Technology

Being caught empty-handed on the side of the road is a situation no one wants to experience. I'm the type of person who likes to be prepared, so I keep a little travel toolkit in my truck. Additionally, two Ryobi tools are usually in my vehicle and come along for every ride.

In the early days of Android, it seemed like every other week we'd see a completely brand-new phone from an established tech giant. Everyone was taking a stab at it.

Cloud-connected robot vacuums can be convenient, but they aren't always great for your privacy. They can collect detailed information about your home, including floor plans, cleaning habits, and even camera footage, and send it to third-party servers. The good news is that open-source projects can help you use your robot vacuum without relying on the cloud.

If you're trying to revive an old laptop, the standard advice is "install Linux." Usually, that means you'll install Linux Mint first. In some cases, that works. However, on really old or low-power devices, even Mint is too demanding.

Mesh Wi-Fi systems are fantastic, and they beat Wi-Fi extenders by a mile. Each node scatters Wi-Fi throughout your house, giving you a stable connection that you don't have to worry about. It's one of the best ways to get rid of dead zones, at least.

One of the best things about Microsoft 365 is how its apps can work together. Loop can talk to Teams, Lists can talk to Power Automate, and Word can talk to Outlook. But when I thought about the cross-app connections I use most—and the ones that save me the most time—I noticed something: they all involve Excel.

Smartphone keyboards introduced us to a brand new way to type: swiping. Why tap every letter when you can just slide your finger over them? It's become a standard feature in nearly every Android keyboard app, and it's my preferred method. I wanted to know if it's actually faster.

After four months of letting a robot lawn mower manage my grass through crazy weather, hot summer months, objects in the yard, and daily wear, was it worth it? Is the grass really greener on the other side? The convenience is fantastic, but it's not without its quirks. While I absolutely love it, and it saves my weekend, I have thoughts.

A split-second flash of radio waves traveled through space for more than 10 billion years to reach Earth, making it the farthest fast radio burst anyone has detected and confirmed.

Fast radio bursts, or FRBs, last only a few thousandths of a second but release enormous amounts of energy. Scientists spotted the first one in 2007, and they still don't know what causes them. Most flash only once, which makes them extremely hard to chase.

South Africa's MeerKAT radio telescope caught this one, dubbed FRB 20240304B, on March 4, 2024. After failing to find its origin with the world's largest ground-based telescopes, the team, led by Manisha Caleb and Themiya Nanayakkara of the University of Sydney in Australia, turned to NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. Finally, it came into focus: a faint galaxy from when the universe was only about 3 billion years old — more than double the distance of the prior record. 

Until now, astronomers mostly managed to find and measure the sources of bursts much closer to home. This one shows researchers can trace bursts much farther back in time, turning them into tools for exploring the early universe.

SEE ALSO: Mars' weird 1,100-mile cloud runs on physics no one has ever seen before

The galaxy itself surprised the team. Most bursts come from big galaxies, but this one has about 1,000 times less mass than expected. The researchers have published their findings in the journal Science.

"We thought it would be a big, nicely formed galaxy with lots of stars, and instead it was a little dwarf galaxy, although it was actively forming stars," Caleb said. 

The MeerKAT radio telescope in South Africa detected the fast radio burst on March 4, 2024. The James Webb Space Telescope later confirmed its host galaxy. Credit: South African Radio Astronomy Observatory

This galaxy existed during a period known as "cosmic noon," an era when the universe as a whole made stars much faster than at any other time. That youth seems to offer a clue about what causes these bursts, according to the research. 

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Scientists have had two leading ideas for what causes the bursts, both involving neutron stars — the crushed, ultra-dense cores left behind by giant dying stars when they explode. One hypothesis says bursts happen when two neutron stars circle each other and eventually collide. But that slow merger takes billions of years, so they would likely show up in mature galaxies.

The other hypothesis points to magnetars — young neutron stars with powerful magnetic fields. That magnetism puts a huge strain on the star's solid outer crust. If the crust suddenly fractures, like Earth's crust in an earthquake, the "starquake" could release a burst of radio waves. 

A magnetar's solid iron crust cracks during a starquake. Credit: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center / S. Wiessinger / Fermi illustration

In this scenario, bursts from magnetars could happen in young, star-forming galaxies like this source galaxy. The host for FRB 20240304B also contains few heavy elements, another sign of its early age that fits with a magnetar. For this reason, the team argues that magnetars are a likely explanation for at least some fast radio bursts, especially this one. 

Catching these flashes takes a special kind of telescope. Radio waves are a form of light that our eyes can't see. Many objects in space give off radio waves, too, and giant dishes like MeerKAT can collect them, revealing activity that other telescopes miss.

This particular burst did double duty. As it crossed space, it carried an imprint of the matter it passed through. The signal revealed a previously unknown galaxy cluster, about 3.5 billion light-years away. It also picked up the much closer Virgo cluster.

"A fast radio burst is almost like a cosmic flashlight," said co-author J. Xavier Prochaska of the University of California, Santa Cruz, in a statement. "It lights up everything along the path."

There likely isn't anyone left on earth who doesn't know who Elon Musk is. Yet, the new documentary titled Musk from filmmaker Alex Gibney is able to take this man, who has his tentacles in seemingly everything, and brutally break him down in a revealing four-hour-long extravaganza.

Yes, that's right. The Musk documentary clocks in at close to four hours, including a 10-minute intermission at the halfway point of the film. But there's so much packed into the film, you may just leave wanting even more.

While Gibney is clearly a critic of Musk, and I did just describe the doc as brutal, I want to be clear: The film is very fair to Musk, regardless of the fact that he called out Gibney for pursuing the movie, which Musk has previously described as a "hit piece" before production was even wrapped. It's brutal in the sense that it features Musk, via his own actions and words, punching himself in the face over and over again.

Musk is brutal and accurate.

The film starts off with Musk's belief that we are living in a simulation. He has mentioned this through his life, time and time again. Gibney takes this simulation idea and uses it to give an overall theme to the documentary to tie things together. 

Remember, Musk isn't in the movie. He called Gibney a "douche" on X for even making the film, which the filmmaker includes in the film. So, Gibney employs lots of archival footage, including quite a few clips I've never even seen before.

Since Musk himself isn't interviewed, Gibney created an animated video game version of Musk to act as his onscreen avatar. This Musk simulation character is voiced by Musk, using the archival footage, and chimes in throughout the film in order to give Musk's "perspective" and tie all the different pieces of his life together.

