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Destiny 2BungieI am really enjoying the new activity Court of Blades in Destiny 2, the one added in Act 2 that references Court of Oryx but is way, way more in-depth than that was back in Destiny 1.I dont always play non-matchmade Expert modes in activities unless Im really dying to get something specific, but here? Its all I play, and even after Ive mostly farmed everything I want, Im just playing it to test out different, fun builds this season, and Im having a great time. As such, I thought I would give you some advice if youre struggling.Read the Modifiers I know it can be annoying to have to look at the statues every round and see what the modifiers are, but you want to know what youre getting into. The only ones that really matter are the augments, as those often have to do with taking down protective shields or negating immunity altogether. You will also want to familiarize yourself with the exact way to do them, and I recommend giving this list a read here.Take the Extra Ammo Perk I dont have all that many strong opinions on the list of benefits you can tick through to go into Court of Blades, but I would say one is explicitly necessary, adding more ammo to the in-between rounds ammo box which gives you special and heavy, as given how intense these encounters are, you may not be using anything but special and heavy for a lot of them, and you need all the refills you can get.Destiny 2BungieElectric, Void, Strand Builds Im not saying that you cant do well with other elemental builds, but between the artifact mods and the Tome which bolsters those artifact mods, these three may be stronger than theyve ever been. I also have some specific recommendations.Chaos Reach/Geomag/Delicate Tomb Warlock Both Geomags and Delicate Tomb have been buffed recently, plus other arc effects mean you can have this super up more or less constantly, plus loads of chain kills with Tomb. Combined with the new, final column artifact mod that boosts Super damage by 30% if youre amplified, which is super easy, and this tears through bosses, even shielded ones.Barrow Dyad/Peacekeeper/Storms Keep Titan This Act, if you switch over to the new track of reputation at the slab, it will also change the nature of your Barrow Dyad SMG, where it does more single target damage. You can combine that with both Peacekeepers, which increases SMG damage on repeat shots, and Storms Keep, which you should be using on all Titans for Bolt damage, and put up 10-15 million damage a run, and blast through bosses with quite literally just a primary, its insane. You can use it on any class really, but on Titan it may be the best.Destiny 2BungieHunter Alright, you tell me here. I have a pretty great Prismatic Hunter that uses all the Strand mods right now, plus the new SMG, plus Microcosm, but nothing as good as the two above yet.Microcosm Speaking of Microcosm, use Microcosm when you can. The trace rifle artifact damage boosts are always active for it, plus you can pair it with something like Storms Keep to melt bosses. Get three of them on your team? Forget about it.Use the Seasonal Weapons Not only will this slate of weapons be Overcharged for 25% more damage much of the time, they all also have access to special mods that give them more damage like extra Taken missiles that shoot at enemies all the time, like a fantastic bonus perk that no other weapons will have access to.Destiny 2BungieBring Anti-Barrier Weapons During Taken Week My options of choice here are Heavy Sidearms, and I say this not just for champions, but mainly one of the worst new enemy types in the game, Taken Bound Captains during Taken week which now put up immunity shields, but when you go inside them, you will almost always get one-shot. Anti-Barrier weapons will pierce those shields from afar, and you can pair that with an element that also matches shields youll find (Id say Arc, most of the time).Those are my tips, hit me up with some of your own.Follow me , and .Pick up my sci-fi novels the and

Googles Pixel 9a may sound familiar. After all, there have been rumors and leaks for some time now. But its finally real, and available now for $499 (499 in the U.K.) from the Google Store. Heres what we know.Google Pixel 9a in four colorsGoogleThe A-series of Pixels usually land about this time of year and usually offer a cut-down version of the series that preceded the new announcement, in this case, the Pixel 9 serieswhich is currently available at significantly reduced prices.The new model comes in four colors: obsidian, porcelain, peony and iris, as revealed on the Google Blog. The first three of those colors come from the Pixel 9 range, but iris is new, looking almost purple, and takes the place of wintergreen which now becomes a Pixel 9 exclusive. The rear of the phone is a composite material, that is, plastic, but has a matte finish.The phone has a 6.3-inch display, matching the Pixel 9 and the brightest A-series Pixel, the company says with 120Hz adaptive refresh rate. The rear cameras are a 48-megapixel main and a 13-megapixel ultra-wideboth reduced from the 50-megapixel and 48-megapixel cameras on the Pixel 9. The company says macro focus is on an A-series phone for the first time.Whats most interesting, though, is that the raised camera bar that is so characteristic of Pixel phones in recent years has changed radically. Its now almost flat and sits in one corner rather than spreading across the width of the phone. Google comments that this is a fresh look with a sleek, flat profile.The battery lasts for more than 30 hours, Google says, or 100 hours with Extreme Battery Saver. This means, Pixel 9a has the best battery life of any Pixel available today, Google claims.And its the only smartphone with Gemini Nano for less than $500. With Gemini built in, Pixel 9as personal AI assistant can help you with just about anything. Gemini on Pixel 9a works with Google apps like Maps, Calendar and YouTube so multitasking is made easy, Google says on its blog.Its on the Google Store site right now and is expected to go on sale in April.

