A surge of renewable power led to declining emissions in China over the first half of the year even as a growing chemicals sector becomes a major new source of heat-trapping gases, according to new research.
Carbon dioxide emissions from the world’s largest polluter fell 1% on an annual basis from January through June, according to a report from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. The power sector led the decline, with steel and cement also contributing to the drop.
For those who really do wanna wanna a taste of Peacemaker season 2, the wait is over as the show goes on tomorrow on HBO Max.
Deadline
Season 2 deals with the events following the death of Christopher Smith’s (John Cena) white supremacist father, Auggie Smith played by Robert Patrick. But there’s way more. Smith aka Peacemaker finds another dimensional portal and begins to indulge in a life that’s so much sweeter than his real life, particularly with g.f. Harcourt (Jennifer Holland).
Gunn, on today’s Crew Call, tells us while it was his original intention to write season 2 of Peacemaker before Superman, that whole plan changed once he took the reigns at Warner Bros DC Studios. The whole blueprint for the multi-dimensional universe in Superman wound up playing a big role in Smith’s future storyline which Gunn wrote post his Man of Steel.
Peacemaker
Max
But there was an initial draft that Gunn scrapped.
“The first time I wrote a rough outline of season 2, it had to do with other white supremacist superheroes who were after Peacemaker for killing his father because he was their comrade,” says Gunn, “For me, it played a little bit too much like season one and I wanted to turn the story on its heels.”
“I wanted Peacemaker to be this character who had to really deal with the ramifications of his actions in season one, and deal with his emotional reality of the demons that he discovered in season one and how does he face that. That seemed to work much better for that.”
One of the inspirations for Gunn was the Philip Roth novel The Counterlife.
“Peacemaker sees this reality that’s like his, but better in seemingly every way, so how does he deal with that from an emotional standpoint and face the ghosts from his past that he loved and killed? It seemed potent especially when mixed with the love story.
Gunn talks to us about his relief in Superman being a success (the movie is closing in on $600M worldwide gross) and blasting off his DC Studios phase one. He is joined on Deadline’s Crew Call by his Peacemaker DP Sam McCurdy (who won an Emmy for Cinematography One-Hour Series last year for Shōgun) and the two chat about season 2’s visual aesthetic.
Gunn is busy writing his follow-up to Superman, the treatment of which is complete. As he’s mentioned previously, it’s not a direct sequel to Superman but involves the characters we met in this summer’s film with Kal-El figuring prominently.
Listen below:
The biggest highlight here is the built-in screen and an adjustable knob, which allow players to tweak settings like actuation point, rapid trigger, and macros directly on the keyboard without installing or using software. That’s a big step up from the PCMK 2 HE, which relied on a web-based configurator. Pulsar claims the onboard controls not only make customization easier but also give players an advantage at tournaments where installing software is restricted.
As a Hall effect keyboard, the eS HE 70 offers a full suite of competitive features, including an adjustable actuation point as low as 0.05 mm, dynamic keystrokes, rapid trigger mode, and SOCD input for flawless strafing in shooters. Pulsar has also switched to Raesha magnetic switches but retains the 8,000 Hz polling rate from the PCMK 2 HE for consistently fast inputs.
In terms of design, the eS HE 70 also looks the part. It comes with durable PBT double-shot keycaps, a CNC aluminum chassis, and a clean overall design. The only drawback is that it’s wired-only, which might make the $199.95 MSRP feel a bit steep, but with everything else on offer, it still stands out as a serious high-end contender.
The Pulsar eS HE 70 (ANSI layout) is available now directly from Pulsar, with an ISO version on the way.
Kirsten Dunst’s next turn on the big screen may earn big laughs, but there was some harrowing drama off-screen.
The Oscar-nominated actress, who shares two children with husband and fellow actor Jesse Plemons, revealed that her son James suffered a medical emergency while shooting her upcoming film, “The Entertainment System Is Down.” The dark comedy, written and directed by Ruben Östlund, was shot in Budapest and stars Dunst, 43, alongside Keanu Reeves and Tobias Menzies.
In an Aug. 20 interview with Town & Country Magazine, Dunst shared that the medical ordeal took place while Plemons, 37, and their children were staying with her in the Hungarian capital. Although Dunst and Plemons had rented a home, with plans of remaining for the film’s production, things changed course when James, 4, had a “serious health scare.”
While the actress didn’t go into details on James’ health issue, Dunst confirmed that “everyone is fine now.” After the incident, Plemons took James and their other son, 7-year-old Ennis, back to Los Angeles while Dunst remained in Budapest.