From there, Gibney runs through Musk's business history, and most of it is there: his start with Zip2, his X/Paypal merger, how he got involved with Tesla, the founding of SpaceX, the acquisition of Twitter, his Starlink satellites, xAI, and Grok. Neuralink even gets a mention, although it mostly serves as a vehicle to introduce Shivon Zilis, the mother of four of Elon's children. There is a glaring omission in the film when it comes to Musk's companies, which I'll get to later.

Credit: Gregg Segal

Like I said, the film is fair to Musk, and there is no better example of this than the segment on SpaceX. Gibney includes clips of Musk, clearly emotional, in the early days of SpaceX during the first three failed rocket launches. It's probably the most human-like that Musk has ever seemed. There was a moment where I forgot this was Elon Musk and nearly empathized with him. And when SpaceX succeeds in launching reusable rockets? This specific scene in the film was so celebratory of Musk that one could imagine Elon sharing the clip on his own X account if it was sent to him... and if he didn't know that Gibney's film was the source.

But that also just reflects reality. Up until recently, SpaceX was the least problematic of Musk's companies. Once the film moves to Tesla, things take a real turn. As someone who has covered both Musk and Tesla, I knew these stories. However, the way Gibney assembles the Tesla footage is particularly damning. Gibney uses real footage of the fatal crashes that came as a result of Musk's overselling the car's self-driving capabilities, alongside the promo videos created to misrepresent what the cars could do, followed by Tesla claiming not to have access to crash data in a specific case — a claim which later turns out to be false. It seems hard for even the biggest Musk fan to walk away not thinking that it's Elon Musk who is the "douche" in this situation.

Gibney also delves into Musk's personal life, his early childhood and his "legion" of children. It culminates with his entrance into right-wing politics and the pro-Trump world, the Nazi salute, and his government takeover with DOGE, which further empowered the most powerful unelected man in the world.

The film's intermission comes at the halfway point, and the two halves really feel like they're about two different Elon Musks. The first half focuses on Musk as an unscrupulous businessman, doing whatever necessary to find success with SpaceX and Tesla, even if it means he's a bad father and a terrible partner. There's a number of wealthy figures who fit that mold. However, the Elon Musk of the second half is much more nefarious, as Gibney accurately covers the acquisition and dismantling of Twitter, then shows how Musk used the same playbook to basically acquire and dismantle the federal U.S. government (via DOGE and other projects) in search of total power.

Credit: Ken Cedenoupi - UPI Alamy News

Going back to the four-hour running time, I wonder if this film would've been better served as a TV series, splitting up each of Musk's companies or projects into their own episode. There's just so much, and Gibney still couldn't get to it all.

While the documentary wasn't able to nab interviews with Musk, it does have an impressive list of interviewees such as Elon Musk's father Errol; Musk's first wife, Justine Musk; the actual founder of Tesla, Martin Eberhard; and the mother of Musk's most recent(?) child, Ashley St. Clair. The interviews with engineers who left their job after the DOGE takeover and Twitter employees who were laid off after the acquisition really helped add human faces to the stories we've read over the past few years.

St. Claire has been making the media rounds recently. She's a former right-wing influencer who, in her own words, fell for Musk before discovering he wasn't the person he presented himself as after their child was born. Regardless of what your personal feelings about her are, she's one of the few interviews in the film who really shares her firsthand account of Musk in private life, including private messages between the two regarding the 2024 presidential election. (The story of Musk listening to a podcast about Kublai Khan while they were laying in bed together was certainly a bizarre factoid.)

I'm personally so entrenched in Musk's world as I cover it, so I don't believe there was any breaking news in the doc itself, but there were definitely details I hadn't previously been familiar with. For example, St. Clair also provides Gibney with audio recordings, which includes a shocking phone call with Jared Birchall, who is described as Musk's "fixer." In the call, Birchall describes the mother of three of Musk's children, Claire Boucher aka Grimes, as "a drug-addled musician" who he doesn't believe is "capable of finding true happiness."

Even if I was familiar with these stories, others watching the film were audibly surprised at numerous parts of the film. Going back to how this would've perhaps been better served as a series, it would be unfortunate if the four-hour run time was information overload to some, obscuring some of these revelatory nuggets about Musk.

Where I wanted more Musk.

As someone who has covered Musk extensively, I do not want to nitpick with my criticisms of the film. But there are some areas where I felt the film dropped the ball.

Even in a four-hour movie, you still can't fit it all in. Unfortunately, Gibney leaves one of Musk's companies entirely out of the documentary. The Boring Company may not be Musk's most famous or successful endeavor, but it's central to Musk's story and really helps define him too. Musk used the Boring Company to launder his vision for traffic-solving tunnel systems, raised billions, and in turn helped destroy investment into high-speed rail. His underground tunnels, his Hyperloop, none of this ended up coming to fruition. Musk's one tunnel that's open to the public exists in Las Vegas, connecting a few hotels and the convention center with a single lane of human-driven Tesla vehicles. Yes, one of the company's products, the "Not-a-Flamethrower" flamethrower certainly makes an appearance in clips, but if Gibney referenced The Boring Company any further, I must've missed it — and it's a fairly big omission.

Unfortunately, the only parts of the film that didn't work are scenes that are core to the narrative of the documentary, and they're scattered through the movie. I'm speaking of the "simulation Musk," an animated version of Musk that's used throughout the film to provide a visual to words Musk previously spoke. 

Credit: AP

The idea to tie the whole film together using Musk's own belief that we are living in a simulation is certainly clever. The device itself didn't hurt the film, but the Musk animation just did not work. Even though the filmmaker says that they utilized an animation studio, the simulation Musk just comes off looking AI-generated, so it's a bit jarring. They were going for a video game aesthetic to really hone in on the idea that Musk views himself as living in a Ready Player One-type world. However, the end product doesn't come off that way to me. It just has an uncanny valley, generative AI presence, which is sort of counterintuitive to the film's messaging.

Finally, I have to add that it was disappointing to see renowned tech journalist Kara Swisher provide little substance in her onscreen contributions to the film. She is one of, if not the first people interviewed, and she appears throughout the film, up until the very end. Swisher is someone who has covered Musk for years and helped launder the reputations of Musk and many other wealthy tech billionaires in the media. Yet, all those interactions with Musk and her knowing the man seem completely moot for the purpose of the film. She provides little more than color commentary that, while accurate, could've been provided just the same by individuals without the personal Musk connection. 

With that said, Gibney's Musk is a fantastic portrayal of Elon Musk and should be considered required viewing material for anyone interested in understanding more about the most powerful man in the world, who is only amassing even more power. The film will leave you truly wondering what exactly Musk's endgame is and just how much power he truly has being at the helm of things like Starlink.

Musk opens in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Oct. 9 and will open nationwide on Oct. 16.

