price will increase significantly to around $740. Also, while Kickstarter campaigns aren’t always the strongest indicator of reliability, Rokid has actually been around for some time with devices dating back to before 2018.
Rokid’s heads-up UI looks much sharper in person. Taking pictures of smartglass displays is hard.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
But more importantly, Rokid’s eyewear has some notable design differences. Instead of a single full-color display for just your right eye, it features dual microLED waveguides that provide a true binocular view, which helps reduce eyestrain. The downside is that the Rokid glasses only support a single color — green — though that’s kind of fun if you’re into the classic hacker aesthetic. Text and icons are more than sharp enough to make reading the glasses’ minimalist UI a cinch. And with up to 1,500 nits of brightness, its display is easy to see even outside in bright light. In the future, though, Rokid will need to upgrade to full-color components to better compete with rivals like the Meta Ray-Ban Displays.
Rokid’s glasses score well when it comes to overall style and wearability. The Meta Ray-Ban Displays look like someone stole the frames off Garth’s head from Wayne’s World and then made them thrice as thick, whereas Rokid’s glasses actually look more like Wayfarers than Ray-Ban’s own creation. Touch panels are hidden in each arm, and you even get real nose pads for extra comfort. Plus, weighing in at just 49 grams, Rokid claims its creation is the lightest "full-function AI and AR glasses."
In everyday use, others may not notice the smartglasses’ UI being projected onto its lenses. But at just the right angle, it does become visible.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
The only major indicators that these aren’t a typical set of eyewear are the small camera near your left temple and a faint outline of where the waveguides project a heads-up display onto its lenses. There are also tiny built-in speakers that play the sound from videos, music or answers from Rokid’s AI helper and they are about as good as you can expect from a gadget this compact. But it probably won’t come as a surprise when I say they could be a touch louder or provide better bass.
Meanwhile, when it comes to recharging, there’s a simple magnetic pin connector at the end of the right arm that can connect to any USB-C cable using an included adapter. Unfortunately, if you want a charging case like you get with many of its rivals, you’ll have to shell out another $100. Battery life has been surprisingly solid in my experience as well. You can get up to six hours of continuous music playback over Bluetooth, though if you use more advanced features (especially ones that rely on AI), you will need to juice up sooner.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
As for functionality, the company’s standalone approach to content generation is both its biggest strength and weakness. That’s because while Meta’s smartglasses come with tie-ins to Facebook and Instagram which makes livestreaming what you see a breeze, Rokid doesn’t offer that option. Instead, you’ll have to use the onboard 12MP camera and five mics to take photos and videos before manually downloading them to your phone and then sharing them to your favorite platform. This results in a few extra steps between capture and publication (and no option for livestreaming), but at least you do get the freedom of choice.
Image quality is also acceptable. You won’t be dazzled by its contrast and dynamic range and darker environments can be a bit of a challenge. But as a vehicle for recording the world around you, these glasses are a decent way to take in your surroundings. Thankfully, the process of capturing content couldn’t be simpler, just press once on the physical button on the right arm for a picture or press and hold for video. Or if you prefer, you can use voice commands like "Hi Rokid, record a video."
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
Aside from taking photos and videos, Rokid’s glasses can also pair with your phone to serve up notifications, record voice memos and even offer turn-by-turn directions using AI, though I couldn’t get that last feature working. There’s also a teleprompter mode that allows you to upload scripts to the glasses and have text scroll down automatically as you speak.
However, the biggest draw (or deterrence, depending on your opinion of machine learning) is the AI integration, which uses the device’s Qualcomm AR1 chip and an onboard ChatGPT model to provide real-time translation and audio transcriptions. Just like what you get when using large LLMs on a phone or laptop, even when AI can understand most of what’s coming in, there are still times when it doesn’t fluently convert certain lines or phrases.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
There’s also the option to ask the glasses to create a text description of what its cameras see, though again, AI sometimes struggles with accuracy. When I held my phone up in front of the lens, it correctly identified what type of device it was, but then it got confused by a barcode on a box in the background and thought I was trying to insert a SIM card.
Even considering the foibles of current AI models, the Rokid glasses are a welcome surprise in a growing sea of smartglasses. They’re lighter and sleeker than anything I’ve tried to date while covering all the most important functions: playing music, surfacing notifications and capturing decent first-person photos and videos. Other features like live translation and live captions are a bonus. When they work, which is most of the time, it really feels like an engaging glimpse of what is poised to be the next big era for wearable computing.
