The latest discovery from NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover is a field of honeycomb-shaped polygons covering a Martian valley called Valle Grande. As Gizmodo reports, Curiosity has snapped pictures of the unusual terrain texture before, called polygonal fractures, each about 1.5 to 3 inches wide, but NASA says it’s previously only found them in small patches, “nothing on the scale discovered in Valle Grande.”

Curiosity captured a 360-degree panorama of the “sea of polygons” on June 19th and 20th (Martian sols 4,930 and 4,931) that shows the texture spreading out in all directions. Project scientist Ashwin Vasavada says the Curiosity team “measur …

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Google DeepMind says the latest version of its Gemini Robotics AI model can “control entire humanoid robots.” While the previous model focused on controlling a humanoid robot’s upper body, Gemini Robotics 2 now supports “whole-body motions” ranging from its feet to fingertips, according to an announcement on Thursday.

The new model will allow humanoid robots to perform a wider range of actions, as it allows them to walk, crouch, stretch, and manipulate objects. Videos shared by Google show how Apptronik’s Apollo 2 robot can bend over to pick up a watering can, as well as find and take specific items off a shelf.

Though Google DeepMind not …

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ABC filed its formal opposition to the Federal Communications Commission’s effort to force it to submit to an early renewal of its broadcast station licenses, calling it an effort to chill the speech of broadcasters across the country.

In a new filing with the FCC, ABC charges that the agency’s willingness to pursue the early renewal of eight of its licenses far before they expire is “extraordinary and unprecedented.” The company alleges the FCC “has spent the last 18 months searching for some pretext for revoking the Stations’ licenses,” but charges that the agency’s real motivations for pursuing these licenses are clear: “Each is owned by …

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The company is also removing some of its own AI-writing features.

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Google is working on a way to apply Chrome updates without requiring you to restart your browser. In a post on Thursday, Google outlines its approach to bug fixes in the age of AI, while noting that it’s trying to make updates less disruptive by “investing in ‘dynamic patching’ that will eliminate the need for a full browser restart.”

According to Google, AI-powered security tools have already helped the company find and fix dozens of bugs. Chrome 149 and 150, for example, contained 1,072 bug fixes, exceeding the number of patches in the past 23 major releases combined. That’s part of the reason why Chrome is switching to a two-week release …

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Weeks ahead of Google’s next Pixel hardware event, Leaker Evan Blass has shared what appear to be marketing renders of the unannounced Google Pixel 11 Pro Fold in a post on his Substack.

The renders, if accurate, show that the new foldable will look fairly similar to last year’s model – it has a tall outer screen instead of using a shorter style like the new Galaxy Z Fold 8 and the rumored foldable iPhone. The renders also show that the inner screen will retain the 8-inch size. However, the Pixel 11 Pro Fold’s back camera array has been slightly redesigned and will apparently get the glowy light that Google has already teased for the Pixel …

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Phone cases vary dramatically when it comes to pricing, but it’s not always as simple as “you get what you pay for.”

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Google said a July update resolves the problem on recent devices, with Pixel 9a and 8a getting a fix in September.

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