More users will be able to use advanced and personalized AI in their daily lives, taking one more step further towards AI democratization
Samsung Electronics today announced the official rollout of One UI 8 — introducing advanced multimodal AI capabilities, a UX optimized for different device form factors and personalized, proactive suggestions to make everyday life smarter and more convenient. Starting this week with the Galaxy S25 series, One UI 8 will also reach the Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy Z Fold6, Galaxy Z Flip6, Galaxy S24 FE and additional eligible models later this year.1
Personalized Suggestions With Advanced Security
One UI 8 recognizes the user’s context, offering personalized, proactive suggestions that support their unique daily routines. And as Galaxy AI becomes more intelligent, so does its commitment to protecting private data. One UI 8 combines advanced personalization tools with top-tier security features, anticipating user needs while keeping information safe.
Now Bar2 shows real-time app activity and media player progress directly on Galaxy Z Flip’s FlexWindow, and is also now integrated with even more third-party apps.
Now Brief3 provides even more personalized daily updates including traffic, important reminders and Samsung Moments, which allows users to reflect on their daily routines. They can also get personalized suggestions and recommendations, such as music and video picks based on subscriptions and interests. In addition, personalized health insights from Galaxy Watch are also easily accessible.
Knox Enhanced Encrypted Protection (KEEP)4 is a new security architecture designed to safeguard the next generation of AI experiences used by Galaxy’s Personal Data Engine (PDE).5 KEEP creates encrypted, app-specific storage environments within the device, ensuring each app can only access its own sensitive information.
Knox Matrix takes security a step further by automatically signing devices out of the Samsung Account if flagged for serious risks.6 It sends notifications across connected Galaxy devices and gives additional guidance on how to protect data.
Upgraded Secure Wi-Fi with post-quantum cryptography (PQC) encompasses a new cryptographic framework designed to strengthen network protection against emerging threats, helping to ensure robust privacy — even over public networks.
Intelligent Multimodality: AI That Works the Way the User Does
Powered by multimodal AI designed to deliver experiences tailored to user needs, One UI 8 transforms the way users interact with Galaxy devices. By combining visual, auditory and contextual intelligence, it makes everyday tasks intuitive and effortless.
Gemini Live7 allows for natural, seamless communication with AI that understands what the user is seeing or watching in real-time, without the need for switching between apps.
Circle to Search with Google8 gives in-the-moment gaming help when the user circles anything on the screen during game-play. It provides more information about characters and strategies to help the user navigate to the exact spot in the game, with helpful links and videos from across the web to explore further. With Circle to Search’s improved translation capabilities, users can see translated text in real-time as they scroll and interact with the screen.9 From news articles to social media posts, they will see instant, on-screen translations of the underlying text in their preferred language.
UX Optimized for Multiple Form Factors
One UI 8 redefines versatility with UX optimized across the Galaxy product portfolio. Designed to adapt to the unique form factors of Galaxy smartphones and tablets, One UI 8 ensures seamless functionality while boosting productivity and efficiency.
AI Results View displays results from AI features in a separate Split View or Floating View, keeping their original content visible and unobstructed.
Thanks to Galaxy AI Optimized for Large Screens, Multi Window lets users drag and drop AI-generated content — including images and text — directly into their workflow. Tools like Drawing Assist10 and Writing Assist11 unlock an even smoother creative process, as users can move ideas and visuals around more easily than ever before.
Gemini Live is now available directly on Flip’s FlexWindow for hands-free voice search, acting as a personal assistant right on the cover screen.12
Audio Eraser13 proactively detects and removes unwanted background noise, like wind or traffic, with a single tap on a new toggle in video apps and audio apps.
Featuring a new clock design that stretches and adapts to match the user’s wallpaper.14 The clock’s font wraps around faces or contours, ensuring visibility without disrupting the image, whether it’s a close-up selfie or a picture of pets. Users can also customize the thickness, size and color of the font to meet their personal taste.
With advanced customization even for FlexWindow, users can easily create a wallpaper by receiving recommendations and auto-curated wallpapers from the Gallery.15 Emojis and background colors are also customizable for FlexWindow Emojis wallpaper.
One UI 8 also provides AI-powered tools like Portrait Studio,16 which can capture the vibrant expressions of pets and then generate artistic, studio-like pet portraits. Users can also enjoy seamless communication in noisy environments with Call Captions — which instantly converts voices into text during calls — as well as keyboard inputs when using Interpreter,17 which allows users to translate ideas by typing.
1 Official rollout of One UI 8 will apply to the following Galaxy devices this year: Galaxy S25 series, Galaxy S24 series, Galaxy Z Fold6, Galaxy Z Flip6, Galaxy S24 FE, Galaxy S23 series, Galaxy Z Fold5, Galaxy Z Flip5, Galaxy S23 FE, Galaxy S22 series, Galaxy Z Fold4, Galaxy Z Flip4, Galaxy S21 FE, Galaxy Tab S10 series, Galaxy Tab S10 FE, Galaxy Tab S10 Lite, Galaxy Tab S9 series, Galaxy Tab S9 FE, Galaxy Tab S8 series, Galaxy A56 5G, Galaxy A36 5G, Galaxy A26 5G, Galaxy A17 5G, Galaxy A17, Galaxy A07, Galaxy A06 5G, Galaxy A55 5G, Galaxy A35 5G, Galaxy A25 5G, Galaxy A16 5G, Galaxy A16, Galaxy A15 5G, Galaxy A06, Galaxy A54 5G, Galaxy A34 5G, Galaxy A73 5G, Galaxy A53 5G and Galaxy A33 5G. 2 Availability of functions supported may vary by country and network availability. Some functions may require a network connection. 3 Now Brief feature requires Samsung Account login. Service availability may vary by country, language, device model or apps. Some features may require a network connection. 4 Available on Galaxy smartphones and tablets with One UI 8 or later. 5 The Personal Data Engine functions when the Personal Data Intelligence menu is on. Analyzed data will be deleted once the Personal Data Intelligence menu is turned off. Personal Data Engine currently analyzes Samsung native applications. 6 Available on Galaxy smartphones and tablets with One UI 8 or later. Availability may vary by model and/or market. 7 Gemini is a trademark of Google LLC. Results for illustrative purposes. Gemini Live feature requires an internet connection and Google Account login. Service availability may vary by country, language and device model. Features may differ depending on subscription, and results may vary. Compatible with certain features and certain accounts. Currently, users can use a personal Google Account that they manage on their own, or a work or school account for which their administrator has enabled access to Gemini. Users must be 13 (or the applicable age in your country) or over to use Gemini with a personal or school Google Account and 18 or over to use Gemini with a work account. 8 Circle to Search is a trademark of Google LLC. Sequences shortened and simulated. Results for illustrative purposes only. Service availability may vary by country, language and device model. Requires an internet connection. Users may need to update Android and Google app to the latest version. Works on compatible apps and surfaces. Results may vary depending on visual matches. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed. 9 Available on Galaxy smartphones and tablets with One UI 8 or later. Availability may vary by country and device model. 10 Drawing assist feature requires a network connection and Samsung Account login. A visible watermark is overlaid on the image output upon saving in order to indicate that the image is generated by AI. The accuracy and reliability of the generated output is not guaranteed. 11 Writing Assist requires a network connection and Samsung Account login. Must meet length requirements to activate feature. Service availability may vary by language. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed. 12 Gemini Live on FlexWindow will be available on Galaxy Z Flip7, Z Flip6, and Z Flip5. 13 Audio Eraser results may vary per video, depending on how sounds present in the video. Samsung Account login required. Certain types of sound can be detected, such as voices, music, wind, nature, crowds and noise. Compatible with common video/audio formats accessible in Gallery, Samsung Notes, Video Player, Voice Recorder, Call transcription. Actual sound detection may vary depending on audio source and the condition of the video. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed. 14 Availability might vary depending on models. The shape of the clock adjusts to the contours of humans and animals limited to dogs, cats, and birds. 15 Supported on FlexWindow as well as main screen. Availability may vary depending on models. FlexWindow customization is available on Galaxy Z Flip7, Z Flip6, and Z Flip5. 16 Portrait Studio feature for Photo Assist requires a network connection and Samsung Account login. Editing with Portrait Studio results in a resized photo. A visible watermark is overlaid on the image output upon saving in order to indicate that the image is generated by AI. Accuracy and reliability of the generated output is not guaranteed. 17 Interpreter requires Samsung Account login. Certain languages may require language pack download. Service availability may vary by language. Accuracy of results is not guaranteed. Availability and supported features may vary by country, region or carrier. Availability of supported languages may vary.