Sam Rutherford for Engadget
It’s way too early to pick a winner or even recommend these as a must-have for bleeding-edge enthusiasts. But to see smaller names like Rokid come up with compelling alternatives to Meta’s latest makes these smartglasses worth paying attention to.
The Rokid Glasses are available for pre-order now via the company’s Kickstarter campaign with estimated deliveries slated for sometime in November.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://ift.tt/Ick51M7
If you’re lounging outside on a muggy night enjoying a beer, you may start to notice wave after wave of mosquitoes pestering you. And it’s not just an unlucky coincidence — it’s because of that brew in your hand.
Mosquitoes don’t just pick people at random to get their fill of blood; they gravitate to certain targets based on a series of factors ranging from diet to the bacteria on our skin. A recent preprint paper uploaded to the bioRxiv server suggests that drinking beer is a surefire way to become a mosquito magnet.
Find out how beer consumption — and a medley of other factors — might make you more prone to mosquito bites.
To see how beer consumption would influence mosquitoes’ attraction to people, the researchers behind the bioRxiv paper got the help of partiers at Lowlands, an annual music festival in the Netherlands. Here, researchers set up a pop-up laboratory inside four connected shipping containers, recruiting 465 volunteers to participate in tests.
The participants first filled out a questionnaire on their general health, diet, and hygiene during the festival. They then placed their arm inside of a cage designed so that the mosquitoes inside could smell, but not bite them. The mosquitoes in the cage could choose between a participant’s arm and a sugar feeder.
The researchers set up a video camera to record how often the mosquitoes chose to land on a participant’s arm, comparing the footage with the questionnaire answers.
They found that those who had been enjoying a few creature comforts at the festival were more likely to be targeted by mosquitoes. Participants who drank at least one beer before the tests were 1.35 times more attractive to mosquitoes compared to those who didn’t have any beer.
In addition, mosquitoes were notably attracted to those who reported smoking cannabis in the past 48 hours, as well as those who slept with someone the previous night.
A Mosquito’s Favorite Smells
So what makes beer-drinkers so attractive to mosquitoes anyway? The researchers note that measured blood alcohol concentration didn’t have an effect on mosquito attraction; they say that it could instead be the distinctive smell given off by those who drank beer.
Humans produce a lot of distinct chemical signals — called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) — that tend to attract mosquitoes, like carbon dioxide, lactic acid, and carboxylic acids.
The amount of these compounds that we release varies from person to person. For example, the rate of C02 release is associated with factors like metabolic rate, body mass, and respiratory activity. Pregnant women seem to be common targets for mosquitoes, which may be caused by an increased release of mosquito attractants (like C02) due to higher metabolic rate and heat production.
Consuming beer likely attracts mosquitoes due to alcohol metabolism changing someone’s body odor. Diet may even influence mosquito attraction in other ways, and while this idea has not been thoroughly explored with many foods and drinks, a 2018 study found that consumption of bananas could modify human odors and entice certain species of mosquitoes.
Keeping Mosquitoes at Bay
While mosquitoes may fancy certain smells, there are a few other factors that help to keep them away. One example is the microbiota living on our skin. Studies have shown that high diversity of skin microbiota correlates to reduced mosquito attractiveness; on the flip side, high abundance, but low diversity of bacteria is associated with increased attractiveness.
In the preprint paper, the researchers noticed that participants who had showered recently and applied sunscreen were less attractive to mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes are also drawn to darker colors, particularly black and red. If you can’t fathom giving up beer any time soon, it may be best to don a pair of clothing with lighter colors — and bring some repellent while you’re at it.
Our writers at Discovermagazine.com use peer-reviewed studies and high-quality sources for our articles, and our editors review for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Review the sources used below for this article:
As part of the "Beyond the Strand" event this week that celebrated the 10th anniversary of Kojima Productions, Hideo Kojima made a series of announcements, one of which was quite unexpected.
Kojima is parterning with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group to launch a new Kojima credit card. In the second half of 2026, MUFG will offer a credit card that will give users points based on spending that they can use to exchange for merchandise and other goods for Kojima-related items.