In brief: If something appears too good to be true, it almost always is. That appears to be the case with an e-commerce company being sued by the FTC for allegedly deceiving customers. Click Profit promised clients they could make huge sums of money in passive income using its proprietary system, powered by AI, that created and managed Amazon storefronts. But the agency says otherwise. The FTC writes that Click Profit took millions from consumers using the promise of earning big profits from online sales. It told investors that it would leverage cutting-edge AI technology and exclusive brand partnerships with the likes of Nike, Disney, Dell, Colgate and even Marvel, creating e-commerce stores that sold products primarily on Amazon, as well as Walmart and TikTok.Click Profit convinced individuals to hand over tens of thousands of dollars as its system was supposedly "safe, secure, and proven to generate wealth." Its social media pages and ads claimed consumers could earn six-to-eight figure incomes from their storefronts. The complaint states that co-founder Craig Emslie appeared in advertisements alongside an image of Warren Buffett while fanning himself with wads of cash.The company charged consumers a management fee of between $45,000 and $75,000, along with an extra $10,000 to pay for the stores' inventories. The FTC says that Click Profit took up to 35% of any profits from their customers' stores, and, collectively, customers lost at least $14 million.Some other statements made by Click Profit include that it had spent $5 million to build a "super computer" and other AI technologies to locate the "most profitable products," claiming it had generated around $100 million in sales. There was also an implication that customers' online stores could be bought out by venture capital firms connected with the company "at a 3-6x multiple.""In reality, the highly touted AI technology and brand partnerships do not exist, and the promised earnings never materialize," the FTC said in its complaint. // Related StoriesAccording to the complaint, after accounting for Amazon's fees, more than one-fifth of the company's stores on the platform earn no money at all and another third earn less than $2,500 in gross lifetime sales. With Click Profit's startup fees, ongoing charges, and "profit share" fees, most consumers were unable to recoup their investments, much less earn the promised lucrative income, and "some are saddled with burdensome credit card debt and unsold products."There are further allegations that Click Profit often takes months to open customer stores, and sometimes they never open. One person who lost "his life's savings" claimed that after posting a negative review online, he was approached by Emslie's attorney, who threatened to sue him and "take everything he and his wife owned."The consumer took down the review and when he asked for a partial refund, "The attorney told the consumer that Emslie had responded, 'F*** off,'" the FTC allege.According to the complaint, Amazon has blocked, suspended, or terminated about 95% of Click Profit's stores for violating seller policies. The FTC secured a court order temporarily halting Click Profit's operations. It seeks to permanently prohibit the company from doing business, as well as monetary relief for the victims.