The questions come fast and furious: “Why only girls?”, “will it affect her periods?”, “can it cause infertility?”, “is it halal?” Inside the airy sports hall of Khatoon-e-Pakistan government girls’ school, the pupils in their crisp blue and white uniforms whisper among themselves, as their parents listen attentively to the health officials taking the session.
While there are some fathers in the chairs laid out for the occasion, the majority are mothers. The groundwork is under way ahead of Pakistan’s first nationwide rollout of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign.
Dr Azra Ahsan talks to parents about the HPV vaccine at Khatoon-e-Pakistan girls’ school in Karachi
The numbers are ambitious: more than 13 million girls aged nine to 14 are due to receive the vaccine in an initiative aimed at protecting them from cervical cancer, a disease with often few symptoms that kills more than 3,000 women in Pakistan each year.
“The concerns are the same everywhere we go,” says Dr Azra Ahsan, president of Aman, one of several organisations working with the government in a 12-day drive to raise awareness about HPV and its vaccine.
In Sindh province, Ahsan’s team has worked with parents, students, teachers and healthcare workers, many of whom share similar fears. “Fertility is the most persistent concern,” she says, and misinformation about vaccines abounds.
However, Mehrunissa Asghar, 40, a vaccinator working with Help, a Sindh-based organisation that works in maternal and child health, says vaccine acceptance has improved since the Covid-19 pandemic. “I believe our job will be much easier this time,” she says.
Her colleague, Yaqoobuddin Lanjar, is less optimistic. “This is our first time, and with so little awareness, we are navigating uncharted territory,” he says. As a male vaccinator, he will not be part of the campaign – all of the 49,000 government health workers trained for it are women.
Vaccinators Yaqoobuddin Lanjar and Mehrunissa Asghar with their colleague Syeda Zakia at the Help office in Karachi
Healthcare officials and advocates hope the free vaccine rollout will not only save lives but also help break the silence surrounding the disease, and are passionate about dispelling suspicions about vaccines.
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“As one mother to another, I urge you to get your daughters vaccinated from this terrible cancer, which often goes undetected until it’s too late and the woman dies an agonising death,” says Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, the Sindh provincial minister for health and population welfare.
Afshan Bhurgri, 59, a cervical cancer survivor, knows how dangerous silence can be. “I wouldn’t wish what I went through on anyone,” she says.
More than a decade ago, Bhurgri had surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, which left her drained physically, emotionally and financially.
Afshan Bhurgri, who survived cervical cancer
“The first thing I did after recovering was get my younger daughter vaccinated. Back then it took three expensive doses. Today, just one jab will do the job,” says Bhurgri. “And it’s free.”
In the first phase, starting next week, 13 million girls from Punjab, Sindh, Islamabad Capital Territory and Pakistan-administered Kashmir will receive a single dose of the Chinese-made HPV vaccine, Cecolin.
Nearly 50% of girls in the target age group do not attend school, so temporary vaccination centres have been set up in neighbourhoods to ensure they can also receive the vaccine.
It will then be available at government-run centres as part of the Expanded Programme on Immunisation, which already provides free vaccines for preventable diseases including tuberculosis, typhoid, polio and measles.
In future, the government will co-finance the programme with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, supported by local civil society groups and global partners including the World Health Organization, Unicef and Jhpiego, a US-based reproductive health organisation, as part of its commitment to vaccinate 90% of girls by 2030, towards eliminating cervical cancer.
Globally, it is the fourth-most common cancer among women, but ranks third in Pakistan, after breast and ovarian cancers, with more than 5,000 new cases reported a year, 64% of which are fatal.
Pechuho attributes the high death rate to delayed diagnoses and limited access to screening. Vaccination is only part of the solution.
From left: Jeiru Shah, 11, Zuleikha Nadeem, 13, and Bibi Marwa, 12, have all told their parents they want to be vaccinated
Ahsan says: “Strengthening screening and treatment is equally critical,” as awareness of screening – and of the disease itself – remains low. A 2021 study of 384 patients at the private Aga Khan university hospital in Karachi found while 61% had heard of cervical cancer and 47% were aware of smears, only 25% knew a vaccine existed.
Despite working in healthcare, Asghar only learned about cervical cancer by chance after seeing HPV listed on a child’s immunisation card from a private hospital. “I had never heard of this vaccine, so I asked doctors and they told me about the cancer and how expensive [the vaccine] used to be.”
Her three daughters, aged 16, 18 and 21, are too old to benefit.
Although Bhurgri was aware of cervical cancer and went for regular screenings, she blames doctors who remained ignorant of her condition, despite clear signs. “I was only sent for an HPV test when it was too late,” she says.
Google Gemini has been steadily climbing up the app store install rankings over the past few weeks, and if current growth continues it could push ChatGPT off the top spot.
In the past month, Gemini has went from around three million weekly installs to 13 million in the second week of September, according to data from app intelligence firm AppMagic.
ChatGPT, Gemini weekly downloads July to Sept 2025 (mm)
Part of the reason for the surge in installs comes from the launch of Nano Banana, Gemini’s photo editing and image generation model that lets users turn selfies into 3D figurine style portraits. According to Google, this brought 10 million new users to Gemini, with a lot of them choosing the mobile app.
