One robotaxi player has grown its share of users so far in 2026 — and it's not Waymo

One robotaxi player has grown its share of users so far in 2026 — and it's not Waymo

By

Alex Bitter

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World Cup Round of 16: Argentina face Egypt as Ronaldo bids farewell

The World Cup has reached its decisive stage, with every match carrying the weight of history.

Argentina continue their mission to defend their world title against Egypt in Atlanta as Switzerland and Colombia also fight for progression to the quarterfinals, while the tournament continues to deliver key moments from Cristiano Ronaldo’s final World Cup appearance to emotional last-16 exits, political statements and a stand against racism from Kylian Mbappe.

The Builder’s Creed

A hundred and fifteen years ago, Christian Larson wrote one of the first popular self-help manifestos. The Optimist’s Creed argued that it was a choice, and a useful promise. Not to promise the world, or the boss, or the market. To promise ourselves. Optimism is not a mood. It’s a discipline.

5 graphs that show how heatwaves are getting more dangerous | New Scientist

Paramedics help a patient into an ambulance during a heatwave in Barcelona, Spain, in 2022

Angel Garcia/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A heatwave in May set monthly temperature records across Europe; a heatwave in June became the hottest ever observed in western Europe. Now, in July, yet another heatwave is developing. Just 50 years ago, the June heatwave would have been virtually impossible. But global warming is making heatwaves more frequent, longer and more intense.

Bacteria discovered with the ability to jettison cells as a survival mechanism

Eject! Bacteria discovered with the ability to jettison cells as a survival mechanism
A community of hay bacillus bacteria ejects a group of mobile cells (shown in orange) with the potential to swim away and colonize in a new location. Credit: Süel lab, UC San Diego

Popular science fiction is no stranger to escape-pod scenarios, typically featuring characters who narrowly avoid their demise by jettisoning from a spaceship—think R2-D2 and C-3PO shooting away from a rebel spaceship in the opening of Star Wars: A New Hope. Biologists at the University of California San Diego have found that communities of bacteria feature a similar ejection capability.

How proximity steals energy from nanoresonators

How proximity steals energy from nanoresonators
State-of-the-art nano-strings have vanishingly small internal friction and record-low thermal noise. They are now so sensitive that they can feel friction from nearby objects—without ever making contact. Credit: Paresa Arabmoheghi / EPFL

Nanomechanical resonators are miniature vibrating structures on chips that oscillate at frequencies ranging from a few kilohertz to gigahertz. They are used as ultrasensitive detectors of mass and force, temperature and pressure, and as components in radio frequency filters and on-chip clocks. Modern, state-of-the-art resonators are also used to create quantum states of macroscopic objects and test fundamental physics.

The Web Is Growing A Second Layer – Almost A Third Head

The last few weeks have been noisy. Google shipped something called the Open Knowledge Format. Then Google Developers announced the Agentic Resource Discovery (ARD) specification.

Meanwhile, every SEO LinkedIn feed is lit up with someone either declaring markdown the future of the web or explaining why you should ignore all of it.

Raptorial insect forelegs evolved repeatedly but never converged on one winning design

Many ways to become a monster and one map to tell
One striking example for convergent evolution is snatching forelimbs in insects, which have evolved at least seven times independently and among these in the praying mantis (pictured: Tenodera sinensis). Credit: H. Miyaji et al., Scientific Reports 2026 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-57616-w

The evolutionary paths that created snatching forelimbs in insects multiple times moved in a similar direction but didn't end at a single solution. Kobe University research is pioneering a study of how organs with similar functions evolve, providing a new analytical approach to identify evolutionary dynamics quantitatively.

The 10 most livable cities in the world

By

Madison Hoff

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A person wearing sunglasses is riding a bike on Nyhavn pier

Ancient rocks reveal how water reshaped Earth's interior 3.1 billion years ago

Ancient rocks reveal how water shaped Earth 3.1 billion years ago
An example of variolitic pillow lavas in the Whundo Group. The black spots are a feature known as varioles, which form in water-rich lavas. Credit: Adelaide University

Geologists studying some of the planet's oldest volcanic rocks have uncovered new evidence that water was playing a major role in shaping Earth's interior and driving volcanic activity more than 3 billion years ago.