Here are today’s 9 verified tech & science stories, covering Tech & Apps, AI Tools and Science & Space.
Table of Contents
Every item below links to its original source.
The TLDR
- Tech & Apps: Instagram’s Edits video editor arrives on Mac
- AI Tools: Palo Alto Networks reportedly in talks to buy Clutch for $500M
- Science & Space: Physicists find first evidence of an ultra-rare particle decay
Tech & Apps
Instagram’s Edits video editor arrives on Mac
Instagram’s free Edits video app, previously available only on phones, now has a Mac version. The desktop release adds multi-track editing, advanced color grading tools, and the ability to export in 4K and publish straight to Instagram, according to 9to5Mac.
Airbnb is building an AI travel agent
Airbnb says it’s developing an AI agent that can help travelers plan and book trips, with a rollout targeted for the first half of 2027. The plan was disclosed in the company’s Q3 2026 shareholder letter, where Airbnb argued that today’s AI agents mostly handle simple tasks like a restaurant booking, according to The Verge. If you already lean on apps to plan trips in the meantime, see our comparison of the best free offline map apps.
Meta’s Muse AI agent can now talk back
Meta has switched on real-time voice conversations for its Muse AI agent, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced. Users can now talk to their Muse avatar out loud on the iOS app instead of typing, with the on-screen avatar responding as you speak, per The Verge. If Gemini keeps taking over as your phone’s default assistant instead, here’s how to turn it off on Android.
TikTok launches a standalone Shop app — just not in the US
TikTok has released a standalone Shop app separate from its main app, offering exclusive deals, but it isn’t available in the US yet, according to Engadget. The move suggests TikTok wants to grow its shopping business as its own app rather than keep it bundled inside the main feed.
Bose recalls S1 Pro battery packs over fire risk
Bose is recalling lithium-ion battery packs for its S1 Pro and S1 Pro+ portable speaker systems after seven reports of batteries melting, smoking, or catching fire. More than 670,000 battery packs sold in the US and Canada between December 2017 and July 2026 are affected, according to Engadget. Owners should stop using the battery packs and register with Bose for a free replacement.
A Windows update helps budget 8GB RAM laptops
A new Windows update adds optimizations aimed at laptops with just 8GB of RAM, narrowing the performance gap with Apple’s low-RAM ‘MacBook Neo’ line, according to Lifehacker. That matters for shoppers eyeing a budget laptop, since low-RAM machines have historically struggled more under Windows than macOS.
AI Tools
Palo Alto Networks reportedly in talks to buy Clutch for $500M
Palo Alto Networks is reportedly in talks to acquire Clutch Security, a startup that secures AI agents and other non-human digital identities, for around $500 million. Clutch, backed by Lightspeed Venture Partners and SignalFire, was last valued at about $85 million, according to TechCrunch. Nothing has been finalized, and the talks could still fall through.
OpenAI releases another cybersecurity-focused model
OpenAI has released another cybersecurity-focused AI model, continuing a string of similar releases through 2026, as questions mount over whether AI labs are doing enough to protect digital infrastructure. The model is aimed at helping security teams find and patch vulnerabilities, according to TechCrunch.
Science & Space
Physicists find first evidence of an ultra-rare particle decay
Physicists working on CERN’s Large Hadron Collider say they’ve found the first evidence of one of the rarest known particle decays, where a ‘beauty’ particle decays into two muons roughly once in every 10 billion decays. The result, announced earlier this week after a 42-year search, brings researchers closer to probing what they call the ‘zeptoverse’ — extremely small distances where undiscovered particles could be hiding, according to ScienceAlert. The finding so far matches Standard Model predictions rather than overturning them.
Explore more: best free offline map apps, how to turn it off on Android.
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Photo: Instagram / Wikimedia Foundation / Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.