Google has also stepped up its marketing of Gemini on television and online channels in the past few months. The company’s new Pixel 10 smartphones have AI front and centre, as one of the key features differentiating it from competitors.
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ChatGPT still holds the crown for number of installs, at 17 million last week. It is also far ahead of Gemini for September total, at 41 million to Gemini’s 20 million.
It’s less likely that Gemini installs will stick in comparison to ChatGPT, as Gemini has surged due to a viral feature that people are likely to stop using after the hype fades. This is not the case with ChatGPT, which is approaching close to one billion weekly active users.
Perplexity is the only other chatbot in the top 100 for installs in September, although this is skewed by the large percentage of total downloads from India. If we just look at downloads from the United States, Perplexity, Gauth and Grok are all in the top 100. Apps from companies spending billions on AI research, such as Meta AI, Copilot by Microsoft and Claude by Anthropic, these are still getting less than two million downloads per month.
When Apple surprises me, it doesn’t tend to be some flashy feature that blows the rest of the world away. Instead, it tends to be them doing something slightly out of their usual swim lane, or their norms. For example, adding in running efficiency metrics a few years ago. This year, that surprise goes to the AirPods Pro 3 team in delivering mind-bogglingly good heart rate accuracy. Like, I won’t beat around the bush: After the dismal accuracy in the PowerBeats 2 Pro earlier this year, this is an astonishing turnaround. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
The AirPods Pro 3 have plenty of new features when it comes to sound quality, noise reduction, and more. But more importantly to this site, are all of the sports and fitness features they’ve added. This includes adding heart rate sensing to the tiny little buds in order to measure your heart rate, along with a new feature in the Apple Fitness app to record your workout (including GPS data from your phone), as well as the ability to have Apple’s new Apple Intelligence-enabled Workout Buddy feature.
At the same time, while they had the PowerBeats 2 Pro base to work from, much has changed here – and some features have even been removed. The choice might not be as clear-cut as you think. So, let’s dive into all the details.
Note that Apple has provided a loaner set of AirPods Pro 3’s, though I’ve already ordered my own. Heck, setting aside any fitness aspects, I just want them for the vastly improved noise cancellation. As someone who spends a ton of time on airplanes, that alone is worth it for me. In any case, once I’m done with these, they’ll go back to Apple.
With that, let’s quickly recap what’s new, and then crack open the box.
What’s New:
(Above left – AirPods Pro 2, right – AirPods Pro 3)
Visually speaking, as seen above, the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods Pro 3 look almost identical. But almost is the key word. Here’s a quick-hit list of the differences between the AirPods Pro 2 vs Pro 3 models
– Added heart rate sensing (in-ear) – AirPods Pro 3 has 2x more noise cancellation than AirPods Pro 2 (and 4x more than AirPods Pro 1) – Apple says they changed internal airflow components, which improves transparency mode & Adaptive EQ – Changed overall design to make this smaller, improving fit – Changed eartip design to be ‘foam-infused’, which means it basically fits/stays put better – Added 5th included eartip size (added XXS, also includes XS, S, M, L sizes) – Updated to Apple’s U2 (Ultra Wideband) chip for better FindMy support (previous was U1 chip) – Increased water resistance spec from IP54 to IP57 – Increased battery life in ANC mode from 6hrs to 8hrs – Increased battery life in transparency mode from 6hrs to 10hrs – Increased battery life for hearing aid mode from 6hrs to 10hrs – Reduced overall case charge from 30hrs to 24hrs – Now records steps/move/calories to the Apple Fitness app (and your rings) during a workout
In addition, there are a few features that were announced with the AirPods Pro 3’s that will also be coming to the AirPods Pro 2:
– Added Live Language Translation – Expanded Fitness app to include Live HR recording with AirPods Pro 3 (and all HR sensors) – Expanded Fitness app to include AI Workout buddy feature with AirPods Pro 3 (and all headphones) – Expanded Fitness app to include live recordings of workouts (AirPods Pro 3 unlocks much longer list of workout types) – Included ability to do sensor fusion between Apple Watch & AirPods Pro 3 for heart rate data (best 5-minute rolling average selected) – Added ability to use as a camera remote for your phone
Finally, when it comes to the PowerBeats Pro 2, I want to note two key differences that the AirPods Pro 3 lack:
– No Android configuration app on the AirPods Pro 3 like there was on PowerBeat 2 Pro – No broadcasting of heart rate on standard Bluetooth HR profiles, like there was on PowerBeat 2 Pro – And thus, no gym equipment/fitness machine support, like there was on PowerBeat 2 Pro
Ok, with all that noted, the price remains the same at $249USD on the AirPods Pro 3, which is very much appreciated in a year when prices increased everywhere, primarily for tariffs, but also overall inflation.
In The Box:
Here’s a quick tour of what you’ll find in the box. First up, here are all the pieces at a high level:
And then the close look at the ear tips. Note the expansion to include an XXS one, in addition to the existing sizes of XS, S, M, and L (the Medium is on the units already):
There is no USB-C charging cable included, which I’m fine with. If you’re a world citizen in 2025 buying the AirPods, I’m pretty sure you have a USB-C cable floating around. And if not, I’m sure your friends do. I would argue for higher-power devices (e.g., laptops and such) including them is still important given all the wonkiness on higher-power delivery devices. But for this sort of thing, it just doesn’t draw huge wattages, so just about any cable will do just fine.
The Basics:
Now, there are a million places to read about sound quality and such of the AirPods Pro 3, primarily from audiophiles. That’s not really me, and I suspect, not really you either. And, no offense to the Apple engineers, but most of us won’t be able to tell the difference between the already excellent sound quality of the previous generations and the new one – let alone do so mid-way through an interval while breathing hard with a bit of a cross wind.
Instead, I want to focus on the unit from a fitness perspective, but still quickly go over the basics. Because as much as I might use the AirPods in sport, I actually use them just *FAR* more for editing videos, listening to music on the plane, and random other boring tasks like conference calls.
First up, there’s the new fit aspects. They are definitely different. The first time you put them in, it’s like “wow, these fit totally different”. Then about 87 seconds later, you forget about it and it feels normal.
When it comes to the iPhone, after pairing it up, you’ve got a slate of options, though the most common one you’re going to use is the top one to switch between Transparency Mode, Adaptive Mode, and Noise Cancellation mode. In short, in transparency mode, you’ll hear all the conversations and noises around you. At the other end, Noise Cancellation mode makes the entire world go away. And then Adaptive Mode is effectively the middle ground. 99% of the time, I’m using Noise Cancellation mode, because I don’t want to hear anyone else. The exception to that would be in a city or such, where I do want to be aware of things around me.
Next, you’ve just got a whole host of settings. Slightly more than 4 pages worth of settings you can tweak.
And of course, these are shown in your FindMy network, in case you lose your case (the case is shown, not each individual AirPod). You can also toggle off heart rate monitoring altogether here if you want.
