Science | The Verge

Watch Sony’s elite ping-pong robot beat top-ranked players

2026-04-22T14:41:37-04:00

Ace is the first robot that can beat the best human players while following the official rules of table tennis. | Image: Sony AI

Humans have been building ping-pong playing robots for decades, such as Omron's FORPHEUS that challenged amateur competitors at CES 2017. What sets Ace apart from the rest is that the robot, which was developed by Sony's AI division, is the first that can hold its own against top-ranked human players and occasionally even beat them in matches that follow the official rules of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF).

AI is already capable of besting humans at games like Chess and Go, but physical games pose a much greater challenge as robots have to be engineered to match the speed and responsiveness of the human mind and body. To b …

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SpaceX cuts a deal to maybe buy Cursor for $60 billion

2026-04-22T05:40:37-04:00

With an IPO looming for Elon Musk's SpaceX / xAI / X combo platter of companies, SpaceX has announced an odd arrangement to either acquire the automated programming platform Cursor for $60 billion or pay a fee of $10 billion. Buying this startup that's focused on AI coding could help xAI's tools compete with market leader Anthropic, as well as the other competitors. A report by The Information this week said Sergey Brin has directed Google's "strike team" to help its agentic AI tools catch up, while Sam Altman reportedly declared a "code red" at OpenAI last year before shutting down Sora to focus on the ChatGPT superapp and its own Codex too …

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ISS astronauts are getting new laptops

2026-04-21T17:56:01-04:00

Astronaut Chris Williams and the rest of the Expedition 74 crew are getting new laptops. | Photo: NASA

Even astronauts need to level up their laptops once in a while - including the crew of Expedition 74 on board the ISS, which NASA announced last week is in the process of some computer upgrades. According to NASA, the crew met on Friday to review plans to "first replace network servers then activate their new, more powerful laptop computers." In a statement to The Verge, NASA spokesperson Joshua Finch confirmed the new laptops the astronauts will be using: "The International Space Station Program has selected the HP ZBook G9 Mobile Workstation as the next laptop for the space station."

Astronaut Chris Williams unpacked computer hardware on the ISS on April 15th. | Photo: NASA' data-portal-copyright='Photo: NASA'> Astronaut Jessica Meir is one of the Expedition 74 astronauts getting a laptop upgrade. | Photo: NASA' data-portal-copyright='Photo: NASA'>

According to HP, the custom ZBook Fury G9 …

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Wearable health tech might be Tim Cook’s greatest legacy

2026-04-21T13:07:54-04:00

The Apple Watch was the first new product in the post-Jobs era.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Granted, 19th-century proverb writers were talking about the fruit, but Tim Cook helped give new meaning to the adage with the release of the very first Apple Watch. In fact, I'd argue that when he hands the reins to John Ternus in September, it won't be iPhones, Macs, AirPods, or the Vision Pro that defines Cook's legacy. It'll be how the Apple Watch set the course for modern health tech.

You don't have to take my word for it. In 2019, Cook himself told told Mad Money host Jim Cramer, "…If you zoom out into the future, and you look back, and you ask the question, 'What was Apple's greatest contribution …

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The SpaceX IPO is a trillion-dollar gamble on the future of space

2026-04-21T08:38:20-04:00

Booster 19, or ''B19'', is seen atop pad 2 at SpaceX's South Texas facility in Cameron County, Texas, ahead of an igniter test on April 13, 2026. (Photo by Reginald Mathalone/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images

The great SpaceX IPO is looming, allowing outside investors - including regular Joe Schmoes, or retail investors - to buy a stake in one of the buzziest and most controversial companies on the planet for the first time. Depending on who you ask, it's either the best investment opportunity you'll see this decade or a fool's errand to rip off credulous Musk fanboys. With valuations of the company going to sky-high levels, over $1 trillion according to some estimates, there's certainly a furor around the potential for rich returns.

But is there really any money to be made in space?

Let's be clear: There are plenty of companies making money …

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Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket grounded after delivering satellite to wrong orbit

2026-04-20T14:27:19-04:00

The Federal Aviation Administration grounded Blue Origin's New Glenn rocket after it shuttled its payload to the wrong orbit during its launch on Sunday, according to a report from the Orlando Sentinel. "The FAA is aware that Blue Origin New Glenn 3 experienced a mishap during the second-stage flight sequence following a successful launch," the FAA said in a statement obtained by the Orlando Sentinel.

On Sunday, the Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin successfully launched New Glenn from Cape Canaveral, Florida. Though the rocket's reusable booster returned to its landing pad without issue, the rocket's upper stage failed to deliver AST SpaceMobil …

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This pasta sauce wants to record your family

2026-04-17T17:10:18-04:00

The Connection Keeper is an offline voice recorder vaguely reminiscent of the metal lid on Prego jars. | Image: Prego

As if there weren't already enough devices listening in on everything being said in your home, Prego, the pasta and pizza sauce brand, is releasing a device designed to record everything said around the dinner table for posterity. The Connection Keeper, which looks like an oversized pasta jar lid, was created in collaboration with StoryCorps, the nonprofit organization focused on preserving the stories of Americans in a collection housed at the Library of Congress' American Folklife Center. There's no AI, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth, but you can optionally upload recordings to StoryCorps' website to make them easier to share with family.

Prego says …

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Blue Origin’s reusable New Glenn rocket lands successfully, but payload delivery fails

2026-04-20T11:13:36-04:00

Liftoff. | Anadolu via Getty Images

Today's launch of AST SpaceMobile's satellite aboard Blue Origin's reusable rocket was a partial success. The New Glenn first stage booster touched back down on a drone ship without incident, its second launch and landing, and officially giving Jeff Bezos a reusable launch vehicle to compete with SpaceX's Falcon 9.

Unfortunately for Blue Origin and AST SpaceMobile, the overall mission was less successful. The Bluebird 7 cell-tower-in-space was delivered to a lower orbit than expected by the second stage of the launch vehicle, and it will be destroyed. The Orlando Sentinel reports that the FAA announced Sunday night that New Glenn has been …

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A giant cell tower is going to space this weekend

2026-04-17T09:13:28-04:00

This weekend's scheduled Blue Origin rocket launch is rather momentous. Success would signal an end to SpaceX's monopoly on reusable orbital launch vehicles, and set up a three-way race to make that "No Service" indicator on your phone disappear forever.

On Sunday morning, Jeff Bezos' massive New Glenn rocket is scheduled to launch with the first-stage booster that launched and landed on the program's second mission last November. It's a critical test, because cost-effective booster reuse is what's made SpaceX's Falcon 9 so dominant.

Amazon desperately needs a reusable rocket of its own to accelerate its Leo launches. Without one, it's onl …

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Apple and Amazon are teaming up to challenge Starlink’s smartphone ambitions

2026-04-14T10:03:08-04:00

Amazon has made a deal to buy Globalstar's low-Earth orbit satellite network for $11.57 billion, snapping up its spectrum licenses, operations, and assets to combine with its upcoming Leo internet satellite constellation. Apple owned 20 percent of Globalstar, and as a part of the deal, Amazon will continue to support satellite services like Emergency SOS for iPhones and Apple Watches, and develop future services that connect them to its Leo satellite network. The deal is currently scheduled to close in 2027, pending approval by regulators.

Globalstar currently provides direct-to-device services to the iPhone and Apple Watch. That's differen …

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