Star Wars Zero Company is giving the people what they want. And that is: more XCOM. The turn-based shootouts, perishable soldiers and those beautiful moments where you survive by the skin of your teeth because of judicious use of overwatch—it all unapologetically calls to mind the two games that have defined the modern tactics genre. It's what we've been waiting for.

Employee using AI

Getty Images - Issarawat Tattong

In a difficult business environment, artificial intelligence can look like an obvious answer for executives seeking faster work, lower costs and new efficiencies. But as AI moves into everyday business use, the more important question is whether those gains will last.

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Netflix has dropped the first look at its new teen psychodrama The Body, which is set to be released in November.

The streamer dropped a slew of stills from the eight-episode show, which follows a dance troupe at a Catholic school. Quinn Shephard created the series, which she says is a love letter to ‘90s and Y2K teen movies like Carrie and Jennifer’s Body. Kristina Bogic, Sara Boustany, Geena Meszaros, Nnamdi Asomugha, Louisa Krause, Shirley Chen, Jackson Kelly, Sofia Wylie and The Traitors alum Gabby Windey star in the series.

With Gears of War: E-Day in the middle of its open beta, players are getting stuck into its PvP, gnashing their way through hordes of enemies while darting about from cover to cover — just as they did in Gears of War back in the day.

Marine heatwaves are increasingly being recognized as more than an environmental problem. New research warns that prolonged periods of unusually warm ocean temperatures can also threaten human physical and mental health.

Strengthens Mont Royal's North American critical minerals strategy to support the development of the world-class Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Project

HIGHLIGHTS

• Accepted as a member of the U.S. Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC), a U.S. Department of Defense-supported collaborative network focused on strengthening industrial capability.
• Membership positions the Company's Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Project within the growing North American and allied critical minerals supply chain supporting defence, advanced manufacturing and energy security.
• Creates opportunities to participate in future U.S. Department of Defense prototype, research and industrial capability initiatives under the Other Transaction Authority (OTA) framework.
• Supports Mont Royal's strategy of rapidly advancing one of North America's largest undeveloped rare earth and fluorspar projects towards development at a time of increasing government focus on securing resilient Western supply chains.

Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - August 10, 2026) - Mont Royal Resources Ltd (ASX: MRZ) (TSXV: MRZL) ("Mont Royal" or "the Company") is pleased to advise that it has been accepted into the Defense Industrial Base Consortium (DIBC), marking an important strategic milestone as it advances the development of its 100%-owned Ashram Rare Earth and Fluorspar Project in Québec, Canada.

This story originally appeared in The Algorithm, our weekly newsletter on AI. To get stories like this in your inbox first, sign up here.

Last week, I headed 30 miles south of San Francisco to a hotel in Mountain View, California, to join some of the most accomplished, and some of the most promising, AI researchers in the world. I was hosting roundtable interviews and speaking at a media training for a convening of the Schmidt Sciences AI2050 program, an initiative funded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt that supports academics whose work involves AI. The fellows list is a who’s who of AI luminaries, and though not all of them made it out to the Bay, every time I turned a corner I saw a scientist whom I’d interviewed previously or whose research I admired. (Full disclosure: I received a science communication award funded by Schmidt Sciences in 2024.) 

10,000-Mile Update

The 2026 Volkswagen Golf R is a swift little steed, so it makes sense that it would find itself at the center of all sorts of action during its 40,000-mile long-term evaluation. By the time the odometer crossed into five digits, it had already suffered some dents and dings, and it also spent some time on the track.