As noted earlier, there is the added eartip size, though I went with the default size, and it was perfect for my ears. Keeping in mind that while the HR sensor doesn’t measure through the eartip, the overall fit of the AirPods will drive accuracy. If it’s too loose/flopping around, then it won’t be accurate.
When it comes to that noise cancellation, it’s pretty good. I haven’t had a chance to test these on a plane yet, though. I did one better: A kids’ pool party. Specifically, more than half a dozen young girls, including my daughters, screaming all sorts of unintelligible things as they splashed around for hours. While it wasn’t perfect at silencing the craziness, it did give me just enough calm to get some editing done off to the side.
That said, noise cancellation during sport/wind is an entirely different scenario that I’ll dive into below.
Now, there is a new Live Translation piece here. This allows you to have a conversation with someone using another language where you’ll hear what they’re saying in near-real time. I say ‘near’, because it’s grouping their phrases together, rather than word-by-word. That’s logical, since the ordering of the words differs from language to language. You want the intended translation of the phrase, not the exact words in the order they were spoken. For the other person, you can show them your iPhone, and it’ll translate your words in realntime too.
You can download languages for offline (with your phone, but no connectivity) translation as well:
I haven’t had a chance to dig into this piece deeply. The demos I’ve seen first-hand were all at very slow spoken speeds, and very good there. And that’s great if you need to have a slow transaction in a foreign country in a shop or such (as Apple showed it). Or even a slow conversation for business purposes.
But on the flip side, it really struggles when it comes to translating faster scenarios. For example, when watching snippets of the Tour de France in French, using the Live Translation piece, for listening to the announcers, it didn’t stand a chance. It missed the vast majority of what was being spoken, and incorrectly translated the intent of other pieces. Note that it both shows the translation on the phone, and translates it audibly via the AirPods Pro 3.
I often work at the Tour de France, and while my French is passable for many day-to-day pieces, being able to have translation on and listening to some of the announcements in the background and such would be helpful.
Don’t get me wrong, I think all the companies in this space doing this are doing super cool things. And obviously, you have to start somewhere. But just set your expectations accordingly.
Anyways, with that, let’s look at the sports piece.
Heart Rate & Usage in Sports:
The biggest change in the Apple Fitness realm this September is, honestly, the inclusion of a full app feature dedicated to recording your data from your AirPods, and in fact, any heart rate sensor. This feature is found within the existing Fitness app, on a new tab called ‘Workout’. When you open up that tab, you’ve got a host of workout types (once you’ve paired an Apple fitness product, otherwise, it’s a more basic selection for just a general HR sensor).
Below each workout type, there are essentially three options:
– Music – Workout Buddy – Goals (e.g., Calories/Distance/Time)
This isn’t super complex. But it does the trick. So, once you’ve got your AirPods in, it’ll grab the heart rate from those, and you can press the start button. From there, it’ll give you a 3-second countdown, and off you go. Workout Buddy will kick in automatically if enabled, and give you the Pep Talk at the start, followed by updates throughout the workout, and then finally, the Walk Off, at the end of the workout. This does require your phone to be with you, and that you have some sort of internet connectivity (cellular or WiFi). It’s the same as the Workout Buddy as I detailed/tested on the Apple Watch.
But first, it’s worthwhile mentioning *how* it does heart rate data recording. On the sides of the pods is a little black area, and under that are two infrared sensors that pulse light at 250 times per second. That’s notably different than the more standard green LEDs used in the PowerBeats 2 Pro (which didn’t work well):
These infrared sensors look at the blood flow in your ears, and measure the movements of said blood. This data is then fed into a whole slate of algorithms, which attempt to figure out your heart rate, versus something like your thunking footsteps (which is typically what messes up HR sensors). In most cases, it’s the algorithms that are the magic for most companies. But we’ll come back to accuracy later on.
In any case, during the workout, you’ll see a single page of stats. Here’s an example from three different workouts (indoor bike, outdoor ride, and outdoor track run):
Again, there’s only *ONE* page of status, and these are not configurable. So, for example, I can’t see my current speed/pace, just the average speed/pace for the entire ride. I can see my current heart rate, and total calories, as well as total distance. And I can create laps. Otherwise, that’s kinda it.
Note that this will appear on the Lock Screen as a live activity. Further, if you swipe up while in the Fitness app, you’ve got a few more options, including muting Workout Buddy, and doing a Check-In.
Once you’re done, you can hit pause, and end things. This will bring up a selection of summary stats:
One of the options you’ll have here is to Rate Your Effort, which will in turn update your training load data.
You can then view/plot this data longer-term if you want to:
Next, let’s talk briefly about noise cancellation during workouts at speed/wind. I should note that I generally don’t recommend riding outside with in-ear headphones (bone induction headphones would be different). It’s usually a safety risk since you can’t hear traffic overtaking you (or anything else for that matter).
In any case, Apple said they changed aspects of the wind flow within the headphones, which may or may not improve how much wind you hear. You see, one of the challenges with either transparency mode or noise cancellation mode is that it’s actually using the microphones on the outside of the AirPods to pull that audio inside to you. But it has to figure out what’s wind and not, and then remove that wind noise.
While there are some improvements here compared to the AirPods 2 Pro, I don’t feel they are vast improvements. It’ll still sound like a tornado is in your head, though the audio is usually listenable for all but the fastest descents.
That said, in either scenario, there’s absolutely ZERO awareness of cars overtaking you. On this particular ride my cycling radar wasn’t with me (long story, a rarity, it just wasn’t), which usually would alert me to overtaking traffic. However, it was astonishing how even on a relatively quiet country road, how quickly cars snuck up on me (in either transparency or noise cancellation mode). Never heard them. So again, totally cool for indoor usage, but definitely not for riding outdoors. For running, it was good, though still a bit of wind noise when the wind blew in certain directions.
Ok, let’s talk about waterproofing briefly. The AirPods Pro 3 actually have increased waterproofing from IP54 to IP57:
The first number (’5’) in the IP number is talking about dust resistance, whereas the second number is covering water resistance. And in this case, it increased to ‘7’, which technically means it supports 30 minutes at 1-meter deep. Yet also technically, Apple’s site says not to immerse them:
Obviously, since Apple touted meeting that standard, I’m going to validate it. So, off we go.
Now, a couple of things of note here. There’s no music/sound coming through. This is because once it loses connection with my phone (which was actually with me in the orange openwater swim bag near me), it drops the signal. It did this instantly upon hitting the water. Also, the water may just be causing it to pause the music too. Either way, it doesn’t work (which is different than other headphones designed for swimming that do have offline playback modes).
The second thing to note is just how good the fit was. My wife looked at me and was like, ‘You are definitely gonna lose these’, but there was no chance I was losing them (this has not been a strong summer for me and losing things on my openwater swims). In any case, they were locked in there, both above water and a bit deeper.
Afterwards, per the usual caution about putting devices in saltwater, I rinsed them off with fresh water. See, safety first! Err…last.