Why it matters: We've seen full-sized CPUs with built-in displays before, typically for performance monitoring and other functions, but this might be the first time a cute, palm-sized mini PC has boasted one. Even better, it flips open in a manner reminiscent of the Game Boy Advance SP. Mini PC brand Aoostar has launched the G-Flip 370, a palm-sized mini PC that, aside from its cool display, also packs some serious power under the hood. That's thanks to AMD's Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 APU at its heart, which boasts 12 Zen 5 cores and Radeon 890M integrated graphics. Aoostar says this setup can handle mainstream AAA games with ease. Gentler titles like League of Legends can even hit 90 fps at 4K.But let's talk about the star of the show: that flip-up screen. At a modest 5 inches, the screen isn't exactly a cinematic experience, but it has a full-HD 1080p resolution and supports touch input. Aoostar touts it as perfect for system monitoring, quick tasks, or even catching up on your favorite shows. The screen is mounted on an aluminum alloy hinge, allowing it to tilt up to 65 degrees.It's a clever addition, especially for a mini PC where space is all-important, since the goal is to cut down on the dimensions as much as possible. Screens are not typically a priority for PC makers when designing such compact devices.That said, the integrated screen isn't the only way to experience the G-Flip 370's capabilities. Five inches just doesn't cut it for tasks like gaming, so the mini PC also comes equipped with HDMI 2.1 and Oculink ports for connecting to more impressive displays. At the same time, dual 2.5G Ethernet ports and Wi-Fi 7 support ensure lightning-fast connectivity, while a fingerprint scanner next to the flip-up screen adds a touch of convenience for quick logins.Cooling is handled by a large vapor chamber and a single bottom-mounted fan, which should keep things running smoothly. And for those who like to tinker, the G-Flip 370 offers removable memory and two M.2 PCIe 4.0 slots for storage. // Related StoriesAoostar hasn't announced pricing yet, but if past models are any indication, the G-Flip 370 could land around the $700 mark. Whether that's a steal or a stretch will depend on how much you value portability and that unique screen.

The Assassins Creed games have always been open-world titles that set you loose in a variety of historical locations. Assassins Creed Shadows is no different, save for the introduction of the long-requested Japanese setting and dual protagonists. While youre earning XP and getting deeper into the games story, it will become less and less viable to travel by foot or horse between objectives. Thats where fast travel comes into play, but the system works slightly differently in this entry than usual. Heres how fast travel works inAssassins Creed Shadows.UbisoftThe core of the fast travel system in Assassins Creed Shadows should be familiar to anyone who has played the series before. You will unlock viewpoints at set locations by climbing up to high points and synchronizing to give yourself a fast travel point, but there is another map marker you can use to fast travel as well. A new building called Kakurega are featured in most major towns and villages in the game that need to be unlocked by purchasing them with Mon. Once you do, they provide you with another fast travel point.Recommended VideosFast travel as a whole will be locked for the introductory section of the game. Once you reach the hideout and build your first Kakurega here, you can start to freely fast travel to any viewpoint or Kakurega on the map. We highly recommend focusing on the main story at least until this point before you go off and start checking off all those other viewpoints to save yourself the long trips across the map.Editors Recommendations

The Google Pixel 9a is here and it has a brand new look, some new features, a tempting price, and a very tough time ahead of it. The curvy shape of the Google Pixel 8a has gone, replaced by a flat rear panel and flat sides. Not only that, but the iconic Pixel visor-style camera module has disappeared too, and the two cameras have been integrated into the back of the phone. Thats right, theres no camera bump at all, making it look very unusual in 2025.GoogleWhether you already miss the best design Google has ever come up with on its phones will be down to your personal taste, but if you get the Pixel 9a in the right color, itll still make a statement. Along with the ordinary Porcelain and Obsidian (white and black to you and me) models, there are two eye-catching versions: the purple Iris and the red-pink Peony. The Pixel 9a has an IP68 dust and water resistance rating, the rear is made from plastic, and the chassis is aluminum.Recommended VideosOn the front is a 6.3-inch Actua Display screen with a 1080 x 2424 pixels resolution, a 120Hz refresh rate, and a higher peak brightness than the Pixel 8a at 2,700 nits. The phone has Googles Tensor G4 processor, 8GB of RAM, and the option of either 128GB or 256GB of storage space. Android 15 is installed, and Google will deliver seven years of software and security updates, plus its regular Pixel Drop updates too.Obsidian (left) and Peony GoogleThe camera features an upgraded 48-megapixel main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS) and 8x Super Res Zoom, plus a 13MP wide-angle camera, and for the first time