Science | The Verge

Of course the ChatGPT dog cancer vaccine spawned a startup

2026-08-12T12:26:04-04:00

Remember that much-hyped story about an Australian tech entrepreneur using ChatGPT, Grok, and other AI tools to craft a personalized cancer vaccine for his dog? Well, surprise: He's launched a startup.

That entrepreneur is Paul Conyngham, who says he is launching Gamgee to offer "personalised mRNA cancer vaccines for dogs." But his ambitions go well beyond dogs - and pets - with Gamgee's website promising the company will harness AI and genetics to develop personalized treatments for a range of diseases and species, including humans.

At the center of Gamgee's origin story is Rosie, Conyngham's Staffordshire bull terrier-Shar Pei mix, who …

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Space mirrors could ruin astronomy — and your eyes

2026-08-07T15:26:39-04:00

Solar energy, at any time of day or night - that's the dream of space mirror projects. Futurists have been imagining satellite mirrors that could reflect the sun's light onto the Earth's surface for over a century. Russian scientists experimented with the concept in the '90s with the Znamya project. The idea is to put a large mirror in orbit and angle it such that sunlight can be reflected onto a specific geographical area for illumination or the generation of solar power.

Now, the California-based company Reflect Orbital wants to try this idea again, launching a test satellite named Eärendil-1 as a precursor to a fleet of up to 50,000 spa …

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An Amazon data center could have the worst polluting power plant in the country

2026-08-10T07:06:58-04:00

To power its new West Texas data center, Amazon is investing in the construction of a new power plant that could be one of the largest single producers of greenhouse gases in the US, according to The New York Times. The new gas-burning plant in Pecos County, Texas, has received significant investment from Amazon and, at least initially, would not be connected to the state's power grid. Instead, its 35 natural-gas turbines would primarily deliver its 7.65 gigawatts of electricity to the new data center.

According to Cleanview, which tracks data centers and their associated power projects, GW Ranch received a permit from Texas allowing for th …

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Nitecore’s latest power bank is the lightest and most compact yet

2026-08-08T03:17:24-04:00

The Nitecore NB10000 Gen 4 power bank is a great option for endurance athletes and backpackers. | Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge

There's two things you should know about me, your intrepid reviewer: I hate the feature creep associated with modern power banks, and I love shaving grams off the gear I carry when backpacking, bikepacking, and trail running. So imagine my delight when Nitecore released a new generation of its ultralight NB10000 battery. After a few weeks with it I can confidently say: Haribo be damned!

The $83.95 NB10000 Gen 4 weighs just 146 grams, according to my scale, and measures 1.45 x 11.6 x 4.68cm (0.57 x 4.57 x 1.84 inches), according to Nitecore's spec sheet. That makes it the lightest and most compact 10,000mAh power bank I can find. Even when …

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SpaceX is barely Space and mostly X

2026-08-06T08:42:50-04:00

Privatize the profit, socialize the losses? | Image: Cath Virginia / The Verge, Getty Images

Once, I had some questions about why SpaceX, Elon Musk's healthiest company, acquired xAI, his sickliest one. Now I have some questions about why we're calling the whole thing SpaceX.

Look, what we have here, by revenue, is primarily a telecom company and a company that rents compute, according to SpaceX's first quarterly earnings statement as a public company. The space sector of the business didn't break a billion dollars this quarter and contributed only a touch over 10 percent of the company's revenue. SpaceX remains its own biggest customer. There just aren't enough other people who want its rockets. And, I dunno, maybe if the rockets …

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SpaceX is coming for T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon

2026-08-05T03:09:52-04:00

SpaceX is preparing to build a terrestrial mobile network to "acquire quite a few" of the customers now subscribed to T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon. The message to compete head-to-head with the US carriers was delivered by SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell and CEO Elon Musk during the Q&A section of the company's first earnings call.

"The spectrum that we purchased from EchoStar does have terrestrial components, so we definitely intend to build out the terrestrial component," said Shotwell. "You will have not only the capacity from the satellites themselves, but you will have a buildout of the terrestrial, basically the hardware and systems ne …

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SpaceX made more revenue as an AI company than a space company

2026-08-04T17:42:17-04:00

SpaceX's AI revenue grew more than three times to $2.6 billion from the year before, mostly because of deals that the company made to provide compute to other AI companies, according to SpaceX's quarterly earnings. The AI division, which the company said in its documents to go public was the source of most of its value, lost $1.5 billion this quarter, slightly less than in the same quarter last year.

SpaceX made deals with Anthropic in May and Google in June to provide compute to the other two AI companies, putting it in competition with other neoclouds such as CoreWeave. The increased presence in AI is also driving the company to spend mor …

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Texas says data centers must pass an audit before connecting to the grid

2026-08-04T11:33:21-04:00

Texas announced new a audit on data centers that could slow approval for new facilities seeking to connect to the state energy grid.

Governor Greg Abbott (R) on Monday directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) to verify and audit new data center proposals, writing that the review is needed to "keep the grid stable and reliable." Data centers will need to provide information on state and local incentives they've received, how much they'd rely on the state grid, expected water consumption and sources, and how they plan to track community impacts including noise.

It's not cle …

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Your Fitbit data can now connect directly to Apple Health

2026-08-03T17:26:58-04:00

Google is rolling out an update that will finally allow you to connect your Fitbit workouts, steps, vitals, and other data to Apple Health, as reported earlier by 9to5Mac. With Google Health's 5.05 update, you can now tap your profile icon, select "Partner apps," and choose Apple Health to link your data directly.

Previously, you could only import your Apple Health data into Google Health, but not the other way around. That meant using third-party apps - like Power Sync for Fitbit or Fitbit to Apple Health Sync - or some other kind of workaround to connect your Google Health information to Apple Health.

Google Health replaced the Fitbit ap …

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This tattoo is permanent, pain-free, and might soon come in the mail

2026-07-31T08:16:27-04:00

I already see that dang AI sparkle icon everywhere, and now it’s on my flesh forever (hopefully). | Image: Jess Weatherbed / The Verge

The refurbished railway station in London I entered last week had none of the usual signs of being a tattoo studio. The walls were devoid of any art, and there were no reclining chairs or massage tables in the room. The only tattoo gun on the premises sat in a display case instead of buzzing in someone's gloved hand. I felt like I was getting inked in a half-assembled biolab with some interesting benefits.

I'm not trying to put on a show of bravado when I say my latest tattoo didn't hurt. Getting the small sparkle lineart permanently marked on my skin was a genuinely painless experience. It was over in seconds, and didn't involve any grisly …

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