Category: 4. Technology

The scramble to buy the first wave of Nintendo Switch 2 gaming consoles left a lot of fans in the lurch. Getting your hands on a Switch 2 of your own still takes some luck if you weren’t fortunate enough to snag a pre-order. One of the points of drama has been that major seller Amazon wasn’t an option for buying the new hardware. Until now! The Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World Bundle is now finally listed for sale there.

Before you dash to get the gaming console into your online shopping cart, there is a caveat. Buying the Switch 2 is only available by invitation. You can request an invitation, which appears to be a one-click deal if you’re logged in to an Amazon account. The auto-responder email I received didn’t offer any details about what might merit me receiving an invite. If you pass muster, though, Amazon will send an invite link that’s good for 22 hours. Requests that aren’t honored in this round of invites will be eligible for selection in the future.

So if you’re still on the hunt for a Switch 2 and a chance to play the delightful Mario Kart World, it might be worth throwing your name into the Amazon lottery. And while this sudden availability doesn’t come with any discounts, it has conveniently arrived just as Amazon Prime Day kicks off with plenty of deals and steals from the retailer.

As COVID-19 variants continue to evolve, vaccination remains a critical component of care for individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS), especially those receiving immunosuppressive therapies, according to a new review highlighting the latest evidence supporting vaccination safety and effectiveness in this vulnerable population.¹

The multinational team of experts aimed to clarify lingering concerns around vaccine timing, disease-modifying therapies (DMTs), and long-term protection while also offering practical guidance for US health care providers and policymakers.

The review, published in Neurology Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation, emphasized that vaccination remains one of the most effective tools to prevent severe COVID-19 outcomes—especially for patients receiving DMTs. Although earlier studies produced mixed messages about infection risks among patients with MS (PwMS), this analysis clarified that the benefits of vaccination significantly outweigh the risks, even in patients on immunosuppressive regimens.

According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, PwMS are not inherently at greater risk for contracting COVID-19 or experiencing severe illness. However, the risk increases for those with factors such as older age, Black race, male sex, obesity, progressive MS, or additional chronic conditions, or who use specific DMTs like anti-CD20 treatments.²

“COVID-19 vaccination should be administered following national recommendations and especially also in PwMS, [several individual and health] factors…should be taken into account. Comparatively, these factors are also very important for those who are vaccine skeptical because the risk of potential COVID-19 disease may be significantly increased in at-risk individuals,” the authors emphasized.¹

Researchers reviewed a wide body of clinical trial data, observational studies, and registry information. They also aligned their findings with recommendations from the CDC, the European Medicines Agency, and leading international MS organizations. Notably, mRNA and vector-based vaccines have continued to show strong efficacy against severe disease, including with the Omicron strain and its subvariants, and have maintained favorable safety profiles in PwMS.

Rare adverse events—such as myocarditis, pericarditis, vaccine-induced thrombotic thrombocytopenia, and Guillain-Barré syndrome—were most often seen in young men and remained uncommon. Reassuringly, vaccination did not appear to increase the risk of MS relapse or exacerbate disease activity.

One key insight for managed care decision-makers is how certain DMTs, particularly B-cell–depleting therapies like anti-CD20 agents, may blunt the antibody response to vaccines. However, patients still typically generate a strong cellular immune response, which contributes meaningfully to protection. The review also pointed to hybrid immunity—prior infection plus vaccination—as offering the most robust and durable defense, supporting the use of booster programs.

To optimize outcomes, the authors recommended aligning vaccination timing with DMT dosing schedules where feasible. For example, spacing out vaccinations from cyclic DMT administration could improve the immune response—an important consideration for neurologists and care teams balancing disease control with COVID-19 protection.

The report urged continued education for both providers and patients about vaccine safety while also encouraging policies that prioritize timely access to boosters. For payers and population health leaders, these findings reinforce the value of integrating COVID-19 vaccination strategies into MS care pathways—without delaying or compromising disease-modifying treatment.

The authors concluded, “Overall, vaccination against COVID-19, especially for PwMS, represents a very important step in combating this ongoing pandemic, besides other actions.”