That’s all Kojima and the bank had to say about the credit card. Additional details will be forthcoming.
Presumably this card will only be available in Japan, but if you’re interested in a gaming credit card and live in the US, you have a few options to choose from. Microsoft offers an Xbox credit card and Sony offers a PlayStation credit card and each offer bonuses specific to their platforms.
Despite the federal government’s $7,500 purchase tax incentive expiring at the end of September 2025, electric vehicles are gaining major traction among American drivers due to some of the benefits they offer over a traditional gas-powered vehicle. However, some barriers, such as price parity and the robustness of public EV charging infrastructure, still prevent some from adopting the plug.
If there’s one phrase that has haunted the rise of electric cars, it’s “range anxiety,” a real fear where drivers worry about running out of juice before finding the next charger. This idea has become so prevalent that many skeptics are still left clinging to the gas pump instead of plugging in.
According to a June 2025 survey published by the American Automobile Association (AAA, or ‘triple-A’), 57% of drivers surveyed said their “perceived unsuitability of EVs for long-distance travel” prevented them from adopting an EV, 56% cited “a lack of convenient public charging stations,” and 55% said they had a “fear of running out of charge while driving.” Despite these real fears, a team of Mercedes-Benz’s EV-savvy engineers may have dealt it a one-two punch.
Today’s EVs are capable of long ranges. For instance, the 2025 Lucid Air Grand Touring has an advertised EPA-estimated range of 512 miles, whereas the 2025 Rivian R1S has an advertised EPA-estimated range of 410 miles under optimal conditions and in the right configuration. It’s impressive, but drivers still drive with the next charging stop in mind.
However, Mercedes-Benz engineers sought to change that. At the end of August, a team of engineers drove a prototype EQS sedan fitted with a special lithium-metal solid-state battery 1,205 kilometers (749 miles) across Europe. They traveled from Mercedes’s home in Stuttgart, Germany, through Denmark, and into Malmö, Sweden, all on a single charge, meaning there were no charging stops. To top it off, the car still had 137 km (85 miles) left in the “tank.”
According to Mercedes, their route was not a controlled environment or closed corridor, as they mentioned that the test cars went on highways A7 and E20 through Germany and Denmark to Malmö, Sweden. The engineers stated that this optimal route, which did not use ferries, was made using Electric Intelligence. This built-in Mercedes navigation technology factors in topography, traffic, ambient temperature, and energy needs for heating and cooling for maximum range.
The solid-state advantage
The secret behind this feat is the experimental solid-state battery technology used in the EV, which proves to be extremely energy-efficient and safe. Unlike traditional lithium-ion batteries that use liquid electrolytes, solid-state batteries utilize solid electrolytes, which allows for greater energy density and a lighter overall weight.
Developed in close collaboration with its Formula 1 arm, Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP), and Factorial Energy, Mercedes has developed a battery that offers 25% more usable energy without increasing in size, an improvement for drivers looking for better range without added bulk.
Mercedes-Benz
To manage the changes in volume that happen during charging and discharging, Mercedes has incorporated pneumatic actuators into the battery design to keep everything together. These actuators help maintain stability and optimal contact pressure, ensuring the battery operates smoothly. Based on technology developed by Factorial Energy, the lithium-metal cells enhance efficiency, while passive airflow cooling helps keep everything running well. This setup gives Mercedes a competitive edge by providing a more powerful and efficient battery without sacrificing size.
“The solid-state battery is a true game-changer for electric mobility. Mercedes Chief Technology Officer Markus Schäfer said in a statement. With the successful long-distance drive of the EQS, we show that this technology delivers not only in the lab but also on the road."
Final thoughts
Despite all this progress and new electric vehicles on the showroom floor, don’t expect to see this type of technology in any new Mercedes EVs anytime soon. Per Schäfer, the team’s goal is to bring "innovations like this into series production by the end of the decade and offer our customers a new level of range and comfort.”
Still, this milestone proves that EVs don’t have to be defined by charging. For years, the EV conversation has been obsessed with range and infrastructure. Recently, new federal guidance gave gas stations a leg up in bolstering and expanding the EV charging grid with more chargers. However, Mercedes’s record-setting run doesn’t just showcase engineering; it also shows that some automakers have the potential to revolutionize electric driving.
