Feed aggregator

The roof of a private school collapsed in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing at least 28 children and a female teacher and injuring more than 50 other people.

(Image credit: Maaz Awan)

Smeg has launched a new three-in-one countertop electric grill with interchangeable plates for different cooking styles — all in a smart, 1950s-inspired package.

The new Smeg MultiGrill has two heating plates and can be used open or closed depending on the dish you're preparing. In Contact mode, the MultiGrill cooks quickly and evenly, with heat from both sides, for foods like burgers, sandwiches, and grilled meats. Oven mode gives you four adjustable height settings, so you can cook more delicate dishes like fish without the upper plate making direct contact. Finally, BBQ mode lets you open the grill completely flat for double the cooking space, with heat only from below.

It also has three preset modes — Panini, Waffle, and Burger — with customizable times and temperatures, and comes with four plates (one smooth, one grill, and two waffle plates), plus a measuring cup for pouring waffle batter.

All plates are made of aluminum with a non-stick ceramic coating, making them dishwasher-safe, and the grill has a removable fat-collecting drawer for easier cleanup after cooking.

Simple searing

Each plate can be adjusted to between 60C and 230C, with a dedicated Sear mode to give an intense burst of heat (above 250C for 30 seconds) for rapidly browning and caramelizing the outside of meat while keeping the inside tender.

The temperature and cooking mode are displayed on an LCD display, and all functions are controlled using a pair of simple dials.

It's available for £299.95 direct from Smeg., in either black or cream. I'll be testing the Smeg MultiGrill soon and will be interested to see how it performs compared to other multi-function countertop cookers — as well as Ninja's new Belgian waffle maker.

• IBM study reveals enthusiasm for AI integration, but division on governance
• AI-related incidents are increasingly becoming a board problem
• Leaders are split on who should accept liability when it comes to AI incidents

Businesses are increasingly excited to expand and evolve their AI deployments, but efforts to stay aware of potential risks and challenges are falling behind, new research has claimed.

A report from IBM surveying over 3,000 business leaders across the EMEA region found 80% of those surveyed said that an AI-related incident - such as an agent failure, data exposure, AI-driven decision error, or AI security breach - had reached their board or C-suite over the past year.

Despite this, fewer than half (40%) of those organisations said they would be changing their AI governance policy or frameworks as a response, showing a potential governance gap emerging for businesses of all kinds.

AI debate

These issues are particularly concerning as AI becomes a cornerstone of work processes for many businesses, taking on more responsibility day by day.

The survey found three-quarters (75%) of respondents expected AI agents to have some level of autonomy with respect to making decisions by 2027 - however only 37% believed their governance is designed to scale with agentic AI deployment.

Nearly all executives (98%) surveyed have formally assigned responsibility for AI risk at board level, including 26% with a dedicated board-level AI committee, showing that awareness is there, but clearly there is still work to be done.

This includes establishing liability frameworks to cover off when AI agents might make their own decisions, with views on legal liability still split among respondents.

This includes building out formal legal or contractual frameworks defining AI vendor liability for agent failures (33%), defined human escalation thresholds (32%), real-time monitoring and audit trails of agent decisions and actions (30%) and the ability to immediately halt agent activity across the enterprise (29%).

“The AI debate has moved from adoption to governance and accountability,” noted Ana Paula Assis, IBM Senior Vice President and Chair, EMEA and APAC.

“As organizations progress from AI assistants to autonomous agents, governance can no longer be treated as a compliance exercise. It has become a business requirement and value enabler.

“The enterprises that can scale AI with accountability and trust will be the ones that realize the greatest business value. That means governance must be built into how agents operate, with clear boundaries on what they can do, clear ownership when things go wrong, and controls that work in real-time.”

Starting a newsletter can seem easy at the beginning. But as you build it, everything gets more complicated. You need to make a stellar copy, an intuitive layout, a precise contact list, and even pinpoint which offer goes to which set of contacts. With so much to handle, you need a tool that helps with everything while keeping ultimate control in your hands.

Hostinger Reach combines all these tasks into an email marketing service. Launched in June 2025, it manages your email marketing campaigns end-to-end. It’s separate from Hostinger’s web hosting and business email, though it connects with its website tools.

I wanted to see it stacks up against some of the best email hosting services I've tested. So, in this review, I’ll assess what Reach offers, where it falls short, and whether you should consider it before launching your campaign. Let’s begin.

Hostinger Reach: Plans and pricing

(Image credit: Hostinger Reach)

You should first compare the frequency of your emails and the size of your audience contact list with the plans and their limits. Once you’re done with this, go through the add-ons like the editing and automation tools that the plan offers.

Currently, Hostinger Reach offers the following plans:

Plan

First-year cost

Recipients/ month

Emails/ month

Starter

Free

100

200

Grow

$29.88 ($2.49/month)

500

3,500

Pro, 1,000 recipients

$47.88 ($3.99/month)

1,000

7,000

The displayed monthly renewal rates currently are $1.49, $2.49, and $3.99, respectively.

Now, you need to understand what “recipients” mean here. It counts distinct addresses emailed during a calendar month, not new subscribers added each month. So, if you delete a contact from your list, it won’t be counted as an additional seat for a new contact. Instead, the counter resets on the first day of each month, not after a specific campaign.