References

1. Monschein T, Zrzavy T, Rommer PS, et al. SARS-CoV-2 vaccines and multiple sclerosis: an update. Neurol Neuroimmunol Neuroinflamm. 2025;12(3):e200393. doi:10.1212/NXI.0000000000200393

2. Multiple sclerosis and COVID-19. National Multiple Sclerosis Society. Updated June 2025. Accessed July 7, 2025. https://www.nationalmssociety.org/managing-ms/living-with-ms/diet-exercise-and-healthy-behaviors/vaccination/covid

With WWDC now firmly behind us, the collective eyes of the tech world are now laser-focused on September and Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17 lineup. While Apple’s iPhone releases in years past have followed a familiar pattern, the company’s iPhone 17 lineup will be a bit more exciting. Specifically, Apple this year is poised to release the iPhone 17 Air, an incredibly thin device that will naturally be priced at a premium.

If you’re curious about what Apple’s incredibly svelte new smartphone is going to look like, Majin Bu recently leaked a video depicting a dummy model of Apple’s iPhone 17 Air.  The video aligns well with previous iPhone 17 Air leaks we’ve seen. And seeing that we’re just two months out from September, there’s a reasonable chance that the device in the video below is an accurate representation of what its final form factor will be.

I chose the HP Omen 16L as the best gaming PC under $1,000. It features an affordable, robust, Intel-based build, a 14th-generation Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM, a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card, and a 512GB SSD. Right now, when you buy directly from HP, you can save 52% with code LEVELUP20, bringing the price to just $575

Also: The best gaming PCs you can buy

This configuration is an almost ideal build for kids and younger teens looking to get their first gaming PC, or adults needing a decent PC that can double as both a workstation and a gaming rig. The 512GB SSD is more than enough storage space, and the RTX 3050 graphics card has plenty of power to handle the most popular titles like Fortnite and Minecraft, and even a few more graphically intense games like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remake or Claire’s Obscure: Expedition 33.

Also: The best cheap gaming PCs you can buy

And for parents worried about the build becoming obsolete in a few years as new components come out, the HP Omen 16L supports up to 32GB of RAM and has three slots for M.2 style solid state drives. This means you can swap out individual components or add storage drives if they fail or your needs change. With a few premium features, like support for 5.1CH surround sound, you can fully enjoy your favorite games, movies, and shows with more immersive sound. 

Looking for the next best product? Get expert reviews and editor favorites with ZDNET Recommends.

How I rated this deal 

While already an affordable option with specific configurations, this 52% markdown on a more robust build gives you an incredible value on a gaming PC that bridges the gap between entry-level and midrange. That’s why I gave it a 5/5 Editor’s deal rating.

Precise measurements of the Higgs self-coupling and its effects on the Higgs potential will play a key role in testing the validity of the Standard Model (SM). 150 physicists discussed the required experimental and theoretical manoeuvres on the serene island of Elba from 11 to 17 May at the Higgs Pairs 2025 workshop.

The conference mixed updates on theoretical developments in Higgs-boson pair production, searches for new physics in the scalar sector, and the most recent results from Run 2 and Run 3 of the LHC. Among the highlights was the first Run 3 analysis released by ATLAS on the search for di-Higgs production in the bbγγ final state – a particularly sensitive channel for probing the Higgs self-coupling. This result builds on earlier Run 2 analyses and demonstrates significantly improved sensitivity, now comparable to the full Run 2 combination of all channels. These gains were driven by the use of new b-tagging algorithms, improved mass resolution through updated analysis techniques, and the availability of nearly twice the dataset.

Complementing this, CMS presented the first search for ttHH production – a rare process that would provide additional sensitivity to the Higgs self-coupling and Higgs–top interactions. Alongside this, ATLAS presented first experimental searches for triple Higgs boson production (HHH), one of the rarest processes predicted by the SM. Work on more traditional final states such as bbττ and bbbb is ongoing at both experiments, and continues to benefit from improved reconstruction techniques and larger datasets. 

Beyond current data, the workshop featured discussions of the latest combined projection study by ATLAS and CMS, prepared as part of the input to the upcoming European Strategy Update. It extrapolates results of the Run 2 analyses to expected conditions of the High-Luminosity LHC (HL-LHC), estimating future sensitivities to the Higgs self-coupling and di-Higgs cross-section in scenarios with vastly higher luminosity and upgraded detectors. Under these assumptions, the combined sensitivity of ATLAS and CMS to di-Higgs production is projected to reach a significance of 7.6σ, firmly establishing the process. 

