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SAVE $209.65: The DJI Osmo 360 Essential Combo is on sale at Amazon for $389.35, down from the list price of $599 at DJI. That's a 35% discount that matches the lowest we've seen at Amazon.

Opens in a new window Credit: DJI DJI Osmo 360 Essential Combo $389.35 at Amazon
$599 Save $209.65   Get Deal

The best time to start something new is right now. Today will never return and if you've been thinking about getting creative with capturing content, filming a project today is a great way to jump in. Of course, tomorrow is also an option. To give you an extra push, check out this creator-friendly deal at Amazon.

As of May 12, the DJI Osmo 360 Essential Combo is on sale at Amazon for $389.35, marked down from the list price of $599 at DJI. That's savings of $209.65 from a nice 35% discount that matches the lowest we've seen at Amazon.

DJI has long been a creator-favorite brand and the DJI Osmo 360 camera has impressive performance. It can film in full 360-degree footage with 8K resolution. It weighs only 183 grams which works out to about half a pound, so it's highly portable. Inside, it has 105GB of built-in storage and it can record for up to 190 minutes before needing a recharge.

SEE ALSO: The DJI Mini 5 Pro drone is close to record-low price at Amazon — save over $500 right now

DJI worked to make this model especially good for filming at night or in low-light situations. SuperNight mode activates a 1.9 aperture for better footage in dim conditions.

The Essential Combo comes with the camera itself, a carrying case, two batteries, an invisible selfie stick, and more.

Before the record-low sale price vanishes, snatch up the DJI Osmo 360 Essential Combo. Amazon lists this as a limited-time offer so it could jump back to full price at any time. Get it while it's on sale and you'll have a new toy for summer fun.

SAVE $100: As of May 12, the Acer Nitro V 15 gaming laptop with and Intel Core i5-13420H processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics, 8GB RAM, and 512GB SSD is on sale for just $699.99. That's 13% off its list price of $799.99.

Opens in a new window Credit: Acer Acer Nitro V 15 (Intel Core i5-13420H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050, 8GB RAM, 512GB SSD) $699.99 at Amazon
$799.99 Save $100   Get Deal

Looking for a gaming laptop that performs well, but won't cost over $1,000? Your search ends with this Acer Nitro V 15 deal.

As of May 12, the 2025 Acer Nitro V 15 gaming laptop with 8GB RAM and 512GB of storage is still on sale for just $699.99 at Amazon. That's $100 off its list price (about 13% in savings) and it includes a free month of Xbox Game Pass. While it's been chilling at this sale price for a week or so, it won't stick around forever. So if you're in the market, we recommend grabbing it sooner rather than later.

Consider this laptop your gateway into gaming. It's not a premium machine, but it handles the basics well at a budget-friendly price. It packs a 15.6-inch FHD IPS panel with a 16:9 ratio and speedy 165Hz refresh rate, as well as plenty of ports for your gaming accessories (HDMI 2.1, USB-C Thunderbolt 4, USB 3.2, Ethernet E2600). Under the hood, you'll find a Intel Core i5-13420H processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card, 8GB of DDR5 RAM, and 512GB of solid-state storage.

While it won't win any major awards, it's a great beginner-friendly option for those just getting their feet wet in the gaming world or a solid on-the-go setup for those on a budget. Mashable tested the previous iteration of this laptop and called it "arguably one of the best cheap gaming laptops you can get." Grabbing it for $100 cheaper than usual is honestly a steal.

It’s no secret that AI technology has made leaps and bounds in recent years, and in the year 2026, AI systems have cemented themselves in everyday life for many of us, at least. But there might be a day on the horizon when AI tech has not just changed the way we use traditional microphones, but replaced them entirely.

Milwaukee fans know the company makes all sorts of M12 and M18 tools for a wide variety of uses, from drills and drivers to hand tools, lights, and even lawn mowers. And while most people own a drill, impact driver, or maybe a sawzall and other basics, there are several lesser-known Milwaukee tools that you'll absolutely want to add to your toolbox.

SAVE $2,504.01: The Anker Solix F3800 Plus portable power station is on sale at Amazon for $2,294.99, down from the list price at Anker of $4,799. That's a 52% discount.

Opens in a new window Credit: Anker Anker Solix F3800 Plus $2,294.99 at Amazon
$4,799 Save $2,504.01   Get Deal

Summer fun is just around the corner. Soon we'll be barbecuing in the backyard, spending the day at the beach, and going on hikes in the wildflowers. But if you live in an area that's prone to summer storms, you might be dreading the inevitable power outages. Instead of dealing with going off grid, upgrade your home's system with a portable power station. There's a major sale on a huge model today.