For example, two newsletters to 100 people use all 200 free emails. Four newsletters to those same people need 400. That’s why I’d use Starter to learn the tool, and not assume that it covers a weekly newsletter.

The Starter plan includes 20 one-time AI credits. Grow provides 10 monthly credits and Pro provides 20. Keep in mind that these AI credits pay for generation tasks, and not email delivery.

You will have multiple useful features like scheduling, personalization, and automations under the Grow plan. Whereas the Pro plan adds code editing, send-time optimization, custom fields, and teammates.

Hostinger Reach: Setup and website connections

(Image credit: Hostinger Reach)

To start an email campaign with Reach, you will need to have a sending domain. Now, if you’re already using a Hostinger-managed domain, it will connect automatically. But if you’re not, you will have to change your DNS records on that external domain to kick-start your campaign.

Once set up, you can add contacts manually, import a CSV file, or connect website forms. Hostinger’s website builder syncs form submissions into Reach. There’s a WordPress plugin too that supports sites hosted elsewhere, with connections for tools including WPForms Lite, Contact Form 7, and Elementor.

That’s the connection I find most useful. A visitor signs up on the website, and their details reach the mailing list without another spreadsheet import. The plugin collects contacts, while campaigns and reports live in Reach.

You should also enable the double opt-in feature for supported signup sources. This asks people to confirm their subscription by email before receiving campaigns. It doesn’t apply automatically to CSV imports or manually added contacts, so an imported address still needs valid permission.

Finally, Reach’s default no-reply address can send without a paid mailbox. Receiving replies requires a working mailbox, which can come from Hostinger or another provider.

Hostinger Reach: Creating and editing emails

(Image credit: Hostinger Reach)

Reach’s AI accepts a goal, supporting links, images, and product details. Using all of this, it proposes a campaign plan and, after confirmation, creates a draft. I noticed this entire process counts as one AI credit, which feels pretty fair to me.

For a small coffee shop, I’d provide the actual offer, closing date, product link, and desired tone. That gives the tool something concrete to work with. “Write a great sales email” leaves too many decisions to software that doesn’t run the shop.

Talking about the editor, you’ll find a template library, visual controls, and HTML/code options on eligible plans. Text, images, links, and design settings can be changed without relying entirely on another prompt. And I definitely prefer that choice. That’s because even if one price is wrong, I would edit the price myself.

I wouldn’t ask AI to rebuild the paragraph and then check whether it changed anything else.

The preheader is worth setting, too. This is the short text shown beside the subject in an inbox. Reach lets you choose it, rather than leave that space to a stray line from the email. I do suggest that before sending, you should check the mobile preview and send yourself a test.

Hostinger Reach: Personalization and automations

You can easily insert the subscriber’s name along with the email address here. My favorite detail in Hostinger’s tutorial is the fallback text. Its coffee-shop example uses “coffee lover” when a first name is missing, so the greeting still makes sense.

That’s a small control with a clear purpose. I would rather send a natural greeting to everyone than a personal greeting that breaks for half the list.

Coming to Segments, they’re simply filtered groups of contacts. Reach can automatically organize people by signup source, and its AI can help define groups using contact activity. I’d use that as a starting rule to review, not a universal sign that someone has lost interest. The useful part is having a group I can address differently from regular readers.

For example, someone joining a coffee workshop list may want class dates, while a shop subscriber wants new beans. Keeping those signup sources separate makes the next message easier to choose. That is a stronger reason to segment than simply making the contact list look tidy.

Hostinger Reach: Reports and email delivery

Reach reports opens, clicks, bounces, and unsubscribes. A bounce means the message could not be delivered. Its click map highlights which links attracted attention, while recipient and device views provide more detail.

You can also use the click map to compare the main offer with other links in the email. That tells more about the next edit than admiring a large open-rate number. But it still doesn’t prove that those clicks became sales.

There’s also a Smart Sending feature that uses past opening behavior to spread a campaign across a 24-hour window. I’d consider it for a general newsletter, but switch it off for an offer that ends that evening.

There’s even a Quality Checker option that looks for problems with content, links, layout, and spam-related signals. Keep in mind, it does not verify the sender’s reputation or guarantee inbox placement.

Hostinger Reach: Final verdict

I would consider Reach for a small business that needs a regular newsletter, website signup forms, and a few useful follow-ups. The appeal is having those jobs connected, with AI to draft and manual controls to finish.

However, you should be more cautious about moving an established mailing operation. Before switching, check the plan’s features, run through the actual store connection, and confirm that saved designs reopen correctly. Those checks matter more than an enthusiastic tutorial or a low monthly figure.

My first step would be a small, permission-based trial with a campaign I genuinely need to send, rather than a throwaway sample. If the editing suits the newsletter and the paid allowance fits its schedule, Reach earns a place on the shortlist.

FAQsIs email marketing still worth it in 2026?

Yes, I think email marketing is still worth it when people have chosen to hear from the business. Useful newsletters, welcome messages, and relevant offers keep subscribers interested. I’d judge the return by inquiries, repeat purchases, and profit after campaign costs. A high open rate alone doesn’t tell me whether the effort paid off.

What is the 12-second rule for emails?

In email marketing, the “12-second rule” reminds you to make the message clear in a quick scan. Readers should quickly understand who’s writing, what’s being offered, and what to do next. I’d put the main point near the top and cut any opening that delays it. I treat 12 seconds as a writing guideline, not a fixed attention limit that applies to everyone.