These projections provide crucial input for analysis strategy planning and detector design for the next phase of operations at the HL-LHC. Beyond the HL-LHC, efforts are already underway to design experiments at future colliders that will enhance sensitivity to the production of Higgs pairs, and offer new insights into electroweak symmetry breaking.

Nameplates never die at Pagani. We’re fully in the era of the Utopia, the brand’s third model now, but the Huayra still has some life left in it. On Tuesday, Pagani debuted the Huayra Codalunga Speedster, an extremely limited, manual-transmission hypercar that pays tribute to 1960s prototype race cars. Unsurprisingly, it’s gorgeous.

Pagani debuted a Huayra Codalunga coupe a couple of years ago and built five examples. This time, it’s building 10, homologated worldwide, and it plans to begin customer deliveries next year. “The Huayra Codalunga Speedster is a tribute to those who imagine their sports car as an icon of lightness and momentum, shaped by essential lines that transcend time with ease,” says Horacio Pagani in a statement. 

The name Codalunga translates to long-tail in English. It’s a tribute to the long-tail sports prototype race cars of the 1960s, whose longer bodywork attempted to improve top speed at tracks like Le Mans. Think cars like the Porsche 908 LH, Alfa Romeo Tipo 33/2, Alpine A220. Pagani’s Codalunga is 193.3 inches long—over 11 inches longer than a “standard” Huayra coupe.

Unlike most Huayra models and even the previous Codalunga coupe, the Speedster is available with a choice of transmissions—seven-speed manual or sequential. Pagani only made its first manual Huayra last year, the Epitome. Here, the transmission is paired with Pagani’s exclusive Mercedes-AMG twin-turbo V-12. Displacing 6.0 liters, it makes the same 864 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque as it does in the Utopia.

Somewhat surprisingly, this Huayra Codalunga Speedster doesn’t have much exposed carbon-fiber trim. That fits in with its 1960s aesthetics. Inside, the car debuts a new interior trim that features an embroidery inspired by Pagani’s signature quad-exhaust arrangement. The steering wheel and shifter also feature mahogany inserts, which really help complete the mid-century vibe.

Photo by: Pagani

Photo by: Pagani

The Codalunga Speedster is a creation of Pagani’s Grandi Complicazioni department, which develops one-offs and limited models like this. For when your “regular” Pagani isn’t quite rare enough, these are the folks you call.

We’ve reached out to Pagani to confirm if all 10 examples are spoken for, but typically, by the time the public sees a car like this, it is long since sold out. Understandably so.

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A little over two years ago, the ubiquitous tech company Dyson made headlines for their highly innovative, if not slightly absurd, pair of air-purifying headphones. But if the $949 Dyson Zones — through which air (and of course, sound) flows into the ear cups, funnels into a visor and blows clean air into your face — seemed unrealistic at the time, it now seems like merely a pre-cursor to their first pair of audio-only headphones, the Dyson OnTrac.

Dyson’s first-ever pair of audio-only headphones officially launched last July and are now now on sale for $299 — a 40% discount off its typically hefty $499 price tag.

It’s no surprise that the top-of-the-line designers and engineers at Dyson, who have reimagined basic engineering in appliances from vacuums to hair dryers, brought their innovative tech to their latest launch. And best of all, the high-tech cans are no more expensive than other noise-cancelling headphones on the market from competing brands such as Apple, Bose and Sony.

So, what are the headlining features of the Dyson OnTrac? Most importantly, they boast best-in-class noise cancellation, with noise cancelled 384,000 times per second and reducing up to 40dB. Plus, real audiophiles can even track and report external noise in real-time through the MyDyson app.

And the sound that does come through enjoys an enhanced sound range. Thanks to a deep sub-bass and high-end brilliance, you’ll be able to hear even the most hidden details out of your favorite songs and other audio. It also features up to 55 hours of listening time and customizable caps and cushions in a variety of a vibrant colors for every type of style, aesthetic and mood.