As of May 12, the Anker Solix F3800 Plus portable power station is on sale at Amazon for $2,294.99, down from the list price at Anker of $4,799. That's a 52% discount that saves shoppers a massive $2,504.01.

The Anker Solix F3800 Plus does not mess around with power. It comes with 3,840Wh of battery capacity and the ability to support a 6,000W output. Anker says this capacity is ideal for keeping the house on-grid for a day. If you're looking for more power, you can add up to six Anker Solix BP3800 expansion batteries to the mix which will keep things powered up for nearly one week.

SEE ALSO: The Jackery HomePower 3600 Plus power station is massively discounted at Amazon — save over $1,000

If your home has solar panels, the Solix F3800 Plus is capable of connecting with up to 3,200W of solar power for recharging. That'll be excellent for summer storms that end with bright sunlight. The dual voltage 120V/240V means there are no limitations to what the power station can run in your house, from the refrigerator to the dryer.

Before this sale price disappears, get support for power outages with the Solix F3800 Plus. You'll be saving over $2,500 thanks to today's deal at Amazon.

Home Assistant has more integrations than you could shake a stick at. Some of them can be really useful, while others are less helpful. I tried five different media integrations for Home Assistant, and while all of them were useful, only three of them really hit the spot.

SAVE $35.70: As of May 12, get the Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities - Play Booster Box for $129 at Amazon, down from is usual price of $164.70. That's a discount of 22%.

Opens in a new window Credit: Amazon Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities - Play Booster Box $129 at Amazon
$164.70 Save $35.70   Get Deal

Looking for a way to add tons of new cards to your Magic: The Gathering collection, or need a quick way to build a deck? A booster box is where it's at. Right now, you can save big on one of the game's more recent expansions if you head to Amazon.

As of May 12, get the Magic: The Gathering Edge of Eternities - Play Booster Box for $129 at Amazon, down from is usual price of $164.70. That's $35.70 off and a discount of 22%.

SEE ALSO: The 30-pack Magic: The Gathering Lorwyn Eclipsed Play Booster Box is now under $120 at Amazon

This booster box contains 30 booster packs from the intergalactic Edge of Eternities collection, which marks the game's first space-centric set. It features a wide variety of spaceships, planets, exploration cards, and much more with gorgeous art you'll love straight out of a sci-fi novel.

Not only is the artwork based on jaw-dropping interplanetary ships and space-centric content, but this expansion adds four new mechanics to the game: Station, Warp, Landers, and the Void. Each Play booster comes with 1-4 cards of rarity Rare or higher, including a shining Traditional Foil card of any rarity in every pack.

So if you're looking for an economical way to add a mass of new cards to your stash or you want to build a new deck from scratch from a different expansion than, now's the time to jump on this deal. You never know when Magic cards are going to go on sale these days, and it's best to act quickly when they do.

You don't need expensive project management software to build a professional timeline. With a few formulas and conditional formatting rules, you can use Excel to create a dynamic, color-coded Gantt chart that updates automatically as your project changes.

So, you turn on your TV, and then your PlayStation or Xbox turns on in sympathy. All you wanted to do was watch some Netflix, but now you have to switch over to the console first and shut it down. It's extra annoying if you have to get up to do it.

Once again, Google is hosting a dedicated Android event ahead of its annual developers conference, Google I/O.

Google I/O 2026 is scheduled for Tuesday, May 19, but you can watch "The Android Show" livestream today at 10 a.m. PT. You can catch the action on YouTube.

Mashable 101 Fan Fave: Vote for your favorite creator today!

In past years, the latest Android operating system updates were a major focus at Google I/O. But in the artificial intelligence era, Gemini and Google's other AI projects have taken center stage.

At last year's Android event, Google debuted Android 16 and its new Material 3 Expressive design language. It also showed off Wear OS 6, various Gemini device integrations, and introduced the Find Hub for finding misplaced items.

What's in store this year? Watch the livestream at 10 a.m. PT to find out. Mashable will be covering all of the biggest announcements, so come back for a breakdown on the latest Android news.

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

Featured Video For You Is ChatGPT Changing the Way We Write?