What are the 5 C’s of email?

A common version of the five C’s is clear, concise, correct, courteous, and complete. I’d use them as a final check: explain the purpose, remove filler, verify the details, keep the tone respectful, and include everything the reader needs to act. Being concise shouldn’t mean leaving out an offer’s conditions or deadline.

What are the four types of emails?

Four common business email types are newsletters, promotional emails, transactional emails, and welcome emails. Newsletters share updates and useful content. Promotional emails highlight offers. Transactional emails confirm actions, such as purchases or password resets. Welcome emails introduce the business after someone signs up. I’d choose the type around the message’s purpose. These are useful starting categories, not the only kinds of email.

Starting a newsletter can seem easy at the beginning. But as you build it, everything gets more complicated. You need to make a stellar copy, an intuitive layout, a precise contact list, and even pinpoint which offer goes to which set of contacts. With so much to handle, you need a tool that helps with everything while keeping ultimate control in your hands.

Hostinger Reach combines all these tasks into an email marketing service. Launched in June 2025, it manages your email marketing campaigns end-to-end. It’s separate from Hostinger’s web hosting and business email, though it connects with its website tools.

I wanted to see it stacks up against some of the best email hosting services I've tested. So, in this review, I’ll assess what Reach offers, where it falls short, and whether you should consider it before launching your campaign. Let’s begin.

Hostinger Reach: Plans and pricing

(Image credit: Hostinger Reach)

You should first compare the frequency of your emails and the size of your audience contact list with the plans and their limits. Once you’re done with this, go through the add-ons like the editing and automation tools that the plan offers.

Currently, Hostinger Reach offers the following plans:

Plan

First-year cost

Recipients/ month

Emails/ month

Starter

Free

100

200

Grow

$29.88 ($2.49/month)

500

3,500

Pro, 1,000 recipients

$47.88 ($3.99/month)

1,000

7,000

The displayed monthly renewal rates currently are $1.49, $2.49, and $3.99, respectively.

Now, you need to understand what “recipients” mean here. It counts distinct addresses emailed during a calendar month, not new subscribers added each month. So, if you delete a contact from your list, it won’t be counted as an additional seat for a new contact. Instead, the counter resets on the first day of each month, not after a specific campaign.

For example, two newsletters to 100 people use all 200 free emails. Four newsletters to those same people need 400. That’s why I’d use Starter to learn the tool, and not assume that it covers a weekly newsletter.

The Starter plan includes 20 one-time AI credits. Grow provides 10 monthly credits and Pro provides 20. Keep in mind that these AI credits pay for generation tasks, and not email delivery.

You will have multiple useful features like scheduling, personalization, and automations under the Grow plan. Whereas the Pro plan adds code editing, send-time optimization, custom fields, and teammates.

Hostinger Reach: Setup and website connections

(Image credit: Hostinger Reach)

To start an email campaign with Reach, you will need to have a sending domain. Now, if you’re already using a Hostinger-managed domain, it will connect automatically. But if you’re not, you will have to change your DNS records on that external domain to kick-start your campaign.

Once set up, you can add contacts manually, import a CSV file, or connect website forms. Hostinger’s website builder syncs form submissions into Reach. There’s a WordPress plugin too that supports sites hosted elsewhere, with connections for tools including WPForms Lite, Contact Form 7, and Elementor.

That’s the connection I find most useful. A visitor signs up on the website, and their details reach the mailing list without another spreadsheet import. The plugin collects contacts, while campaigns and reports live in Reach.

You should also enable the double opt-in feature for supported signup sources. This asks people to confirm their subscription by email before receiving campaigns. It doesn’t apply automatically to CSV imports or manually added contacts, so an imported address still needs valid permission.

Finally, Reach’s default no-reply address can send without a paid mailbox. Receiving replies requires a working mailbox, which can come from Hostinger or another provider.

Hostinger Reach: Creating and editing emails

(Image credit: Hostinger Reach)

Reach’s AI accepts a goal, supporting links, images, and product details. Using all of this, it proposes a campaign plan and, after confirmation, creates a draft. I noticed this entire process counts as one AI credit, which feels pretty fair to me.

For a small coffee shop, I’d provide the actual offer, closing date, product link, and desired tone. That gives the tool something concrete to work with. “Write a great sales email” leaves too many decisions to software that doesn’t run the shop.

Talking about the editor, you’ll find a template library, visual controls, and HTML/code options on eligible plans. Text, images, links, and design settings can be changed without relying entirely on another prompt. And I definitely prefer that choice. That’s because even if one price is wrong, I would edit the price myself.

I wouldn’t ask AI to rebuild the paragraph and then check whether it changed anything else.

The preheader is worth setting, too. This is the short text shown beside the subject in an inbox. Reach lets you choose it, rather than leave that space to a stray line from the email. I do suggest that before sending, you should check the mobile preview and send yourself a test.

Hostinger Reach: Personalization and automations

You can easily insert the subscriber’s name along with the email address here. My favorite detail in Hostinger’s tutorial is the fallback text. Its coffee-shop example uses “coffee lover” when a first name is missing, so the greeting still makes sense.

That’s a small control with a clear purpose. I would rather send a natural greeting to everyone than a personal greeting that breaks for half the list.