I let them dry a bit, and they were good to go. No issues since then, and all is good. Which makes sense, because again, on paper, that’s literally what it says they support.
Now, a key difference between the AirPods Pro 3 headphones and the PowerBeats Pro 2 when it comes to the heart rate signal is that the AirPods Pro 3 are *NOT* sending out a standard Bluetooth heart rate signal (BT HR profile signal). Whereas the PowerBeats Pro 2 actually do send out a standard Bluetooth HR signal that’s compatible with virtually every app & 3rd party device made over the last decade or so. This is important for areas like a Peloton Bike, which can pair with the heart rate of the PowerBeats Pro 2, but not the AirPods Pro 3. Likewise, if you have other devices like dedicated bike computers, or simply just an Android phone – you won’t be able to get the heart rate signal on those devices.
It sounds like Apple views the PowerBeats Pro 2 as part of the greater Beats brand, which is designed to be slightly more device-agnostic (hence still drawing in Android users). And sure, that’s fine. But the reality here is that this is limiting their appeal to actual iPhone owning users, too. The majority of Peloton owners are on iPhone. The majority of Garmin bike computer users are on iPhone. The market for these higher-end devices skews overwhelmingly iPhone (as it has for more than a decade), and this ignores their best customers.
And that sets aside the Android realm. No Android user is going to switch phones just for the AirPods Pro 3. But, they might just go and buy them if they fit their fitness use cases. Now, if they need heart rate, they certainly won’t. Again, this whole decision is baffling.
Ok, with that, let’s get into the accuracy bits.
Heart Rate Accuracy:
For all of the heart rate accuracy recording here, I had separate devices/phones recording the data. Thus, when an Apple Watch was also involved, it was on an entirely separate phone/account (and therefore, might as well be a friend’s phone). All other watches/devices recorded separately to themselves, and the AirPods Pro 3 recorded directly into the Apple Fitness app on an iPhone updated with iOS26.
First up, we’ll start with something that should be relatively easy – indoor cycling. I say ‘easy’, because while my heart rate will fluctuate quite a bit, my head isn’t really moving anywhere in the grand scheme of things. It doesn’t have to figure out the difference between heavy footsteps running down a hill and my heart rate, there’s not much signal noise, etc… In the grand scheme of heart rate monitoring (of all sensor types), indoor cycling is pretty much the easiest to do:
And indeed, it nails this. Kudos. Then again, so did the PowerBeats 2 Pro. Again, this is the easiest possible bar to test.
So next we’ll increase the bar with a steady-state run. Nothing complicated here, just…well…running at an even steady pace outdoors. Here we can see the results:
As you can see, that’s really good, and virtually indistinguishable from the other units. This isn’t considered a complex task, but hey, the PowerBeats 2 Pro would have failed this one too.
Next, we’ll increase complexity with an outdoor ride. This is one of the areas that can be very tricky for optical sensors, primarily wrist-based ones. Your wrists are flexed stiff, and often absorbing the vibrations of the road. Thus when a watch gets this correct, it’s pretty impressive. For upper arm band-type devices, they tend to do super well here, because the rest of the arm acts as a shock absorber. And therefore, when you look at ear-area devices for optical HR sensing, you’ve got your entire body acting as a shock absorber. In any case, here’s that data:
Overall, this is pretty darn good. You do see a few moments (in purple) at the peak of an interval when it struggles a bit. Interestingly, usually you see the struggling happen on the ramp up into the interval, but this was at the steady-state portion, which is kinda a quirky failure.
Finally, we’ve got an interval workout set. This was 4×800, then 4×400, then 4x30s, plus some warm-up and cool-down boringness:
Holy crap that’s good. And frankly, good by everyone. Only one minor blip from the Whoop 5.0/MG and the Polar 360 band on one of the intervals for no obvious reason, but otherwise, spot on by everyone. I fully expected the AirPods Pro 3 to fail here, and it aced it.
Note that if you’re looking for some lifting/gym sets, I recommend you check out DesFit. Note that lifting/gym is frankly one of the easiest things you can do with something like the AirPods Pro 3, because your head isn’t bouncing/moving/etc much (if at all), and the heart rates in lifting tend to be quite low in comparison to other cardio-focused activities. Where you’d see potentially more complexity would be a CrossFit-type scenario, where you’ve got lots of quick movements and shifts in intensity. Though from a HR processing standpoint, it’d be similar to the intervals I did above.
In any case, I’m blown away. Like, legit blown away. Not because Apple couldn’t do it, but because the PowerBeats 2 Pro were so bad (and only about 8 months ago), that I’d kinda written off Apple’s ability to get optical HR correct. Further, other companies recent attempts (e.g. Polar’s with Sennheiser), have also been pretty darn bad. All of which tracked with numerous other companies over the years trying, and failing, horrifically.
Apple has managed to do something that really nobody else has: Produce a pretty solid heart rate sensing device in your ears. It’s not absolutely perfect, but it’s really strong. Plus, despite urban legends to the contrary, chest straps are rarely perfect either (especially in the cooler fall temps, when there isn’t quite as much sweat, you’ll see issues in the first 5-10 mins).
(Note: All of the charts in these accuracy sections were created using the DCR Analyzer tool. It allows you to compare power meters/trainer apps, heart rate, cadence, speed/pace, GPS tracks, and plenty more. You can use it as well for your own gadget comparisons, more details here.)
Wrap-Up:
As I said above, I’m impressed. Super impressed. Partly because no other company has succeeded here, or even come remotely close. And partly because Apple was so far away from success back in February, to come full circle to a very solid product is most unexpected. At the same time, it has all the other bits that I use daily in my previous AirPods Pro 2 units that both my wife and I bought last time they came out. They’re great, and entirely my daily drivers.
That said, I really wish Apple hadn’t yanked out the standard Bluetooth HR sensing profile. This seems pretty counter to a wide array of people using the device for fitness purposes. Even the simple and common use case of a Peloton Bike (for HR) is broken here. There are 5 million Peloton users, who are also Apple iPhone users. These people largely aren’t converting to Fitness+ (because they would have done it already), so meeting them where they are seems like an easy solution for increased sales. The same goes for other cycling and non-cycling platforms that want accurate HR data, but can’t really leverage Apple’s (mildly wonky) API’s for accessing that on the Apple platform (limitations the PowerBeats 2 Pro don’t have).
In any event, if you want great sound for workouts with great heart rate, this seems like not just the easy button, but frankly, the only button. No other heart rate-capable headphones have been anywhere near this accurate (or even usable for that matter). And this seems to check both the accuracy and audio boxes.
With that, thanks for reading!
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APPLE’S AIRPODS AREN’T updated on an annual cycle like Apple’s other gadgets, so the model I’ve spent the bulk of my time wearing recently are the Pro 2’s, which dropped in 2022. At its annual fall hardware event earlier this month, the company announced the latest model, the AirPods Pro 3.