Project Hail Mary is the first movie to bring me to the theaters in an embarrassing amount of time. So long I'm not willing to disclose it on the internet. But I am so glad it's the film that brought be back to the theater because it was So. Dang. Good.

How to watch 'Project Hail Mary' at a glance: Watch now Rent or buy 'Project Hail Mary' on Prime Video $19.99 or $24.99 Get Deal Watch now Rent or buy 'Project Hail Mary' on Apple TV $19.99 or $24.99 Get Deal Watch now Rent or buy 'Project Hail Mary' on Fandango at Home $19.99 or $24.99 Get Deal Watch later (potentially) Amazon Prime trial free for 30 days (save $14.99) Get Deal Watch later (potentially) MGM+ trial Free for 7 days, then $7.99/month Get Deal

The book was a masterpiece and I'm happy to report that Drew Goddard's adaptation of Andy Weir's novel (of the same name) does it justice. Sure, it took some liberties with the story, but it makes for a faster-paced, more emotional journey. Plus, I'm not mad about a lot of the science babble getting cut.

It stars a witty, impeccably dressed Ryan Gosling as Ryland Grace and an adorable rock spider alien named Rocky (voiced by James Oritz).

Project Hail Mary made its theatrical debut on March 20, 2026 and can still be seen in theaters across the country, but now the film is expanding its horizons and giving you another way to tune in. Here's everything you need to know in order to watch Grace and Rocky at home.

What is Project Hail Mary about?

Middle school science teacher Ryland Grace (Gosling) wakes up from a coma on a spacecraft (the Hail Mary) with no memory of who he is or why he's there. As his memory slowly returns, he realizes he's the sole survivor of a crew on a suicide mission to save Earth from alien microorganisms (astrophage) that are eating the sun's energy. Can his science skills and perseverance help him to save humanity?

Check out the official trailer below:

When will Project Hail Mary be streaming?

Amazon MGM Studios announced in mid-April that it was delaying the streaming release for Project Hail Mary and extending its theatrical run. The film even returned to IMAX theaters for a week to give audiences a chance to see the film in the way it was originally intended.

"We announced yesterday that MGM is extending the exclusive theatrical window for Project Hail Mary, so it won’t be on streaming anytime soon," Co-director Christopher Miller said in a post on X. "This is a movie that needs to be seen on a big screen...make plans to see it in a theater now! Bring friends and loved ones. It’s an experience to share with others."

It's not following the same theater-to-streaming trajectory as other Amazon MGM films, but I can see why. This is also completely new territory for the studio. The highest-grossing film for Amazon MGM ever and the second highest earner for 2026 as a whole, it appears the studio is waiting as long as possible before debuting it on streaming.

However, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. While it won't be hitting streaming services quite yet, you will be able to watch it at home if you purchase or rent it on digital.

How to watch Project Hail Mary at home Credit: Amazon MGM Studios Buy or rent it on digital

Project Hail Mary officially made its at-home debut on digital retail sites like Prime Video and Fandango at Home on May 12, 2026. You can rent it for a slightly lower cost or buy it forever for a little more at any of the retailers below. With rentals, you'll have 30 days to watch and just 48 hours to finish watching once you begin.

• Prime Video — buy for $24.99, rent for $19.99

• Apple TV — buy for $24.99, rent for $19.99

• Fandango at Home — buy for $24.99, rent for $19.99

• Google Play — buy for $24.99, rent for $19.99

• YouTube — buy for $24.99, rent for $19.99

Stream it on Prime Video or MGM+ (at a later date)

When Project Hail Mary finally does arrive on streaming is anyone's guess, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say it could arrive in mid June (at the earliest). However, like I noted above, this is unprecedented territory. The streaming release could be pushed back even further. We'll update this story when we find out more.

Another thing to note is that it could make its streaming debut on either MGM+ or Prime Video. Previous Amazon MGM Studios films like Challengers and Blink Twice graced MGM+ first before finally expanding to Prime Video. It seems unlikely that Amazon would choose to debut its biggest movie ever on its smaller, niche streaming service, but we wanted to give you fair warning that it is possible.

The good news is that both Prime Video and MGM+ offer free trials if you're a new subscriber. If you're not currently a Prime Video or Prime subscriber, then you can sign up for a 30-day free trial to Amazon Prime. That goes for brand new subscribers and those returning to Prime after some time away. MGM+ offers users a free seven-day trial to kick things off, then goes for $7.99 per month or $5.17 per month if you sign up for a whole year.