Coming to Segments, they’re simply filtered groups of contacts. Reach can automatically organize people by signup source, and its AI can help define groups using contact activity. I’d use that as a starting rule to review, not a universal sign that someone has lost interest. The useful part is having a group I can address differently from regular readers.

For example, someone joining a coffee workshop list may want class dates, while a shop subscriber wants new beans. Keeping those signup sources separate makes the next message easier to choose. That is a stronger reason to segment than simply making the contact list look tidy.

Hostinger Reach: Reports and email delivery

Reach reports opens, clicks, bounces, and unsubscribes. A bounce means the message could not be delivered. Its click map highlights which links attracted attention, while recipient and device views provide more detail.

You can also use the click map to compare the main offer with other links in the email. That tells more about the next edit than admiring a large open-rate number. But it still doesn’t prove that those clicks became sales.

There’s also a Smart Sending feature that uses past opening behavior to spread a campaign across a 24-hour window. I’d consider it for a general newsletter, but switch it off for an offer that ends that evening.

There’s even a Quality Checker option that looks for problems with content, links, layout, and spam-related signals. Keep in mind, it does not verify the sender’s reputation or guarantee inbox placement.

Hostinger Reach: Final verdict

I would consider Reach for a small business that needs a regular newsletter, website signup forms, and a few useful follow-ups. The appeal is having those jobs connected, with AI to draft and manual controls to finish.

However, you should be more cautious about moving an established mailing operation. Before switching, check the plan’s features, run through the actual store connection, and confirm that saved designs reopen correctly. Those checks matter more than an enthusiastic tutorial or a low monthly figure.

My first step would be a small, permission-based trial with a campaign I genuinely need to send, rather than a throwaway sample. If the editing suits the newsletter and the paid allowance fits its schedule, Reach earns a place on the shortlist.

FAQsIs email marketing still worth it in 2026?

Yes, I think email marketing is still worth it when people have chosen to hear from the business. Useful newsletters, welcome messages, and relevant offers keep subscribers interested. I’d judge the return by inquiries, repeat purchases, and profit after campaign costs. A high open rate alone doesn’t tell me whether the effort paid off.

What is the 12-second rule for emails?

In email marketing, the “12-second rule” reminds you to make the message clear in a quick scan. Readers should quickly understand who’s writing, what’s being offered, and what to do next. I’d put the main point near the top and cut any opening that delays it. I treat 12 seconds as a writing guideline, not a fixed attention limit that applies to everyone.

What are the 5 C’s of email?

A common version of the five C’s is clear, concise, correct, courteous, and complete. I’d use them as a final check: explain the purpose, remove filler, verify the details, keep the tone respectful, and include everything the reader needs to act. Being concise shouldn’t mean leaving out an offer’s conditions or deadline.

What are the four types of emails?

Four common business email types are newsletters, promotional emails, transactional emails, and welcome emails. Newsletters share updates and useful content. Promotional emails highlight offers. Transactional emails confirm actions, such as purchases or password resets. Welcome emails introduce the business after someone signs up. I’d choose the type around the message’s purpose. These are useful starting categories, not the only kinds of email.

• The Pentagon is recruiting approximately 100 operators for Gauntlet III
• Military personnel can register for the program regardless of experience
• The Pentagon's drone initiative carries a $1.1 billion funding commitment

The US Army is recruiting about 100 drone operators to evaluate emerging military aircraft as the Pentagon works to strengthen domestic defenses.

The recruitment effort, coordinated by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), invites service members with first-person-view (FPV) drone experience to participate in upcoming evaluations.

The selected personnel will help assess competing drone technologies under a $1.1 billion Pentagon initiative to expand domestic production and military capabilities.

Pentagon seeks experienced drone operators for Gauntlet III

The recruitment campaign focuses on Gauntlet III, an upcoming evaluation exercise within the Pentagon's Drone Dominance initiative, which tests competing aircraft designs.

It seeks troops who have flown FPV drones, which are used for tasks ranging from scouting to kamikaze strikes.

Pilots usually fly these drones in “acro” mode, a manual setting that leaves attitude control entirely to the operator rather than flight software.

Erin Cherry, the initiative's testing lead, confirmed that many operators are needed for the exercise, although registration remains unrestricted.

“There’s no cap on the registry. We want to hear from any warfighter with FPV experience,” Cherry said.

Rather than recruiting exclusively for one competition, DIU intends to establish a permanent database of qualified operators drawn from different military branches.

FPV aircraft allow operators to control drones through onboard camera feeds, providing direct visual guidance during surveillance, reconnaissance and offensive missions.

These aircraft can also undertake precision strikes and operations in confined environments, where navigation requires considerable skill and continuous operator attention.

Although experienced pilots are particularly valuable, the Pentagon also wants personnel whose expertise covers different operational requirements and mission environments.

“‘Pilot skill’ isn’t just one thing,” Cherry said. “Flying ability, tactical knowledge, payload experience, and specialized skills like long-distance navigation and urban flight are all distinct, so we look at each one.”

Personnel familiar with extended flights or operating between buildings may therefore qualify even without extensive experience across every drone category.

The recruitment process also accommodates operators with relatively limited experience, allowing officials to examine how aircraft perform under different levels of proficiency.

“A drone that only performs well in an expert’s hands isn’t ready for the force. Whether someone has been flying FPV for five years or five months, we want to hear from them,” Cherry added.

How military personnel can register for the drone program

Interested service members must complete the official Pilot Interest Form provided through the Pentagon's Drone Dominance recruitment platform.

