Blogroll

September is a big month for indie games, especially if you’ve been waiting for a certain “most awaited sequel of all time” to arrive. We’ve also got roguelikes and slick action galore, plus an increasingly popular co-operative adventure that you and your friends are going to love.

SAVE $700: As of Sept. 6, the massive 57” Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 Curved Gaming Monitor is on sale for $1599, down from its typical price of $2299. That’s 35% off.

Opens in a new window Credit: Samsung 57” Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 Curved Gaming Monitor $1,599.99 at Amazon
$2,299.99 Save $700.00 Get Deal

Colossal is almost an understatement when it comes to this 57” Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 Curved Gaming Monitor with an immaculate Dual-4K resolution. The monitor curves along a tight 1000R, ensuring an immersive picture perfect for open-world or RPG games (Last of Us 2 playthrough anyone?), without any wonky stretching or oblong picture warping. This monitor is essentially like having two 32-inch 4K monitors installed side by side, but with one seamless curved screen.

The 57” Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 Curved Gaming Monitor comes equipped with Quantum Mini-LED, which ensures rich, contrasting dark colors and highlights (via around 2,400 individual dimmable zones). Race through action-packed FPS scenes with seamless image quality thanks to the monitor’s 240Hz refresh rate and 1 millisecond response time.

Games that offer horizontal scrolling can often be entirely viewable on this size monitor, which is a massive plus if that’s your vibe. Reviewers of the 57” Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 Curved Gaming Monitor on Amazon say that this product is also excellent for working with a lot of open tabs. The monitor does not come with built-in speakers, a webcam, or a mic.

It weighs about 40lbs and comes equipped with DisplayPort 2.1, HDMI 2.1, and a USB Hub. In summary, this 57” Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 Curved Gaming Monitor is perfect for gamers looking for a totally immersive setup or multitaskers looking for the perfect, almost endless, workspace.

I’ve been using a Samsung Galaxy S21 FE for more than three years now, and while the phone’s fine in general, I don’t plan to stay part of Samsung’s ecosystem any longer. It’s time for a change, and after deliberating for months, I’ve made a decision to switch to one of the Pixel 10 models. Here’s why.

Pluto TV is a free streaming service that is different from many others available. Not only does it offer on-demand movies and TV series, but it also has live TV channels that can keep you entertained all day. It is owned by Paramount, which gives it some access to Paramount+ and CBS content.

Google I/O 2025. Samsung Galaxy Unpacked. Made By Google. All these big launch events had one thing in common — new artificial intelligence tools were the headline act.

Now, Apple has announced its next big event will take place on Tuesday, Sept. 9. Will we finally see the newer, smarter, AI-er Siri? Unfortunately, probably not. We, along with the rest of the tech world, would be shocked if it did.

It’s no secret — Apple Intelligence isn’t quite what we expected it to be, and the pressure is on Apple to add new AI-focused features to its products. That’s not to say that there aren’t some Apple Intelligence features that come in handy, but the long-awaited AI version of Siri has yet to make it to the public.

Apple’s next big event is set to be huge, and we’ll get a number of awesome new Apple devices that iPhone fans will love. So, why isn't the AI-powered Siri ready for its primetime moment?

That's the billion-dollar question.

Hardware versus software

Apple's release cadence usually takes the following form: in June, Apple holds its Worldwide Developers Conference, which is its major software event for the year, and where it shows off the big new software features that will ship to customers in September. This year, Apple revealed iOS 26, and we're eagerly awaiting the iOS 26 release date. On Sept. 9, Apple is set to debut devices, with the new iPhone being the headliner.

However, recent hardware launches from Google and Samsung have focused heavily on new AI tools. 

Credit: Apple

Apple has a rocky history with AI features, especially after the company failed to ship many of the promised Apple Intelligence features that it announced at WWDC 2024. Since then, reports in the New York Times and Bloomberg have revealed that Apple is struggling to rebuild Siri with generative AI capabilities, and that the company has fallen far behind rivals like Google and OpenAI in the AI arms race.

In the meantime, Apple has turned to OpenAI and ChatGPT to power some Siri features. A recent report from Bloomberg suggests that Apple is also in talks with Anthropic and Google to help power new Apple Intelligence and Siri features. But according to all reports, AI Siri still isn't done cooking.

Regardless, most of these reports point toward Apple making early business decisions, not readying a new Siri for the iPhone 17 launch. In fact, Apple forecasters don't expect to see the revamped Siri until at least 2026 – potentially around the time of WWDC 2026.

Apple Intelligence rumors

We do expect Apple to show off plenty of new AI toys at the Apple Event 2025, and there are plenty of Apple Intelligence rumors going around.

Technically, it's still possible that Apple will surprise everyone and announce the new, revamped Siri. But in all likelihood, we expect to hear about iterative improvements to existing Apple Intelligence features.

Credit: Apple

Notably, Apple confirmed to 9to5Mac that it plans on supporting Siri using OpenAI's new GPT-5 large language model. This builds on existing features, though. You can already sign into your OpenAI account on your iPhone and have Siri direct certain questions to ChatGPT as needed.

Other Apple Intelligence announcements should include improved real-time language translation on AirPods and iPhones, new photo editing tools, and more advanced Genmoji options. Some of these features were already teased during WWDC 2025 and should arrive with iOS 26.

SEE ALSO: Everything we learned during Apple's WWDC 2025 keynote What’s coming in iOS 26?