You might have seen the Wicker trailer, heard the plot from your friends behind giggling hands, or experienced the collective internet reaction to a 4DX screening. We're getting another sexy straw man movie, when we thought such a thing was done For Good?

Based on Ursula Wills-Jones' short story "The Wicker Husband," the tale is what it says on the tin: a fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) requests a local basket weaver (Peter Dinklage) to make her a husband to get the bitches in town (led by Elizabeth Debicki) off her goddamn back. And it works, with Alexander Skarsgård brought to life as the world's most dashing straw man — apologies to Jonathan Bailey's Scarecrow in Wicked.

It's a deeply silly, fairy tale concept. But what directors Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson have up their sleeve is a hilarious and heartfelt script, an incredibly talented cast, and magical production design that landed actual gasps (and cackles) from the BFI London Film Festival audience.

It's an artisanal Frankenstein tale, and one that will melt that brittle basket-woven heart of yours — or simply have you thinking about Taylor Swift's "Wood" differently.

Wicker is Frankenstein for craft lovers. Credit: BFI London Film Festival

The very concept of building a life partner from things around the house has intrigued writers from Mary Shelley to that time Sabrina the Teenage Witch's aunts played with "Man Dough." And in Wicker, a exceptionally talented basket weaver (a positively Shakespearean Dinklage) is the one to play God.

Set in a medieval village where patriarchy is divine and marriage means literally putting a collar on the bride, Wicker follows a gleeful social outsider known as the Fisherwoman (an impeccable Colman), happily living out her days in her crumbling cottage as a spinster. Covered in the stench of her occupation, she has no desire to marry as expected. However, such independence sparks the ire of the townspeople, especially the Tailor's Wife (a diabolical Debicki), a woman oppressed in her own man-child marriage to the Tailor (a superb Nabhaan Rizwan). To shut them all up, the fisherwoman commissions another recluse, the Basket Weaver, to literally make her a husband. One magic moment later, Fisherwoman has her Wicker Husband (a stoically sweet Skarsgård) — and the entire town can hear their marital bliss, echoing across the meadows. 

Featured Video For You Alexander Skarsgård and Harry Melling reveal the hardest part of making the hot, queer romance 'Pillion'

It's a sexual awakening indeed for Colman's Fisherwoman, and one that will have you cackling with glee as she does. But their bond becomes about more than planking sessions. Though literally fabricated, Fisherwoman and her Wicker Husband's exploration of love and intimacy feels deeply genuine, thanks to Coleman's gleeful humour and vulnerability and Skarsgård's awkward romanticism. And it's all within a safe distance from fires; one of them is "very flammable," after all.

However, as the Wicker Husband tries to understand his "purpose" and the logic behind treating women as equal (imagine!), his charms begin to affect the townspeople. Essentially, he's making the other men look absolutely useless.

Wicker makes a hilarious mockery of traditional gender roles. Credit: BFI London Film Festival

One of the most compelling elements of Wicker, beyond its plethora of gloriously dirty jokes, frankly hilarious foley effects, and Colman's outstanding performance is its skewering of traditional gender roles within marriage.

As the townsfolk witness these moments of sweet romance, simmering sexual chemistry, and actual friendship between the Fisherwoman and Wicker Husband, the local women have questions for their own husbands. What do you mean, this man shares the housework and fishing with his wife? What do you mean, sex can be an act of pleasure, not merely for procreation? They begin to examine their society's gender essentialism, from marital obligations to division of labour and intimacy — and the husbands are annoyed. "All of a sudden I don't say enough words to her!" says one. "The wives, they're all aflutter!" says another. Here, Wicker's supporting cast shine in glorious deadpan, especially Ella Bruccoleri as one-liner queen the Baker's Wife, Ben Ashenden as her husband, Baker, and Kiell Smith-Bynoe as the stubborn Innkeeper.

But while the film's medieval innuendos are show-stoppers in their own right, Wicker's production design will actually cause a shortness of breath.

Wicker's production design team makes spicy magic happen.

It must be said: For Wicker to work, the Fisherwoman's darling "timber knight" has to be magically hot. I don't make the rules. It's part of the narrative or something. Casting Alexander Skarsgård in such a role is a superb step toward achieving such sorcery (Pillion also knew what it was doing), but transforming him into a dashing man made of flexible rods is another challenge. Luckily, Wicker enlisted Wētā Workshop and visual effects supervisor Joe Dunckley to craft an otherworldly wicker suit that's alarmingly ripped, along with facial prosthetics that trace the lines of Skarsgård's face. You can physically see through these wicker biceps, light shining through them. 

Remembering this is a raunchy fantasy comedy, the production team also doesn't waste one opportunity to draw out the properties of a wicker person during intimate scenes. Every creak of the Wicker Husband's basketry serves to emphasise his strength and physical materials. Foley artist and editor Adrian Medhurst and foley recordist Simon Koehn should be applauded for the wicker erection sounds that groan and strain through an early scene, one that had the LFF audience hooting. 

Within this raunchy fairy tale, like all fairy tales, there are lessons hidden between the fantasy and drama. And if you can't learn a thing or two about intimacy, romance, and love while staring at the sheer artistry of basket-woven pectorals, then I don't know what to tell you.

Wicker was reviewed out of BFI London Film Festival. It hits cinemas Oct. 23 in the U.S. and Oct. 30 in the UK.

TL;DR: Amazon officially launched its all-new Amazon Kids Tablets starting at $229.99. Replacing the old Fire Kids line, these full Android tablets come in 8.7-inch and 11-inch sizes, offer parent-managed Google Play Store access, AI-powered tools like Storybuilder, and ship with a protective bumper case plus a free year of Amazon Kids+.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Kids Tablet 8 $229.99
  Shop Now Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Amazon Kids Tablet 11 $329.99
  Shop Now

Picking out a tablet for your child usually feels like choosing between an overly restrictive toy or an expensive iPad you pray does not hit the kitchen tile face-down. Amazon is bridging that gap with its all-new line of Amazon Kids Tablets. Ditching the old Fire OS ecosystem, Amazon built these new devices directly on Android — giving kids solid tablet performance while keeping the guardrails parents trust.

Preorders are live now, starting at $229.99 for the 8.7-inch model and $329.99 for the 11-inch version, with official shipping starting Oct. 14. Both models ship with Amazon’s signature protective case, a two-year worry-free guarantee, and a full year of Amazon Kids+.

The 8.7-inch Amazon Kids Tablet is built for small hands and travel

Designed specifically for smaller hands and life on the go, the Amazon Kids Tablet 8 is built as the ultimate travel companion. Instead of handing over your fragile phone during a long car ride, this setup delivers a full-fledged tablet experience in a durable, child-resistant form factor.