Applicants must provide a valid military email address ending in .mil, as organizers will not respond to personal or civilian accounts.

Participation will also require coordination with the applicant's military branch, meaning registration alone does not guarantee selection for the competition.

Successful applicants could operate recently developed aircraft, including experimental models that have not yet entered regular service with American forces.

Some participants will receive instruction covering expendable attack drones, which are designed to strike designated objectives rather than return afterward.

Their assessments will contribute to procurement decisions as the Pentagon intends to prioritize aircraft that perform effectively during competitive trials.

Via Defense News

Whether you’re in town for the United States Grand Prix or scoping out a visit, Apple Maps now has more details for Austin.

• Ukrainian operators shoot down Russian drone with an unusual circular wing
• The KVS uses a ring-shaped wing surrounding its central fuselage
• The intercepted KVS uses a 10-inch frame for combat missions

Ukrainian forces have destroyed an unusually shaped Russian attack drone whose circular wing initially prompted comparisons with a UFO.

The aircraft was intercepted on October 8 2026 by personnel from Ukraine's 414th Birds of Magyar Brigade during an aerial engagement.

Footage released by the unit shows the Russian KVS drone shortly before its destruction, revealing a distinctive circular structure surrounding its body.

Unusual circular design draws UFO comparisons

The intercepted aircraft was identified as the Knyaz Vladimir Svyatoslavich, a relatively recent Russian strike platform developed by the Ushkuynik research center.

Its unusual appearance comes from a continuous circular wing enclosing the main fuselage, rather than the conventional straight wings used by many aircraft.

The distinctive configuration prompted Ukrainian operators to joke about encountering something extraterrestrial before confirming that the object was another Russian weapon.

“What was that? Probably a UFO! It came out of nowhere... Oh, wait, it did fall,” the Birds of Magyar Brigade wrote.

The KVS uses a 10-inch frame and is intended to conduct strikes over intermediate distances, although its precise operational range remains unspecified.

Its circular aerodynamic structure is designed to support vertical departures while allowing the aircraft to transition into horizontal flight with improved energy efficiency.

Unlike conventional multirotor aircraft, which rely on continuously powered propellers for lift, the configuration seeks aerodynamic assistance during forward movement through the air.

Russian manufacturer has developed other unusual drones

The destroyed KVS belongs to a collection of unmanned aircraft developed by Ushkuynik, which also manufactures reconnaissance and fiber optic systems.

Among its other products is the Knyaz Veshchiy Oleg, an intelligence-gathering aircraft used to observe distant positions and adjust artillery fire.

Ukrainian intelligence disclosed in April that the reconnaissance platform reportedly operates across distances reaching 45 kilometers, with flights lasting about 3.5 hours.

The aircraft can reportedly reach 130 km/h, giving Russian operators another option for conducting surveillance missions beyond immediate frontline positions.

Ukrainian military reports claim to have intercepted Ushkuynik reconnaissance drones, although the available information does not establish an overall success rate for these operations.

On February 18, operators serving with the Dnipro-1 Regiment of the Liut United Assault Brigade reportedly intercepted a Knyaz Veshchiy Oleg.

Another aircraft belonging to the same reconnaissance model was destroyed in January 2026 by personnel from Ukraine's 225th Separate Assault Regiment.

These incidents concern the Knyaz Veshchiy Oleg reconnaissance model rather than the circular-wing KVS strike drone, and do not establish how frequently either aircraft is intercepted.

Via United24media

• Concrete thermal batteries could turn data center waste heat into usable energy
• Lehigh researchers develop a thermal battery with 150 kWh storage capacity
• The concrete battery withstands temperatures reaching 500°C during thermal storage operations

Engineering researchers at Lehigh University have developed a concrete thermal battery that could help data centers reuse heat removed from computing equipment.

The system stores recovered heat before releasing it for cooling, industrial processes, electricity generation, and other applications requiring thermal energy.

A prototype with 150 kWh storage capacity has been fabricated, while testing shows the system can withstand temperatures reaching 500°C.

Concrete battery stores recovered heat for data center cooling

At such temperatures, the technology can support flexible power generation, industrial emissions reduction, and high-temperature solar thermal applications.

After testing, the reported efficiency after a complete charging and discharging cycle exceeds 70%, meaning substantial supplied energy remains recoverable after storage.

The technology combines engineered cement material with embedded thermosiphons that transfer heat through the storage medium during charging and discharge

These components move thermal energy rapidly while maintaining relatively stable temperatures, allowing the stored heat to become available when demand changes.

The system can accept waste heat from servers as well as electricity, creating two routes for charging the storage unit.

Researchers describe the technology as a hybrid arrangement because it combines different heat storage mechanisms within a concrete-based structure.

The design also allows thermal storage to operate separately from the moment when waste heat is produced, providing greater timing flexibility.

That separation could matter for facilities where computing loads fluctuate significantly and cooling requirements change during different operating periods.

Potential applications extend from data center cooling to electricity generation

For data centers, the technology can upgrade recovered heat into a range between 120°C and 220°C for useful thermal applications.

That temperature range could supply absorption chillers for cooling, while stored heat could also support drying, district heating and industrial operations.

This approach gives operators another way to use heat that conventional cooling equipment normally removes before releasing it directly outside.