on an A-Series Pixel phone, theres a Macro Focus mode and Timelapse for Astrophotography feature. Googles Add Me, Best Take, Magic Editor, and Magic Eraser AI features are also all onboard, plus Audio Magic Eraser and Macro Focus for video too.Please enable Javascript to view this contentAs youd expect, Google Gemini is onboard with features including Circle to Search, the Pixel Studio image generator, and Call Assist. Gemini Live will be available on the Pixel 9a in the future. Google services like its theft protection, car crash detection, Find My Device, and Google VPN are also all part of the Pixel 9a. Other hardware features include a 5,100mAh battery for around 30 hours of use on a single charge, and an optical fingerprint sensor.Obsidian (left) and Peony GoogleThe Pixel 9a is available to order today for $499 or 499 British pounds, and will be released at the beginning of April with the exact date still to be confirmed. It joins the Google Pixel 9, the Google Pixel 9 Pro, and Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which were all released towards the end of 2024. Why does it face a hard time? It has some serious competition in 2025 from the Nothing Phone 3a, the Nothing Phone 3a Pro, the Samsung Galaxy A56, the OnePlus 13R, and the Apple iPhone 16e which are all available for around the same price. Well find put soon of the Pixel 9a can compete.Editors Recommendations

H2O Uh-oh Saltwater contamination in freshwater systems is on the rise Salt is starting to pollute the freshwater sources people rely on. Kiley Price, Inside Climate News Mar 19, 2025 10:10 am | 1 Flooded streets in Charleston, S.C. due to an unsually high tide and offshore storm in 2021. Credit: SOPA Images Flooded streets in Charleston, S.C. due to an unsually high tide and offshore storm in 2021. Credit: SOPA Images Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreGlobal sea levels rose faster than expected last year, largely due to warming ocean temperatures, a new NASA analysis found.As seawater creeps further into coastlines, salt threatens to pollute the freshwater reserves that people depend on. But this brine isnt just coming from the ocean: New research shows freshwater ecosystems are facing widespread dual threats of salt contamination from the sea and land, made worse by climate change.Humans are a salty species, using the mineral for a vast number of reasonsfrom de-icing the roads during snowstorms to seasoning food.But our salty habits, coupled with rising seas, pose major threats to human health, infrastructure, agriculture and wildlife. Now, scientists are trying to help water managers better understand the salt risks that crucial water supplies face from land to sea as global temperatures warm.A salty futureWhen it comes to climate change, scientists are learning to expect the unexpected. Even so, 2024s rate of sea level rise was unusual, according to NASA.Every year is a little bit different, but whats clear is that the ocean continues to rise, and the rate of rise is getting faster and faster, Josh Willis, a sea level researcher at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, said in a statement.Using an ocean-observing satellite, scientists measured last years global rate of sea level rise at 0.23 inches, compared to the expected rate of 0.17 inches annually. This may seem tiny, but bear in mind that even small increases in sea levels can have major consequences for coastal communities, including worsening storm surges during hurricanes.Around two-thirds of 2024s rise can be attributed to ocean warming, because seawater expands as it heats. The rest of the rise is due to an influx of water coming from ice sheets and glaciers, which are melting at unprecedented rates around the world due to climate change. Last years El Nio weather event may have also been to blame for warming up the water by impacting how heat travels vertically through the ocean, NASA scientists said.Overall, the rate of annual sea level rise has more than doubled since 1993. Global sea level has increased by 4 inches in that timeframe.It used to be that we could predict the future based on the past trends, but now we know that there are all these changes happening, Sujay Kaushal, a geologist at the University of Maryland, told me. Nothing is shocking anymore.Kaushal mostly studies the ecology of watersheds outside the ocean, such as wetlands, streams and rivers, which provide roughly 70 percent of humanitys drinking water. However, in a newly published study, he teamed up with oceanographers to see how salt from the ocean and land are affecting tidal fresh waters. Spoiler alert: Its not looking good.Essentially, salt is coming from both directionsland and the oceanand meeting in the middle, representing a double trouble issue for freshwater tidal basins, Kaushal said. The salt on land is mostly coming from wastewater, fertilizers, resource extraction and road salt.I interviewed Kaushal for a newsletter I wrote in January about how road salt is threatening water supplies and wildlife, and the data is staggering: The U.S. alone uses about 25 million tons of salt on roads each year, according to one estimate. This salt can leach into watersheds when snow melts. Typically, dilution is the solution of pollution, Kaushal says, referring to the fact that heavy rainfall or releasing fresh water from dams into ecosystems can decrease salinity.But climate-fueled