Opens in a new window Credit: Prime Video Amazon Prime monthly subscription free 30-day trial, then $14.99 per month Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: MGM+ MGM+ Free 7-day trial, then $7.99 per month Get Deal Opens in a new window Credit: MGM+ MGM+ add-on via Prime Video Free 7-day trial, then $7.99 per month Get Deal

Samsung Wallet is extremely convenient, but if you only use it when tapping a payment terminal or never change the default settings, you aren't getting the most out of the app. On every Samsung Galaxy phone or watch I buy, I change a few Samsung Wallet settings to improve usability, speed, privacy, and more, and add a shortcut for easier access.

Over the past ten years, I've lived in two separate homes and have paid to install solar on both. It has been a great experience, but there are a few things I would do differently if I were starting over today.

OnlyFans performer Lily Phillips exploded online after posting her pornographic video of sleeping with 101 men in one day and starring in a subsequent YouTube documentary about the stunt in 2024. Now, Phillips is a tabloid sensation, making headlines about faking a pregnancy and getting a boyfriend like any other influencer would. Between late Nov. and Dec. 2024, her name was Googled 6.4 million times, according to Google Trends.

Being an adult creator mixes something she really enjoys — sex — with creativity, Phillips told Mashable in an interview. "It was something I just really wanted to do," she said. "I knew it was something that was just for me." 

SEE ALSO: 'We're all sinners': the Conservative tradwife who does OnlyFans

And she makes money from it. A lot of it. 

While Phillips was tight-lipped about a typical month's earnings, she did share that her biggest month pulled her in $800,000 following the shoot with 101 men.

"What's not to love?" she asked.

Phillips's profile has risen at the same time as a moral panic against porn, both stateside and in the UK, where she resides. 

For years, adult content creators like Phillips have been pushed off mainstream social media platforms. More recently, with the enactment of age-verification laws in many states and in the UK, access to explicit content has become more restricted; if a porn site complies, visitors must submit proof of age, be it a government ID or a facial scan. This has also occurred with content that's not at all explicit but deemed potentially harmful to minors, like a Reddit forum to help people stop smoking. 

For Phillips, who mainly uploads content on her OnlyFans account, porn allows her to be creative and make the content she wants (within the OnlyFans guidelines, of course). 

"For me, I see it as a real art," she said. "And it sounds silly, but I really…get to create my own art every day."

"I wasn't very good at school. I'm not great academically or anything like that. So to find something that I excel in feels amazing," she continued.

What people get wrong about Lily Phillips

There are many misconceptions about sex workers out there. The ones Phillips has heard about herself include that she's money-hungry ("No, I just do something that I enjoy and love") and that she has an "evil demeanor" ("No, none of this is evil or necessarily wrong…I'm just putting my art out there for people to also enjoy").

"And if the male porn star [were sitting] here, is that the first question you would ask him?"

She also sees how she's treated differently from men in the adult industry. One of the most-asked questions she received is what her parents think. "And if the male porn star [were sitting] here," she said, "is that the first question you would ask him?"

There's an idea of "ownership" when it comes to women, Phillips said, like her parents somehow own her. "No, this was just a choice I made on my own when I was an adult," she said. 

She herself is open-minded about other people's perspectives, so she finds it sad that others aren't the same way. "When someone's made their mind up, and they think they know everything about you and your job, it can be quite frustrating."

She'd love to sit down with someone who is anti-porn and hear why they're against it, and destigmatize the industry for them.

Phillips is also a supporter of the Online Safety Act, the UK's age-verification law that went into effect in July 2025. 

SEE ALSO: Porn censorship is going to destroy the entire internet

"There's nothing worse than…someone underage seeing my porn," she said. She first saw porn at 11 years old, and thinks the thought of someone underage seeing it is gross. 

Early studies about age-verification laws, however, suggest that they don't work to keep minors off porn sites due to software like VPNs and non-compliant websites. Many instead urge for device-level filters, which free speech advocates say don't infringe on adults' rights. Last week, Pornhub announced it's live in the UK again following the implementation of such a filter on iOS 26.4 devices; it previously blocked itself due to the Online Safety Act.

Phillips is also a proponent of more sex education and media literacy in schools. She mentioned that young men could watch porn and think that sex is like this in real life. As an adult, you come to learn that porn isn't like how everyone has sex, but that's not the case when you first become sexually active, she said. (Though some adults likely don't know this, either.)

