Researchers working with a microphone aboard the Perseverance rover have managed to record sounds of a passing dust devil. The audio data was enough for them to determine the physical characteristics of the Martian whirlwind, which crossed right over the NASA rover.
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We Finally Have an Update on The Nevers and It's Not Great News
If you watched The Nevers, HBO’s 2021 drama about women in Victorian London who suddenly manifest superpowers, there’s likely part of you still wondering if we’d ever get the promised second half of the season—with, like, some follow-through all the batshit stuff that happened in the finale. The answer is here, and…
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14 Must Have Items From Twitter's Office Supply Fire Sale
“Does this spark joy?” So asked the famed Japanese organizing consultant Marie Kondo as a way of thinking about decluttering crowded living spaces. The best way to know what “sparks joy,” Kondo said, is to feel the item in your hand, and then know whether you feel uplifted just by that simple act.
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Apple Update Day: What to Expect With iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch
Apple Watch and iPhone users, it’s update day. The iOS 16.2 update is currently rolling out to the iPhone 14 and all other compatible devices. The update includes Advanced Data Protection for iCloud data like Notes and Photos, just as Apple teased at WWDC earlier in the year. Apple says the encryption applies to 23…
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Exclusive Clip: NYC-set Folk-Horror Tale Nanny
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Airbnb Removes 4,000 Accounts for Violating Its Non-Discrimination Policy
Airbnb announced on Tuesday it has removed nearly 4,000 accounts globally from its platform this year, after finding those users had violated its non-discrimination policy. The report was published by Project Lighthouse, an initiative Airbnb launched in 2020, and found that the number of accounts removed decreased…
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Breaking Down the Multiversal Madness of the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Trailer
The new Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse trailer is here, and Miles Morales’ multiverse is about to get so much bigger and more dangerous. But what secrets can we find alongside many, many, many Spider-People in this trailer? Let’s take a closer look.
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U.S. Lawmakers Introduce Bill to Ban TikTok Nationwide
As more and more states across the country pile on to ban TikTok from state-owned devices, Republican Senator Marco Rubio from Florida along with Republican Representative Mike Gallagher from Wisconsin and Democrat Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois have taken the move to the next level by proposing a…
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How To Fix Your Phone's Broken Charger Port
Our phones are now pretty essential when it comes to getting through everyday life—so it can be disconcerting when one of these ever-present pocket companions refuses to charge up as normal. It’s a common problem, and it’s one that needs to be fixed as soon as possible. But before you turn your handset over to the…
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New mRNA Cancer Vaccine Passes Important Human Trial
An experimental mRNA cancer-fighting vaccine jointly developed by Moderna and Merck has reportedly succeeded in a Phase II trial. According to the companies, melanoma survivors who received the vaccine in combination with immunotherapy were 44% less likely to have their cancer return or to die than those who only took…
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Meta Shares Tool to Detect Terrorist Content Online
Meta is introducing a new counter-terrorism tool. The news comes as the company will become chair of the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism (GIFCT)’s Operating Board next month. The GIFCT was founded by Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter, and YouTube in 2017 and has since become a non-governmental organization (NGO)…
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Back to the Future and Jurassic World Come to Life at Universal Orlando's Great Movie Escape
Experience your own Amblin cinematic adventure at the Great Movie Escape at Universal Orlando Resort. io9 was invited to try out the new interactive escape rooms inspired by Jurassic Worldand Back to the Futureat CityWalk and chat with Universal Creative about its collaboration with two of Universal Pictures’…
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Elon Promises Twitter Blue Subscribers Will See Half the Ads Normies Do
Twitter may be the one place online where you might be seeing fewer ads in the future—assuming you cough up $8 a month. Elon Musk tweeted late Monday that Twitter Blue subscribers “will have half the number of ads,” and said the company will offer an even more expensive tier for the site that’s totally ad-free in…
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Get Santa a Raincoat: The New Arctic Is Wetter and Warmer
Climate change is rapidly transforming the Arctic into an almost unrecognizable new region, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual Arctic Report Card has found.

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Space Startup Wants to Build a Manufacturing Platform in Low Earth Orbit
ThinkOrbital has big plans for low Earth orbit, designing an orbital platform that could be used to manufacture products in space, as well as remove and recycle space debris.
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An Invisible Layer of Gold Could Be the Secret to Glasses That Never Fog Up
Although foggy lenses have been plaguing glasses wearers for as long as glasses have existed, they happen more frequently to those still masking. Researchers from ETH Zurich in Switzerland may have finally come up with a permanent solution to the problem that works whether someone’s wearing a mask, or even if they’ve…
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'Plain Old-Fashioned Embezzlement:' Searing House Testimony Paints Picture of FTX’s Collapse
The House Financial Services Committee began one of its most dramatic hearings in recent memory Tuesday, while its main subject, disgraced crypto exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried, sat behind bars in a cell nearly 1,000 miles away.
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The Best Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror io9 Rewatched in 2022
io9 added “best rewatches” to our year-end coverage during the height of the pandemic—a time when new movies and TV felt mighty scarce. With Hollywood back in full swing, there’s now plenty of new content to consume, but that doesn’t mean we don’t find ourselves sneaking back into the past on occasion.

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Midwest Soil Is Eroding Faster Than Ever. Modern Farming Could Be to Blame
This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.

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What to Know About the DOE's Big Nuclear Fusion Announcement
The U.S. Department of Energy announced Tuesday morning that scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved net energy gain in a fusion reaction, a vaunted goal in humankind’s quest for a reliable, zero-carbon energy source.

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The New Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Trailer Will Blow Your Mind
We thought we were ready, but after watching this trailer, we may not be. Sony just released the next trailer for the highly anticipated follow-up to its Oscar-winning, all-time magnificent superhero movie and we are freaking out over how awesome it looks. We’re talking about Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the…
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Avatar: The Way Of Water Is Overwhelming But Wonderful
Few movies in history have come to theaters with the weight and expectations of Avatar: The Way of Water. Its director, James Cameron, has made four narrative sequels in his career and two of those, Aliensand Terminator 2: Judgment Day, are inarguably two of the best sequels of all-time. Avatar, though, is on a whole…
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