Rumors aside, there are plenty of AI-based features that we know for a fact are coming in iOS 26, which we do expect to be released alongside the iPhone 17. We know this because Apple has announced them already. The beta version of iOS 26 has been available since June, after Apple announced all of the new operating systems at WWDC 2025.

So what new AI features are there? For starters, there's a new feature in Visual Intelligence that allows users to ask questions about screenshots in addition to what your camera sees. 

Credit: Christian de Looper

There are also new live translation features built into Messages, FaceTime, and the Phone app, which use AI to provide real-time translations in communication. And there are some features that work a little more in the background, like AI-powered reminder suggestions, order tracking within Apple Wallet that uses information from emails in your inbox, and more.

Yes, Apple will probably focus heavily on other changes to iOS, like the new Liquid Glass design language, rather than on AI-based features, but that doesn't mean that AI won't be a big part of the new release.

The future of Apple Intelligence

It's very clear that Apple is indeed still working on building the all-new generative AI Siri. We've seen plenty of reports highlighting executive team changes at the company meant to speed up AI development. But these kinds of developments take time, and most experts think the company will finally ship major new AI features in 2026.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

Connections: Sports Edition is a new version of the popular New York Times word game that seeks to test the knowledge of sports fans.

Like the original Connections, the game is all about finding the "common threads between words." And just like Wordle, Connections resets after midnight and each new set of words gets trickier and trickier—so we've served up some hints and tips to get you over the hurdle.

If you just want to be told today's puzzle, you can jump to the end of this article for the latest Connections solution. But if you'd rather solve it yourself, keep reading for some clues, tips, and strategies to assist you.

SEE ALSO: Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more: Play games on Mashable What is Connections Sports Edition?

The NYT's latest daily word game has launched in association with The Athletic, the New York Times property that provides the publication's sports coverage. Connections can be played on both web browsers and mobile devices and require players to group four words that share something in common.

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

Each puzzle features 16 words and each grouping of words is split into four categories. These sets could comprise of anything from book titles, software, country names, etc. Even though multiple words will seem like they fit together, there's only one correct answer.

If a player gets all four words in a set correct, those words are removed from the board. Guess wrong and it counts as a mistake—players get up to four mistakes until the game ends.

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

Players can also rearrange and shuffle the board to make spotting connections easier. Additionally, each group is color-coded with yellow being the easiest, followed by green, blue, and purple. Like Wordle, you can share the results with your friends on social media.

SEE ALSO: NYT Mini crossword answers, hints for September 4, 2025 Here's a hint for today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Want a hint about the categories without being told the categories? Then give these a try:

• Yellow: Tennis lingo

• Green: Games of poker

• Blue: New York QBs

• Purple: Places visited by Joey Freshwater

Featured Video For You Connections: How to play and how to win Here are today's Connections Sports Edition categories

Need a little extra help? Today's connections fall into the following categories:

• Yellow: Tennis Statistics

• Green: Poker Variants, Familiarly

• Blue: Giants QBs, Past and Present

• Purple: Teams Coached by Lane Kiffin

Looking for Wordle today? Here's the answer to today's Wordle.

Ready for the answers? This is your last chance to turn back and solve today's puzzle before we reveal the solutions.

Drumroll, please!

The solution to today's Connections Sports Edition #348 is...

What is the answer to Connections Sports Edition today

• Tennis Statistics - ACES, DOUBLE FAULTS, UNFORCED ERRORS, WINNERS

• Poker Variants, Familiarly - HOLD 'EM, HORSE, OMAHA, STUD

• Giants QBs, Past and Present - MANNING, SIMMS, TITTLE, WILSON

• Teams Coached by Lane Kiffin - MISSISSIPPI, RAIDERS, TENNESSEE, USC

Don't feel down if you didn't manage to guess it this time. There will be new Connections for you to stretch your brain with tomorrow, and we'll be back again to guide you with more helpful hints.

Are you also playing NYT Strands? See hints and answers for today's Strands.

If you're looking for more puzzles, Mashable's got games now! Check out our games hub for Mahjong, Sudoku, free crossword, and more.

Not the day you're after? Here's the solution to today's Connections.

The 1930s were a huge decade for movies. With sound now in full swing, color was becoming the tantalizing new feature, where movies were starting to burst with more hues than black-and-white. Stories were becoming longer and more complex, with epic stagings of a familiar and wondrous world that expanded the limits of where filmmaking could take us.

Netflix has a string of exciting new films scheduled as fall sets in, from another Knives Out mystery to the recently released Thursday Murder Club. Your favorite shows, too, are getting new seasons, so you never have to worry about your home page looking dry.

This was a particularly jam-packed week of Android news! Google finally let Material 3 Expressive out of it's cage, and it's available on more Pixel phones. Gboard got some cool features, several Android tablets were announced, and we have a bunch of great editorials to read.

This was a busy week for tech news, with plenty of hardware and software announcements from IFA 2025, updates to Linux Mint and MAME, and much more. Here are the biggest stories you might have missed.

We all know Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter, but if you still look at him and see the titular wizard, you should explore his later work and really get a taste of the range and versatility that make him the stand-out actor he is. Lucky for you, I’ve got the perfect place to start, and it’s with the thriller-adventure movie Jungle, currently streaming on Prime Video ... but not for long.

SEE ALSO: 6 Dyson Supersonic dupes that are actually worth the hype

I had an overall smoother daily experience with one of the masks, and my skin made it quite apparent which mask it needed as a staple in my routine. Here are my thoughts on whether you should buy the Shark CryoGlow or CurrentBody LED mask, based on my own journey and results.