Phillips told Mashable she hasn't seen her income impacted by the Online Safety Act at all. That could be because OnlyFans requires a credit card to create an account, which is a form of age verification. But a preliminary study shows that other adult creators have experienced income losses due to these restrictions.

A typical day for Lily Phillips

Every day is "super different," Phillips said, but she gave an example of what she was up to the day of her Mashable interview. That morning, she walked her dog and filmed custom content for clients and social media content. 

After the interview, she said she had other calls scheduled, including video calls with clients. Then, she was going to wind down for the evening.

"Most people think it's a huge amount of sex, but I probably only really have sex with other creators once a week," she revealed. "People probably think I'm banging out every single day, but [I'm] really not."

"I probably only really have sex with other creators once a week. People probably think I'm banging out every single day, but [I'm] really not."

As for porn studios, Phillips said she only works with them around once a month. She prefers her content to be exclusive to her OnlyFans, as she owns it herself. When she makes a video with a studio, "You sign that contract and they can sell [the video] when you're dead." Plus, studios don't pay as well. An industry professional told Mashable that the typical heterosexual scene pays around $1,200-1,600 for women and $700-1,000 for men. This can increase for specialized scenes or higher-profile performers.

Especially with OnlyFans, marketing and advertising are a huge part of getting an audience. OnlyFans itself doesn't have discovery functions, so creators need to go elsewhere, like social media, to find customers. So a lot of her time is spent creating social media content.

And it just so happened that days before Phillips spoke to Mashable, her Instagram account disappeared.

What happened to Lily Phillips's Instagram?

Phillips and her team confirmed to Mashable that her Instagram account was removed in early May. A Meta spokesperson told Mashable on May 11 that the account was removed in error and has been restored.

"A huge amount of industry girls are being deleted at the minute," Phillips told Mashable while the account was still down. This isn't too surprising, as more and more sex-related, LGBTQ, and reproductive health accounts are reporting that Meta is censoring them.

"We're really being discriminated against," Phillips said. "All my content is always in the guidelines. I really don't even show my ass cheeks or anything like that. I'm pretty strict."

"All my content is always in the guidelines. I really don't even show my ass cheeks or anything like that. I'm pretty strict."

Instagram is one of her biggest platforms that brings in OnlyFans subscribers, so if it remained down, it would've impacted her financially, she said. Her vlogging Instagram account with over 110,000 followers remained active while the main account, @lilyphillip_s, was down, but that's a small fraction of the 1.6 million following on her other account.

What's next for Lily Phillips?

In the immediate future, Phillips is appearing on the new Australian reality series Turned On: Dirty Sexy Money, which premieres at the end of May. 

Phillips sees herself as a workaholic, saying she sometimes doesn't sit back and take in how much she's made or the recognition she's received. But as the nature of content creators, adult and not, you can't just sit back on your laurels once you have an $800,000 month. If you want that to happen again, you have to work for it.

"Sustaining that can be quite hard," she said. Once you have a viral moment like Phillips did with 100 Men, she thinks about how she can top herself (figuratively) and keep doing better.

TL;DR: Amazon has the Magic: The Gathering Lorwyn Eclipsed Play Booster Box on sale for $119.95, down from its $164.70 list price. That saves you $44.75 on a 30-pack display, with each Play Booster including 14 Magic cards and one guaranteed traditional foil.

Opens in a new window Credit: Magic: The Gathering Magic: The Gathering Lorwyn Eclipsed Play Booster Box $119.95 at Amazon
$164.70 Save $44.75   Get Deal

Boxes for Magic: The Gathering expansions like Lorwyn Eclipsed have been bouncing around in the trading card market lately, but Amazon has dropped the 30-pack Play Booster Box back under $120. 

As of May 12, the Magic: The Gathering Lorwyn Eclipsed Play Booster Box is listed at $119.95, which comes out to just under $4 per pack. That’s 27% off its standard $164.70 list price, and these boxes are shipped and sold by Amazon directly.

If you don’t mind exchanging the convenience of Amazon for a few dollars in savings, you can get lower prices elsewhere. Walmart currently has the same box at $119.95, but TCGplayer is even cheaper with unopened listings as low as $108.95 shipped. 

This Lorwyn Eclipsed display includes 30 Play Booster packs. Each pack contains 14 Magic: The Gathering cards, with one to four cards of rare or higher rarity, three to five uncommons, six to nine commons, and one land. Every pack also includes a traditional foil card of any rarity, with a foil borderless mythic rare appearing in less than 1% of boosters.

