MacBook Air M3 13-inch and 15-inch review (2024): Excellent yet unsurprising

MacBook Air M3 13-inch and 15-inch review (2024): Excellent yet unsurprising

It’s hard to expect much from Apple’s new M3-equipped MacBook Airs. The 13-inch M2 model, released in 2022, was the first major redesign for Apple’s most popular notebook in over a decade. Last year, Apple finally gave its fanatics a big-screen ultraportable notebook with the 15-inch MacBook Air. This week, we’ve got the same two … Read more

Why scientists trust AI too much — and what to do about it

Why scientists trust AI too much — and what to do about it

AI-run labs have arrived — such as this one in Suzhou, China.Credit: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty Scientists of all stripes are embracing artificial intelligence (AI) — from developing ‘self-driving’ laboratories, in which robots and algorithms work together to devise and conduct experiments, to replacing human participants in social-science experiments with bots1. Many downsides of AI systems have … Read more

The Dream Vapor Xbox Wireless Controller drops to a record low of $58

The Dream Vapor Xbox Wireless Controller drops to a record low of

Do you really like the aesthetic of bowling but have no interest in the game itself? In January, Xbox released the special edition Dream Vapor controller with swirls that look like they’ve been pulled right from a bowling ball. Now, the Dream Vapor controller — which is a great accessory for the Xbox Series X|S, … Read more

Landmark study links microplastics to serious health problems

Landmark study links microplastics to serious health problems

Plastics are just about everywhere — food packaging, tyres, clothes, water pipes. And they shed microscopic particles that end up in the environment and can be ingested or inhaled by people. Now the first data of their kind show a link between these microplastics and human health. A study of more than 200 people undergoing … Read more

The Backbone One mobile game controller is 30 percent off right now

The Backbone One mobile game controller is 30 percent off right now

Most smartphone games are designed to be played with touch controls first and foremost. But if you want to stream games from an Xbox or PlayStation, or if you gravitate toward games with more complex control schemes like Call of Duty: Mobile or Diablo Immortal, a mobile gamepad like the Backbone One can make things … Read more

China has a list of suspect journals and it’s just been updated

China has a list of suspect journals and it’s just been updated

The National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing.Credit: Yang Qing/Imago via Alamy China has updated its list of journals that are deemed to be untrustworthy, predatory or not serving the Chinese research community’s interests. Called the Early Warning Journal List, the latest edition, published last month, includes 24 journals from about … Read more

Geologists reject the Anthropocene as Earth’s new epoch — after 15 years of debate

Geologists reject the Anthropocene as Earth’s new epoch — after 15 years of debate

After 15 years of discussion and exploration, a committee of researchers has decided that the Anthropocene — generally understood to be the age of irreversible human impacts on the planet — will not become an official epoch in Earth’s geological timeline. The ruling, first reported by The New York Times, is meant to be final, … Read more

Leica’s SL3 mirrorless camera offers a 60-megapixel sensor and 8K video

Leica’s SL3 mirrorless camera offers a 60-megapixel sensor and 8K video

Leica’s SL family has always been the most “mirrorless” looking of its cameras, offering pro photographers handling that’s similar to rivals like Canon and Sony. That continues with the launch of the SL3, a 60-megapixel (MP) model that looks nothing like its famous rangefinder cameras, offering a new phase-detect autofocus system, 8K video capability and … Read more

Nature publishes too few papers from women researchers — that must change

Nature publishes too few papers from women researchers — that must change

Women and early-career researchers: Nature wants to publish your research.Credit: Getty Researchers submitting original research to Nature over the past year will have noticed an extra question, asking them to self-report their gender. Today, as part of our commitment to helping to make science more equitable, we are publishing in this editorial a preliminary analysis … Read more