This tablet runs on Android software with a bright, clear screen — so drawing apps look sharp and videos stream smoothly. It’s built to stay snappy even as your kid gets older and plays bigger games. The case is soft, easy to hold, and comes in fun designs like Paw Patrol, Barbie, and SpongeBob.

Credit: Amazon Battery life made for long trips

With up to 14 hours of battery life and 64GB of storage, you can download a mountain of movies, games, and books for offline use before leaving the house. It easily lasts through a full flight or a long car ride without dying, and the built-in blue-light filter helps keep screen time easy on young eyes.

1 year of Kids+

The included 1-year subscription gives your child ad-free access to games, shows, and books from characters they love, like Blippi, Peppa Pig, and Hello Kitty. They can learn shapes and numbers through Khan Academy Kids, or make their own drawings and stories with creative tools like Stories with Alexa.

You also don't have to hover over their shoulder to keep tabs on what they're doing. Using the free Amazon Parent Dashboard app on your phone, you can set bedtime limits, require educational goals before playtime, or pause the screen entirely when dinner is ready. Plus, with parent-approved Google Play Store access, you can approve new app downloads with a quick tap.

Credit: Amazon Built for big kids: Amazon Tablet 11

If your child is getting older and needs something for homework, digital drawing, or heavier games, the Amazon Kids Tablet 11 is the big upgrade. It takes everything parents love about the smaller model and bumps up the screen, power, and design so older kids do not feel like they are using a toy.

The biggest change is the massive 11-inch 2.5K display. Videos look super crisp, artwork pops, and text is sharp and easy to read for schoolwork or ebooks. It packs 8GB of RAM (twice the memory of standard budget tablets), so games load faster, apps run more smoothly, and switching between video calls and educational games happens without lag.

Credit: Amazon Stylus support for art and homework

The 11-inch model adds stylus support, turning the screen into a digital notebook and drawing canvas. Kids can use it to practice handwriting, take notes for school projects, or draw detailed digital art in apps like Art Studio.

A slimmer hard case

Instead of the thick foam bumper meant for toddlers, the Tablet 11 ships with a sleek, slim hard case. It gives older kids the "real gadget" feel so they won't feel embarrassed taking it to school or the library, but it still protects against backpack pressure, kitchen counter drops, and daily wear and tear.

What both tablets get right

The biggest upgrade on both new tablets is full Android software with direct access to the Google Play Store. For years, Amazon's kids tablets were stuck with a locked-down app store that missed tons of popular apps. These new models fix that. Your kids get apps and mainstream games without you needing to hunt for weird workarounds.

Every app request appears in the Amazon Parent Dashboard app on your phone (iOS or Android), where you can approve or deny it with one tap. You can also set screen-time limits, require "Learn First" educational time before games unlock, or pause the tablet entirely when it's dinnertime.

SEE ALSO: Uber adds live video streaming so parents can watch their kids' rides

Amazon also added a new tool called Storybuilder inside the included Amazon Kids+ subscription. Instead of just watching videos, kids can use their voices to create characters, plot twists, and imaginative worlds. The tool takes what they say and builds it into illustrated picture books and comic strips.

Between full Google Play access, drop-proof cases, and zero unapproved downloads, Amazon finally made a kids tablet that works just as well for parents as it does for kids.

You can lock in your preorder for the Amazon Kids Tablet 8 or Amazon Kids Tablet 11 before they officially ship on Oct. 14.

The astronauts who swung around the moon aboard NASA's Orion capsule spotted five tiny sparks from space rocks slamming into the lunar surface, likely the faintest impact flashes humans have ever seen. 

The Artemis II Commander Reid Wiseman caught the first one during the mission just six months ago. 

"I just saw a flash, 100 percent," he called out, placing it at about the 7 or 8 o'clock position on the moon. Moments later, he and crewmate Jeremy Hansen both saw another. Hansen described a "pinprick" of light on the lower third of the moon.

"It's just like a bloop," Hansen said. 

Those sightings stunned the mission control room back in Houston, literally causing Kelsey Young's jaw to drop. Young, the mission's lunar science operations lead, admitted she hadn't expected the crew to see any micrometeorites at all. Artemis II flew during a quiet stretch of the year, outside any major meteor shower. 

"You probably saw the surprise and shock on my face," she later told reporters, who had watched a broadcast of the space-to-ground communications. "And though I was not in the science evaluation room, I heard that there were audible screams of delight."

Each flash tells scientists something about how often bits of comets and asteroids pummel the moon and where they hit. NASA wants those numbers before it sends astronauts to live and work there. Lori Glaze, a senior NASA official, said the agency will use such data to judge the risk that meteorites, even the tiniest of space rocks, pose to future moon bases. 

SEE ALSO: Mars' weird 1,100-mile cloud runs on physics no one has ever seen before

A flash happens when a speeding space pebble smacks the moon. Because the moon has no oxygen, a strike doesn't create combustion fire. Instead, the burst of light comes from the rock's pure kinetic energy. 

During the crash, the extreme force instantly vaporizes the rock and a small amount of the moon's surface. That causes a split-second plasma cloud to glow just before cooling in the vacuum of space.

The naked-eye observation of impact flashes during the Artemis II mission, published this week in the Artemis II Preliminary Lunar Science Report, lends credibility to earlier astronaut reports. Crews reported three such flashes from lunar orbit a half-century ago — one on Apollo 16 and two on Apollo 17. Telescopes on Earth have since logged over 400. 

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NASA timed the Artemis crew's watch for when the moon blocked the sun from Orion's view. That darkness let the astronauts' eyes adjust enough to catch faint flickers. The moon's surface stayed dark except for a soft glow of sunlight bouncing off Earth.

All five flashes the Artemis astronauts saw happened on the moon's unlit side. None showed any color, and each vanished instantly. Based on how faint they looked, scientists think rocks only a few centimeters across may have caused them, perhaps the size of a grape or a walnut. The crew, which included Victor Glover and Christina Hammock Koch, sketched each location on a tablet while their memories were fresh. 

The Artemis II crew marked up an image of the moon with notes about their impact flash sightings during the lunar flyby. Credit: NASA / CSA

The moonbound crew saw more but said they reported only the ones that clearly differed from look-alikes. Astronauts often see random bright flashes of light in space — even with their eyes closed — because of cosmic rays passing through the spacecraft and directly striking their optic nerves. 

But because some of these flashes were seen by more than one pair of eyes, NASA feels confident in the anecdotal reports. 

"It was not sunglint off of particulate from the thrusters or the purge tanks," Wiseman said. "It was definitely impact flashes on the moon."

Meanwhile, the machines got nothing. A camera on the outside of the capsule filmed about two minutes of the eclipse at 30 frames per second and caught no flashes. NASA also hoped its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a probe that has mapped the moon since 2009, could photograph the sites. The team concluded the craters are probably too small for the camera to see. 