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Lorwyn Eclipsed sends Magic back to the plane of Lorwyn and Shadowmoor, splitting the set between eternal day and forever night. Expect Kithkin, boggarts, merrow, Elves, creature synergies, new and returning mechanics, and art that leans into the whimsical side of classic MTG.

Among other sets, Magic: The Gathering’s Strixhaven Play Booster Box is still on sale for below $140. For more fantasy-focused MTG, you can pre-order the Magic: The Gathering The Hobbit Play Booster Box for just under $210.

If you’re a Pokémon TCG fan, the newly-announced Pitch Black expansion — Booster Packs, ETBs, Display Boxes, and Booster Bundles — is available to pre-order at TCGplayer.

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

Obsidian has long been the gold standard for markdown editors. However, recently, it lost its throne to a newcomer on the scene (at least for me). Tolaria is a fully open source markdown editor that has more functionality than Obsidian, and you should definitely consider using it.

Spotify has just turned 20, and the company has a gift for you.

On Tuesday, the company launched a new feature called "Party of the Year(s)," an experience that gives you a quick trip down memory lane.

We won't spoil the surprise, but it's very similar to Spotify Wrapped, the biggest difference being that it spans your entire history on Spotify. At the end of it, you'll get a playlist featuring your all-time favorite songs on the service.

SEE ALSO: Claude can now connect with Spotify, Uber, and a lot more apps

To check it out, go here and scan the QR code with your mobile device, or just go to spotify.com/20 on your phone.

By the way, we checked, and it isn't exactly Spotify's 20th today, at least not if we're talking about the music streaming service that launched in 2008. Spotify, the company, was however founded in April 2006, roughly 20 years ago.

Here's one for the digital scrapbook: I found an ancient computer mouse (with a trackball!) while cleaning out my garage. Covered in a thick layer of 20th-Century dust but still in relatively good condition, the mouse immediately conjured one thought: I wonder if it still works?

When you delete a file, is it really gone? On a traditional hard drive, often not. But on a solid-state drive, the answer is far more complicated — and for most people, far more final.

At a glance

• Experimental validation: Using high-throughput screening with MatterSim-v1, we previously identified tetragonal tantalum phosphorus (TaP) as a potential high-performance thermal conductor. Now we have experimentally synthesized it and measured its thermal conductivity (152 W/m/K) to be close to the thermal conductivity of silicon.
• Faster simulation: We have accelerated MatterSim-v1 model inference by 3-5x and integrated it with the LAMMPS software package, enabling large-scale simulations across multiple GPUs.
• New model release: We are introducing MatterSim-MT, a multi-task foundation model for in silico materials characterization that enables the simulation of complex, multi-property phenomena beyond what potential energy surfaces alone can capture.

Materials design underpins a wide range of technological advances, from nanoelectronics to semiconductor design and energy storage. Yet development cycles for novel materials remain slow and costly. Universal machine learning interatomic potentials aim to accelerate the materials design process by providing accurate stability and property predictions for a wide range of materials. These models are orders of magnitude faster than traditional first-principles simulations, turning previously impractical problems into routine computations that can be completed in a few hours. Since we launched our MatterSim-v1 model, it has gained popularity in the materials science community for its ability to accurately simulate materials under realistic conditions, including finite temperature and pressure.

Today, we have several exciting MatterSim updates to share. These include experimental validation of MatterSim predictions for thermal conductors, performance improvements for faster simulation, and the introduction of a new multi-task foundation model for materials characterization.

Experimental validation Figure 1: Based on MatterSim’s computational predictions, we have synthesized a potential high thermal conductor. Left: MatterSim predictions of thermal conductivity compared to ground-truth simulation and experiment (with ±50% error band shown for reference). Right: Different views of the experimentally synthesized tetragonal tantalum phosphorus (TaP) sample with measured thermal conductivity of 152 W/m/K.

Materials with high thermal conductivity play a critical role in heat management, preventing overheating and improving energy efficiency. For example, established high thermal conductors like diamond, copper and silicon are widely used across a broad range of cooling applications. Designing next-generation thermal conductors may enable advances in computing, power electronics, and aerospace technologies. However, doing so requires accurate predictions of thermal conductivity values for candidate materials.

In solids, heat is carried in two main ways: by vibrating atoms (phonons) and by moving electrons. The phonon contribution can be estimated using machine-learning interatomic potentials to enable screening of thousands of candidates, narrowing the search space to the most promising materials before expensive experimental validation.