Dunst, who returned home in April for a brief visit, said she experienced some parental anxiety after the health scare, likening her fear to the horror film “‘Final Destination,’ where you’re imagining all the things that could go wrong, worst-case scenarios happening to your child.”
“I have never seen that movie, but I know the concept,” Dunst added. “That’s how it feels to be a mother at times.”
Dunst and Plemons welcomed their first child, son Ennis, in May 2018, followed by James in May 2021. The couple married in July 2022.
Dunst told Town & Country Magazine that James’ health scare “brought us together as a family in such a deeper way.” The actress added that she and Plemons will soon be heading to The Bahamas for a family vacation.
Why the tropical getaway? Dunst said James’ request was simple: “I want to go to a beach where my sandcastle won’t wash away.”
Although there is no evidence that microorganisms ever existed on Ceres, the results of a new study support theories that this dwarf planet may have once had conditions suitable to support single-celled lifeforms.
This illustration depicts the interior of Ceres, including the transfer of water and gases from the rocky core to a reservoir of salty water; carbon dioxide and methane are among the molecules carrying chemical energy beneath Ceres’ surface. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.
Science data from NASA’s Dawn mission previously showed that the bright, reflective regions on Ceres’ surface are mostly made of salts left over from liquid that percolated up from underground.
Later analysis in 2020 found that the source of this liquid was an enormous reservoir of brine, or salty water, below the surface.
In other research, the Dawn mission also revealed evidence that Ceres has organic material in the form of carbon molecules — essential, though not sufficient on its own, to support microbial cells.
The presence of water and carbon molecules are two critical pieces of the habitability puzzle on the dwarf planet.
The new findings offer the third: a long-lasting source of chemical energy in Ceres’ ancient past that could have made it possible for microorganisms to survive.
This result does not mean that Ceres had life, but rather, that there likely was ‘food’ available should life have ever arisen on Ceres.
In a new study, lead author Dr. Sam Courville from Arizona State University and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory built thermal and chemical models mimicking the temperature and composition of Ceres’ interior over time.
They found that 2.5 billion years or so ago, Ceres’ subsurface ocean may have had a steady supply of hot water containing dissolved gases traveling up from metamorphosed rocks in the rocky core.
The heat came from the decay of radioactive elements within the dwarf planet’s rocky interior that occurred when Ceres was young — an internal process thought to be common in our Solar System.
“On Earth, when hot water from deep underground mixes with the ocean, the result is often a buffet for microbes — a feast of chemical energy,” Dr. Courville said.
“So it could have big implications if we could determine whether Ceres’ ocean had an influx of hydrothermal fluid in the past.”
The Ceres we know today is unlikely to be habitable. It is cooler, with more ice and less water than in the past.
There is currently insufficient heat from radioactive decay within Ceres to keep the water from freezing, and what liquid remains has become a concentrated brine.
The period when Ceres would most likely have been habitable was between a half-billion and 2 billion years after it formed (or about 2.5 billion to 4 billion years ago), when its rocky core reached its peak temperature.
That’s when warm fluids would have been introduced into Ceres’ underground water.
The dwarf planet also doesn’t have the benefit of present-day internal heating generated by the push and pull of orbiting a large planet, like Saturn’s moon Enceladus and Jupiter’s moon Europa do.
So Ceres’ greatest potential for habitability-fueling energy was in the past.
“Since then, Ceres’ ocean has likely become a cold, concentrated brine with fewer sources of energy, making it less likely to be habitable at present,” the authors concluded.
A paper on the findings was published today in the journal Science Advances.
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Samuel W. Courville et al. 2025. Core metamorphism controls the dynamic habitability of mid-sized ocean worlds – The case of Ceres. Science Advances 11 (34); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adt3283
In just few weeks, Apple’s annual iPhone event will likely be upon us, which means we’ll finally get a look at the newest iPhone 17 lineup. In addition, the company will also give us an official date for downloading iOS 26. Until that happens, you can download and install the newly released public beta 4 (or iOS 26 developer beta 7 for developers). I’ve been playing around with it for the past couple of weeks, and have found that taking screenshots is way better in the new operating system — Google and ChatGPT search options are now in the screenshots editor, for instance. You can see a more complete view of the new features in our preview of the iOS 26 public beta release, which shows off the fresh home and lock screen redesign. Called Liquid Glass, the new translucent look will extend across all of Apple’s upcoming operating systems. The overhaul is one of several big changes coming to iOS, macOS, iPadOS and the rest of Apple’s software suite, all of which were showcased during the company’s WWDC keynote on June 9.