Ahead of their wide release on September 19, I got a chance to test the Pro 3’s out. I used them on a plane, took them on a few runs and workouts, and wore them for more everyday activities like commutes, dog walks, and phone calls. Here’s what I thought about everything from the fit to the new fitness tracking capabilities. Spoiler: they’re really, really good.
Apple AirPods Pro 3
Fit
The shape of the Pro 3 has been redesigned, with the aim of improving both seal and sound. They fit into the wearer’s ear at a more pronounced angle, and have an extra vent compared to the Pro 2.
Brett Williams
The AirPods Pro 3 (R) have a new shape, compared to the Pro 2 (L).
The biggest tactile change are the squishy tips on the ends of the buds. Previous models were made of flimsy silicone. The tips in the Pro 3 have been upgraded with a foam infusion, which is much firmer and easier to swap out. Like previous models, Apple includes alternate sizes for the new tips.
I’ve never had any size issues with a pair of AirPods out of the box, and the Pro 3’s standard tips felt fine when I started using them. When I swapped them out for the “small” tip size and put them in — I could immediately tell a difference.
Brett Williams
The new design includes a simple system to replace the tips.
The fit was better, more snug. The sound, which was already excellent, was clearer. Changing them is easier than with previous models, and the click of locking in the new, firmer tips is very satisfying. If you get the Pro 3, make sure to experiment with the fit to make sure you’re getting the most of them.
Pre-Order Apple AirPods Pro 3
Active Noise Cancelling
Apple claims that the Pro 3’s Active Noise Cancelling (ANC) is twice as effective as the previous model. I popped the new buds in for one of the first times in an extremely noisy environment: an airplane.
Earlier in the flight, I’d been using my over-ear AirPods Max, which do a great job of filtering out plane engine sounds. While I’d usually I expect any over-ear headphone to be superior to earbuds in this situation I actually found that the Pro 3’s worked nearly as well. In my experience, there’s usually a more pronounced step down. (I confirmed as much when I tried out my Pro 2’s as a control.)
I watched a movie, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and listened to Kendrick Lamar’s DAMN. The audio of the film, with its chaotic action scenes and retro hip-hop soundtrack, was immersive, without sounding tinny or pared back, while the bass in songs like “DNA” was deep without dominating the rest of the production or vocals.
Outside of such extreme circumstances, the ANC and the Pro 3’s other audio features work much more subtly. I tried out Transparency mode on a 10-mile run a few days later, and stayed successfully connected to the world as I crossed busy sidewalks and streets. I still had buds in my ear canals, so background noise isn’t as clear as when I wear open ear models (like those from Shokz and Bose), but I was still able to stay alert.
Pre-Order Apple AirPods Pro 3
Heart Rate and Fitness Tracking
When people think of fitness tracking and monitoring their heart rate, they’re usually thinking of devices that go on their wrists or strap to their chest. The new AirPods aim to add ear canals to your list of options. They’re not the first earphone to feature a heart rate monitor—Apple-owned Beats offer it with the Powerbeats Pro 2, as does Sennheiser’s Momentum Sport buds—but these are the first to offer the capability outside of the exercise specialty space.
Using the feature is easy. You start by choosing the type of exercise you’re doing (there are 50 choices) on the connected iPhone, and the AirPods immediately begin measuring your heart rate. I logged one of my dog walks, and the buds gave me a heart rate reading that matched my Apple Watch. When I compared it to another heart rate monitor, my Whoop strap, I was within about 10 BPM. This is the difference I’ve usually noticed between my Apple Watch and the screen-free wearable. Assessing the accuracy of these wearables is always difficult compared to medical settings, so it’s fair to say the Pro 3’s are at least similar to other tech devices.
Brett Williams
The heart rate comes up on the screen during tracked activities while wearing AirPods.
Does this mean you should ditch your other wearables? For some people, maybe. You won’t get the same in-depth data you would from most fitness trackers or smartwatches, but it does check most of the basic boxes like heart rate and calories burned, while the phone provides GPS tracking.
To make the earbuds tougher for all this training, Apple says the Pro 3s now features an IP57 sweat and dust resistance rating, which levels the water resistance up to protect them from “temporary immersion in water.” Even when I sweat through the hat I was wearing on my run, I had no problems with the Pro 3’s, which isn’t always the case with other earphones. I’m not exactly going to dump the earbuds in a pool to test this out—and you shouldn’t try to swim in them—but from my testing experience they’ll stand up to normal use it wet conditions.
Pre-Order Apple AirPods Pro 3
Live Translation
The AirPods Pro 3 also offer Live Translation, a feature that gives in-the-moment language service to users in five languages. Apple isn’t the first to offer something like this, and other models have more expansive options: Google’s Translate app and Pixel Buds Pro can deal in 40 languages, and Samsung’s Galaxy Buds3 offer real-time translation of 21 language through its Interpreter app. Apple says it will expand and launch service to Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese (simplified) by the end of the year.
To use Live Translation, you can open the Translate app on your iPhone and select the option on the screen, or use both hands to squeeze the AirPod stems to launch the feature. I tried it out in Spanish-to-English. There’s a brief pause as the system works, but as someone with only remedial foreign language skills, it’s quicker than I would usually take to jumble through what someone might be saying to me in French.
Brett Williams
The Live Translation screen interpreting Spanish to English.
Brett Williams
The other side of the conversation, with my explanation of the feature.
When you speak your reply, the translation appears on the phone screen—unless, of course, the other person is also wearing AirPods. Obviously, this could be hit or miss in a real world scenario.
Pre-Order Apple AirPods Pro 3
Should You Get the AirPods Pro 3?
If you’re an iPhone user and you need a new pair of wireless earphones, these are probably going to be your best option. The price point ($249) is similar to comparable models, some of which don’t offer features like the heart rate monitor or the clinical-grade OTC hearing aid feature, which was introduced last year with the Pro 2.
That said, there’s no rush to upgrade just to upgrade—the Pro 2’s are already so solid, even if the ANC and sound of the Pro 3 is superior. The watch-free workout tracking might be worth your while, but the Live Translation feature will be coming to all ANC-enabled devices with the launch of iOS 26—which means you will be able to use it on the Pro 2’s and AirPods 4 with ANC as long as you have an iPhone with Apple Intelligence.
Basically: Think about how much you value the heart rate monitor, and decide accordingly.
For those of you waffling about whether or not to make the switch to AirPods from other headphone models: There’s one very specific issue that continues to give Apple’s options an edge over other brands for me personally. It doesn’t matter if it’s Bose, Beats, or Shokz—all of them I’ve loved, only to have one of the earbuds crap out on me after extended use. Right ear, left ear—inevitably, one of the units stops holding a charge. Across multiple AirPods models, I’ve never had this problem. Only time will tell if the Pro 3’s can keep up the winning streak—but based on my experience, it seems plenty likely.
Apple AirPods Pro 3
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Brett Williams, NASM-CPT, PES, a senior editor at Men’s Health, is a certified trainer and former pro football player and tech reporter. You can find his work elsewhere at Mashable, Thrillist, and other outlets.