“Dyson’s audio engineering mission is to preserve the integrity of the artist’s sound wave, free from interference,” Jake Dyson, the company’s chief engineer (and son of Dyson’s eponymous founding inventor, James Dyson), said in a statement. “We also wanted to create a set of headphones that people would cherish, be excited by, and be proud of. With over 30 years of experience in aeroacoustics, we’ve mastered sound physics. By reducing noise through in-house anechoic chambers and expert engineers, we’ve applied and further expanded our audio knowledge to develop the Dyson OnTracTM headphones. Our first over-ear audio only headphones deliver best-in-class ANC, exceptional sound quality and all-day comfort through unique materials, design and customization.”

Aside from audio, the most exciting, and unique, aspect of the Dyson OnTrac are the wide range (20,000 to be exact) of color combinations. It’s a great feature for indecisive shoppers, who can buy separate outer caps and ear cushions in different color combinations and switch them out whenever they want. Shop through all of Dsyons’s OnTrac offerings on their website, and look through some of the best options below:

It’s a great time to buy a new TV during Amazon Prime Day (or, days, rather), but that doesn’t mean you should only consider 2025 models. You can get huge discounts on last year’s models without compromising on much. For example, the excellent 2024 Samsung S90D OLED is available for its lowest price ever.

The 65-inch S90D is available for less than $1,200 at both Amazon and Best Buy, while the 55-inch model is under $1,000 at Amazon. If you want to go with something even bigger, Amazon and Best Buy have the 77-inch model for just under $1,800.

The Samsung S90D is a QD-OLED, which uses quantum dots on top of an OLED layer to create a brighter and more color-vibrant image than traditional OLED designs. Explosions in movies and TV shows burst with crisp reds and oranges, skin tones look more natural, and since it’s an OLED, light is controlled at a pixel level, allowing for deep, inky blacks.

Samsung has also invested in making all of its TVs, the S90D included, great for gaming. It has a 144Hz native refresh rate panel, supports FreeSync, and is G-Sync Compatible for high refresh rate gaming on PC. Modern consoles can go up to 120Hz — don’t blame Samsung, it’s a console limitation. When you’re gaming, its Auto Low Latency feature will switch the TV into game mode to ensure input lag is at its lowest. The Samsung Gaming Hub also puts all of your gaming content in one place, with the option for cloud gaming via an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, Nvidia GeForce Now, and Amazon Luna, among others. Resolution and responsiveness via cloud game streaming won’t match local gaming, but having the freedom to play without a console is a big benefit.

There are some frustrations with the S90D you should consider before buying. Tizen OS is a bit cumbersome to navigate, often requiring multiple button presses to achieve what other TVs accomplish in one (input select being the biggest culprit), but all the built-in apps are right on the home screen. Some niche apps, such as F1 TV, are not available on Tizen. The S90D doesn’t support Dolby Vision, instead opting for HDR10+ as a dynamic HDR format.

The 2025 model, Samsung’s S90F, has slightly better processing than the S90D and is brighter, but it also doesn’t have the same deep discounts we’re seeing on the S90D (you can get a 77-inch S90D for the price of a 65-inch S90F). The S90F’s minor improvements don’t justify their significant price difference. Unless you’re incredibly susceptible to FOMO, the S90D is a much better purchase during Prime Day.

In a city known for artists repurposing disused spaces into studios, those wishing to glimpse Lorna Simpson‘s former Brooklyn–based home studio now have the chance to see it.

The four-story, 22-foot-wide building located at 208 Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood was designed in 2006 by British architect David Adjaye for Simpson and her now ex-husband, the photographer James Casebere.

Pitch Black, as the architect dubbed it, boasts a sleek design with the front featuring black polypropylene panels and the back made almost entirely of glass windows that lead out to more than 800-square-feet of garden space.

Inside, the home features three bedrooms and two-and-a-half baths that previously served as a bedroom and separate studio spaces for the artists across roughly 3,300-square-feet.

Though Simpson relocated a few years ago to a larger commercial space close by, the building has still served as archival and storage space, as well as a spot for hosting and entertaining guests.

Simpson opted to create the space when she couldn’t find one that suited her.

“I could not find something that I liked that felt spacious and that did not feel like a tight traditional townhouse domestic space with limited free-wall space,” Simpson told the New York Times.

“The outdoor space is tranquil day or night,” Simpson added, explaining that the “natural light throughout the building is extraordinary. I could work until the daylight fades.”

While the cost of an artist’s dream might be priceless, the townhouse is currently on the market with the Corcoran Group for a whopping $6.5 million, with annual property taxes coming in at just above $12,000.