The system can therefore connect computing facilities with nearby thermal demands, potentially allowing recovered energy to serve purposes beyond immediate cooling.

Stored heat can also drive low-temperature Rankine cycle equipment, with possible installations ranging from kilowatt systems through facilities operating at megawatt scale.

Absorption cooling offers another application, allowing stored thermal energy to produce chilled conditions without relying entirely on electrically driven refrigeration equipment.

The team also describes temperature upgrading as an important function when recovered data center heat needs to reach higher usable temperatures.

The system can also operate with electricity-driven heating, allowing operators to charge storage when electrical supply conditions make that approach practical.

Such flexibility could complement existing energy infrastructure while recovered heat continues serving nearby industrial operations in practice.

This technology was partly funded by Federal energy, and it has now been licensed to a private energy company, allowing further development toward integration with existing energy infrastructure.

The project could eventually connect thermal storage with existing energy networks while recovering useful heat from industrial operations and nearby facilities.

YouTube’s new AI labels will help users identify music made with generative AI tools.

Looking for a different day?

A new Quordle puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: Quordle hints and answers for Wednesday, October 14 (game #1724).

Quordle was one of the original Wordle alternatives and is still going strong now more than 1,500 games later. It offers a genuine challenge, though, so read on if you need some Quordle hints today — or scroll down further for the answers.

Enjoy playing word games? You can also check out my NYT Connections today and NYT Strands today pages for hints and answers for those puzzles, while Marc's Wordle today column covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about Quordle today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

Quordle today (game #1725) — hint #1 — VowelsHow many different vowels are in Quordle today?

• The number of different vowels in Quordle today is 4*.

* Note that by vowel we mean the five standard vowels (A, E, I, O, U), not Y (which is sometimes counted as a vowel too).

Quordle today (game #1725) — hint #2 — repeated lettersDo any of today's Quordle answers contain repeated letters?

• The number of Quordle answers containing a repeated letter today is 0.

Quordle today (game #1725) — hint #3 — uncommon lettersDo the letters Q, Z, X or J appear in Quordle today?

• No. None of Q, Z, X or J appear among today's Quordle answers.

Quordle today (game #1725) — hint #4 — starting letters (1)Do any of today's Quordle puzzles start with the same letter?

• The number of today's Quordle answers starting with the same letter is 0.

If you just want to know the answers at this stage, simply scroll down. If you're not ready yet then here's one more clue to make things a lot easier:

Quordle today (game #1725) — hint #5 — starting letters (2)What letters do today's Quordle answers start with?

• S

• E

• P

• C

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

Quordle today (game #1725) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle, game #1725, are…

• STALE
• EPOCH
• PIANO
• CORNY

I love the word EPOCH, it's such a weighty thing.

I even felt intelligent tapping it out as a guess, but really it’s just a more grandiose way of saying “moment in time”.

Daily Sequence today (game #1725) — the answers

(Image credit: Merriam-Webster)

The answers to today's Quordle Daily Sequence, game #1725, are…

• CLINK
• SAUNA
• GREED
• SPINY

Quordle answers: The past 20

• Quordle #1724, Wednesday, 14 October: TIMID, GROUP, GRILL, EVERY
• Quordle #1723, Tuesday, 13 October: FLUFF, DEBUT, TEETH, STEIN
• Quordle #1722, Monday, 12 October: HELLO, BELOW, RIGHT, SLANT
• Quordle #1721, Sunday, 11 October: LILAC, INLET, TRIAD, SHAPE
• Quordle #1720, Saturday, 10 October: SWEAT, THIRD, RURAL, CLASP
• Quordle #1719, Friday, 9 October: OLDEN, DUNCE, SWATH, HILLY
• Quordle #1718, Thursday, 8 October: MINTY, ROWER, BROOD, RESET
• Quordle #1717, Wednesday, 7 October: PALER, FROTH, DOZEN, ERASE
• Quordle #1716, Tuesday, 6 October: FRESH, SKULK, BATCH, ENSUE
• Quordle #1715, Monday, 5 October: SIXTH, SPEAK, SEDAN, HEIST
• Quordle #1714, Sunday, 4 October: INFER, RAINY, THING, ARENA
• Quordle #1713, Saturday, 3 October: CHORE, FLYER, STICK, PURSE
• Quordle #1712, Friday, 2 October: IVORY, SADLY, ANGEL, LLAMA
• Quordle #1711, Thursday, 1 October: NAVEL, SHEER, BIRTH, TACKY
• Quordle #1710, Wednesday, 30 September: CHOKE, BATCH, MOSSY, EAGER
• Quordle #1709, Tuesday, 29 September: BILGE, MEDAL, LODGE, PORCH
• Quordle #1708, Monday, 28 September: BRUNT, TORSO, STONE, HEATH
• Quordle #1707, Sunday, 27 September: VALET, CHEST, VIGIL, PUREE
• Quordle #1706, Saturday, 26 September: SNORT, BIBLE, LAPSE, CRANE
• Quordle #1705, Friday, 25 September: SWEAR, FLOOD, GUPPY, GROAN

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Connections puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Connections hints and answers for Wednesday, October 14 (game #1221).

Good morning! Let's play Connections, the NYT's clever word game that challenges you to group answers in various categories. It can be tough, so read on if you need Connections hints.