Holly Varah bartends at a dive in Port Townsend, Washington. Until this spring, she owned a photo booth. It was a private, almost confessional space, shut off from the bulk of the revelry in the bar’s side room. Soon after Varah bought the booth, someone directed her attention to its classic red curtains: the velvet drapes were short, coming down just above the hips of whoever sat in it, “so that you can’t get up to anything in there” – mainly sex or drugs. But Varah, who is 42, wanted her booth to be a space of indiscretion.
“I immediately put a long curtain in,” she said. For five years, the bar had a house policy: take a nude inside the booth and receive a token for another free round.
A person takes a photo at the Classic Photo Booth warehouse event in Old Bridge, New Jersey, as part of the International Photobooth Convention in New York City, on 30 August 2025.
What is the most fun you can have in a film photo booth? Ask a room full of self-described “boothers” – those would be analog obsessives – and you will get a host of answers, only some of which are R-rated. (“Kissing inside of there is just really fun,” Varah said). Others are more innocent – or ridiculous. Jocelyn Dean, who worked as a photo booth technician in Portland, Oregon, once got proposed to as the flashbulbs went off (she said no). Kati Cleaver, who restores the machines in Chicago, took her engagement photos inside of one. When Justin Twaddell and his wife, Caitlin von Schmidt, had their son, Tom, 18 years ago, they brought the newborn to a booth near their home Greenfield, Massachusetts, for some of his first baby pictures. Every month since then, the family goes back for more film strips. It’s a ritual that continues even as Tom goes off to college this fall; luckily for them, he’s staying local.
These boothers gathered in New York City over Labor Day weekend for the International Photobooth Convention: an annual event that floats through cities boasting a large concentration of booths – last year’s took place in London – and includes technical demos of the machines, artists talks and art workshops. On a hot Saturday afternoon, they piled into chartered buses and drove over the bridge to New Jersey’s Classic Photo Booth warehouse to test various models, some dating back to the 1940s. Longtime enthusiast Max Sverdlov has run his company, Classic Photo Booth, for over 30 years, refurbishing broken machines and selling them to interested buyers.
The International Photobooth Convention. Maxim Sverdlov, 73, works on a photo booth transmission. Breanna Conley, founder of Autophoto, which runs the convention, takes a photo in one of the analog photo booths.
A film photo booth costs between $20,000 and $50,000, said Únies Gonzalez, a 29-year-old film lab manager from Houston, Texas. Gonzalez and her boss, Jessi Bowman, made the trip to New York hoping to buy one. Boothers say there are no film photo booths left in Texas – in fact, there are fewer than 200 left worldwide, according to Autophoto, the organization that runs the convention. “I take a trip each year to a place that has one, so I can document myself the way I feel most represented,” Gonzalez said. The Texans left the convention without securing a machine, but they met some sellers they plan to work with in the near future.
Booths used to be ubiquitous in arcades, bars and some European metro stations, but over the years the mid-century machines became relics, expensive to maintain as only a handful of people are qualified to work on them – and because film, ink and replacement parts are not cheap. Today, many venues have digital machines – you have probably noticed pop-ups at work holiday parties or wedding receptions – but those tend to produce sharper, less forgiving images than their film predecessors. “I don’t like photos of myself, but I love photo booths,” said Peter McDaniel, 45, from Chicago.
Emma Cooper, a 35-year-old from Los Angeles, makes a point to track down photo booths when she travels. It doesn’t always pan out. “I went all the way to Poland, and the booth was broken,” Cooper said. “Luckily, I headed to Berlin afterwards, which is so rich in photo booth culture.” (So-called “photoautomats” are spread all over the German city.)
Some enter the booths without a plan. Others, like artist Lexi Darlin’, 42, storyboard out their poses with the intensity of a film director. Others still bring props – or pets: Alice Christine Walker, a photographer and former technician in Portland, Oregon, once got an urgent call from a woman who was trying to take headshots of her chickens in a booth. The chickens were dark-colored and were not showing up on film. Walker adjusted the exposure and all was well.
Lexi Darlin’, 42, Cincinnati, Ohio, takes photo booth photos at the Classic Photo Booth warehouse.
Why does Walker think photo booths are so special? “It’s private,” she said. “You can close the curtain, and it’s just you.” Except when there are chickens.
Press a button, take your pictures, wait for the printing: photo booths might seem simple to the uninitiated, but they are a feat of chemistry and engineering. Dean, who fielded the photo booth marriage proposal, remembers changing the chemicals of a photo booth at the Ace Hotel in Portland. A young boy watching nearby asked how it all worked. She began explaining the process, but stopped as she watched the kid’s eyes glaze over. “So then I said: ‘It’s magic!’ and he went: ‘Oooo, OK!’ I should have started with that,” Dean said.
Melissa Veerasammy, 28, and Raya Lieberman, 30, who traveled to the convention from Montreal and Portland respectively, met in college and formed a friendship one strip at a time. “I love the tangible memories that are created, and that you only have four shots,” Veerasammy said.
“There’s no negative – if you lose it, it’s gone,” Lieberman added. “And if you’re into them, you’re really into them. They’re a gathering place, and as soon as you’re in a booth together, you’re like a kid again.”
Hannah Roddam-Kitt, 40, owner of the only analog photo booth in Portugal, looks at her friends’ photo strips.
But much like youth, a photo booth does not last forever. Even the most ardent devotees cannot keep every machine running. Varah, the Washington bartender, sold hers this spring. She needed to pay off credit card debt and could not afford costly repairs. “I hit the end of my run,” Varah said. “When the booth went on the truck, I felt the physical sensation of stress leaving my body.” And if she ever had the opportunity to buy another? “I would jump on it.”
An immunocompromised man endured ongoing acute COVID-19 for more than 750 days. During this time, he experienced persistent respiratory symptoms and was hospitalized five times.
In spite of its duration, the man’s condition differs from long COVID as it wasn’t a case of symptoms lingering once the virus had cleared out, but the viral phase of SARS-CoV-2 that continued for over two years.
While this record may be easy to dismiss as something that occurs only to vulnerable people, persistent infections have implications for us all, US researchers warn in their new study.
“Long-term infections allow the virus to explore ways to infect cells more efficiently, and [this study] adds to the evidence that more transmissible variants have emerged from such infections,” Harvard University epidemiologist William Hanage told Sophia Abene at Contagion Live.
“Effectively treating such cases is hence a priority for both the health of the individual and the community.”
Boston University bioinformatician Joseline Velasquez-Reyes and colleagues’ genetic analysis of viral samples collected from the patient between March 2021 and July 2022 revealed what the virus was up to during its extended invasion.
The virus’s mutation rate within the patient ended up similar to that usually seen across a community. What’s more, some of these mutations were awfully familiar. Spike mutations matched positions of those seen in the omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2, for example.