Note: This review specifically features the CurrentBody Skin: Series 2 mask.

Shark CryoGlow vs. CurrentBody: Bulbs and nanometer measurement Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

After hearing that the CurrentBody Skin mask is more expensive than the Shark CryoGlow mask (by more than $100), you'd naturally assume that the CurrentBody is more powerful. But you'd be off.

While the CurrentBody mask does have more LED bulbs on paper (237 versus the Shark's 160), none of the bulbs in the CurrentBody Skin mask are blue light bulbs. They're red and near infrared only, and not every bulb in the CurrentBody mask can emit both red and NIR (near infrared) light. There are 110 red light bulbs (633nm) and 110 NIR bulbs (830nm), plus 16 deep NIR bulbs (1,072nm) around the eyes and mouth for extra fine line attention. An upgrade from the original version of the CurrentBody mask, the Series 2 has an added chin strap to extend coverage to the jawline and maybe a tiny bit of the upper neck.

Meanwhile, the Shark mask has red (630nm), near infrared (830nm), and blue light bulbs (415nm), and every single bulb can emit any of those wavelengths at the same time. That technically totals 480 simultaneous light sources inside the Shark mask, ensuring that more of your face is being hit by any of the wavelengths. The nm (nanometer) number is a unit of measurement for each wavelength. Both masks hit the standard red light and NIR nanometer measurement generally considered "strong" enough to produce any type of at-home results. The Shark CryoGlow mask doesn't do deep near infrared at all, but remember that the CurrentBody only has 16 of those.

To add blue light to your existing CurrentBody routine, you'd have to buy the $469.99 Anti-Acne mask separately. That's nearly $1,000 compared to the CryoGlow's $349.99 price tag. So, there's that.

SEE ALSO: Dreame's three new beauty releases dupe the Dyson Airwrap and Supersonic, plus the Shark FlexStyle

In more scientific terms, red light masks are often given an irradiance measurement, or a measurement of power density at the source of the LED. All of the tri-wick bulbs packed into the CryoGlow bring it to a maximum irradiance of 128mW/cm², while the CurrentBody mask maxes out at 30mW/cm² of the Omnilux.

There is one area of the face where the CurrentBody's coverage dominates: the under eyes. The CryoGlow mask doesn't have any LEDs under the eye holes, instead using the space for cooling pads that mimic a cryotherapy de-puffing effect. They do feel amazing when you're half awake in the morning, but the results only last for a few minutes. The under-eyes are universally one of the most stubborn spots to treat with over-the-counter skincare, so an at-home red light mask could very well be someone's last-ditch effort before paying for a legit procedure. So while the CurrentBody might speak to you more if your main skincare goal is long-term reduction of dark circles or eye bags, I think the Shark's blue light option and tri-wick bulb situation gets more for your money overall.

Winner: Shark

Shark CryoGlow vs. CurrentBody: Settings and remote

This is where Shark really starts to pull ahead of CurrentBody. If you're dually concerned about fine lines and texture as well as acne, the CryoGlow is overwhelmingly the better mask.

Both masks have remotes that are attached to the mask via a cord. However, I'm not exactly sure why CurrentBody didn't just go wireless and move the remote's lone "on" button to the mask itself. It's not like the mask can do anything else but simply be on — there's just a single fixed red light and infrared setting. I understand that this is probably in the name of simplicity, but it's painfully basic to me.

It almost feels unfair to compare it to the Shark CryoGlow remote, which features a small LCD screen and a wheel to adjust cooling pad temperature and pan between three modes: Better Aging (red and infrared light), Blemish Repair (all three wavelengths in varying combinations), and Skin Sustain (all three wavelengths at the same time). Once you've chosen a setting, the screen counts down how much time you have left in your session.

The Shark CryoGlow remote. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable The CurrentBody remote. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

That lineup is going to be much more palatable to anyone who has more than one skincare concern. Personally, I desperately wanted to try an at-home LED mask for its potential mitigation of the acne that just randomly started showing up in my late 20s — but my late 20s also brought along the onset of fine forehead and smile lines, and I also wanted my makeup to stop caking in those. The Shark mask has an answer for both of those, and I love that the remote gives me the freedom to let me choose what I want to target on any given day. The CurrentBody's lack of customization is genuinely kind of shocking for the price, and felt like a downgrade after such a premium experience with the Shark for several months before it.

SEE ALSO: Hands-on with Therabody’s TheraFace Mask

Shark's settings also take slightly less time than CurrentBody's: The three Shark settings take four, six, or eight minutes, while the only CurrentBody setting takes 10 minutes. It's not a huge difference in terms of the tasks you'll be able to get done during Mask Time, but again, it's still nice to be able to gauge how many minutes are left. And while the CryoGlow's battery life is much shorter, you can at least gauge the timing before your next charge with the battery icon on the screen. When the CurrentBody mask is dead, it simply won't turn on.

Winner: Shark

Shark CryoGlow vs. CurrentBody: Design and daily wearability

From the outside, it's just a given that you'll look ridiculous while wearing any red light mask. The Shark CryoGlow is giving Jason Voorhees, while the CurrentBody Skin is more so embodying Dwight Schrute when he cuts the face off of a CPR dummy. I don't mind looking funny either way as long as a mask is physically comfortable to wear. FWIW, neither mask is unbearably heavy at all. The Shark CryoGlow is a little heavier — a bit over a pound, compared to the CurrentBody at less than a pound.