droughts and rising temperatures are making this strategy more difficult. During parched periods, there is less water available to dilute the system and flush out the salt, while rising seas push salt into the watershed, a process known as saltwater intrusion.The interaction between human activities and climate change and climate variability is very, very important, Kaushal said. It amplifies the salt pulses that we see from human activity.This issue is particularly prevalent in the Delaware River, a 330-mile waterway that winds from New York to the Atlantic Ocean at the Delaware Bay. The river supplies about 60 percent of drinking water to Philadelphias 1.5 million people, but saltwater intrusion and pollution is threatening this crucial resource.The Delaware River Basin Commission has a plan in place to release water from upstream reservoirs if needed to dilute the salt. But a report released in February found that this plan may no longer be viable due to the rate of sea level rise and frequent droughts, which reporter Jon Hurdle covered for ICN earlier this month.Risk managementConsuming salty water has been linked to a number of negative health impacts in people, including high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease, dementia and reproductive risks.One of the key points in the new study is that salty water can also trigger chain reactions in ecosystems that can impact drinking water quality, infrastructure and energy and food production. If saltwater reaches the intake areas that supply freshwater to communities, it could corrode pipes used for the distribution system, power generation and heating or contaminate soils used for farming, which can kill crops.The brine can exacerbate existing issues associated with climate change, according to the study. For example, salt can release nitrogen or phosphorus from sediments in a watershed, which act as nutrients for plantspotentially leading to an overgrowth of algae and bacteria in the system, Kaushal said. Research shows that climate change can increase harmful algal blooms, which can change waters oxygen levels for fish and block sunlight from underwater plants.Currently, there are few plans or comprehensive guidance on salinization threats for people who oversee rivers, estuaries and drinking water supplies. To change this, the researchers developed a risk management framework to help officials understand where and when salinization might happen along their waterways as climate change accelerates. They zero in on methods to determine the types of hazards, probability, salt exposure and vulnerability a freshwater ecosystem may face. The Patuxent River, a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland, for instance, has experienced high rates of salinization in recent years.Most of the management we do with water resources is reactive, Kaushal said. Were starting to realize with climate change and climate variability that we have to be proactive.This story originally appeared on Inside Climate News.Kiley Price, Inside Climate News 1 Comments

The flattest Pixel, bar none Google reveals Pixel 9a, with the largest battery ever in a Pixel Google promises preorder details in the coming weeks. Ryan Whitwam Mar 19, 2025 10:00 am | 10 Credit: Google Credit: Google Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreGoogle has taken the wraps off the Pixel 9a today, a phone that has leaked about a thousand times in recent weeks, as is the Pixel tradition. Still, there are some things to know about this phone you can't glean from leaked renders or a YouTube unboxing. This phone maintains the same $499 price tag as last year's A-series phone, but it has a larger battery, a new camera, and a simpler design that ditches the camera bar of other recent Pixel phones.The Pixel 9a has the same flat aluminum frame that has been in vogue on smartphones for the past few years. Unlike the more expensive Pixels, the back is plastic instead of Gorilla Glass. Google says it's made of 81 percent recycled material, and the aluminum is 100 percent recycled. Apparently, these percentages are a record for the Pixel series, if that's something that matters to you.From the front, you can barely tell the Pixel 9a from its predecessor, although the display is a bit larger. Google's new phone has a 6.3-inch OLED display with slightly wider bezels than the flagship Pixels. As a result, it's a few millimeters larger in height and width compared to last year's model. Google maintained the same 8.9 mm thickness, though.The display is once again covered with generations-old Gorilla Glass 3, but the phone has gotten a small upgrade from IP67 to IP68, making it slightly more resistant to water infiltration when submerged. The display supports a 120Hz refresh rate with a peak brightness of 2,700 nits, which is a reasonable increase over the 2,000 nits of peak brightness for last year's phone.Specs at a glance: Google Pixel 9aSoCGoogle Tensor G4Memory8GBStorage128GB, 256GBDisplay10802424 6.3" pOLED, 60120 HzCameras48 MP primary, f/1.7, OIS; 13 MP ultrawide, f/2.2; 13 MP selfie, f/2.2SoftwareAndroid 15, 7 years of OS updatesBattery5,100 mAh, 23 W wired charging, 7.5 W wireless chargingConnectivityWi-Fi 6e, NFC, Bluetooth 5.3, sub-6 GHz 5GMeasurements154.773.38.9 mm; 185 gThe phone comes in the traditional porcelain (white) and obsidian (black) colors, along with this year's signature colors of