“MatterSim has generated by far the largest database of computational thermal conductivities. This opens the door to exploring a far broader materials space than before […].”

– Prof. Bing Lv, University of Texas Dallas

In collaboration with the University of Texas Dallas (UT Dallas), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and University of California Davis (UC Davis), we have used MatterSim-v1 to screen over 240,000 candidate materials for high thermal conductors. As shown in Fig. 1 (left), MatterSim’s predictions have good agreement with first-principles simulations. Prof. Davide Donadio from UC Davis: “I was amazed by how the MatterSim model combined accuracy and computational efficiency to predict such a sensitive property as thermal conductivity. That was the key that unlocked screening at this scale, hundreds of thousands of crystals, that would have been completely out of reach with conventional methods.” Prof. Bing Lv from UT Dallas adds: “MatterSim has generated by far the largest database of computational thermal conductivities. This opens the door to exploring a far broader materials space than before, enabling the community to uncover a broader set of viable materials even after imposing practical requirements.”

“For the first time, we can test conventional understanding of what controls thermal conductivity at scale […]”

– Prof. David Cahill, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Based on these predictions, we have identified tetragonal tantalum phosphorus (TaP) as a potential high thermal conductor. We have experimentally synthesized tetragonal tantalum phosphorus (TaP) at UT Dallas and measured its thermal conductivity at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (152 W/m/K for our best samples), close to the thermal conductivity of silicon. While we are not the first to synthesize tetragonal TaP, the material has not been considered as a thermal conductor before. These results demonstrate how MatterSim can enable the identification of functional materials: “For the first time, we can test conventional understanding of what controls thermal conductivity at scale, while enabling the discovery of new functional materials that balance it with other important constraints such as mass density, elemental abundance, and environmental stability”, says Prof. David Cahill from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

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Microsoft Research Forum

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Watch on-demand Opens in a new tab Performance improvements

We are making MatterSim-v1 significantly faster by releasing several open-source performance and usability improvements. First, we speed up model inference through a combination of faster graph construction, ahead-of-time compilation and reduced conversion between atomic representations, resulting in a 3x speed-up of MatterSim-v1.0.0-5M and a 5x speed-up of MatterSim-v1.0.0-1M (see Fig. 2). To make MatterSim-v1 easier to use, we have integrated it into the widely used LAMMPS simulation software, allowing users to easily scale model inference across multiple GPUs in their existing workflows.

Figure 2: 3x inference speed-up of MatterSim-v1.0.0-5M and 5x inference speedup of MatterSim-v1.0.0-1M (python). New model release

Building on the success of MatterSim-v1, today we extend the MatterSim model family by announcing MatterSim-MT: a multi-task (MT) foundation model for in silico materials simulation and property characterization. The model natively predicts energies, forces, stress and several important materials properties.

MatterSim-MT is pretrained on over 35 million first-principles-labelled structures covering 89 elements, temperatures up to 5000 K and pressures up to 1000 GPa. It is further fine-tuned on various properties including Bader charges, magnetic moments, Born effective charges, and dielectric matrices. Out of the box, MatterSim-MT serves as a foundation model for predicting material structure, dynamics and thermodynamics. Its multi-task architecture also enables a wide range of complex simulations that cannot be captured by potential energy surfaces alone. The ability to accurately simulate these phenomena is crucial for applications such as catalysis and energy storage.

Here, we illustrate these multi-task capabilities through three case studies: vibrational spectroscopy, ferroelectric switching, and electrochemical redox. Each example requires a distinct combination of property predictions. In the full manuscript, we also show that MatterSim-MT scales well with more data and parameters, can be efficiently fine-tuned to higher levels of theory, and can be systematically extended to new systems via active learning.

Figure 3: MatterSim‑MT’s multi-task prediction ability enables simulating complex material phenomena. (a) Illustration of the multi-task inference capabilities of MatterSim-MT, including predictions of energy (E), forces (F), stress (S), magnetic moments (μ), Born effective charges (Z∗), and dielectric matrices (ε∞) from atomic structures. (b) Pressure-dependent phonon spectrum of silicon carbide (SiC) up to 100 GPa, with inset comparing MatterSim’s predicted longitudinal optical (LO) and transverse optical (TO) splitting against experimental measurements. (c) Predicted hysteresis curve of polarization density as a function of the electrical field along the z direction in the ferroelectric tetragonal BaTiO3 material. (d) Evolution of oxygen Bader charge distributions in Li1.2 – xMn0.8O2 during delithiation, with arrows indicating the formation of an O2 molecule.

