
Tech


Would you buy your child a ChatGPT‑powered Barbie? I’m queasy at the prospect of a real‑life Small Soldiers scenario
Mattel is partnering with OpenAI to build AI‑powered toys, which might lead to some amazing fun, but also sounds like the premise for a million stories of things going wrong. To be clear, I don’t think AI is going to end the world. I’ve used ChatGPT in a million ways, including as an aide for…

ICYMI: the week’s 7 biggest tech stories from Apple’s beautiful Liquid Glass to the Xbox’s surprise handheld launch
It’s been a massive week for tech news, with Apple‘s WWDC taking place and a raft of big announcements in the gaming world. Missed it all? Never fear – because you can catch up on it by scrolling down for our handy recaps of the week’s seven biggest tech news stories. And once you’re all…


How to avoid a puncture on the Moon
Padraig Belton Technology Reporter Getty Images The Apollo mission lunar rovers were lightweight vehicles Going back to the Moon after half a century, and then to Mars, literally means reinventing the wheel. After all, Mars is a long way to come back if you get a flat. “One thing you cannot have is a puncture,”…

Bacteria-inspired robot uses 12 spinning flagella to roam underwater
ZodiAq, a bacteria-inspired underwater robot Anup Teejo Mathew An underwater robot can delicately propel itself in any direction with its 12 flexible arms, inspired by the flagella of bacteria. Its creators claim it can carry out underwater inspections without endangering humans or wildlife, as propeller-driven robots would. Flagella are tiny, hair-like protrusions found on many…

DOGE ditching tape storage could put data at risk, say experts
Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump in the White House Andrew Harnik/Getty Images The US government task force known as the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) claims it has saved $1 million by switching away from storing data on tape. But experts say that the move is difficult to understand, will likely save no…

Quantum computers could protect our data from quantum computers
Could we fight quantum with quantum? Bartlomiej Wroblewski / Alamy A “useless” algorithm that serves as a benchmark for demonstrating the power of quantum computers over ordinary devices could potentially be repurposed as a way to keep data secure from, ironically, quantum computers. Quantum computers have long threatened to crack existing encryption algorithms, which rely…

Could Apple’s new Workout Buddy get me running consistently again? Here’s why I’m so excited about it
The Apple Watch’s fitness features have been getting consistently more impressive in recent years, between new running metrics, the recent addition of Training Load, and integrations with third-party apps such as TrainingPeaks. And yet, despite these advanced tools at my fingertips and as someone who tests the best Apple Watches as part of my job,…