CurrentBody on the left vs. Shark on the right. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Both masks have adjustable straps, but the Shark mask's sliding adjusters (similar to the back of a baseball cap) are a much more seamless process. CurrentBody has way too many intersections of velcro, including The Big Strap that needs to be done and undone on the back of your head each time you wear it. It's just begging to get stuck in your hair, and it made me miss the simplicity of slipping the CryoGlow on and off.

The presence of a shirt/pants clip on both remotes implies that you should be able to roam the house while wearing the mask hands-free. Right? While you obviously can't expect to see perfectly out of any LED mask, I find the Shark CryoGlow to be much easier to wear than the CurrentBody Skin. When the lights are on, the CurrentBody mask is just... so much more in your face when it's on your face. The lights around the eyes are borderline blinding, so much so that anything you can see outside of the red glowy haze is tinted blue.

It looks wild, but like, in a fun way. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable My pupils cannot be serious. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

To be fair, the CryoGlow mask isn't unnoticeable while it's on, either. The shell is so thick that I have to hold my hands out annoyingly far in front of me to see what I'm doing. But I can still somewhat get stuff done while wearing the CryoGlow, like feed the cats or make my bed, whereas the CurrentBody Skin feels too trippy to do anything but sit on my phone. If you don't have a squirrel brain like I do, you may not mind having to zone out for a second — a CurrentBody mask owner on Reddit actually mentioned that they appreciate being forced to lie down for 10 minutes a day.

SEE ALSO: Shark vs. Roomba: Comparing top-rated robot vacuum lineups

The interior of the masks are also slightly different materials. The inside of the Shark is your classic slippery plastic that can be wiped down super easily for sanitation purposes. The inside of the CurrentBody mask, which touches your face directly, has a stickier silicone-y material that weirds me out. A ton of cat hair and fuzzies get stuck to it, too.

Winner: Shark

Shark CryoGlow vs. CurrentBody: Results

In my experience, the Shark CryoGlow mask works much better than the CurrentBody mask.

I got my skin into pretty amazing shape after about three months of daily CryoGlow usage. Before that, I was struggling hard to get my acne under control — it felt like a new pimple was popping up every single day. When I was consistently switching between the Shark mask's acne setting and "Better Aging" setting, I was going at least a week without a new pimple popping up.

The state of my chin and jaw before starting my CryoGlow regimen. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable The state of my chin and jaw after three months of CryoGlow usage. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

When I switched to testing the CurrentBody Skin mask, I obviously had to put the CryoGlow on pause to isolate the CurrentBody results. The CryoGlow mask works so well on acne that I was terrified to give up that blue light setting — and my fear came true.

During my CurrentBody Skin testing period, it felt like I lost a lot of the skin-clearing progress I made. Take my CryoGlow "after" photo from the right above and use it as my CurrentBody "before" photo. Below is the current status of my chin after two months of strict CurrentBody mask usage. I have one whitehead that's desperate to pop, plus red spots from recently-healed zits.

The state of my chin and jaw after two months of CurrentBody usage. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

My skin was considerably more unpredictable when I was using the CurrentBody than it was with the Shark mask, with fresh pimples consistently setting up camp on my chin and cheeks a few times per week. Granted, this is still less erratic than my acne cycle before testing either of the masks.

Since the CurrentBody Skin doesn't have blue light, I knew it wasn't going to kill pore-clogging bacteria like the CryoGlow can. But red light can still be on the defense against acne — it's said to promote the regeneration of skin cells, aid with inflammation, and maybe even help to prevent scarring from current acne. I'm super prone to post-inflammatory erythema (red spots that stay behind where a pimple used to be) that lasts for months, and I don't even feel like the CurrentBody did much to fade or prevent that.

It's not that I think the CurrentBody Skin mask did absolutely nothing. My skin held up a consistent glow and smooth-enough texture to go out bare-faced during my time with the CurrentBody, though the fine lines on my forehead and around my eyes are definitely still present. I haven't gotten Botox in my forehead for months, and I was hoping the CurrentBody would make me want to hold off on making a touch-up appointment (it didn't). And given how stark other people's CurrentBody results seem to be on social media, I expected my skin to even out much more than it did.

Winner: Shark

Shark CryoGlow vs. CurrentBody: Portability and packability

I'm terrified to go a week without the CryoGlow's acne setting. That's a testament to how reliably it prevents deep pimples from popping up on my face, but also a reminder of how deeply unfortunate it is that the CryoGlow would be ridiculously inconvenient to travel with.

The CurrentBody mask is slightly more travel-friendly than the bulky Shark mask. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable The rigid design makes the Shark less ideal for travel. Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

It's not that the Shark mask weighs that much, but it's a big, bulky hunk of plastic that doesn't bend at all. It'd just take up an awkward amount of space in a suitcase, especially if you're a heavy packer and really need to consolidate for a plane ride. The Currentbody's build isn't nearly as unforgiving. It's physically thinner and flexible enough to be packed in with clothes without hogging a ton of cargo space. At any rate, both do come with a drawstring travel or storage pouch.

The CryoGlow's short battery life would also make it annoying to take on a trip. It needs to be charged every few days if you use it daily, while the CurrentBody mask's battery life barely even needs to be charged once per week.

Winner: CurrentBody

SEE ALSO: The 2025 guide to recycling electronics, beauty empties, and clothing

Acura is basically Honda’s fancier cousin, sharing plenty of parts and platforms, but sometimes taking a very different approach. Take the Honda Accord and Acura TLX—both mid-sized sedans, yet worlds apart in personality.