First, we focus on vibrational spectroscopy, a technique that identifies substances by measuring how their atomic bonds naturally vibrate. We demonstrate how predictions of Born effective charges and dielectric properties enable the computation of phonon spectra in polar crystals. In these materials, oppositely charged ions vibrate against each other. Depending on the direction of vibration, this can lead to a buildup of charge that creates a macroscopic electric field, splitting the optical phonon modes into higher-frequency longitudinal (LO) and lower-frequency transverse (TO) branches. As a case study, we simulated this behavior in 3c-silicon carbide (3c-SiC), a material used in high-power electronics, under extreme pressures. As shown in Fig. 3(b), MatterSim-MT predicts a Born effective charge in close agreement with both theoretical and experimental values. The resulting LO-TO splitting of 5.26 THz deviates by only 0.06 THz from ab initio calculations and 0.03 THz from experimental measurements.

The predicted Born effective charges also allow us to simulate how systems respond to an external electric field. In ferroelectric materials, ions adopt an asymmetric arrangement that gives the crystal a net electric polarization that can be flipped by an applied field. In Fig. 3(c), we demonstrate this by simulating barium titanate (BaTiO3) under an applied electric field, reproducing the switching of its polarization. The resulting hysteresis curve correctly shows that finite-temperature effects at 300 K make it easier to flip the polarization, even though the predicted spontaneous polarization (38 μC/cm2) is slightly higher than the experimental value (26 μC/cm2). This discrepancy is likely due to the well-known underbinding of the underlying first-principles calculations.

Finally, we predict atomic charges to study the electronic degrees of freedom in chemical bonding and redox processes. We examine the behavior of the cathode material Li1.2 – xMn0.8O2 during a simulated battery charging process. These lithium-rich transition-metal oxides are promising next-generation batteries due to their high energy density but suffer from irreversible capacity loss associated with the anionic oxygen redox mechanism. We reproduced this phenomenon by running molecular dynamics simulations at 1000 K and progressively extracting Lithium to mimic battery charging. We observe a clear shift over time: at first, the manganese (Mn) atoms supply the electrons needed for charging, but as more lithium is removed, oxygen atoms are forced to give up electrons instead (cationic to anionic redox), as shown by the shift to less negative Bader charges over time (Fig. 3(d)). This destabilises the structure with oxygen atoms pairing up to form O2 dimers (Fig. 3(d), inset). Notably, this comprehensive picture of the cationic-to-anionic redox transition and lattice degradation naturally emerges from the multi-task predictions, without any task-specific training on battery materials.

Next steps

With experimental validation, substantial performance improvements, and new multi-task capabilities, MatterSim is advancing toward more practical, decision-relevant use in materials design. Together, these developments are helping materials scientists move more quickly from large-scale computational screening to targeted experimental follow-up and decision-relevant scientific workflows. We are excited to see how the materials science community applies these advances in their own domains.

We look forward to continued collaboration as MatterSim is tested, extended, and integrated into real-world materials discovery pipelines.

MatterSim updated MatterSim-MT Pre-Print Acknowledgements

This work is the product of a highly collaborative and interdisciplinary effort led by Microsoft Research AI for Science in partnership with Microsoft Research Accelerator and collaborators at the University of Texas Dallas (supported by MSR Accelerator), University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and University of California Davis. Contributors to this work include Han Yang, Xixian Liu, Chenxi Hu, Yichi Zhou, Yu Shi, Chang Liu, Junfu Tan, Jielan Li, Guanzhi Li, Qian Wang, Yu Zhu, Zekun Chen, Shuizhou Chen, Fabian Thiemann, Claudio Zeni, Matthew Horton, Robert Pinsler, Andrew Fowler, Daniel Zügner, Tian Xie, Lixin Sun, Yicheng Chen, Lingyu Kong, Yeqi Bai, Deniz Gunceler, Frank Noé, Hongxia Hao, Ziheng Lu, Zixin Zhai, Mengfan Wu, Haoke Qiu, Mingfa Tang, Tie-Yan Liu, Haiguang Liu, Tao Qin, David G. Cahill, Bing Lv, Davide Donadio, Shoko Ueda, and Kenji Takeda.

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The post Advancing AI for materials with MatterSim: experimental synthesis, faster simulation, and multi-task models appeared first on Microsoft Research.