After overpromising on AI plans last year, Apple kept its iOS roadmap focused more on basic quality of life improvements this year. There are multiple useful additions coming to the Phone and Messages apps on your iPhone, for instance: Apple execs outlined the ability to weed out spam texts or other unknown senders and an option to hold your spot on a phone call when you’ve been waiting for a representative to pick up. Plus, a treasured feature that we took for granted is coming back (hint: it’s in the Photos app).
Siri, meanwhile, is in a holding pattern. Apple has previously specified that its smarter voice assistant — first promised at WWDC 2024 — is delayed until some point “in the coming year,” so you shouldn’t expect any major changes in the current betas. But there are reports that Apple is aiming to give Siri a bigger brain transplant by basing it on third-party artificial intelligence models like OpenAI’s ChatGPT or Anthropic’s Claude, which could make 2026 a pivotal year. The company is also reportedly working on a ‘stripped-down’ AI chatbot to rival ChatGPT.
With each beta, it seems like additional new improvements are popping up, like this new AirPods gesture we’re all curious about, and this FaceTime feature that’ll freeze your video if it detects nudity. With the release of the iOS 26 developer beta 5, we saw more added features, like a new bouncy animation on the passcode screen and in the Control Center, MacRumors reports. Some or all of those changes will likely soon migrate into the separate public beta (see below). Most newer iPhone models are eligible to download iOS 26 (both the betas and final version). Want to see the full list of new features coming this fall? Read on.
The current iPhone operating system is iOS 18, and Apple is still actively updating it — version 18.6.1 was released to restore Apple Watch blood oxygen monitoring functionality for certain users in the US. More recently, Apple released 18.6.2 to address a vulnerability related to image processing. But don’t expect to see iOS 19 soon — or ever. Instead, Apple is skipping the numbering ahead to iOS 26 later this year. The company has decided to line up its iOS version numbers with a year-based system, similar to car model years. So while iOS and its sibling operating systems will be released in late 2025, they’re all designated “26” to reflect the year ahead.
It’s official, we’re moving to iOS 26. (Apple)
Let’s be honest. Out of everything announced at WWDC this year, the new Liquid Glass design was the star of the show. The iPhone’s home and lock screens have looked pretty much the same year after year — the last exciting thing (in my opinion) was the option to add your own aesthetic to your home screen by customizing your apps and widgets. So seeing the home and lock screens’ new facelift is refreshing.
So what exactly is Liquid Glass? Apple calls it a “new translucent material” since, well, the apps and widgets are clear. However, the screen can still adapt to dark and light modes, depending on surroundings. You’ll also notice buttons with a new floating design in several apps, like Phone and Maps. They’re designed to be less distracting than the current buttons, but are still easy to see. While the design overhaul has proven to be controversial since its announcement, some — including Engadget’s own Devindra Hardawar — like the new direction, even if it’s somewhat reminiscent of Microsoft’s translucent Windows Vista Aero designs from nearly twenty years ago.
That said, as of the release of the iOS 26 beta 2, Apple has already incorporated some user feedback into the design, dialing back the transparency in at least some places. And while it will continue to evolve, Apple users won’t be able to escape it: Liquid Glass was designed to make all of Apple’s OSes more cohesive. Here’s a look at how the translucent aesthetic will look with the new macOS Tahoe 26 on your desktop.
iOS 26 has a laundry list of new features. Among the most worthwhile:
Phone app redesign: You’ll finally be able to scroll through contacts, recent calls and voicemail messages all on one screen. It also comes with a new feature called Hold Assist that’ll notify you when an agent comes to the phone so you can avoid the elevator music and continue on with other tasks.
Live Translation in Phone, FaceTime and Messages: iOS 26 is bringing the ability to have a conversation via phone call or text message with someone who speaks another language. Live Translation will translate your conversation in real time, which results in some stop-and-go interactions in the examples Apple shared during its presentation.
Polls in group chats: Tired of sorting through what seems like hundreds of messages in your group chat? You and your friends will soon be able to create polls in group messages for deciding things like which brunch spot you’re eating at or whose car you’re taking on a road trip.
Filtering unknown senders in Messages: If you haven’t received spam texts about unpaid tolls or other citations, you’re lucky. For those of us who have, those annoying messages will soon be filtered away in a separate folder.
Visual Intelligence: Similar to a reverse Google image search, this new feature will allow you to search for anything that’s on your iPhone screen. For instance, if you spot a pair of shoes someone is wearing in an Instagram photo, you can screenshot it and use Visual Intelligence to find those shoes (or similar ones) online.