The jaw of Kelsey Young, NASA's Artemis II lunar science lead, drops as the Artemis II crew reports impact flashes on the moon during the flyby. Credit: NASA

NASA's lunar science team recruited stargazing groups to film the moon through tracking telescopes during the flyby and upload the video to a shared database. But the moon's phase seemed to work against them. Earth-based observers need a dark slice of moon to record flashes. So far, no one on the ground has confirmed one of the flashes from the flyby.

The sightings paid off a bet NASA's science team placed long before launch. Planners carved out dedicated time for the crew to watch for flashes, and the team trained the astronauts to report any they might see at any point in the mission. 

"This is absolutely everything we hoped for by integrating science into flight operations," Young said.

TL;DR: Watch Real Madrid vs. Villarreal in La Liga for free on CazéTV. Access this free livestream from anywhere in the world with ExpressVPN.

We're barely two months into the La Liga season, and it already looks like the mighty Barcelona are running away with it, with seven straight wins and a five-point lead at the top of the league table.

Real Madrid, a team that placed runner-up behind Barcelona for the past two seasons, needs every win they can get — while hoping that Barca slips up — if they have any chance of winning the league this season. They have a chance to secure three more points today in a game against Villarreal — but it won't be easy. Villarreal have won their last two and will want to come back from the international break in style.

If you're interested in watching Real Madrid vs. Villarreal in La Liga from anywhere in the world, we've got all the information you need.

When is Real Madrid vs. Villarreal?

Real Madrid vs. Villarreal in La Liga kicks off at 3 p.m. ET on Oct. 10. This fixture takes place at the Bernabéu.

How to watch Real Madrid vs. Villarreal for free

Real Madrid vs. Villarreal in La Liga is available to live stream for free on CazéTV.

CazéTV is geo-restricted to Brazil, but anyone can secure access with a VPN. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in Brazil, meaning you can live stream Real Madrid vs. Villarreal for free from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Real Madrid vs. Villarreal for free by following these simple steps:

1. Sign up for a streaming-friendly VPN (we recommend ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice

3. Open up the app and connect to a server in Brazil

4. Visit CazéTV

5. Watch Real Madrid vs. Villarreal for free from anywhere in the world

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The best VPNs for streaming are not free, but they do tend to offer generous money-back guarantees. By leveraging these offers, you can watch Real Madrid vs. Villarreal without committing your cash. This is obviously not a long-term strategy, but it gives you enough time to stream this fixture (plus more La Liga action) before recovering your investment.

What is the best VPN for La Liga?

ExpressVPN is the best choice for bypassing geo-restrictions to stream live sport on CazéTV, for a number of reasons:

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A two-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $68.40 and includes an extra four months for free — 81% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and usually offers a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.99.

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TL;DR: Get AdGuard’s Family Plan for life for a one-time $14.97 (reg. $169.99) through Oct. 11, covering up to nine devices with ad blocking, privacy protection, malware protection, and parental controls.

Opens in a new window Credit: AdGuard AdGuard Family Plan: Lifetime Subscription $14.97
$169.99 Save $155.02   Get Deal

Tired of dodging pop-ups, dealing with slow-loading websites, and feeling like your every move online might be tracked? You’re not alone. The internet should be a safe, smooth, and private space. The AdGuard Family Plan can help you smooth things out, digitally speaking.

For just $14.97, you’ll get lifetime protection for up to 9 devices when you order through Oct. 11 as part of this Deal Days sale. Whether it’s your phone, tablet, or laptop, AdGuard blocks intrusive ads, prevents trackers from snooping on your data, and shields your family from possible malicious websites.

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StackSocial prices subject to change.

TL;DR: Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows is just $29.97 (reg. $219.99) through Oct. 11 during this Prime Day alternative sales event.

Opens in a new window Credit: Microsoft Microsoft Office Professional 2021 for Windows: Lifetime License $29.97
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This is your last chance to ditch Microsoft 365’s subscription fees for good. Until October 11 at 11:59 p.m. PT, you can grab a lifetime license to Microsoft Office 2021 for just $29.97 (reg. $219.99), thanks to this Deal Days sale (a Prime Day alternative). Simply pay once, download the full software suite, and never worry about renewals again.

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Download Microsoft Office for Windows while it’s on sale for Deal Days for just $29.97 until Oct. 11 at 11:59 p.m. PT (reg. $219.99). No coupon is needed.

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StackSocial prices subject to change.

Tip Toe is undeniably one the most talked-about TV shows of the year, with Russell T Davies' powerful drama making headlines and dominating discourse in the UK when it hit Channel 4 in May.

Now, the Doctor Who and It's a Sin showrunner's series is streaming in the U.S. through Starz, with American audiences now able to take on the most tense television they'll likely see this year.

Set in Manchester, a place close to Davies' Queer as Folk heart, Tip Toe is essentially the tale of two neighbours. Alan Cumming is magnificent as Leo, a proud gay man who owns a bar on Manchester’s famous queer hub, Canal Street. For 15 years, he's lived next door to Clive (an outstanding David Morrissey), an openly bigoted, straight family man who has become increasingly radicalised in the years they've been neighbours. And in the opening scene of Tip Toe, we see a chilling sight: Leo has been hanged outside their homes, Clive standing by in their street.

And from this horrifying scene, we jump back 10 days earlier, haunted by what's to come, and how it could have possibly happened in 2026.

SEE ALSO: Russell T Davies explains the 'Bridgerton'/'Doctor Who' conundrum

Tip Toe comes at a time when anti-LGBTQ hate, online disinformation and radicalisation, and extreme bigotry are having very real, violent impacts on queer people — in both countries. "Fifteen years ago, everything was fine; now it just feels like it's ending," Leo says in the show. "Every tiny little thing that's happening, one by one, banning a book or removing a name or pulling down a flag. It seems like little things, but there's a sort of violence behind it."

Mashable sat down with Davies to unpack what it means for Tip Toe to reach U.S. viewers, the unfathomable hate and threats Davies endures daily as a visible gay activist and iconic LGBTQ showrunner, and why he decided to name Donald Trump in the first episode.

This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Shannon Connellan: Tip Toe is one the most talked-about TV shows of 2026. What has the public UK response been like for you?

Russell T. Davies: It's been a big surprise. I thought it was a cheap, Northern, queer, niche show about two neighbors. Television is so loud and fuelled by testosterone these days, with great big crimes, detectives, and vistas of foreign lands, and I feared we disappeared. So, for a story like this, for those two actors to punch through like they have — the entire cast is magnificent, but really, those two are so good — it's been a delight.