Are you using Ubuntu and find it too minimal and bare bones? Heard about GNOME extensions making Ubuntu more feature-rich, but you don’t know which ones to install? Well, here are nine of my favorite GNOME extensions that I always install on Ubuntu.

Remember that render during CES 2025 that visually leaked the Switch 2? That was actually a showcase for the Genki Attack Vector, a dockable Switch 2 grip case with magnetic mounting for power banks. After testing out these unique traits, I found some panned out better than others.

The label "space rock" feels like an understatement for what NASA just observed.

A rock is something you throw at a window to get someone's attention. A rock holds down your picnic blanket to keep it from flapping in the wind. This rock, at 660 feet wide, spans two American football fields — and then some. 

The asteroid, called 1997 QK1, made its nearest approach in space on Aug. 20 at 1.9 million miles away from Earth. The ancient rubble hasn't come this close to the planet in more than 350 years. 

The flyby gave astronomers a chance to inspect its size, rotation, surface, and shape. Before taking these images with the Deep Space Network's Goldstone Solar System Radar, shown below, scientists knew hardly anything about it. Now it's less of a stranger.

"The asteroid is classified as potentially hazardous," according to NASA, "but it does not pose a hazard to Earth for the foreseeable future." 

SEE ALSO: The Webb telescope snapped a baby picture. But these babies are tyrants. The flyby of asteroid 1997 QK1 gave astronomers a chance to inspect its size, rotation, surface, and shape with radar images. Credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech

Millions of asteroids orbit the sun, remnants of the solar system’s birth 4.6 billion years ago. Most are harmless, tucked away in the belt between Mars and Jupiter. But sometimes, gravity shoves a rock closer to Earth.

None are currently on track to hit us. Still, astronomers are tracking close to 40,000 large space rocks and think perhaps thousands more are out there. Telescopes spot hundreds of new ones every year.

“An asteroid impact is an extremely rare event,” said Lindley Johnson, NASA’s former planetary defense officer, in 2022. “Maybe once a century is there an asteroid that we would really worry about and want to deflect.”

Despite the slim chance of one headed for Earth, these rare smacks can be disastrous. NASA estimates that a 100 to 170-foot-wide asteroid could level a small city. In 2013, a 60-foot meteor exploded over Chelyabinsk, Russia, damaging buildings and injuring 1,600 people.

To guard against that possibility, countries are building warning systems and deflection plans. NASA proved such efforts could work in 2022, when its $330 million DART mission slammed into a harmless asteroid and nudged it off course. The target practice was largely deemed a success, though follow-up studies have recently shown the results are far more complicated than anyone thought. 

The clear radar images of 1997 QK1 give scientists valuable insight into how such asteroids behave — useful information for developing planetary defense strategies, regardless of whether the giant rock is dangerous. 

Through a series of 28 pictures, astronomers learned the asteroid makes a full spin every five hours and is a "contact binary" with a long peanut shape, attributed to its having two rounded lobes. One of those bulbous ends is twice the size of the other, and both ends have valleys "tens of meters deep." 

Some 15 percent of near-Earth asteroids of a similar scale or larger have this shape. That's because many of these objects aren't single solid rocks but loose piles of rubble that drift together. Over time, those piles can connect. 

The asteroid will get closer to Earth in 2039, according to NASA. At that time, it'll come within 1.5 million miles — about six times farther than the moon.

Exactly three years ago today, Elon Musk tweeted that 90 percent of his tweet replies on what was then called Twitter were bot accounts. His insistence that Twitter was essentially one large bot farm was one of his main sticking points during his Twitter acquisition. Bots, particularly porn bots, have continued to be a problem on Musk's X, so much so that even OpenAI head honcho Sam Altman took notice.

“I never really took the dead internet theory that seriously but it seems like there are really a lot of LLM-run twitter(sic) accounts now,” Altman tweeted this week.

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

If Altman's comments instantly called to mind the "We're all trying to find the guy who did this" meme, you're definitely not alone.

As the CEO of the world’s most popular AI chatbot, Altman received a decent amount of roasting for his post. “That’s a really good observation — here’s why you’ve nailed it…” one user posted, mimicking ChatGPT's signature tone.

But Altman's post raised another question for a lot of users — what is dead internet theory anyway?

The origin of the dead internet theory

For the uninitiated, the dead internet theory states that an increasing amount of the content on the Internet is generated by machines, not people. That includes everything from the news you read to posts on Reddit and whole social media accounts on places like Facebook, Instagram, and X. The theory further mentions that algorithms curate this content so that you see it more often, lowering your ability to engage with real humans online. 

The exact origin of the theory is difficult to pinpoint, but some people point to this forum post on the Agora Road’s Macintosh Cafe by user IlluminatiPirate, who built off of a post by another user. In the post, IlluminatiPirate posits that the bots started running the show around 2016 when they noticed a bunch of odd conversations on the notorious online forum 4chan. 

The dead Internet started as a conspiracy theory, but it started picking up traction when publications like The Atlantic picked it up in 2021. Soon, it was being actively discussed on places like Reddit. Elon Musk fueled the fire even more during his 2022 bid to purchase Twitter when he claimed the site was hiding how many bots were truly on the platform.

Undoubtedly, bots have been a massive problem on the internet for many years. Bots in various forms have been used for black-hat SEO, misinformation campaigns from intelligence organizations, and good old-fashioned cybercrime.

Where does AI come into all of this?

In addition to AI-directed bots, the dead internet theory has evolved to include the existence of AI slop — the term for lowest-common-denominator AI content, often produced en masse by content farmers.