Photos tabs are back: For anyone who’s still frustrated with the Photos changes made last year, you’ll be happy to know that your tabs are coming back. Library and Collections will have their own separate spaces so you don’t have to scroll to infinity to find what you’re looking for.
FaceTime “Communication Safety” feature: A newer addition to iOS 26 appears to be the FaceTime “Communication Safety” feature that pauses communications if and when nudity is detected. The feature appears to be a child safety feature that uses on-device detection, thus obviating any cloud-based privacy issues.
New lock screen options: The iPhone lock screen gets more customizable in iOS 26, with a cooler clock, 3D wallpaper effects, more widgets and better focus mode options.
Apple’s Hold Assist will be nifty for those pesky services that put you on hold for 10 or more minutes. (Apple)
Your iPad isn’t getting left behind when it comes to big updates. Here’s what’s coming this fall.
Multitasking and real windowing: When you download the newest update, you’ll be able to have multiple apps running on your screen at the same time. Once you open an app, it’ll appear on your screen as normal but you’ll be able to resize and move it across your screen to make room for other apps. This feature is optional so you can turn it off if you don’t like it.
Visual update: Along with the other new OSes, iPadOS 26 is coming with the Liquid Glass aesthetic. This new look will appear on the lock and home screens, as well as the drop-down menus.
New menu bar: When you swipe down on your screen, the new menu bar will appear with options like File, Edit, Windows and more. There’s also a search option if you’re looking for something specific.
Check out our first impressions of iPadOS 26.
AirPods are also getting updated with iOS 26. Here are some of the more notable functions.
Enhanced audio recording: Apple calls this “studio-quality” audio recording, and with it, you’ll notice more clarity while in noisy environments.
Camera remote control: Using this, you can take a photo or start and stop video recording with just one press on your AirPods. When taking photos, you’ll get a three-second countdown before your iPhone or iPad snaps the picture.
Live translation feature: While not officially announced or confirmed, it appears that the long-rumored live translation for AirPods could be coming with iOS 26. The evidence comes from a system asset spotted in the in iOS 26 beta showing a gesture that’s triggered by pressing both earbud stems at the same time. The photo also shows words in several different languages.
A few iPhone models that run the current version of iOS — iPhone XR, XS and XS Max — won’t be compatible with the latest upgrade. But any iPhones released in 2019 or later will be eligible for the iOS 26 update.
iPhone SE (second generation or later)
Not listed here are the presumed new iPhone 17 models (or maybe iPhone 26?) that are all but certain to be announced and released in September.
The iOS 26 public beta is now available to download via the Apple Beta Software Program. If you’re not already a member, you’ll need to sign up to try out all the latest features. Just visit beta.apple.com and sign up with your phone number or email address. It’s free.
Once you’re in, you can install it by going to Settings > General > Software Update and selecting iOS 26 public beta.
A word of caution: Don’t sign up with your main iPhone unless you’re OK with any risks that occur with using an OS that isn’t finalized.
iOS 26 will be released to the public this fall. It usually comes in September, within a week of the Apple iPhone event. Last year, it rolled out to iPhone users on September 16 — exactly one week after the iPhone 16 lineup was announced.
If you’re more interested in the Apple Intelligence features coming, here’s everything Apple revealed for iOS, macOS and more during WWDC. Also, check out how iOS 26 screenshots could be an intriguing preview of Apple’s delayed Siri rework.
Update, August 20: Noted that iOS 26 public beta 4 and iOS 18.6.2 are now available to download.
Update, August 18: Added details about a potential iOS 18.6 update.
Update, August 15: Added to link to what to expect at the Apple iPhone event and details about what’s available in the iOS 26 screenshots editor.
Update, August 13: Added new AirPods detail spotted in the iOS 26 beta.
Update, August 11: Noted that iOS 26 developer beta has hit beta 6.
Update, August 8: Added new features coming with iPadOS 26 and AirPods.
Update, August 6: Noted the release of iOS 26 beta 5 and the new bouncy feature on passcode screen and Control Center.
Update, August 4: Noted that Apple is reportedly working on a ChatGPT rival.
Update, August 1: Added quote from Tim Cook about iOS 26.
Update, July 31: Noted that iOS 18.6 is now available.
Update, July 24: Noted the iOS 26 public beta is now available.
Update, July 3: Noted new FaceTime feature found in the developer beta.
Update, June 30: Noted ongoing iOS 18 releases, and reports that Apple is considering additional external LLMs for Siri.
Update, June 25: Noted changes added in iOS 26 beta 2.