Within just one person, the same types of mutations that led to the emergence of the faster multiplying omicron variant were on their way to being repeated. This backs the theory that omicron-like changes developed from selection pressures the virus experiences inside our bodies, the researchers explain.
Long COVID can cause changes in people’s brains. (Rua et al., Brain, 2024)
The patient, who has advanced HIV-1, believes they contracted SARS-CoV-2 in mid-May of 2020. During this time, he was not receiving antiretroviral therapy, nor able to access the necessary medical care despite suffering from respiratory symptoms, headaches, body aches, and weakness.
The 41-year-old had an immune helper T-cell count of just 35 cells per microliter of blood, explaining how the virus managed to persist for so long. The healthy range is 500 to 1,500 cells per microliter.
Luckily, in this case at least, the stubborn invader was not highly infectious.
“The inferred absence of onward infections might indicate a loss of transmissibility during adaptation to a single host,” Velasquez-Reyes and team suspect.
Still, there’s no guarantee other infections that establish long-term camps inside us will follow the same evolutionary path, which is why experts are wary and calling for continued close monitoring of COVID and adequate access to healthcare for everyone.
“Clearing these infections should be a priority for health-care systems,” the researchers conclude.
To reduce the chances of problematic mutations, physicians and researchers urge communities to keep up vaccinations and continue masking in crowded, enclosed areas.
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This image of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS shows its green glow. | Credit: Michael Jäger/Gerald Rhemann
On Sept. 7 2025, the skies darkened as Earth’s shadow consumed the moon. Skywatchers in many parts of the world saw the moon turn blood red due to a total lunar eclipse.
For amateur astronomers Michael Jäger and Gerald Rhemann in Namibia, the eclipse was not only a sight to behold, but it also gave them an unprecedented opportunity: the chance to capture the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS under some of the darkest skies on Earth.
Using the eclipse’s natural dimming of the moon, the duo was able to take some deep images of the comet, revealing something surprising: the comet glowed green.
What is it?
3I/ATLAS is only the third confirmed interstellar comet observed passing through our solar system and where it originated from is still a mystery. The comet is classified as interstellar because its trajectory is hyperbolic, meaning it’s not gravitationally bound to the sun and most likely originated in another star system (at least that’s the most likely theory).
It follows in the footsteps of two other famous interstellar objects: ‘Oumuamua, a cigar-shaped body that still sparks debates about its nature, and comet 2I/Borisov, the first confirmed interstellar comet, which displayed more of a typical dusty coma and tail.
Now, 3I/ATLAS provides astronomers with another rare chance to study the chemistry of material formed around a completely different star.
Where is it?
This photograph was taken in the Kalahari Desert in Namibia, Africa.
A vacuum is used to collect hair during a haircut. | Credit: Michael Jäger/Gerald Rhemann
Why is it amazing?
This is the first image showing a green hue to 3I/ATLAS, hinting at its unique chemistry. With the darkness provided by the lunar eclipse, the first explanation for this green color is that the comet may have diatomic carbon (C2). This molecule, made of two carbon atoms bonded together, is known to fluoresce a green glow when energized by sunlight.
However, in August, astronomers at Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona found that 3I/ATLAS is actually poor in carbon-chain molecules, including diatomic carbon. This begs the question however, if diatomic carbon was absent only a month earlier, how is the comet suddenly green now?
One possibility is that heating by the sun caused fresh layers of ice to melt and release hidden diatomic carbon molecules that were previously trapped beneath the surface. Another possibility is that the green glow is coming from other molecules which also glow under sunlight. Because 3I/ATLAS is interstellar, it may contain chemistry not commonly seen in our solar system comets, leading to a false “classic” green glow from an unfamiliar source.
Whatever the cause, 3I/ATLAS remains a mystery in many aspects as astronomers continue to study it as it moves through our solar system.
Want to learn more?
You can read more about imaging 3I/ATLAS and its journey toward the sun.
Real Madrid have named their squad for the match against Olympique Marseille in their first Champions League fixture of the season, set to be played at the Bernabéu (Tuesday, 9:00 pm CEST).
REAL MADRID SQUAD: Goalkeepers: Courtois, Lunin and Fran González. Defenders: Carvajal, Militão, Alaba, Trent, Asencio, Á. Carreras, Fran García and Huijsen. Midfielders: Bellingham, Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni, Arda Güler and Ceballos. Forwards: Vini Jr., Mbappé, Rodrygo, Gonzalo, Brahim and Mastantuono.
On Sept. 7 2025, the skies darkened as Earth’s shadow consumed the moon. Skywatchers in many parts of the world saw the moon turn blood red due to a total lunar eclipse.
For amateur astronomers Michael Jäger and Gerald Rhemann in Namibia, the eclipse was not only a sight to behold, but it also gave them an unprecedented opportunity: the chance to capture the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS under some of the darkest skies on Earth.
Using the eclipse’s natural dimming of the moon, the duo was able to take some deep images of the comet, revealing something surprising: the comet glowed green.
What is it?
3I/ATLAS is only the third confirmed interstellar comet observed passing through our solar system and where it originated from is still a mystery. The comet is classified as interstellar because its trajectory is hyperbolic, meaning it’s not gravitationally bound to the sun and most likely originated in another star system (at least that’s the most likely theory).
It follows in the footsteps of two other famous interstellar objects: ‘Oumuamua, a cigar-shaped body that still sparks debates about its nature, and comet 2I/Borisov, the first confirmed interstellar comet, which displayed more of a typical dusty coma and tail.
Now, 3I/ATLAS provides astronomers with another rare chance to study the chemistry of material formed around a completely different star.
Where is it?
This photograph was taken in the Kalahari Desert in Namibia, Africa.
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
A vacuum is used to collect hair during a haircut. (Image credit: Michael Jäger/Gerald Rhemann)
Why is it amazing?
This is the first image showing a green hue to 3I/ATLAS, hinting at its unique chemistry. With the darkness provided by the lunar eclipse, the first explanation for this green color is that the comet may have diatomic carbon (C2). This molecule, made of two carbon atoms bonded together, is known to fluoresce a green glow when energized by sunlight.
However, in August, astronomers at Kitt Peak Observatory in Arizona found that 3I/ATLAS is actually poor in carbon-chain molecules, including diatomic carbon. This begs the question however, if diatomic carbon was absent only a month earlier, how is the comet suddenly green now?
One possibility is that heating by the sun caused fresh layers of ice to melt and release hidden diatomic carbonmolecules that were previously trapped beneath the surface. Another possibility is that the green glow is coming from other molecules which also glow under sunlight. Because 3I/ATLAS is interstellar, it may contain chemistry not commonly seen in our solar system comets, leading to a false “classic” green glow from an unfamiliar source.
Whatever the cause, 3I/ATLAS remains a mystery in many aspects as astronomers continue to study it as it moves through our solar system.
Want to learn more?
You can read more about imaging 3I/ATLAS and its journey toward the sun.