Think of the crappy AI image memes that go viral on Facebook, or the cheap AI videos that go viral on Reels, TikTok, YouTube, and X. AI slop comes in many forms — Studio Ghibli memes, animal videos, AI celebrity baby videos — and it's becoming ubiquitous on social media. The end result is an internet filled with low-quality and often manipulative AI content, crowded with fake comments and likes from AI porn bots, and surrounded by AI video ads. In this case, zombie internet might be a better term.

Think also of the claims that students are using ChatGPT to complete homework assignments, which were created by teachers using ChatGPT, and which will be graded using ChatGPT — all with virtually no human involvement.

The dead internet theory may seem a bit far-fetched, but bots have been a persistent enough problem on social media that honest-to-goodness studies have been done about the phenomenon, and tutorials have been written to help people identify when they’re arguing with a real person or a random AI bot from a Russian troll farm.

To date, no one is entirely sure how many bot accounts exist on social media since every platform, including Musk’s X, keeps those numbers close to the vest. However, there has been a noticeable uptick in bot activity just about everywhere, so maybe the theory is starting to become real after all. 

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.

Astronomers call a special kind of supernova a "cosmic yardstick" for good reason: The so-called Type Ia supernova gives off a predictable amount of light, making it a handy tool for measuring distances in space. 

These particular supernovas are useful but still puzzling, with scientists still unsure of what triggers their blasts. NASA estimates they happen only twice per millennium in the Milky Way.

A leading idea has been that in an orbiting pair of white dwarfs — the remains of dead sun-size stars — one bursts apart almost immediately, while the other survives, perhaps hurtling away at breakneck speed because it's no longer tethered by gravity to its companion. 

But that can't explain all Type Ia supernovas, according to researchers led by Technion — Israel Institute of Technology. By studying what could cause a dead-star remnant to suddenly go rogue — flying so fast it could escape the galaxy — the international team discovered a new scenario for a white dwarf explosion.

Based on how often Type Ia supernovas occur, scientists can infer how many runaway white dwarfs they should see overall, said Hagai Perets, who co-led new research published in Nature Astronomy. 

"When you do that, it turns out there are not enough," Perets told Mashable. "If any kind of Type Ia supernova explodes and produces this kind of hyper-velocity white dwarf, then you should have about 100 times more of those than what we actually see."

SEE ALSO: The Webb telescope snapped a baby picture. But these babies are tyrants. The European Space Agency's Gaia telescope discovered that high-velocity white dwarfs exist in 2018. Credit: ESA / ATG medialab / Gaia / DPAC / A. Moitinho illustration

A key mystery about Type Ia supernovas is that, in the dominant theory known as D6, a white dwarf would need a companion star in order to explode. This so-called D6 scenario is shorthand for "dynamically driven double-degenerate double-detonation." But so far, no one has found such a companion. 

When the European Space Agency's Gaia telescope discovered the existence of high-velocity white dwarfs in 2018, it became a possible answer for where those elusive companions went, said Samuel Boos, a UC Santa Barbara researcher not involved in the Technion study. It also supported the prediction of extreme speeds for these white dwarfs — the fastest stars in the galaxy.

"It seemingly provided the smoking gun," he told Mashable in an email.

But while Gaia revealed that runaways are indeed real, scientists debated how they were created. That's where the new Technion study comes in.

In this new study, researchers used a 3D supercomputer simulation to explore what happens when two "hybrid" white dwarfs crash into each other. These rare white dwarfs are lighter than usual, with a carbon-oxygen core wrapped in a much thicker helium layer. 

The video above shows a computer simulation for how two hybrid white dwarfs collide, trigger a supernova, and create a high-velocity white dwarf.

The team found that as the lighter of the two spirals into the heavier one, it gets "partly eaten," spilling helium onto its companion. That triggers a two-step explosion: first the outer helium, then the inner carbon. The blast completely destroys the heavier white dwarf but launches the lighter one out at around 4.5 million mph — fast enough to skip right out of the Milky Way. 

"The fact that they have such a large velocity means that they should have been created by something that is very violent, and that's why people [have thought] they were formed by some kind of supernova explosion," Hila Glanz, the other lead author of the study, told Mashable.  "So first of all, how do they survive, and why don't we see the remnant of the explosion itself?"

The team argues their hybrid collision model is a better fit for real runaway white dwarfs. The explosion is far fainter than a classic Type Ia supernova, and the ejected material spreads out thinly in space. That could explain why astronomers haven't spotted the bright, dense debris they'd normally expect after a supernova. 

Here, both stars are smaller, with one partly destroyed before the other blows up. Because they're closer together, the survivor gets kicked out faster and with more force.

The surviving white dwarf's reduced size — after being partially torn apart — also could explain why it appears hotter and puffier, consistent with three real runaway examples. The standard theory, by contrast, can't account for those properties.

"Sort of sold their skin in order to save their life," Perets said.

Astronomers recently got the first photographic evidence of a double-detonation supernova, which occurred in the Large Magellanic Cloud. Credit: ESO / Priyam Das et al. / Hubble / K. Noll et al.

Though this new idea shows how dead stars could become fugitives, it also points to a previously unknown way to create a dimmer white dwarf explosion. Understanding this diversity of Type Ia supernovas and their behavior is crucial, the researchers say, because these events are the universe's main source of iron. 