"In writing this, in saying what I believed about the state of the world, there was part of me hoping I was wrong."

It's also been a slight horror in that in writing this, in saying what I believed about the state of the world, there was part of me hoping I was wrong. I would love to be wrong, but actually, the amount of people agreeing with me, and especially in the queer community, especially in the streets of Manchester, the number of people saying "Yes, oh my God, isn't it getting worse? I feel that too." It's been quite chilling — maybe a good thing, because maybe all we can do is try to fight against this. But I've definitely not been proved wrong. That's a strange result in the end.

As you said, Tip Toe is essentially a story of two neighbours, the absolutely brilliant Alan Cumming and David Morrissey. And parts may have been drawn from your real-life experience?

It's in two senses, actually. In Manchester, I work away a lot. I only became a writer so I could sit at home all day, and suddenly, over the past few decades, it's just been traveling. So, in my absence, I was very wary of a parcel being left outside, the house looking empty, and then being robbed. So I gave my neighbor my front door key. Now, my neighbor was lovely, a man called Mike. He sadly died last year, and I miss him so much. He was always there, keeping an eye on the street, and he was a tough old bastard; I loved him. But he also started to let himself into my house while I was there. I'd be sitting watching television, sometimes about 10 o'clock on a Saturday night, the door would just swing open: "Hello, Russell." Just to tell me that my gutter was blocked or a bit of gossip about Shirley next door.

There were no circumstances in which I would take that key back. But as a writer, that made me think of stories: What if I'd given my neighbour my key and then didn't like him? We've all not got on with a neighbour at some point in our lives, or even if we've never argued with the neighbor, there are the strange shifting sands of that subtle relationship.

David Morrissey as Clive in "Tip Toe." Credit: Starz / Channel 4

So, that's the plot, but the story of the whole thing is simply my reaction to the state of the world, where it's heading, and the rising tide of violence — and my particular fear that it is coming from the online world. We all know the online voice on these phones is full of anger, malice, misinformation, and disinformation, but it's now visibly crossing into the real world. In the transition of Tip Toe, there were two men shot at a gay bar in Tucson, Arizona, and the murderer had a list of gay establishments in his pocket. It's literally happening around us, on the streets. Anger online is crossing into the real world, which is genuinely alarming.

"As someone who's often stood up for gay rights very visibly — I'm an activist as much as I can be — and particularly because I put trans characters into things, that's set the targets of the crosshairs of the rifles on me."

And as someone who's often stood up for gay rights very visibly — I'm an activist as much as I can be — and particularly because I put trans characters into things, that's set the targets of the crosshairs of the rifles on me, so that every day, every single day, I'm called a pedophile online. Every single day. There are people who have said that I'm grooming children. That's become a natural thing to say online about me. I'm fine, I can cope with that. But you imagine that happening to the trans people out there who aren't earning as much as me. They might be working in a bar. They might be living in a humble little flat in Manchester. No support. No backup. No defenses. And they've got to go through this much more ferociously than I ever have to suffer anything. So, that awareness just rose and rose and rose up on me until I had to write Tip Toe. It was as simple and as vital as that.

It is vital. And it's a tiny thing to say, but I'm sorry that you are dealing with that every day. That is horrendous.

Thank you, that's very kind. That's our world.

Featured Video For You 'Dreaming Whilst Black' creator Adjani Salmon on calling out the entertainment industry

So, the name of the show Tip Toe comes through the character of Melba (Paul Rhys) in episode 1 . ("I used to walk into a room and say, 'Ta-da!' Now I tip toe, just in case.")

Good ol' Melba. I've never had a character so loved, never. I've written some nice characters in my time. In fact, people are obsessed with the lovely Paul Rhys. What a performance! We loved him so much, in the very last episode, he's got a great big speech about croissants, which is a very funny speech. That didn't exist originally. Then we started filming and everyone fell in love with him... So, I wrote that speech about croissants simply because we all love Paul Rhys so much.

Actually, it's your last chance to have a laugh in that episode. It's a little tiny moment in a relentless, merciless episode that has no hope whatsoever. There's a little shining moment of Melba being creative, imaginative, and funny that is your last gasp before you plunge into hell.

It's also a different Melba from episode 1, when she and Leo are talking about whether LGBTQ hate will "come back," and Melba is basically like, "Wake up, it's here!" This idea of queer visibility is such an interesting concept in Tip Toe; as Leo says at the end of the series, "Did we get it wrong?"

It's a hard one because visibility is absolutely what I fought for, and I've always believed that. I've done it with myself. Obviously, when I'm talking about these gay shows, I'll talk about gayness, but in any interview, if you were interviewing me about being Welsh and what's my favorite part of the Welsh countryside, I would drag the fact that I'm gay into the conversation absolutely deliberately, so that anyone out there being in the closet or not knowing themselves yet might be able to look at that and think, "Oh, you can just be out anywhere in any context."

I have a lifelong belief in that being a good thing — until we get to 2026, where actually, my visibility is getting me called a pedophile and a groomer to the extent that I think, actually, is my life in danger? I've begun to have those thoughts. I think I'm fine, I honestly do. But the fact that as an adult man I can begin to question my safety, in Manchester, in 2026, is just frankly astonishing. 

Alan Cumming as Leo in "Tip Toe." Credit: Starz / Channel 4

So, having always believed in visibility, then there was Melba as my voice piece saying, what if we got that wrong? What if visibility simply allowed them to aim their weapons at us? Because we never imagined hatred becoming so weaponized and, particularly, monetized. That's the problem. That's the trap that we're in now. It doesn't matter what you're voting — left wing, right wing, just doesn't matter — because the technology is in charge, and it is merciless. It is simply out for money. Wow, what a world!

What a world! We see a lot of this online radicalisation through the character of Clive, a chilling performance from David Morrissey. We see him watch conspiracies and violent videos, and openly spout disinformation. Part of your script that hits really hard here is when Leo says, "You've known me for 15 years, and you don't listen to me, but you listen to some dude that you've never never met on YouTube." That's such a real line.

Thank you. That was a good thing about them being neighbors actually, because you could quite easily write this drama about two men who just met, but I love the fact they've been neighbors for 14 years. But the world is changing around them, the way they start to see each other is changing, and that's fascinating. You look at it going, what happened?

It's a particularly dark take on technology. Clive soaks up every conspiracy theory and every death video he can possibly watch. And believe you me, when I was researching this, don't let real deaths into your algorithm. Oh my God, the things I've seen. You begin to see how people are damaged by that, and see, it's truly damaging material that you could be watching at eight years old. That's the thing. Every technological innovation goes wrong in this, or takes a turn to the bad side.