peony (pink) and iris (purple-ish blue). The base model has 128GB of storage for $499, but an upgrade to 256GB is available for $599.Flatter but still Pixel-yWhile older Pixel phones could look a bit busy with their multicolored backs and prominent camera bars, the lineup has been trending toward a streamlined look, and the Pixel 9a truly embraces that. Google says the Pixel 9a uses a thinner pOLED screen, which allowed engineers to save a precious few millimeters. With more room inside, Google was able to eliminate the camera bump entirely for a cleaner look.The thinner display also left more room for the batteryGoogle probably could have made the phone body thinner and left the cameras to stick out, but instead, the 9a has the largest battery ever put in a Pixel. Yes, Google actually did the thing we always chastise OEMs for not doing.Google's phones are not generally big in the battery departmentthey last a day on a charge, but this one will give you a little more breathing room. It's not the champ by a huge margin, but the 5,100 mAh battery is a big step up from the 8a's 4,492 mAh cell and squeaks past the Pixel 9 Pro XL at 5,060 mAh. Google says the phone is good for 30 or more hours of use per charge and 100 hours with battery-saver mode turned on. The phone also gets a mild charging upgrade, with a max wired speed of 23 W instead of the meager 18 W on last year's A-series phone.Google has continued the tradition of slapping its flagship processor in budget phones. The 9a has a Tensor G4 processor, which is not necessarily a speed demon compared to the latest from Qualcomm or Apple. However, Google says it has optimized Tensor for specific tasks rather than benchmarks, and it's nice you get the same pretty fast hardware in a phone that costs hundreds of dollars less than the Pixel 9. This chip is paired with 8GB of RAM, a step down from the 12GB of RAM available in the more expensive Pixel 9 phones but the same as the 8a.A new Pixel cameraWithout a camera bar, the Pixel 9a doesn't have that "serious about cameras" vibe of past Pixel phones. However, Google is still serious about mobile photography. This is still a Pixel camera with all the clever functionality we've come to expect from Google.Google has made some changes to the primary shooter. The Pixel 8a had a 64 MP camera, but the 9a has a 48 MP primary sensor (imaged binned to 12 MP). This sensor's specifications appear similar to the 48 MP camera in the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, but Google says it's a slightly different piece of hardware. It's smaller and lower resolution than last year's A-series phone, but that doesn't necessarily equate to lower image qualitythe Pixel 9 Pro Fold offered better snapshots than the Pixel 8a, for example. Google does not list sensor models, so we'll have to wait to see how the camera performs in real life.The primary shooter is joined by a 13 MP ultrawide that appears unchanged from last year's phone. There is no telephoto camerayou have to go all the way up to the Pixel 9 Pro to get that. However, the Pixel 9a can take advantage of Google's impressive "Super Res Zoom" image sharpening for up to 8x zoom on the main sensor. The selfie camera also remains unchanged at 13 MP.On more expensive Pixel phones, you can take macro shots using the ultrawide lens, which has autofocus. The Pixel 9a doesn't have that, but it can take macro photos with a new AI-assisted feature called Macro Focus. This uses the primary sensor to create a sharper close-up shot. Again, we'll have to see how this performs in real life, as Google hasn't provided many specifics. The phone has other banner Pixel camera features, including Add Me, Night Sight, Face Unblur, astrophotography, and editing features like Best Take and Magic Editor.Android, updates, and availabilityThe software experience should hew close to the more expensive Pixel 9 phones. The phone will launch with Android 15, and it's guaranteed seven years of OS updates. That will include an update to Android 16 in June, as well as regular Pixel Drop releases every few months with new features.This phone has most of the features we've come to know on the flagship Pixels, like Call Screen, Recorder summaries, and Gemini Live. Google says this phone runs Gemini Nano, helping it process data more securely on your device instead of the cloud.Google notes this is the only phone in its price range with Gemini Nano for local AI processing, but the list of supported features is lackingwe've asked Google for a full accounting of AI features and will report what we get. Gemini is still at the core of the experience, though. Google's flagship phones include a free year of Gemini Advanced, but there will be no such deal on the Pixel 9a.If you're interested in the newest Pixel, you may have to wait a bit. Google hasn't nailed down an exact release date yet, saying only that the phone should be available in April. Preorder details will be made available soon.Ryan WhitwamSenior Technology ReporterRyan WhitwamSenior Technology Reporter Ryan Whitwam is a senior technology reporter at Ars Technica, covering the ways Google, AI, and mobile technology continue to change the world. Over his 20-year career, he's written for Android Police, ExtremeTech, Wirecutter, NY Times, and more. He has reviewed more phones than most people will ever own. You can follow him on Bluesky, where you will see photos of his dozens of mechanical keyboards. 10 Comments