One potential takeaway is that some missing companions in classic Type Ia supernovas may arise if both white dwarfs explode, said Boos, whose work primarily focuses on the D6 scenario. He recently published a paper in The Astrophysical Journal showing that a "quadruple detonation" — where one double detonates after the other — can produce the expected brightness and chemical fingerprints just as well as a single explosion.

"It’s very possible there are few or no truly-D6 runaways (as they exploded along with the primary)," Boos said in an email, "and that all of these candidates indeed come from these hybrid mergers."

As researchers ponder the implications, they can also imagine what's next for those super-fast runaway white dwarfs. After fleeing the Milky Way, they could cross into other galaxies, but only to pass through. They're likely too fast to ever be captured again. 

"They go with a boom, go all the way, become the fastest ones," Perets said, "but then they just continue in loneliness."

Want to watch college football this season? Here are your best options: BEST FOR ESPN ESPN Unlimited $29.99 per month for 1 year (save $15) Shop Now Best for Fox and Big Ten Fox One 7-day free trial, then $199.99 per year (save $39.89) Shop Now BEST FOR SINGLE GAME FuboTV 7-day free trial, then $54.99/month for 1 month (save $30) Get Deal Best for channels Hulu + Live TV 3-day free trial, then $76.99/month Shop Now Best for affordability Sling Season Pass $329 for 5 months (save $50.95) Shop Now BEST for INTRODUCTORY OFFER YouTube TV 5-day free trial, then $49.99/month for 3 months (save $99) Shop Now

Week 2 of the new college football season has some really interesting matchups, but Oklahoma vs. Michigan might be the best of the bunch. It's the only matchup between ranked teams this weekend, and all eyes will be on freshman Bryce Underwood.

SEE ALSO: How to watch the NFL online for free

If you want to watch Oklahoma vs. Michigan for free from anywhere in the world, we have all the information you need.

When is Oklahoma vs. Michigan?

Oklahoma vs. Michigan takes place at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sept. 6. This game takes place at the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

How to watch Oklahoma vs. Michigan for free

Oklahoma vs. Michigan is broadcast on ABC. Fans can live stream this game on a wide range of recommended services, some of which include free trials so you can follow the action without actually spending anything.

ESPN Unlimited (no free trial) Opens in a new window Credit: ESPN ESPN Unlimited $29.99 per month for 1 year Shop Now

Channels: ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPNEWS, ESPN Deportes, SEC Network, ACC Network, ESPN on ABC, ESPN+, ESPN3, SECN+, and ACCNX

ESPN Unlimited provides access to everything that ESPN has to offer. For college football, you get live access to games on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN+, SEC Network, SECN+, ACC Network, and ABC. The Unlimited plan will set you back $29.99 per month, but for the first year, new subscribers can secure a bundle with Disney+ and Hulu for the same price.

Fox One (free trial) Opens in a new window Credit: Fox One Fox One 7-day free trial, then $199.99 per year Shop Now

Channels: Fox, FS1, FS2, Big Ten Network

Fox One provides access to live broadcasts on Fox, Fox Sports, FS1, FS2, and Big Ten Network. It costs $19.99 per month, but you can save $40 by opting for the annual plan at $199.99. You can also start with a seven-day free trial, so you've got the chance to watch select games without spending anything.

FuboTV (free trial) Opens in a new window Credit: FuboTV FuboTV 7-day free trial, then $54.99/month for 1 month Shop Now

Channels: ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNews, Fox, FS1, FS2, Marquee Sports Network, Monumental Sports, NBC, NBCSN, Pac-12 Network, SEC Network, and The CW

FuboTV offers you more than 250 channels of live TV and provides the opportunity to watch on 10 screens at once, if that's your thing. You can try FuboTV with a seven-day free trial period. 

Fubo takes sports seriously, and that's something we appreciate. With the Pro subscription, you get access to most college football broadcasts. But hardcore fans may want to consider upgrading to the Elite plan, which unlocks access to ESPNU, SEC Network, Pac-12 Network, and ACC Network. Either way, we suggest you test the waters for seven days before you make any sort of commitment.

Hulu + Live TV (free trial) Opens in a new window Credit: Hulu Hulu + Live TV 3-day free trial, then $76.99/month Shop Now

Channels: ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNews, ESPN U, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, and The CW

Hulu + Live TV is not exactly cheap, but it does offer good bang for your buck. You need to cough up $76.99 per month (after a three-day trial), but you get access to over 95 live TV channels, plus Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+ (all with ads). The included access to ESPN+ provides bonus access to even more college football games on top of live TV networks like ABC, FOX, ESPN, The CW, ACC Network, and more. Now that's value.

Sling (no free trial) Opens in a new window Credit: Sling Sling Season Pass $329 for 5 months Shop Now

Channels: ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN 3, ESPNews, ESPN U, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, Pac-12 Network, SEC Network

Sling is a comprehensive sporting service that offers a whole host of benefits, but you do need to be careful when selecting a plan. The Orange and Blue packages give you access to FOX, NBC, ABC, ESPN, and more in local markets, but for access to ACC Network, SEC Network, Big Ten Network, and more, you'll need the Sports Extra package. We recommend checking your local market to ensure you get access to the channels you actually need.

YouTube TV (free trial) Opens in a new window Credit: YouTube TV YouTube TV 7-day free trial, then $49.99/month for your first 3 months Shop Now

Channels: ABC, ACC Network, Big Ten Network, CBS, CBS Sports Network, ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPNews, Fox, FS1, FS2, NBC, NBCSN, SEC Network, and The CW

YouTube TV provides access to over 100 live channels. Newsflash: that's a lot. This huge list includes most of the channels you actually need to watch live college football, including NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and ESPN, plus networks like FS1 and SEC Network. YouTube TV also offers that all-important free trial so you can watch select games without spending anything.