Shon Faye, an incredible writer, in her book Love In Exile, talks about friendships across queer generations and how they're policed by "by a dominant homophobic culture which has historically cast older queer people's intentions as predatory." And you really unpack this in Tip Toe with Leo's connection with George (Clive's teenage son, played by Jackson Connor). 

It's amazing how everyone you speak to says Leo is wrong to have that conversation with George, but three times in that conversation, he says, "Let me find someone else for you to talk to." Then we see he says to Lucille, the other bar owner [played by Rae O'Brien], "Have you still got that youth group?" She says, "Yes." He says, "Good, I've got a youth for you." He's clearly doing the right thing, and yet also I can see why everyone thinks it's wrong. And you think, what if George was suicidal? There are plenty of suicidal children out there, and and actually a lot of damage has been done to George.

The experience of watching Tip Toe is just constant tension, which I feel like might have been your intention?

Absolutely, it is very much so. I think it's the feel of wanting to hook an audience. We all watch thrillers and horror films. Sometimes it's got that horror film vibe: things getting worse and worse and worse. Don't open that door. Don't go up that staircase. What's going on in your house? What's going on in your house when you're not there? Those are horror tropes actually, and they work. They horrify us because they touch all your deep-seated fears about the safety of your house and who can you trust. Clive lives so close to Leo. He lives just through the wall, such a tiny distance. 

I'm almost sorry that I've finished with "neighbors at war" with this show because I just think you could write this stuff forever. I'm amazed there aren't more… It's brilliant. We all have neighbors, we all live in these relationships, and we're all slightly tense about them, so I would recommend that to any writers out there; go into "neighbors at war," because it always works. 

Obviously, this is a massive UK show, and now it's arriving in the U.S., which is awesome that Channel 4 commissioned it and Stars has picked it up. The U.S. and UK share way too many similarities in terms of what's happening to the rights of LGBTQ people. So how do you see Tip Toe landing with American audiences?

It works in the same way in the way that Queer As Folk worked over here. I mean, we're very similar societies in that sense. It's interesting to read a couple of major reviews have called those houses "apartments." It's interesting the way American eyes are seeing British architecture — how on Earth can you not see those as houses? I think there are tiny little questions like that. But really, love is love, and sex is sex, and gays are gays, and bigotry is bigotry, sadly, all over the world. 

I think the issues will resonate. And most importantly, people come along to a drama to watch great actors. It doesn't matter what I'm saying about whatever issues are afoot or whatever I think about the state of society. Come and watch Alan Cumming. Come and watch David Morrissey. Come watch the entire supporting cast. Some great young talent there.

"Love is love, and sex is sex, and gays are gays, and bigotry is bigotry, sadly, all over the world."

So, you literally name Donald Trump in the show. Melba in episode one not only says, "The president of America has given men permission to attack us," but said president is named. Why was it important to you to name Trump?

Because we're living in history. He's the greatest historical figure of our lifetimes, and I say that with absolute terror in my heart. We were at a screening in Los Angeles of Tip Toe, and there were a lot of gay men there, and just casually having a little chat afterwards over a glass of wine, one said, "Does Donald Trump make the news in Britain? Do you talk about him?" I looked at him with absolute horror, going, "He's number one on the news every day." Every day I get up and brush my teeth, I turn on the radio, and the bloody voice says, "Donald Trump said this. Donald Trump said that."

My heart sinks to my boots every single day. We are terrified of him. I'm not sure America knows this, and I'm not quite sure they realize what we think of this country — while there might be one or two people supporting him, the vast majority look at America with absolute terror. There's a line of dialog in Years and Years where Russell Tovey says, "I never thought I'd be scared of America in a million years, but I am now." Even worse, now we're in the second presidency, and we're terrified, literally waiting for that nuclear flash on the horizon because I believe it's on its way.

I don't think you're wrong, unfortunately. What was the most challenging scene for you to write?

To be absolutely blunt, the mechanics of hanging someone, which I had to work out all on my own. I'm strangely delighted I got it exactly right… It just took a lot of plotting all the way through the show, and then going back and inserting things all throughout the script from the beginning.

But that's just a technical challenge. If you have a car chase or if you have a monster in Doctor Who or something, there's a lot of technical challenges. But it was more joy than challenges. I was sad that it was five episodes long, because I could have written 50 episodes of Leo and Clive talking together. You just see how much I'm enjoying writing it. That scene in towards the end of episode 1 where they sit down and discuss pronouns, eyes roll when you think, "Oh, it's a pronoun discussion." It's possibly the most boring problem in the world and it's so joyous, those two actors just rattled through it. [Tip Toe director] Peter Hoar's so cheeky, he actually leaves a big pause in it for a round of applause. Alan Cumming does a great big speech, but there's a pause — like Disney put in movies when you applaud the song. We had a great big screening at the British Film Institute, 500 people sitting in the audience, and he was right, he got a round of applause. 

Really, Tip Toe seems like your most furious writing yet. 

Yes, it is. In the end, there is no hope. I've never done that before. I was kind of made to. When I wrote Years and Years for the BBC, they insisted on some sort of happy ending, and I was like, OK. It's A Sin was so sad in real life that you can't leave people in absolute sadness — and in truth, a whole generation has survived HIV, so absolute sadness would have been the wrong note to end on. With this, it's a very unusual final episode for me: There is no hope. And actually, even after the hanging, I think it gets worse when you get told what happens to some of those people. It's really tough.

It's notably wonderful in Tip Toe, Leo is living a full life with HIV, which is really beautiful to see, and that's a nice reaction to It's a Sin. 

I was never able to show in It's a Sin that the medicine came along and saved lives, and now you can live a happy, healthy life with HIV. I was never able to do that. We begged Channel 4 to make a final episode set in the present day showing where everyone ended up, and they wouldn't give us the money. So, in those situations, you just wait. I just quietly sat there and waited. And along came Leo, who could show that.

Tip Toe is now streaming on Channel 4 in the UK and Starz in the U.S.

If you're feeling suicidal or experiencing a mental health crisis, please talk to somebody. You can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. You can reach the Trans Lifeline by calling 877-565-8860 or the Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. Text "START" to Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or email info@nami.org. If you don't like the phone, consider using the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Chat. Here is a list of international resources.

It's been an exceptionally busy summer for smartphones, but the fall and winter are shaping up to be similarly intense.

Samsung launched its new foldable phones, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8, Z Fold 8 Ultra, and Z Flip 8, in July, and followed up with the affordable Samsung Galaxy S26 FE in August.

And while the next-generation flagship phones, the Samsung S27, S27 Plus, and S27 Ultra, probably aren't coming until next February, reports out of Korea say the company has already started producing components for these phones. The most interesting among these will (of course) be the ultimate flagship, the Samsung S27 Ultra.