This is today's edition ofThe Download,our weekday newsletter that provides a daily dose of what's going on in the world of technology. HIV could infect 1,400 infants every day because of US aid disruptions Around 1,400 infants are being infected by HIV every day as a result of the new US administrations cuts to funding to AIDS organizations, new modeling suggests. In an executive order issued January 20, President Donald Trump paused new foreign aid funding to global health programs. Four days later, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a stop-work order on existing foreign aid assistance. Surveys suggest that these changes forced more than a third of global organizations that provide essential HIV services to close within days of the announcements. Hundreds of thousands of people are losing access to HIV treatments as a result. Read the full story. Jessica Hamzelou MIT Technology Review Narrated: What the future holds for those born today Happy birthday, baby. You have been born into an era of intelligent machines. They have watched over you almost since your conception. They let your parents listen in on your tiny heartbeat, track your gestation on an app, and post your sonogram on social media. Well before you were born, you were known to the algorithm.How will you and the next generation of machines grow up together? We asked more than a dozen experts to imagine your joint future.This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which were publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as its released. The must-reads Ive combed the internet to find you todays most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology. 1 A judge has ordered DOGE to cease dismantling USAID Its been told to reinstate employees email access and let them return to their offices. (WP $)+ The judge believes its efforts probably violated the US Constitution.(Reuters)+ The department has also targeted workers that prevent tech overspending. (The Intercept)+ Can AI help DOGE slash government budgets? Its complex. (MIT Technology Review)2 Can Oracle save TikTok? A security proposal from the cloud giant could reportedly allow it to keep operating in the US. (Bloomberg $)+ The deal would leave the apps algorithm in the hands of its Chinese parent company. (Politico)3 NASAs astronauts have touched down on Earth They safely landed off the coast of Florida yesterday evening. (FT $)+ A pod of dolphins dropped by to witness the spectacle. (The Guardian)4 AI is turning cyber crime into a digital arms race Europol warns that more criminals than ever are exploiting AI tools for nefarious means. (FT $)+ Five ways criminals are using AI. (MIT Technology Review)5 An Italian newspaper has published an edition produced entirely by AI The technology was responsible for the irony too, apparently. (The Guardian) 6 Teslas taxi service has been greenlit in California But the road ahead is still full of obstacles. (Wired $)+ Chinese EVs are snapping at Teslas heels across the world. (Rest of World)+ It certainly seems as though Asia will birth the next EV superpower. (Economist $)+ Robotaxis are one of our 10 Breakthrough Technologies of 2025. (MIT Technology Review)7 Online platforms are fueling facial dysmorphiaHours of staring at their own faces made these women anxious and depressed. (NY Mag $) + The fight for Instagram face. (MIT Technology Review)8 Inside the hunt for water on Mars We know that the red planet was once host to it, but we dont know why. (Knowable Magazine)9 This robotic spider is shedding light on how real spiders hunt Namely using a form of echolocation. (Ars Technica)10 We could be dramatically underestimating the Earths population New data analysis suggests it could be much higher than previously thought. (New Scientist $)Quote of the day In no uncertain terms is this an audit. Its a heist, stealing a vast amount of government data. An anonymous auditor offers a scathing review of DOGEs attempts at auditing US government departments to Wired. The big story The humble oyster could hold the key to restoring coastal waters. Developers hate it. October 2023 Carol Friend has taken on a difficult job. She is one of the 10 people in Delaware currently trying to make it as a cultivated oyster farmer. Her Salty Witch Oyster Company holds a lease to grow the mollusks as part of the states new program for aquaculture, launched in 2017. It has sputtered despite its obvious promise. Five years after the first farmed oysters went into the Inland Bays, the aquaculture industry remains in a larval stage. Oysters themselves are almost mythical in their ability to clean and filter water. But human willpower, investment, and flexibility are all required to allow the oysters to simply do their thingparticularly when developers start to object. Read the full story. Anna Kramer We can still have nice things A place for comfort, fun and distraction to brighten up your day. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or skeet 'em at me.)+ If youre stuck for something to do this weekend, why not host a reading hang?+ Do baby owls really sleep on their stomachs? Like most things in life, the truth is somewhere in the middle.+ Keep your eyes peeled the next time youre in the British countryside, you might just spot a black leopard.+ I couldnt agree morewhy When Harry Met Sally is a perfect film.