What should you do once you've finished? Why, play some more word games of course. I've also got daily Strands hints and answers and Quordle hints and answers articles if you need help for those too, while Marc's Wordle today page covers the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Connections today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Connections today (game #1222) - today's words

(Image credit: New York Times)

Today's NYT Connections words are…

• SMOKE
• BASKET
• DRY
• FOOT
• VOLLEY
• CANNON
• RUN
• PICKLE
• BASE
• GOAL
• FORGE
• FOUNDATION
• CURE
• RACINE
• BOTTOM
• TOUCHDOWN

NYT Connections today (game #1222) - hint #1 - group hints

What are some clues for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: Keep things edible for longer
• GREEN: Game achievements
• BLUE: Sink down to see these
• PURPLE: Altered geography

Need more clues?

We're firmly in spoiler territory now, but read on if you want to know what the four theme answers are for today's NYT Connections puzzles…

NYT Connections today (game #1222) - hint #2 - group answers

What are the answers for today's NYT Connections groups?

• YELLOW: WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD
• GREEN: THINGS YOU CAN SCORE IN SPORTS
• BLUE: LOWEST PART
• PURPLE: LOW LANDFORMS WITH A LETTER CHANGED

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Connections today (game #1222) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Connections, game #1222, are…

• YELLOW: WAYS TO PRESERVE FOOD: CURE, DRY, PICKLE, SMOKE
• GREEN: THINGS YOU CAN SCORE IN SPORTS: BASKET, GOAL, RUN, TOUCHDOWN
• BLUE: LOWEST PART: BASE, BOTTOM, FOOT, FOUNDATION
• PURPLE: LOW LANDFORMS WITH A LETTER CHANGED: CANNON, FORGE, RACINE, VOLLEY

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 mistake

Kudos if you were switched on enough to spot canyon, gorge, ravine and valley in the tiles that formed the purple group’s LOW LANDFORMS WITH A LETTER CHANGED. This kind of clever letter altering trickery always foxes me.

Instead, I fell for today’s most obvious trap and linked PICKLE, BASKET, FOOT and VOLLEY, thinking that “ball” was the connection (I could have included CANNON and BASE, too).

Fortunately, this was the end of my mistakes and I saw the real reason PICKLE and BASKET were in the game.

Yesterday's NYT Connections answers (Wednesday, October 14, 2026, game #1221)

• YELLOW: HINT: FLICKER, SUGGESTION, TRACE, WHIFF
• GREEN: TENNIS SHOTS: SERVE, SLICE, SMASH, VOLLEY
• BLUE: SUPERHEROES, WITH "THE": FLASH, HULK, PUNISHER, THING
• PURPLE: STARTING WITH "FEE, FI, FO, FUM": FEED, FIERY, FOMENT, FUMBLE

What is NYT Connections?

NYT Connections is one of several increasingly popular word games made by the New York Times. It challenges you to find groups of four items that share something in common, and each group has a different difficulty level: green is easy, yellow a little harder, blue often quite tough and purple usually very difficult.

On the plus side, you don't technically need to solve the final one, as you'll be able to answer that one by a process of elimination. What's more, you can make up to four mistakes, which gives you a little bit of breathing room.

It's a little more involved than something like Wordle, however, and there are plenty of opportunities for the game to trip you up with tricks. For instance, watch out for homophones and other word games that could disguise the answers.

It's playable for free via the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

Looking for a different day?

A new NYT Strands puzzle appears at midnight each day for your time zone – which means that some people are always playing 'today's game' while others are playing 'yesterday's'. If you're looking for Wednesday's puzzle instead then click here: NYT Strands hints and answers for Wednesday, October 14 (game #955).

Strands is the NYT's latest word game after the likes of Wordle, Spelling Bee and Connections – and it's great fun. It can be difficult, though, so read on for my Strands hints.

Want more word-based fun? Then check out my NYT Connections today and Quordle today pages for hints and answers for those games, and Marc's Wordle today page for the original viral word game.

SPOILER WARNING: Information about NYT Strands today is below, so don't read on if you don't want to know the answers.

NYT Strands today (game #956) - hint #1 - today's themeWhat is the theme of today's NYT Strands?

• Today's NYT Strands theme is… Sailor’s guide

NYT Strands today (game #956) - hint #2 - clue words

Play any of these words to unlock the in-game hints system.

• GONE
• MEAT
• GREAT
• SOUR
• THEN
• GRAY

NYT Strands today (game #956) - hint #3 - spangram lettersHow many letters are in today's spangram?

• Spangram has 10 letters

NYT Strands today (game #956) - hint #4 - spangram positionWhat are two sides of the board that today's spangram touches?

• First side: top, 2nd column

• Last side: bottom, 3rd column

Right, the answers are below, so DO NOT SCROLL ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE THEM.

NYT Strands today (game #956) - the answers

(Image credit: New York Times)

The answers to today's Strands, game #956, are…

• BEACON
• STAIRCASE
• DOME
• LANTERN
• GALLERY
• SPANGRAM: LIGHTHOUSE

• My rating: Hard
• My score: 1 hint

The theme meant nothing to me (was it about maps or tides?) until I spotted BEACON in my favorite left-hand corner starting spot and the light of inspiration beamed down on me.

After getting the next most obvious LIGHTHOUSE feature of STAIRCASE (connected in the format of a spiral, no less), the remaining four game words proved harder to spot — so I took a hint and was gifted DOME.