The property is situated among Fort Greene Park and other notable art locales like the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and Pratt Institute.

Simpson is known for her alluring and elusive surfaces that form images of Black women in an exploration of gender, race, and culture. She rose to prominence during the 1980s and ’90s with her photography on the same subjects. Her work is currently on view in the exhibition “Source Notes” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York through November 2.

This is hardly the first notable artist’s studio to hit the market within recent years. Andy Warhol‘s former New York studio and apartment, where Jean-Michel Basquiat lived and worked from 1983 until his death in 1988, was up for grabs in late 2022 before it was taken over by Atelier Jolie in 2023. In 2021, the Gramercy Park home and studio of Anselm Kiefer, and subsequently Julian Schnabel, also appeared on the market for $10 million.

Thirty years ago, ASUS engineers started work on our very first graphics card. In the three decades since, users around the world have enjoyed ASUS graphics card innovations and unparalleled PC gaming hardware. In celebration, and as a gesture of thanks to users everywhere, we’ve launched a special “Cheers to 30 Years” giveaway event running from July 8, 2025 to October 7, 2025. Join the event for the opportunity to win exciting prizes including Republic of Gamers (ROG) peripherals, apparel, and NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 50 Series graphics cards.

Explore the ASUS virtual amusement park

At the ASUS Cheers to 30 Years virtual amusement park, you’ll find a variety of virtual attractions, and more are coming as the event progresses. Ride the attractions, collect points, and then use those points to enter raffles for ROG gear. You can also earn points toward raffle entries by completing tasks such as sharing content on social media.

Participants can hop on the Graphics Card Express to witness 30 years of ASUS graphics card milestones, including the story of the legendary dual-GPU ROG Mars and ROG Ares graphics cards; the ROG Poseidon 780, the first graphics card to pack a combined water block and air cooler; and the heavy-hitting ROG Matrix Platinum GeForce RTX 4090.

We want to hear your stories, too, so don’t miss the Memory Ferris Wheel, which lets you share a story about your favorite ASUS graphics card. Discuss a card’s best feature, the greatest gaming feat you achieved with it, or whatever deeply resonates with you about this piece of hardware. Starting August 19, we’ll hold a public vote, and the top four story submissions will be selected to win big prizes. These prizes include the ProArt GeForce RTX 5080, ROG Strix GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, and TUF Gaming GeForce RTX 5070, alongside the latest and greatest ASUS power supplies. Additionally, there’ll be a top-secret grand prize that will be announced on August 19. Stay tuned.

The Memory Ferris Wheel operates from July 8 to August 18, and voting ends September 16. Winners will be announced on October 28.

Get in on some exciting raffles

Raffle drawings take place on July 31, August 31, and October 28, 2025. Users will have a chance to win ASUS Dual GeForce RTX 5060 Ti graphics cards, an ROG Strix Z890-A Gaming WiFi motherboard, ROG Delta II or ROG Pelta wireless gaming headset, ROG Azoth Extreme wireless gaming keyboard, and ROG Harpe Ace Extreme wireless gaming mouse. There will also be raffles for ROG gear and apparel, including the ROG Slash Backpack 4.0, ROG Ombre Hoodie, ROG Archer ErgoAir gaming backpack and ROG Apex Windbreaker. For a complete list of prizes, check the Cheers to 30 Years campaign page.

Even more graphics card prizes are dropping on October 28, in addition to the raffles. Stay tuned for details on how to win more elite ASUS gear.

Celebrate a legendary 30 years

ASUS has been building graphics cards for a long time. In 1996, we released the ASUS 375 for commercial use. In 1998, the ASUS AGP-V3000 was released. Built for hardcore 3D gaming, it kickstarted a longstanding partnership with NVIDIA. In 2006, we formed the Republic of Gamers (ROG), a move to help take our graphics card ambitions to new heights.

Since then, we’ve released countless record-smashing cards that set the bar for high-end PC gaming performance. The most recent victory is the ROG Astral GeForce RTX 5090 OC’s hefty assortment of world records. But these accomplishments are only possible because of you. More than a celebration of ASUS graphics cards, this is a celebration of everything that we’ve accomplished together. We hope you’ll take the time to visit the Cheers to 30 Years event site to take your shot at winning cutting-edge GeForce RTX 50 Series cards and other prizes.