Samsung phones tend to leak very heavily ahead of their release, and the S27 Ultra is no exception. Here's everything we know about the highly anticipated follow-up to the Galaxy S26 Ultra.

When will the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra be released?

No official date is set at this time, but Samsung typically launches its flagship phones in January or February. Last year's Galaxy S26 series of phones came fairly late, on Feb. 25, days ahead of the annual Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona.

We're expecting the Galaxy S27 series to launch sometime in February. The company will certainly do it at a Galaxy Unpacked event, with availability following soon thereafter.

What will the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra design be like?

According to leaks and CAD renders of the upcoming S27 Ultra, Samsung is planning a major redesign of its flagship this year. Sure, on the front, it'll be just a massive display with a punch-hole selfie camera on top, but on the back, leaked renders reported by Android Headlines show a new camera bump, with a large rectangle hosting the camera system.

In terms of size, the Galaxy S27 Ultra will reportedly be ever so slightly larger than its predecessor, measuring 163.76 x 78.25 x 7.97mm, with a 6.9-inch display. The phone will reportedly be 12.53mm thick if we count the camera bump, making it a little bit chunkier than the S26 Ultra, which measured 7.9mm in thickness. Note that the new Ultra will likely also be 7.9mm thick; it's only the camera bump that's making it thicker.

Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra: The rumored specs

The Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra is currently rumored to have the following specs, as reported by Phone Arena, GSMArena, and the well-known leaker IceUniverse:

• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Extreme Gen 6 (and, possibly, Samsung's new Exynos 2700 chip, at least in some markets)

• Cameras: Triple camera system (down from quadruple), with a 200-megapixel main sensor, a 50-megapixel telephoto, and a 50-megapixel ultrawide. The 3x telephoto camera that was present on the previous model is gone.

• Selfie camera: 16 megapixels

• Battery: 5,700mAh with 60W wired charging

• Colors: Black, Blue, Light Pink, Violet, and White

• S Pen support: Yes

If true, this would be a meaningful upgrade from last year. The chip would be new, the battery larger, and the camera system completely overhauled, with new sensors across the board. Even the selfie camera would get a bump, from 12 to 16 megapixels.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Leaker Ice Universe also has a very detailed rundown of everything that's new, including claims that Samsung changed the overall color tone to be a little warmer, improved highlight controls, and made the darker areas of photos sharper and less noisy.

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

There's currently no word on memory and storage capacity, so most reports merely expect the new Ultra to mirror last year's model, which was available with either 12 or 16GB of RAM, and 256, 512, or 1TB of storage.

What else do we know about the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra?

One rumor says Samsung is adding a new authentication option called Polar ID. It's essentially a face recognition system, similar to Apple's Face ID (but with no need for a Dynamic Island-style cutout), which should be more reliable than what's typically seen on Android phones.

How much will the Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra cost? This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

Now we arrive at the hard part. The memory chip supply crunch is still ongoing, and phone manufacturers, including Samsung, have been steadily increasing the prices of their devices.

While there's no word on the Samsung S27 Ultra's pricing yet, the S26 Ultra started at $1,299, but Samsung recenlty raised the price to $1,399. We expect that the S27 Ultra will also start at $1,399. That's backed up by a new leak from @phonefuturist on X, who reported that the Ultra would cost $1,399 at launch.

• Galaxy S27 Ultra: $1,399

• Galaxy S27 Pro: $1,299

• Galaxy S27+: $1,099

• Galaxy S27: $899

If that leak is true, Samsung would (in a sense) be making up for the Ultra's recent price increase by launching a brand new S27 Pro device at the Ultra's old price of $1,299.

Remember: Samsung phones tend to leak like a firehose as the launch date approaches, and we're expecting many more Samsung Galaxy S27 Ultra rumors in the months ahead. We'll regularly update this guide as we learn more, so keep checking back.

Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable's Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.

SAVE $60: As of Oct. 10, the DJI Neo 4K Mini Camera Drone has been discounted to $139.99 at Amazon. That's $60 off the regular list price of $199.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: DJI DJI Neo 4K Mini Camera Drone $139.99 at Amazon
$199.99 Save $60   Get Deal

Listen up drone flyers: If you're not already scrambling to get your hands on a new DJI camera drone, you soon will be. Recent legislation has effectively banned the future import of DJI drones from China to the U.S., so availability of DJI drones in this country will become scarce, and prices are likely to soar, erm, sky high.

So, if you do get the chance to land a great deal on a DJI drone between now and then, we recommend grabbing it before it flies out of reach. That being the case, we're obliged to point you towards a 30% price cut on the DJI Neo.

As of Oct. 10, the DJI Neo 4K Mini Camera Drone is priced at just $139.99. That gives you a $60 savings off the regular list price of $199.99. That's a new record-low price for this drone at Amazon, according to camelcamelcamel.

The DJI Neo is small — it can take off from the palm of your hand — but it's got a powerful set of features for high-quality video. It can track subjects and offers different QuickShots modes, including shooting while flying in circular, helical, and boomerang patterns. You can also use voice control via the app. And did we mention it's lots of fun just to actually fly it?

Get the DJI Neo 4K mini camera drone for $139.99 and save yourself $60 this weekend.

TL;DR: The Apple iPhone 17e is free with T-Mobile. To claim this offer, simply switch to T-Mobile on most plans.

Opens in a new window Credit: Apple T-Mobile: Apple iPhone 17e for free   Shop Now

T-Mobile has been the home of incredible iPhone deals all year. We've been blessed by free giveaways on the iPhone 17 and iPhone 18 Pro in recent times. Those deals are not live right now, but you can still walk away with an iPhone for free this weekend.

The Apple iPhone 17e is totally free right now with T-Mobile. To qualify for this wild offer, you simply need to switch to T-Mobile on most plans. It really doesn't get any simpler than that. There's no trade in. There's no restrictions on which plan you choose. It's plain and simple.

The full savings are distributed as monthly credits over a 36-month payment plan. If you leave T-Mobile before the end of the three-year commitment, you will need to pay the remaining balance. That's how these free deals work — you're making a commitment to stay with T-Mobile. You do also need to pay local sales tax on the phone's full retail value upfront, plus a standard $35 device connection fee per line at checkout. But don't let that hold you back.

We reviewed the iPhone 17e earlier this year, and we largely liked what we saw. Stan Schroeder said "the iPhone 17e is a decent upgrade over its predecessor, and a good choice if you want the cheapest new iPhone you can get." If you don't need all the power of the iPhone 18 Pro, it's a solid choice for normal users.

Get the Apple iPhone 17e for free this weekend with T-Mobile.