How to watch Oklahoma vs. Michigan from anywhere in the world

If you're abroad for this fixture, you might need to use a VPN to unblock your favorite streaming service. These tools can hide your real IP address (digital location) and connect you to a secure server in the U.S., meaning you can unblock live streams of college football from anywhere in the world.

Live stream Oklahoma vs. Michigan from anywhere in the world by following these simple steps:

1. Subscribe to a streaming-friendly VPN (like ExpressVPN)

2. Download the app to your device of choice (the best VPNs have apps for Windows, Mac, iOS, Android, Linux, and more)

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

4. Sign in to your favorite streaming service

5. Watch Oklahoma vs. Michigan from anywhere in the world

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

• Servers in 105 countries including the U.S.

• Easy-to-use app available on all major devices including iPhone, Android, Windows, Mac, and more

• Strict no-logging policy so your data is secure

• Fast connection speeds free from throttling

• Up to eight simultaneous connections

• 30-day money-back guarantee

A one-year subscription to ExpressVPN is on sale for $99.95 and includes an extra three months for free — 49% off for a limited time. This plan includes a year of free unlimited cloud backup and a generous 30-day money-back guarantee. Alternatively, you can get a one-month plan for just $12.95 (with money-back guarantee).

Opens in a new window Credit: ExpressVPN ExpressVPN (1-Month Plan) $12.95 at ExpressVPN (with money-back guarantee) Get Deal

We are just days away from Apple's big event where the company will officially announce its latest mobile device, iPhone 17.

Little is officially known about what the iPhone 17 will bring to Apple's iOS lineup. However, one thing is very likely based on the rumors: We will see some significant new camera features and upgrades this time around.

Here's what Mashable is hearing.

The camera bump will become a camera island

The most persistent camera-related rumor for the iPhone 17, and one that can be seen in various alleged leaked images, is how Apple's three camera lenses look on the back of the device.

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

For years, Apple has designed the iPhone with what has been referred to as the "camera bump." The camera bump is a square protrusion on the back of the iPhone that houses the iPhone's camera lenses.

It appears that the iPhone 17 is reimagining the camera bump by extending it full-width across the back of the iPhone. This is already being referred to as the "camera island" by Apple fans.

Upgraded camera lenses

This one shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.

Apple has strived to upgrade at least one of its cameras lenses in each recent iteration of the iPhone. The iPhone 14 Pro's main camera was upgraded to a 48MP sensor when it was released, and the iPhone 16 Pro's ultra wide camera lens was upgraded to 48MP last year.

This year, it appears that the remaining third lens, the telephoto camera lens, will be receiving the 48MP upgrade on the iPhone 17 Pro.

Along with that 48MP bump, the telephoto lens will be able to provide users with an upgraded zoom option as well — from a 5x optical zoom in the iPhone 16 Pro to a 8x optical zoom in the iPhone 17 Pro.

The rear camera lenses aren't the only ones rumored to be receiving an upgrade, either. 

For years the front-facing TrueDepth camera has been stuck at 12MP. With the iPhone 17, that "selfie" camera is expected to get an upgrade to 24MP. And this upgrade is expected to roll out to the entire iPhone 17 family of devices.

Multi-camera video recording

Since the iPhone has come out, there have been third-party apps and other workarounds that have provided unofficial multi-cam video recording through the iPhone. 

Some apps allow users to utilize multiple devices. Other apps allow users to record through multiple camera lenses on the same iPhone. And there are even apps that provide picture-in-picture multi-cam recording that provides a front and back camera view within the same video.

It's unclear exactly what Apple has in store with its own version of multi-cam video recording, but it does appear that Apple is preparing to roll out a new feature within its Camera app that officially brings multi-cam recording to the iPhone 17.

A new Pro Camera app

Speaking of Apple's official Camera app for iOS, there's word that the company will be introducing a new Pro Camera app as well. 

While the name may suggest as much, it's unclear if only Pro models of the iPhone will be able to utilize the features of this rumored app. There's also a possibility that the Pro Camera can be rolled out within an updated version of the Final Cut Camera app.

If Apple does drop a Pro Camera app or feature along with the iPhone 17, it's likely that it will provide a professional level of control over photos and video that third-party apps like Halide, Kino, and Filmic Pro provide users.

iPhone 17 Air's singular rear camera

Much of the buzz surrounding the upcoming Apple event is the debut of Apple's new ultra-thin model of iPhone, currently being dubbed the iPhone 17 Air.

The rumors are that the iPhone 17 Air will only be 5.5mm thick at its thinnest point, with the camera bump making the device around 1.8mm thicker.

However, in order to make the iPhone 17 Air ultra-thin, it appears this slim model of iPhone will only come with a single rear-facing camera. It's a trade-off that Apple fans will have to consider.

Another new physical camera button

Full disclosure: Of all the rumored camera-oriented features potentially coming to the iPhone 17 line, this one appears the most iffy.

The iPhone 17 may see the addition of yet another physical button to go along with the Camera Control button that was introduced with the iPhone 16 models. This new rumor from a tipster claims that an additional Camera Control button is being added to the "top edge" of iPhone 17 devices in order to provide users with quicker access to the camera.

Which rumors are true? We only have a few more days to wait until we find out.

Be sure to tune into Mashable for our live coverage of the Apple event on Tuesday, Sept. 9.