From here I literally kicked myself as I spotted LANTERN and limped over the line with the now-easily-spottable GALLERY and TOWER.

Yesterday's NYT Strands answers (Wednesday, October 14, game #955)

• BEAUTY
• BEAST
• FROG
• PRINCESS
• TORTOISE
• HARE
• SPANGRAM: ONCEUPONATIME

What is NYT Strands?

Strands is the NYT's not-so-new-any-more word game, following Wordle and Connections. It's now a fully fledged member of the NYT's games stable that has been running for a year and which can be played on the NYT Games site on desktop or mobile.

I've got a full guide to how to play NYT Strands, complete with tips for solving it, so check that out if you're struggling to beat it each day.

Changes for tools including Google Messages, screen sharing and call forwarding are all aimed at countering mobile fraud.

• iBuyPower unveils an AMD AI workstation with 128GB of memory
• The compact system uses AMD's 16-core Zen 5 processor
• Integrated Radeon graphics deliver 40 compute units for graphics workloads

iBuyPower has entered the compact AI workstation market with a $3,999 mini PC built around AMD’s Ryzen AI Max+ PRO 495 processor.

The Pro AMD AI Halo Mini PC combines 128GB of memory, integrated Radeon graphics, and is designed for professional computing and local AI workloads.

According to the company, this device measures 70 × 198 × 200 mm, runs Windows 11 Pro, and occupies relatively little desk space.

A leather strap accompanies the compact design

Its product images also show a leather strap against the compact enclosure, giving the system a distinctive visual detail beyond its technical specifications.

The workstation uses a 16-core Zen 5 processor, Radeon 8065S integrated graphics based on RDNA 3.5, and a neural processing unit rated at 55 TOPS.

Its graphics processor includes 40 compute units, while the system’s 128GB of LPDDR5X memory runs at 8,000 MHz for demanding shared-memory workloads.

iBuyPower says the hardware can run AI models locally, support ray tracing and interactive simulations, and handle creative, engineering and data-intensive tasks.

Connectivity includes Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 and two 10Gb Ethernet ports, alongside USB4 connections capable of transferring data at up to 40 Gbps.

The front panel includes two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type A ports, a USB4 Type C connection, an audio jack and an SD card reader.

Rear connections add DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.1, another USB4 port, additional USB ports, and the second Ethernet connection.

Two 10Gb Ethernet ports but no cluster

The Pro AMD AI Halo Mini PC is equipped with two 10Gb Ethernet ports, which provide fast wired networking.

However, their presence alone does not confirm that multiple units can operate together as an AI cluster.

That requires a compatible software stack and configuration for distributing model workloads across machines, details iBuyPower has not announced for this particular system.

The storage design offers three M.2 positions, including two 2280 slots and another supporting 2242 or 2280 drives, with PCIe 4.0 connectivity.

The 128GB memory capacity may appeal to developers running large models locally, although usable model size and speed will depend on software and workload demands.

We reached out to iBuyPower, and the company confirmed that the mini PC comes with an SSD. The starting configuration comes with a 1TB SSD, and it costs $3,999.

When this device launches on the company’s website, potential buyers will be able to select the capacity they’d like the system to configure.

This mobile workstation is scheduled to become available in Q4 2026, but higher capacities will incur more cost.

Thinking of saving a little money when buying Apple’s new foldable phone? A mishap could cost up to $1,500 in repairs.

A few other scare-tastic games, like Poppy Playtime: Chapter 2, are also coming to the service in time for Halloween as well.

Tweak your viewing experience to your looking to watch more than one event.

The lawsuit says ChatGPT continued to chat with a 12-year-old, even rating her looks.

Eric Steven Raymond, widely known as 'ESR' has been a large presence in the software development space for many decades, making key contributions to the school of development, programming languages, and the open source movement. Given the rise of AI, ESR has signalled the end of the closed-source model of software development.

Reverse engineering

ESR delivered this verdict on X recently, adding to his recent history of commenting on the rise of large language models (LLMs) and the impact on software.

Quote of the day

This article is part of TechRadar Pro's QOTD project to provide an insight into the minds of the brightest and most recognized figures in the technology industry today and in years gone by. Read the full series here.

In his post, the software pioneer remarked on how a fun experiment involving the use of AI to decompile an old game and port it into a new format alerted him to the potential for this practice to happen on a much grander scale.

"The thing is, I thought of this as a fun stunt but didn't have any confidence that the technique would scale up to large, real programs," he wrote, adding: "I have since learned that people are now doing this sort of thing with entire AAA games, which are among the most complex software artifacts ever to be shipped as a binary. If they can be decompiled, anything can be."

A paradigm shift

The implication of this practice, ESR said, is that there is no longer a secrecy moat around almost any software at all – and that the only way for the industry to maintain this "moat" is by hiding their executables behind SaaS shields. In that sense, cloud-enabled software will be much harder to crack open and reverse engineer.

Rather than closed source being gradually driven toward extinction by cost gradients, as he foresaw, he now believes that closed-source software may be "wiped out in a technoapocalypse" – albeit with the caveat that some laws will prevent the mass decompilation of binaries.

His thoughts mirror the views of Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang, who put a twist on Marc Andreessen's famous comment that "software is eating the world" by suggesting in 2017 that "AI is going to eat software". This is something that we are arguably seeing play out as AI improves and becomes more prevalent across the enterprise.