New Scientist Women’s arteries seem to be stiffer if they have had covid-19, with the same effect not being found among men.Covid-19 seems to accelerate the ageing of blood vessels, but perhaps only among women.
The infection has previously been linked to cardiovascular complications, like heart disease, but how it has this effect isn’t entirely clear. To learn more, Rosa Maria Bruno at the Université Paris Cité in France and her colleagues recruited 2390 people, aged 50 on average, from 16 countries – including the UK and US – between September 2020 and February 2022.
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If your workstation or gaming desk requires both USB ports and AC outlets, here’s a very inexpensive solution to your problem. Amazon is offering a Baseus 3-Port 3-Outlet Desktop Charging Station for just $11.99 after you clip both $4.50 off and 50% off coupons on the product page. This compact desktop charger features both USB Type-A and Type-C ports as well as AC outlets for the ultimate versatility.
Clip $4.50 Off and 50% Off Coupons
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The Baseus charging station is shaped like a cuboid and is meant to sit long side down on the desk for stability. There are a total of six ports: one USB Type-A port, two USB Type-C ports, and three AC outlets. All three USB ports boast a 20W power output, although if you use more than one at a time the output steps down to 15W. The three AC outlets can deliver a total of 1,625W of power output and feature 12,000J of surge suppression. They’re widely spaced apart and positioned on different sides so bulky power bricks won’t block every outlet. The charging station is compact and won’t take up much of your desk space since it uses GaN technology. For $12, what more can you ask for?
Looking for more options? Check out the best USB Type-C chargers so far in 2025.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Parents are spending thousands of pounds to bank stem cells from their children’s milk teeth – but the recipient companies’ claims about their future medical value are unproven and potentially misleading, reveals an investigation by The BMJ, published today.
The companies’ claims include that stem cells banked from teeth are already being used in treatments for autism and diabetes. They also highlight current research using stem cells in multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and heart attacks.
Tooth stem cell banking involves parents sending their children’s lost milk teeth to a laboratory where the dental pulp stem cells are harvested and stored. The service costs around £1900 (€2189; $2573) with an additional annual storage fee of £95, explains freelance journalist Emma Wilkinson.
The three companies in the UK offering tooth stem cell banking – Future Health Biobank, BioEden and Stem Protect – all operate through one laboratory.
Future Health Biobank says on its website that it has released 26 tooth stem cell samples for treatment, including for autism, type 1 diabetes, and knee cartilage regeneration, all to private clinics in North America.
BioEden states it has “already witnessed the remarkable evidence of these ongoing developments” among its own customers, while Stem Protect cites cleft palate repair, sickle cell disease, HIV/AIDS, severe combined immunodeficiency, and knee cartilage repair under a section of its website headed, ‘What treatments are tooth stem cells used for?’
But several experts are concerned about the claims being made, which they say risk exploiting parents, with the autism treatment promise deemed particularly “outrageous.”
Jill Shepherd, senior lecturer in stem cell biology at the University of Kent, says companies are selling the “potential” for something that is not yet borne out by the science. “There is a lack of evidence and a paucity of research using dental pulp stem cells to treat patients.”
Sufyan Hussain, an investigator on the UK arm of a global clinical trial evaluating stem cell therapy for type 1 diabetes, also has concerns about what is being promised. “At present, there isn’t a definitive answer regarding the optimal source of stem cells for future diabetes therapies,” he says.
Tim Nicholls, assistant director of policy, research and strategy at the National Autistic Society in the UK, adds: “It’s outrageous that tooth stem cell procedures are being advertised to parents with the false claim of ‘treating’ autism.
“Autism is not a disease or illness, it cannot be treated and there is no cure. It is dangerous and morally bankrupt to target potentially vulnerable people with expensive procedures that could, in fact, cause harm.”
Experts are also concerned about the lack of independent information on tooth stem cell banking to help consumers make a fully informed choice, and say more oversight is needed of the information being used to promote the practice.
Jill Shepherd also believes parents should be given more information on what type of tests are done to validate that stem cells are present in the stored samples, that the samples have been collected properly, and the evidence on how long such samples can be viably stored.
The BMJ has raised several concerns about how the service is promoted on all three company websites with the Advertising Standards Agency, which it says it will review.
In response, Future Health Biobank says it is reviewing how information on its site is presented to ensure “readers can clearly distinguish between client experiences and formally published clinical outcomes.”
The company also says it has a “robust, ongoing, storage stability validation programme” with quality control testing “to ensure that there is no deterioration in the integrity, viability or future potential of biological samples.”